<p>I'm going to be a freshman at Towson University and plan on majoring in Chemistry. My goal is to gain admittance into a pharmacy school between the end of sophomore year and finishing my BS.</p>
<p>My questions are:</p>
<p>1.) Is the BS in Chemistry the best choice for pharmacy, or should I major in something else. I know that it doesn't matter what you major in, as long as you take the pre-reqs. I just want to look competitive and have a good major.</p>
<p>2.) If I do not get into pharmacy school right after graduation, does a BS in Chemistry have more career opportunities and higher salary compared to other sciences like bio, biochem, molec. bio, etc.? ( I know that I would probably need to get a MS if I do not pursue Pharmacy) I wan't to be safe in terms or jobs if I do not pursue Pharmacy.</p>
<p>3.) How hard is a Chemistry major compared to other sciences, and is it worth it?</p>
<p>Sorry if the questions are opinionated and unclear; I'm just kind of nervous for my future. :/
Please give any other tips and ideas that may help me out and give me insight. Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>I would think about chemical engineering if possible. Job prospects for a Chemical engineer are better than a chemist.</p>
<ol>
<li>Pharmacy schools don’t particularly care about your major. That being said, almost everyone chooses bio or chem. Pharmacy itself is more chemistry based so if you like chem, pharm can be a good choice. Looking competitive is going to be grades for pre-reqs /PCAT/ pharmacy experience</li>
<li>Sorry don’t know much. I think payscale can look at majors though…</li>
<li>It is suppose to be harder but it depends on the person. Chemistry has a lot of math, bio has a lot of memorizing. A chem major is typically along the lines of just taking chem and not biology classes (it varies by school though). Bio major doesn’t take p chem (you don’t need for pharm school) and has other classes you’d need for pharmacy (namely bio, phys, anatomy, microbio)</li>
</ol>
<p>Hoped that helped!</p>
<p>Pharma is pretty much like a premed, so majors don’t really matter too much. Not my area of expertise, so ask someone else.
I can definitely tell you that chemistry is a field to avoid like the plague. The industry has been on the decline for the past 20, possibly 30-40 years, and it’s not getting better in the foreseeable future. ChemE is still doing decent, but it’s 2-3 orders of magnitude more difficult. Much more physics, high level math, etc.</p>
<p>you don’t need a Bachelors degree to get into pharmaceutical school</p>
<p>Pharmacy schools actually prefer non-science majors such as English. However, there is no fallback with a non-science major if you fail to get into pharm school.</p>
<p>I cannot attest to pay scale or employment percentages for other fields, but that being said major in whatever you can see yourself doing in case pharmacy doesn’t pan out for you. Also, the more interested you are in it, chances are the “easier” it will be for you to get a good GPA. If that major doesn’t happen to fall into a hard/wet science, then you just take the prerequisite classes on top of your classes for your major.</p>
<p>I think what siobhandem said regarding PharmD programs preferring non-science majors is false (although I’m not an AdComm member, so who knows). Showing that you can do well with a heavy science course-load will be looked upon favorably by AdComms since that’s essentially what pharmacy school will entail, albeit on a doctorate vs bachelors level. Edit: …but is by no means necessary to major in a science. As long as you can prove yourself with your overall GPA, prereq GPA, PCAT (if required) and the other admission criteria you’re good to go.</p>
<p>Moutaingirl5 also said you don’t need a BA/BS to get into a pharmD program, which is generally true, but some schools all but require one (i.e. they 90%+ of their matriculates have a BA/BS or higher). Look at the class profiles for PharmD program that you’re interested in and see what they require for matriculation.</p>