Sunday, August 23, 2009

Question about electives and upper division courses

Question: Hi I am an undergraduate Biology student and want to attend Pharmacy School after I finish my BS. I was wondering if you recommend taking Biochemistry and Microbiology along with all of the pre-pharmacy requirements or are there other upper division electives that I should take instead? Thank you.



Answer: If your plan is to complete your BS Biology prior to applying to pharmacy school, I would imagine that you will be required to take Biochem and Micro as part of your required coursework to complete your degree. Is that correct? Certainly having completed rigorous courses such as those mentioned would be beneficial (if you do well in them) when an admissions committee is reviewing your file.

I suspect that during your first year of pharmacy school you would be required you to take Biochem and Micro, so you would be well ahead of the curve in those classes. I don't know anything about your current academic path, but it would be very acceptable for you to apply prior to earning your BS if you wanted to. Many students do exactly that. Applying after the second year of undergraduate studies is common. If you aren't accepted at that time, you can complete your BS and try again two year later.

If you elect to complete your BS first, any advanced math or science courses will be looked upon favoravbly by a committee. However, be intelligent in your choices and make sure that you can be successful in the classes chosen. Better to not register for a class than to drop it half way through because it is too time consuming, difficult, or unintertesting.

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