How many pharmacy schools should I apply to?

Question: I will be applying soon in hopes to gain admission to pharmacy school for this upcoming cycle. I was wondering how many schools do you think I should apply to? My GPA is 3.25 and I just took the PCAT. I am able to move just about anywhere and just want to make sure I get in so I don't have to repeat this cycle again next year.


Answer: How deep are your pockets? The application and interview process can be quite expensive, so I recommend choosing the schools that you apply to wisely. If you live in California, you can apply to a number of schools and make visits and interviews less expensively than if you live in a state with fewer nearby options.

The last results I saw indicated that 2/3 of the applicants that applied to only one school did not gain admission. So, I would encourage you to identify 8-10 that you are most interested in and contact them. Do a little homework and see if your GPA and academic background fit what their accepted students typically look like. From that list, applying to 5-6 schools is probably reasonable for most applicants.

Best of luck.