<p>Is there any advantage to applying as a "pre-" something (like pre-med, pre-pharmacy, pre-PT, pre-dental, etc)? Can anybody take the prerequesites for these majors and apply to the programs later? Do the people admitted as a "pre-" something have any advantage in ultimate admission to the professional schools?</p>
<p>1) Yes, because then you can ENSURE that you are taking the right prerequisites for grad school.
2) Yes
3) It's not an advantage per se, because you ARE admitted to the professional schools. If you indicate "pre-" as your major, you can be selected for conditional graduate school acceptance.</p>
<p>If you take your two years of prerequisites, are you automatically admitted into the professional school only if you get the conditional acceptance? Otherwise you have to apply after two years?</p>
<p>uhhhmm, i'm not sure. i just know that the conditional acceptance is for graduate school, which is after 4 years of study.</p>
<p>I would advise against applying as a "pre-" major. Conditional acceptance is just that: conditional. If you lose your acceptance, don't get into any other schools, or change your mind, you could end up with a next to useless bachelor's degree after four years of hard work. If you're thinking about a professional school like pharmacy, dentistry, or medical, you can talk to your adviser to make sure you're on track and meeting all the requirements to be considered when application time comes. Most schools also have an adviser for each pre-**** program, who will help you along the way as well. Your best bet is to major in something science-related and make sure you take the required classes for whatever professional school you want to go to. If, for whatever reason, you end up not going, you'll still have a useful degree that will give you more job opportunities than a basic B.S., and you can always go to grad school to get an M.S. or PhD.</p>
<p>And the accelerated programs sound good in theory because you can get your terminal degree in a shorter amount of time, but they do have a few disadvantages. Most of the programs are so intense that you take overloads every semester and go to school in the summers, which might not be a bad thing if you're doing it for a dual major or just to learn more, but in these programs you do it to get all the prerequisites that you need. You only have to spend 2 or 3 years in undergrad, but by rushing through college, focused on science and math, just to get to a professional school, you may miss out on everything else college has to offer. I would much rather go for 4 years and enjoy college, because you while you can rush to get a degree, you can't rush maturity and experience.</p>
<p>^ Why would you end up with a next to useless bachelor's degree? I get to pick my undergrad major with conditional acceptance. How is that any less useful? With conditional acceptance, I can still pick to have an undergrad in Nutrition (example) and have that guarantee to graduate school as long as I take the prerequisites... because aren't pre-** programs not majors? Like you can't major in pre-physical therapy; it's just an area of concentration. So for me, I could major in Nutrition with a concentration of pre-physical therapy. That means that I'll have a nutrition undergrad, with additional physical therapy courses (that are not part of the nutrition program like physics I & II) which will qualify me for graduate school. I assumed that's how Pitt works since that is how it works at a lot of schools.</p>
<p>"If you take your two years of prerequisites, are you automatically admitted into the professional school only if you get the conditional acceptance? Otherwise you have to apply after two years?"</p>
<p>The pre-xxx's are generally advising tracks, not majors. The pharmacy programs that we've looked at with conditional guarantees do require that you declare as pre-pharmacy. Starting with a different major does not give you conditional acceptance. Pre-pharmacy means you get a pharmacy advisor who helps you stay on track and fulfill the requirements, which may be more than just gpa and coursework, to advance to professional school. If the requirements aren't fully met the guarantee is void and then you apply to professional school with the regular pool of applicants, often after an additional year of coursework, taking the PCAT, etc. You still have the option of finishing your bachelor's degree in a declared major (Chem, Bio, Pharm, etc.) before applying, and many people are doing just that. So, you can take the pre-requisite coursework and apply without specifying "pre-pharmacy", but it likely won't get you a guarantee, you'll miss out on the advising, and will probably be subject to additional requirements (PCAT, interview, etc.).</p>
<p>hakuna_matata, that would be the smart thing to do. I was referring to declaring your major as "pre-<strong><em>" if the school has that as a major. If it is an advising track or interest, then yes, it is good to make sure that you are involved with the adviser and taking the pre-requisite courses. Majoring in a pre-</em></strong> program could be dangerous because you might not meet the requirements for any degrees other than a generic B.S.</p>