What are my chances at getting into pharmacy school?

Question: I just finished my final semester of undergraduate work and my cumulative gpa should be around 2.9. I know that isn't great and unfortunately I went through more family problems than I care to admit and that caused me to have a couple D's and F's on my transcript. Most of them came in the ochem area. I will graduate with a biology degree and don't plan to start applications for school till this summer for fall 2013. I also know that my school throws out my old grades if I retake a course so I'm assuming that my gpa through pharmcas won't actually be as high as it says on my transcript. I have also taken the pcat twice with my composite scores in the 60's, but I do plan on preparing all spring and taking it one more time this summer hopefully scoring in the 80's or 90's. I also work full-time in a hospital pharmacy as a pharmacy technician and will have numerous letters of recommendation from pharmacists as I work with 15-20 of them regularly.

I know that my gpa and grades are a huge obstacle, but I know that I want to go to pharmacy school so I will stick with it either way and am willilng to work as a technician until I do get in. I do also plan on applying to 15 or more schools during the summer as I have read that some people have gotten consideration based on the fact that they showed through submitting so many applications that they were very serious about getting in. I do also plan on making most of those applications to schools that are in the candidate or pre-candidate status as I'm hoping that will also help things out.

Please let me know what you think my chances are as well as anything that you think that I could do to improve my chances going forward. Thanks for reading everyone and I appreciate the feedback.


Answer:
The key for an AdCom will be your Organic Chemistry grades. I know my primary concern would be your ability to succeed in a chemistry heavy curriculum. That being said, every year we admit applicants who have struggled with various courses before "getting it" and your case sounds similar. Use your statement to acknowledge the earlier difficulties but then use your experience to show how you persevered and succeeded despite the initial setback. This will show your determination and motivation for the profession. A letter of recommendation from an OChem professor would certainly augment that as well.

I think you have a decent chance of being offered interviews and, therefore, a chance at being admitted. I wish you the best and hope you will keep us posted.

Good luck.