<p>Hey guys, so I was doing a little bit of searching but couldn't find specific information regarding my situation. I am 23 years old and graduated from UCR with a BA in Media and Cultural Studies. I spent some time interning at photography studios and working part time at other photography jobs. During this time I realized that as much as I love photography, I would much rather enjoy it as an intense hobby, rather than as a professional career. I would love to pursue a career as a pharmacist. I was wondering if I still have good chances of getting into pharmacy school if I take all of my prerequisites at a community college. At UCR I graduated with a GPA of 2.75. I plan on doing extremely well in all of my classes at community college. Is this the best route for me? Should I get another bachelor's degree or should I just take the necessary pre-requisites? Will my application still be competitive even though I am taking all of the science and math classes at community college? Any information would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>I already posted this on your other thread in the graduate forum, but I figured I’d re-post here for those that may have the same question but don’t see the other post:</p>
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<p>Your already lower GPA will probably count against you, but if you do very well with your pre-reqs you should be able to off-set it. You have to report all grades from all schools on PharmCAS, so you can’t just disregard them.</p>
<p>Some schools have a strong preference for non-CC classes and some less so. Same thing with degrees. Some schools prefer degrees and some just look for pre-reqs. <strong><em>I would definitely call the schools that you are interested in and ask them what their take is on your whole situation.</em></strong> See if you can set up a meeting with an admissions counselor if possible. That you already have a degree may also exempt you from taking a class or two (most likely intro level English comp., if anything), so check into that.</p>
<p>Make sure you get some experience in at least a few pharmacies before committing to this long and potentially expensive route if you have not already. Shadow, work, volunteer, etc. in a few different settings since they all bring something different to the table. Competition for jobs is getting or is already stiff depending on where you want to work, and will most likely only be worse by the time you graduate (probably at least six years from now). Not like the job market isn’t like that for many other professions/trades as well.</p>
<p>If you recently graduated with a 2.75, how have you changed your academic habits so that you can certainly “(do) extremely well at all (your) classes at community college”?</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. I will definitely start calling some pharmacy schools. As far as the non-science pre-reqs, I’m pretty sure that I have already fulfilled them at UCR. I believe that I will do well at my classes at community college because I am now more mature and will have a lot more dedication when it comes to my studies. Of course, actions speak louder than words.</p>