<p>I'm a senior in high school and I'm trying to decide what my major is. I want to get a pharmd eventually but to get into many pharmacy schools I heard I need to get a Bachelors degree. I was wondering if it would affect my admission to pharm school if I majored in Computer Science or something along those lines? I'm looking toward's UC an Diego Skaggs school of pharmacy and would love it if I could get a computer science major in case I need some kind of backup if I change my mind to not do pharmacy. I'm still a bit uneducated about the whole process so tell me if I got anything wrong. Thanks in advance!!</p>
<p>For perspective, my college’s class of 2013 had two dance majors enter pharmacy school. </p>
<p>The Health Profession office likes to tell this to every freshman orientation “Graduate schools care more about your courses and your performance over what is written in fancy lettering on your diploma.” </p>
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<p>But there are pre reqs to get into pharmacy school. You would have to take many more science classes that would not be required in computer science. </p>
<p>Take a look at pharmacy school admission requirements - go to the school’s website and you should easily be able to find a list. Then look at the undergrad requirements for a comp sci major at the school you’re interested in. You should be able to get a general idea if you will be able to complete the prerequisites you would need for pharm school. As ahsmuoh says, you will be expected to have completed very specific course work to be considered for admission. Some of these you may be able to complete as a comp sci major, but I’m betting you will run into some problems getting them all done, at least in four years.</p>
<p>I’m curious as to why you’re interested in getting a PharmD after getting a BS Computer Science. I was the opposite way around. I went from HS into a 6 year PharmD program, left the program mid-way to change my major to Computer Science.</p>
<p>it’s mainly because i have an interest in both subjects, and if i were to give up on getting a pharmD after a couple years of experiencing it I could have that BS in CS to back me up. </p>
<p>I think it’s great that you have interest in both; it shows you’re a student of many layers and schools will like that. The only issue is that you would have to take many more courses than necessary to achieve those prerequisites. It’s a lot of work and effort. If you’re willing to do that, that’s great but you may risk graduating later than other students to get your credits. </p>
I would get a degree in computer science and work as a software engineer, where pay is just as good if not better than for pharmacy, and you don’t have to take out $200k+ loans and spend an additional 4 years in school. Your job prospects are better as a software engineer because there is a shortage, whereas pharmacy continues to be flooded by the large number of schools that keep popping up.
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