<p>Hello,
I'm really into pre-pharmacy...and I've been looking up some colleges. Do you guys have anything in mind? Anywhere in US is fine for me :). I'm aiming for mostly public; some private (USC, etc)...</p>
<p>Thanks :)</p>
<p>I am also looking into pre-pharm, I have to stay in-state but these are the two schools I am looking into applying to that have the pre-pharm and the Pharmacy school UNC-CH and Campbell University. The other schools I am looking at are state schools where I can get the needed pre-requesites and then apply to UNC’s or Campbell’s Pharm schools.</p>
<p>In my opinion, don’t take Pre-anything as a major. You could major in a real academic subject and just take additional courses to supplement your application. </p>
<p>If you change your mind about being a pharmacist (and many, many do) than you’d want a major where you’d have other options.</p>
<p>OP, what are your stats? Are you looking for 0-6 or 2+4 programs? Are there good instate schools which would give you preference? Do you know how much you have available to spend on your degree and what level of debt would be okay with you (and your parents)? This last is important, PharmD is not an inexpensive degree even at the publics and could play a big role in how you form your college list!</p>
<p>Gryffon, pre-pharmacy is not a major, it’s an advising track and many pharmacists do the 2-3 years of required pre-reqs and then start their 3-4 year PharmD. The pre-pharm track is very similar to premed and does allow those who change their minds to declare a major and finish their BS if desired. Because requirements vary between pharm schools and it’s usually necessary to take the PCAT and apply through PharmCAS with relevant experience and LOR’s, the advising track can be a big benefit.</p>
<p>i really have absolutely no previous knowledge about pre-pharm…</p>
<p>but i do know that one of my friends is going to the university of pittsburgh for pharmacy. i’m assuming it’s pre-pharm? i think pitt is also quite generous; that friend included, i know 2 people who have gotten full rides to pitt and were also accepted by the honors college. :D</p>
<p>Im also interested in pre-pharmacy, but i dont know which school to apply to. Does anyone know any good schools i could get into. I have 3.73 GPA, 24/297 in my class,took 2 AP classes(calc Ab,Stats),a couple of honors, and a 21 on ACT. Thanks.</p>
<p>Looks like UCONN has you do 2 years, then you apply to the PharmD Program for the 4 years, so this is a 2+4 program. </p>
<p>UCONN also has an Honors Program if you have outstanding stats & can get into it. </p>
<p>OOS students now pay about 35K for UCONN, I am surprised how much it has gone up & my D graduated in 2007.</p>
<p>Silvestre, you should really consider retaking your ACT or taking the SAT instead. That looks like a mismatched score compared to your gpa, and will take you out of the merit money (and likely the admissions) pool at many schools!</p>
<p>Since there seems to be several people looking into pre-pharmacy/PharmD programs, and we just went through the selection and app process this year, I’ll load you up with links and stuff we learned to help you figure it out:</p>
<ol>
<li> Do not assume that college rankings (ie USNWR) mean anything when it comes to pharmD programs. The AACP doesn’t endorse any rankings and any that you see are likely related to research funding for the school of pharmacy. Ditto for selectivity and “average stats of accepted candidates” type info. Some of the least selective schools, overall, are the most selective for PharmD and have much higher requirements than other majors. This is particularly true for the 0-6 schools. One good way to “rank” schools is based on actual success of grads passing the mandatory NAPLEX exam which can be found here:
<a href=“http://www.nabp.net/ftpfiles/bulletins/NaplexSPR.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nabp.net/ftpfiles/bulletins/NaplexSPR.pdf</a></li>
</ol>
<p>Also, you can find their accredidation history, and of course the usual tuition, geography, program size, facilities, etc. info quite easily on the AACP and college websites.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>PharmD programs are classified as 0-6 or 2+4. Due to recent changes in AACP standards, there are less than a dozen 0-6 schools left, where you are guaranteed a spot all the way through provided you maintain a certain gpa (generally 2.5-3.0). The curriculum is rigid and demanding, it won’t be as easy as it sounds. The list of 0-6 schools is here, along with detailed explanations of the other options such as early assurance:
[AACP</a> - Admissions](<a href=“http://www.aacp.org/resources/student/pharmacyforyou/admissions/Pages/default.aspx#06andearlyassuranceprograms]AACP”>http://www.aacp.org/resources/student/pharmacyforyou/admissions/Pages/default.aspx#06andearlyassuranceprograms)</p></li>
<li><p>While you can take your pre-requisites at any school, even a CC, then take the PCAT and apply to PharmD programs, you’ll find that the pre-requisites vary by school and you’ll also need relevant pharmacy experience and professional LOR’s to be accepted at most places. Also, the current trend among the leading schools seem to be toward increasing requirements and admitting more students with B.S. degrees. Not to the exclusion of pre-pharms, but it may be easier (and cheaper) in the long run to do your prereqs at a school which has a PharmD and gives early assurance or at least preference to their own. The detail on each pharmacy school’s requirements is here, alphabetically by state, or you can click around on aacp.org and find the interactive map:
<a href=“http://www.aacp.org/resources/student/pharmacyforyou/admissions/Documents/SchoolAdmissionReqs.pdf[/url]”>http://www.aacp.org/resources/student/pharmacyforyou/admissions/Documents/SchoolAdmissionReqs.pdf</a></p></li>
<li><p>Getting a PharmD will be expensive. Most schools will only consider you an undergrad for the first 3-4 years (this varies by school), but your costs will often go up as soon as you’re done with your pre-reqs and in professional year 1. There is no special funding available for pharmacy, aside from certain scholarships the school might have and the Health Professions Loan, which not all schools participate in. As soon as you’re no longer an undergrad, you’ll be considered a grad student (even though you may have no degree at all yet) and any federal/state grant aid will go away. You will be eligible for lots of loans though:) Unless your parents intend to fund a large part of your college costs, it would be a good idea to look at your instate public universities and/or schools who offer merit aid (often this isn’t reduced in comparison to other students there, but at a few schools, like Butler, it isn’t as generous for pharmacy as English majors). Try to keep your loans down in the early years - even though pharmacists have very good prospects, it’s a long road and you won’t want to be neck deep in debt if you change your mind in 3 years!</p></li>
<li><p>There’s a lot of good info on the SDN forums, but try to read the sticky’s and search/read posts before asking alot of questions of the pharmacy students. The prepharms get a little testy sometimes with HS kids asking first instead of doing their own research! But they can be a true gold mine of info and will respond to PM’s (if asked about their own experience with X Univ.) There is a high school forum, and they will respond less rudely there for some reason!
[Student</a> Doctor Network Forums](<a href=“http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/index.php]Student”>http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/index.php)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>This is probably slightly off-topic from the OP’s initial question, but it came to mind when I read sk8rmom’s (awesome!) post. I’ve heard that pharmacy schools don’t typically admit students with a community college background. I have no idea if this is true or false. Can anybody confirm or deny this rumor?</p>
<p>Don’t know for sure about the CC background, but I did meet a kid from CC at my S’s school, who was doing a Pharmacy School and University tour. He had a 4.0 at CC, but very disappointing PCAT scores. He felt that his organic, calculus and some of his other prerequisite classes at CC were not as competitive as classes offered by a 4-year college, and was hoping that his 4.0 would offset the low PCAT score. The PCAT is the great leveler…doesn’t matter what school you go to, if you can get a great PCAT score.</p>
<p>Isu, that probably varies by school. The school neonzeus’s S attends (which my D will also attend) does not allow CC classes for prereqs under early assurance and stipulates that they must be taken at 4 year college. Of course, EA applies only to enrolled pre-pharmacy students there, but in effect they’re saying no to summer classes at CC’s for prereqs. However, they will accept students who took their prereqs entirely at a CC, as long as there is course articulation (which they offer via Taurus), but unless the CC has a known and good rep with the pharm school, it seems there may be questions as to whether the CC courses were sufficient. </p>
<p>There is a lengthy thread here on SDN, with several adcom members responding, which discusses CC courses and other aspects of the pharmacy school admission process. It seems to be the consensus of the adcoms that taking the harder math/science courses at CC level gives the appearance of “taking the easy way out”, at least that was my impression, and may affect their admission chances:
[Have</a> questions? Ask an Admissions Committee Member - Student Doctor Network Forums](<a href=“Have questions? Ask an Admissions Committee Member | Student Doctor Network”>Have questions? Ask an Admissions Committee Member | Student Doctor Network)</p>
<p>Also, the poster named Admissions has a blog with several other adcom members, here:
[Pharmacy</a> School Admissions - The Truth: April 2009](<a href=“http://pharmacyschooladmissions.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html]Pharmacy”>Pharmacy School Admissions - The Truth: April 2009)</p>
<p>One thing I forgot to mention above is that many, perhaps even most, pharmacy schools will NOT accept AP credit for their math/science prereqs. Not a bad thing to take in HS as it will show you can handle a rigorous courseload, but you might want to consider taking more AP/dual enrollment gen-ed classes to offload your freshman/soph schedule.</p>
<p>I am a pharmacy student enrolled at the Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy which is a 0-6 year pharmacy program. I will be happy to answer any questions you have about pharmacy, i’ll be checking back here so just post away.</p>
<p>I noticed (and appreciate) that someone linked to our blog. We provide a totally free service to anyone interested in applying to pharmacy school and can probably answer a lot of questions for anyone interested in any professional or graduate school.</p>
<p>Please take a look at our blog and send us an email if you have questions.</p>
<p>[Pharmacy</a> School Admissions - The Truth](<a href=“http://www.pharmacyschooladmissions.blogspot.com%5DPharmacy”>http://www.pharmacyschooladmissions.blogspot.com)</p>
<p>Best-
Admissions</p>
<p>I want to get in to a 6 year pharmacy program such as Rutgers pharmacy, University of Pacific, albany, and slucop. I know that albany requires an interview for admission to the college and then another interview for the admission into the professional years of pharmacy…what colleges don’t require an interview for admission in general???
please help me out…</p>
<p>Pitt and Rutgers both don’t require interviews for general admission into the six year program. I’m a student at Rutgers, and they do interview you after your second preprofessional year right before you enter the professional years (pharmacy school).</p>
<p>Dellcomp, ACP did not require an interview for freshman admissions last year so either this is new or you should double check their requirements. Albany is not a 0-6 school anymore. Other schools that didn’t require them were USP and MCPHS. Pitt isn’t a 0-6 school, though they may have early assurance. Most 2+4 schools don’t require interviews for freshmen. I believe all require interviews before the official acceptance to pharmacy school. </p>
<p>Sk8rgirl had to do one interview (Wilkes) last year for freshman admissions. She was quite nervous but said it was very relaxed and informative. They talked about career paths for pharmacists, her high school classes, outside interests, etc. and it was just an opportunity for them to get to know her a bit better and likewise. If the asst. dean asked a question that she didn’t understand or have an opinion about, she simply said so and his comments led her to believe that the interview was completely successful. The point is, they probably aren’t expecting anything more than an interested, somewhat articulate, high school senior so don’t let an interview deter you from applying to a school you’re interested in! If nothing else, it will give you lots more insight into the school and a bit of interview practice.</p>
<p>Auburn U (public) has both pre-pharm and pharm (combined program), and it’s not as expensive for OOS as others.</p>
<p>Samford U (small private) very good pre-pharm and pharm (combined program). Undergrad is cheaper than most privates. Don’t know about pharm school costs.</p>
<p>Both have very lovely campuses, strong academics, and friendly students. </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>^^
just wanted to add…</p>
<p>If money is an issue, I suggest that you do what my son’s GF is doing. She’s going to a good state school (has med school, but no pharm school) for 3 years and then moving into pharm school at a more expensive cost. </p>
<p>Of course, you have to select a school that has a prepharm program for those 3 years that the pharm school will accept. Her present school has such a 3 year curriculum that allows her to then move to a pharm school. She’s saving a lot of money that way, since she has free tuition plus dorm $$ at her present school.</p>
<p>Mom2, it sounds like dellcomp is looking for a 0-6 program where admissions is “guaranteed”. These are the only schools currently offering such programs:</p>
<p>Massachusetts College of Pharmacy - Boston
Northeastern University
Ohio Northern University
University of the Sciences Philadelphia
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey<br>
St. John’s University
St. Louis College of Pharmacy
The University of Findlay
University of Rhode Island</p>