Community College Question

Question: Do you guys consider the difficulty of the school where prerequisites were completed? Would you view a 3.5 at a top-tier school the same as a 3.5 at a community college?


Answer: We have addressed this before, but the question is asked in one form or another somewhat frequently. The honest answer is, no, we would not look at a top tier univeristy and a Community College the same. However, the difference between a low end 4 year school and a CC might not be looked at too differently.

We have admitted an applicant with a 2.0 from Berkeley and rejected a 4.0 from a Community College before. I know students reading this who are taking their prerequisites at a community or junior college won't like reading this, but please understand: In many cases, we put great emphasis on the courseload a student takes. Typically, at a 4 yr univeristy a student takes 15-18 hours per semester (or equivalent) which shows they can handle the load of pharmacy school. Oftentimes, a CC student takes 1-2 courses at a time and does very well, but it may be a poor predictor of success for pharmacy school because they aren't prepared for the courseload of 17-18 semester hours that pharmacy school demands.