High School Student wanting to do Pharmacy..

Pre-Pharmacy & Pharmacy School
1

Hello,

I’m currently a junior in high school and have wanted to go pre-med and become a doctor for a really long time. Although, I’m very worried about med school acceptance, the rigorous workload, along with the high debt. So far in high school, I have been the naturally smart student and do not put in a lot of time studying, and I do not know if I can break this habit for undergrad and pre-med. Therefore, I have decided that I want to become a pharmacist, not that it is much easier but it is something that interests me much more and is a little bit less school. I want to be a retail pharmacist, as in the guy behind the counter at CVS…

I live in New Jersey and want to go to a school nearby… Ernest Mario School at Rutgers is my top choice, but if I do not get accepted, what are some alternatives in the tri-state area?

Also, what can I do now to have a strong application for top pharmacy schools? I am currently taking AP Biology, and senior year I will have completed Ap Chemistry as well as AP Calculus and AP Physics. Currently I have a 4.0 weighted GPA, am 9th in my class out of 178, and got a 27 on my ACT ( first time without studying, currently going to a tutor and aiming for 32) Does the SAT have a lot more weight in acceptance because I know more competitive schools prefer it over ACT? Also, should I take SAT Subject tests in biology, chemistry, and math?
I am in the national honor society and science national honor society and participate in science league competitions. I have been shadowing an orthopedic surgeon for a while now because of my aforementioned interested in pre-med, but is there any type of volunteering I could do that is pharmacy related that would help my application?

Thanks and any other pharmacy tips or info would be highly appreciated!!!

2

Stockton has a great dual degree program with Rutgers, where if you make it in, you will be automatically accepted. This is the best financially, especially if Rutgers is your top choice. If money is no object, but most likely it is, you can also look into places like USciences, MCPHS, Pitt, Duquesne etc.

To make your application better, take the SAT and strive for 1950+ (on the new scale, I guess that would be 1250+). Not because it has more weight or anything, but because you need to expand your standardized test options besides taking the ACT again (which you absolutely should do). An SAT Subject test in Bio, chem, or math is nice–not required or anything.

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Your question caught my eye as I went to Pharmacy School for 2 years, then transferred over to Medical School. I also scored a 27 on the ACT the first time I took it in college (and a 29 after repeating). Pharmacy School was just as hard as Medical School. Residency programs have gotten easier over the years (80 hour work week and a lot of specialties don’t even come close to that). I worked in both retail and hospital pharmacy and found it terribly boring. You are young and I wouldn’t close any doors on applying to medical school - it’s a very rewarding career!

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@oregonfour What did you do undergrad?