Pharmacy school application questions

Question: I have a BS in chemistry. My overall GPA is 2.75. My pre-pharmacy math/science GPA is 2.88. Since some schools give you an exempt from core curriculum (such as history, government, social sciences, etc.) are they going to look at my overall GPA or just the math/science GPA ? I have mostly B's, 4 C's and 3 A's in math/science.

Some schools take an average grade if you retake some classes. So if I manage to replace those C's, I can get a 3.0 math/science GPA. With a low 2.75 overall GPA, should I bother to try ? I have lots of research experience and no pharmacy experience. Do the administration look at research experience ? What's the minimum pharmacy experience that I should have ( a year, a semester ) ?


Answer: I can only speak to my experience, but I believe it to be similar to most schools. We look at the overall GPA, with emphasis on the science and math prereqs. If you failed a civics or government class as a freshman, this won't ruin your application.

As far as retaking classes, we don't take the "average", but we count both grades (which essentially averages them). In a blog entry, this was addressed. If you get the chance, you can review the previous entries and check it out. Certainly, I believe that improving your GPA > 3.0 would be beneficial. (see link:
http://pharmacyschooladmissions.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-is-good-gpa-to-get-into-pharmacy.html)

Different AdComs look at research experience differently. Personally, I don't look at it as being all that helpful to one's application. However, I know some members who do. Pharmacy experience would be preferred.

As far as how much pharmacy experience? The more, the better. But, even one day of shadowing is better than nothing. For more information on pharmacy experience, you can use the search function above and find quite a few posts on the topic.

Good luck.