Thursday, June 2, 2011

How can I overcome poor grades in undergrad?

Question: How do pharmacy schools view applicants who have already done poorly in pre-requisites but then retake them in post-baccalaureate programs? Should I retake these courses only, or should I also take other upper-division courses I've never attempted (as in academic enhancer track type versions of post-bac programs)? Or am I just taking this all too seriously?

Answer: We have many applicants who are transitioning to pharmacy from other professions and we also have many who always had an interested in pharmacy, but were unprepared or unqualified during their undergraduate studies. I appreciate the way that you acknowledged and accepted the reasons for your struggles and I think it will help to explain them in your personal statement. I have no problems admitting a more "mature" student who might have had issues when they were younger if it is apparent that they have learned from those experiences and have now shown their aptitude and motivation to pursue pharmacy school.

If your sole purpose is to attempt to get into pharmacy school, I would probably advise against taking new upper division courses as I'm not sure you are going to get the added benefit that you think you might. Instead, if you retook some of the core sciences that you did poorly in, you put yourself on a level field with many of the applicants you will be compared with and that should probably balance the playing field for you. These courses would also probably help some in your PCAT preparation.

Ultimately, you need to stress the aspects of your application such as starting a pre-pharm club, etc. Show the committees that you have made attending pharmacy school your #1 priority and you have dedicated yourself to that goal. Gain some pharmacy experience or shadow a pharmacist who can write you a positive letter of recommendation. If you can do all of those things successfully, I see no reason why you wouldn't be a strong candidate for pharmacy school.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

4 comments:

RD said...

My question is similar to this one. However, I failed 2 of the prereqs and retook them the next year but did not do well. I graduate this year and I cannot retake most of my prereqs (in which I got Ds and Cs in). I recently got interested in applying to pharmacy schools. My overall GPA is 7 (B+) but my high grades come from my past 3 years where I mostly took health science courses and got all As in. I NEED HELP !! I don't know how to improve my chances of becoming a pharmacist now that I know I want to become one. Do I even have a chance?!?? Oh and I have been working in a pharmacy for more than a year now. It is the reason I got interested in pharmacy. I also haven't written my PCAT because I'm afraid I'm wasting my time. Please give me recommendation on what I can do about my horrible prereqs. Thank you.

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