What are my chances #3

Question: I'm a community college student and I'm planning to apply for a pharmacy school.

I took the PCAT last September and the result was:

Verbal ability: 412/68
biology: 417/75
Reading comprehension: 396/38
Quantitative Ability: 447/95
Chemistry: 405/53
Composite: 415/73

Conventions of language: 2.5/2.74
Problem solving: 2.5/2.77

My GPA is 3.58 and I don't have any experience in pharmacy retails.

Here is my question: My chemistry and reading comprehension are awful, but I belonged to the top 3% on national organic chemistry by which the head of chemistry department is going to write a really good LOR for me. Is it considered helpful and to increase my chances? If I have some other volunteers at church and non-profit art organization, do they also help?

I don't know whether I'm qualified to apply for pharmacy school. Overall, I feel like something is missing.


Answer: To be clear, your Chemistry and Reading scores on the PCAT are not "awful". The average score of admitted students is probably higher, but I have seen many, many applicants get interviews and offers of admission with worse PCAT results than yours.

Your GPA > 3.5 and this is a huge plus for you. Plus, a composite score of 73 is very good. Performing as well as you've indicated in Organic Chemistry will definitely help your chances as would a letter of recommendation from a professor (or chair) in that area.

I think you might be surprised at how strong of an applicant you are. That being said, and as I advise all students, I would encourage you to apply to more than one pharmacy school to increase your chances. It is never wise to put all of your eggs in one basket.

Good luck.