Saturday, July 27, 2013

Does taking only 13 credits per semester hurt my chances of getting into pharmacy school?

Question:
Thank you so much for you blog. It has been very helpful as I am preparing for pharmacy school applications. I was just curious what AdComs' opinions are on course load. I've been a full time student (at least 13 units) every semester but how do they view me taking 13 units as opposed to someone who takes 15 or 16 units? I only had one semester of 13 units and the rest varied from 15-18. However, on some of those semesters, I got 4 units from working on a research project with a professor instead of actually taking classes. Is that unfavorable for AdComs?


Answer:
We like to see applicants take (and succeed) in as many credits as possible. This shows us that he/she can withstand the rigors of a pharmacy school curriculum where 18 hours is the norm in many semesters. I don't know that any AdCom is going to frown upon you for taking 13 credit hours when that is enough to be considered a full time student. If most of your semesters were 15-18 credits, you are in good shape and I wouldn't worry or feel as though you need to address a semester with less than that. Getting some research experience can probably only help you (although don't count on it helping much)


Good luck.

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