<p>Sorry, there isn't a board for pharmacy so I picked this one...</p>
<p>I'm at Umass, and I wanted to be pre-med but now I want to be a pharmacist. Umass does not have a pre-pharmacy program. Should I transfer next year to a school that has a pre-pharm program?
The problem is, most pre-pharm programs are 2 years long (2+4), and I was thinking of getting a B.S. before applying to grad school. What are my options?</p>
<p>Most Pharmacy schools have a standard set of prereq’s just like Med School though apparently not all schools require the PCAT so you need to look at some of the programs you might be interested. </p>
<p>I don’t think you at a particular disadvantage applying from a school without a specific Pre-pharm program as long you meet all the typical requirements (and make the grades). I can’t imagine that someone with a full B.S degree would be at a disadvantage in the admissions process vs those in the 2+4 or 3+4 programs (other than the handful of spots that are reserved for their Early Assurance admissions). Several of the Pharmacy programs have FAQ’s at their site that strangely read like they were written off the same script.</p>
<p>A lot of schools without specific pre-pharmacy programs have strong connections with local/regional Pharmacy schools and can help coordinate so check with your Counselors or Pre-Prof advisors.</p>
<p>I suggest that you look at every pharmacy school, and you will be surprised. The BS track is becoming increasingly common. Some schools, such as U-Washington, actually require a BS. I think that the reasons for this is that (1) the schools are adding more prereqs; and (2) schools have different prereqs, so that applicants have to take more classes if they will be applying to different programs.</p>
<p>This is a major that requires a lot of research, since you aren’t already on the pharmacy track at a particular school. My kid ended up doing a spreadsheet of the requirements at the schools that he was interested in, and checking off the prereqs to make sure that he was eligible to apply. He did find some pharmacy schools that required a BS, and others that only accepted students from their own undergrad programs like UCONN and UToledo. If you really want one of the latter schools, you’d have to transfer in order to apply there. Again, though, you have to research to find out how many credits you have to actually earn at that school to be eligible to apply to their pharmacy program. </p>
<p>My kid’s pharmacy class does have some students who applied after getting their B.S. degrees. It was important to do well on the PCATs. The Student Doctor Network forums have good pharmacy applicant boards where there’s a lot of helpful advice.</p>