<p>Right now I'm a sophmore, chemistry major in spring quarter. My GPA is a 3.62. This is due to the horrible grades I got for the first two quarters of my freshman year. I wish I didn't but...I did. Here are my classes and their grades. I didn't put the names of the classes for my college but I put what they are considered in other colleges. By the way I go to UCLA.</p>
<p>1st quarter:
GE: A
multivariable calc1: C
General Chem 1: A+</p>
<p>2nd quarter
General Chem 2: B
Physics Mechanics: B
General Chem Lab: C
Multivariable calc 2 : C+</p>
<p>3rd quarter:
Ochem 1: A+
Linear Algebra: A+
Physics E&M: A+</p>
<p>Summer classes:
Physics relativity: A+</p>
<p>Sophmore year 1st quarter:
Ochem Lab: A+
Ochem 2: A+
Differential Equations: A+
Physics Lab: A+</p>
<p>2nd quarter:
Ochem 3: A+
Ochem Lab 2: A+
GE: A+
Life Science 1: A+</p>
<p>I've been working at a organic chemistry lab concerned with synthesis of various pharmaceuticals since the summer following my freshman year. I feel that the 3 C's will definitely bring down my chances and maybe keep my out of pharm school. I may also look at grad school programs for organic chemistry but I don't even know how will I do in the appplication process there with my grades. I'm hoping to keep the straight A's until I graduate. What do you think I should do to improve my chances.</p>
<p>Stop sweating it. It most likely won’t bring down your chances, especially considering that a 3.6 is competitive for most schools and you have the benefit of showing an upward trend in your grades. If you are well-rounded in other areas, your application essays and interviews are good then I’d say you have a very good chance of getting in at least somewhere.</p>
<p>Since you go to UCLA, I’m guessing you may want to go to a CA school, which is more competitive than many other places in the country. (After all, who doesn’t want to live in CA for 4 years?). I’d say you still have a good shot, though. Check out school admissions pages to see what their average admissions stats are. If you are looking at schools outside of CA make sure to see if they require you to take the PCAT.</p>
<p>You have the research experience going for you. It’d be even better if you can squeeze in some work experience (especially in a pharmacy), volunteering, leadership, etc. Getting into pharmacy school is not all about the academic side of things.</p>
<p>A 3.6 is wonderful! I agree with ranza003-stop sweating your freshman grades. Pharmacy schools look at upward trends. My son failed Org Chem II and had a few C’s, but still got into pharmacy school for this fall-a very good pharmacy school! He got an 84 on his PCAT, and this really helped.
When he showed up for his interview along with the other interviewees, the school rep asked if anyone there had pharmacy experience and not one hand went up!
What you need to do now is take the PCAT in order to allow yourself time to take it again if you don’t do well the first time.
You also need to get your references lined up NOW. My son’s PharmCAS application was held up for months because he waited so late to contact professors and had a difficult time getting one to give him a recommendation. He got A’s in these profs’ classes, but several of them said they didn’t know him well enough to give him a rec.
Also-PharmCAS-the ‘Common App’ of the pharmacy world-recalculates your GPA based on their own GPA system which includes all failed courses as well-even if you retook them! By the time PharmCAS recalculated his GPA, he went from a 3.6 at his college to a 3.4-and he still got in to pharmacy school! Get on the PharmCAS site and check it out.
Know also the prereqs for all the pharmacy schools you may want to go to, and be sure to get them done.
Keep in mind that many state pharmacy schools offer instate tuition, so the price difference to go out of state can be substantial and it’s the same degree. Find a state school with instate tuition.
Your lab work will help strengthen your resume, along with providing you with a reference from your supervisor. Get on and look at the questions that the recommender will be asked and answer them in essay form and give them to your recommender. This really helps them to write your recommendation essay.
I think that my son’s work history helped his application, and he didn’t even work in a medical field. He got one of his references from his boss.
He also set up a tour of the pharmacy school that he really wanted to go to and met with the director of student services at the same time. The director told him that his school really just looks at the chemistry and biology portions of the PCAT, and my son’s were really high-an 88 and 96 respectively. Get in and meet people.
A LOT of getting into pharmacy school is actually GPA-especially in your science classes which will be calculated separately by PharmCAS, and PCAT scores. After all, the admissions committee wants to be sure that the students they admit will be able to handle the difficult classes.
Good luck!</p>