Requirements for Pharmacy Programs

Hello! I’m a freshman in high school right now, and I lately took an interest to a career in pharmacy. Right now, I’m strongly considering to do a 6 year PharmD program at Northwestern or USciences. What would I need (GPA, SAT, etc) to be a competitive applicant? I know that it’s very early to be thinking about this stuff, but I like to be prepared. Also, if anyone went to those schools, can you please tell me what your experience was like? Thank you :slight_smile:

I would strongly suggest that you shadow a pharmacist and maybe get a job in a pharmacy in the next few years.

Get good grades in high school, especially in science classes.
Do some SAT prep.

Ohio Northern is a 6 year PharmD program and gives some merit.

Northwestern can be expensive if you don’t qualify for need-based aid or merit, but they do have a good coop program.

USciences is also pricey.

I would look into doing pre-pharmacy at a local public school to save money and then go to an instate 4 year PharmD program.

To be a competitive applicant, you would probably need close to a 4.0 unweighted high school GPA which includes courses in biology, chemistry, physics, calculus and the more rigorous honors/AP courses. This is at least for a competitive schools such as University of Pacific (UOP) in CA. I am sure the same for other competitive programs around the country.

My wife’s a pharmacist who just retired after 25 years with a major pharmacy corporation. I know you didn’t ask for this, but just so you’re aware, there’s an oversupply of pharmacists than the demand right now and has been for some years. Of course, things might change in the future, so I don’t want to discourage you from following your career path, but something to be aware of. You don’t want to be encumbered with $200K-300K of loan and without a job after graduating.