<p>I am a high school senior about to graduate soon, class of 2014! and I would like to become a Pharmacist in the near future. What are the steps of being a Pharmacist? I was thinking of being a Pharmacy Technician first with the Associate Degree and start working and get some experience at least, and then I will transfer to a Pharmacy School.
Thank you for answering my question.</p>
<p>Pharmacy is at least a 6 year program. You can earn a BS degree and then go for 3 more years of grad school to earn your PharmD doctoral degree. (There are a few pharmacy school programs where you apply as a college freshman, and might be able to graduate in 6 years.) There are also programs where you apply after you have met college level prerequisites, so you would take 2-3-4 years of undergraduate classes and then apply to the School of Pharmacy upper level program. Prerequisites vary by school, but typically include subjects like chemistry, calculus, biology, anatomy, micro or macroeconomics, and organic chemistry. Some schools of pharmacy only accept applicants from their own undergraduates.</p>
<p>Some schools also require a PCAT exam for admission, which is an exam like the SATs but with a math, science and vocabulary focus. An interview is also a requirement. </p>
<p>Applications for pharmacy schools are very, very competitive. My kid’s prepharmacy friends as freshmen were weeded out if their math SATs were below 650+ because of the tough college level math and science prerequisites. His entering class had a GPA of about 3.5, but he heard that other schools were a little lower. It’s obviously tough to earn a high gpa when you’re taking classes in organic chemistry, calculus etc. Some schools grade those classes on a curve, so the majority of students end up earning Cs. </p>
<p>A lot of premed kids try to get into pharmacy school or physician assistant programs as a backup to med school.</p>
<p>You’ll have to research some pharmacy schools and look at their prerequisites, to see if you can work towards them when you’re earning your A.S. degree. </p>
<p>One more note: At least in my kid’s school, AP credits could not be applied to meet math or science prereqs.</p>