<p>I was just wondering what my chances were for pharmacy school. I pretty much messed up freshman year of college with a gpa of 1.0. Now I am a sophomore and now i realize the huge mistake that i made. I was just wondering if I still have a chance to get into a pharmacy school. If I get straight A's, make up all the classes I failed, do well on the PCAT, and get recommendation letters do you think I still have a chance?</p>
<p>Another question, I attend CSUN and to most people it may seem that I am not motivated and lazy due to the grades I got and I can't say anything. My actions show the results. But now as a sophomore I am highly motivated and was wondering the chances I had to transfer to USC TAP program. Please be straight up with me. Please tell me what my chances are. I know it's a long shot to go for this because of my current situation but I just want to know what my chances are. Thank you</p>
<p>If you want it badly enough, you will find a way. I’m not going to lie; it’s going to be ****ing hard. Not just “Oh man, I need to cram for two tests this weekend” hard, try three years of sustained overachieving. Since you screwed up year one, you’re going to have to do a WHOLE lot more in the next three years than most of your peers will do. </p>
<p>First step is raise your GPA. GPA isn’t the sole decider but it is important. Take max credit hours and get straight As.</p>
<p>Second, study for your PCAT NOW. From what I understand, you need an EXCELLENT score so you might as well get your hands on ever single practice exam you can find, buy, or steal and start taking them.</p>
<p>Third, assuming you’re good enough at the stuff you learn later, you need something to make your application stand out. My way is to do research with a few professors during the year, but I’m a physics major. There may be something similar for you, or there may not but if there is, I’d take it. If you don’t know much, though, I wouldn’t bother pestering professors to help out with their research. A professor would want someone who can grasp basic concepts and who’s fairly bright, not someone they have to hand-hold because their learning style is slow and shallow.</p>
<p>You can still get in, sure, but it will take a lot of effort, like I said. Not a weekend, not a semester, but for the rest of your academic life. Full load courses that you need to get As in, PCAT studying every week until the exam, and extra work to raise your application’s appeal. If you want it that badly and you’re not a slow student, go for it. People have gotten in with worse, I’m sure. But make no mistake; it is a major mistake and you will have to seriously make up for it.</p>
<p>Is there any way you could retake a few of those freshmen classes in the summer or somewhere else in your schedule (but do NOT take them in place of other classes) so that you could raise your GPA from these classes a little bit?</p>
<p>Truly, I think it’s a bit early to start studying for the PCAT. Put those hours into acing your pre-reqs instead and, more important, really understanding the concepts you’re learning.</p>
<p>Ideally, you want to end up with a 3.5 in your math/sciences and as high an overall gpa as possible to be the best candidate. You will have to retake any prereqs that you got below a C in alreay. When you’ve taken Gen Bio, Gen Chem, Calculus, and at least one semester of O Chem, then you should prep hard for the PCAT if your intended school requires it (not all do, especially the CA/Pacific NW schools). You can always take a PCAT prep course if it will help you focus and fill in any blanks - pricey, but may be worth it. You can see what types of scores are competitve for each school by looking at the school pages on pharmcas.</p>
<p>PharmCAS will calculate the failed classes, and the retakes, for your gpa and there’s no getting around that. But not every pharmacy school uses the PharmCAS gpa, not all participate in PharmCAS, and some schools like USN offer academic forgiveness. You’ll want to briefly address the poor freshman year in your personal statement - what the reasons were, what you learned from it, etc. - but a strong upward trend should carry alot of weight with the adcom. If you can get some decent LOR’s, and some pharmacy or healthcare experience (even shadowing/volunteering), there’s no reason to think you wouldn’t get some offers.</p>
<p>So…it’s too early to throw in the towel if pharmacy is what you really want. Just stay focused and work very hard!</p>
<p>One last thought, try to join some pharmacy activities - pre-pharm club is one. Use your school’s resources to the fullest - student support services, office hours, study centers, etc. If your school offers it and you’re living on campus, maybe a health sciences LLC would be a good idea. If not, try to find a study group (or start one) with other pre-pharms/health majors. The point is, surround yourself with math/sci people who are focused and taking difficult classes. Not to slight liberal arts and business majors, but the science kids are not going to make you hate your life as much because of the workload as hanging with the other types will!</p>