Any advice on what classes to take especially in college? TIA
My advice would be to not worry about what classes to take in college. Do well in high school, get into a good college, and then worry about what classes to take. Pharmacy schools likely have prerequisite programs that you will take in college, but this is not something you should be worrying about right now. There are some direct admit pharmacy programs, which you can look into when you are considering what schools to apply to.
As for what classes to take in high school, this is likely very similar regardless of what you want to do after college. Take the classes that you are required to take to graduate. Try to take classes that are the most rigorous you can handle so that you can be competitive for college. Take classes that are requirements for any school you are considering applying to. Other than that, take classes that interest you and that you can do well in.
You in no way have to tailor your high school schedule to accommodate your potential major in college - you just have to find a balance between taking classes that interest you and taking classes that make you competitive relative to the rest of your graduating class. This doesn’t even mean taking the hardest science classes solely because you are interested in STEM - if you’re a history buff at heart, take AP humanities and history courses - sometimes chemists make great lawyers and English majors make great doctors. Don’t worry about college courses now - you can worry about college courses when you’re sitting with your advisor during Freshman Orientation. Just worry about getting good grades and good scores - the rest will fall into place.
I work with undeclared students who are trying to get into our University’s Pharmacy Program. The program is direct entry from high school but you can also apply after your sophomore year if you meet the requirements. The first two years of the Pharmacy program are very heavy in biology and chemistry (including 2 semester of organic chem), calculus, economics and stats. Take as many science and math classes as you can your junior and senior year and keep your GPA up. You don’t necessarily have to take all the AP’s in those areas but a background in those subjects will help your admission to a program. Also see if you can get a part time or summer job in a pharmacy or even become a certified Pharm Tech. At the very least shadow a pharmacist. Take a look at the admission requirements for the Pharmacy programs you intend on applying to. Good luck!
Heard they make a lot of money. BIG money. Take lots of science and math courses, especially AP courses. And make yourself competitive by taking high level or advance courses. Do some internships or join a program relating to pharmacy.
Check this out → http://www.aacp.org/resources/student/pharmacyforyou/admissions/admissionrequirements/Pages/default.aspx
The very last PDF on the page is a summary of PharmD prerequisites by school.
I agree, though, that there is not much you can really do in high school to prepare yourself for this. I suppose if you had some choice and the option, you could take AP Biology, Chemistry, and/or Calculus so you could make sure you were at the appropriate level to tackle those classes on the college level. But you don’t have to - I have a friend who majored in math in undergrad who hadn’t even taken pre-cal when she started college.