BREAKING NEWS!!!

For the past six months, we have posted on this blog almost daily in our effort to assist prospective pharmacy students. By word of mouth alone, the number of visitors to our blog has increased significantly and we thank you all for that. It is gratifying to realize that we have been able to help so many wonderful people.

As of today, we will no longer be posting on this blog. Sad, I know. However, we are excited to inform you that we have created a new web forum at:

http://www.pharmacyschooladmissions.com/

The reason for this change is that the one thing a blog does not easily permit is the fostering of a sense of community. It is our hope that this forum, however, will allow dialogue between the many future pharmacists who have frequented the blog.

We will still post frequently and we will still respond to emails. The information contained on this blog will be migrated over to the new forum shortly.

Please take a moment to register at the new site. Look around and please tell us a little bit about yourself under the WELCOME forum at the top of the page. This forum a work in progress, and thus, we would appreciate your feedback, suggestions, etc. Please make it your forum.

See you there!

http://www.pharmacyschooladmissions.com/

PCAT October 17, 2009 - Advice, Questions, Comments

Please post your questions regarding the PCAT in the comments section below. If you have experience with the test or have advice on preparation, please share it with others.

Good luck!

Meeting with faculty on Adcom

Today I had the opportunity to meet with a faculty member who is on an Admissions Committee for a Pharm D program I am very interested in. As mentioned in a previous post, over the last six months I have developed a wonderful relationship with an Admissions Counselor at this same school. The counselor was able to set up this meeting with the faculty member so I could have the opportunity to hear first hand what this individual is really looking for in an applicant for this specific program. This meeting was invaluable and will help me greatly as I finish my personal statement and solidify my LORs. The meeting also gave me the opportunity to share my personal story and goals in person before my application is reviewed. If anyone has the opportunity to have a similar meeting with a faculty member who sits on an Admissions Committee, I would highly suggest trying to make it happen before applications are reviewed. As I left the meeting she specifically stated she would be watching for my application!

Playing catch up

I will be in the office today playing a little catch up from missing time last week. Thanks to everyone who has emailed and been so patient. I will try to get responses to you later today.

-Admissions

Should I apply now or wait until after I retake the PCAT?

Question: I recently received my August PCAT scores. They were about average I'd say, but I know I can do better and will be taking the test again in October. In your opinion, is it best to wait to submit my applications until I receive the new score, or would I be better off to go ahead and send them, stating that I'll be re-taking the test in October? When AdComs are reviewing an applicant's file, do they consider future tests?


Answer: It kind of depends on when the committee will be reviewing your file. If the school has rolling admission, it is possible that they might make a decision on your file as it is sent to them, meaning that they will render a decision based only on what they have at that time and not on your second test. If this is the case, I would certainly advise you to follow up with the school if your receive a response before you take the exam a second time.

On the other hand some schools will notify all accepted applicants at one time. In this case, it is most likely that they will have both scores before making a decision. I'm not sure if there is an advantage to one plan versus the other if you are applying to multiple schools. You will among many who have submitted applications while still planning to re-take the PCAT, so I guess that is the route I would personally choose. However, if youwanted to wait until after the second exam, that makes some sense to me to. How's that for not answering your question :)

I think either way is fine. You might check with the schools to see if they recommend anything different than what I have stated. If you do, let me know what you hear.

Good luck.

Things to avoid saying....

Here are a couple of statement fragments that I strongly suggested the applicants change or remove:

1) In this case, the applicant had been working in a pharmacy, but decided to stop for the summer and waitress instead to earn additional income:

Life is about choices and their consequences. Hopefully my choice to waitress rather than work in the pharmacy this summer will be viewed as a chance to refine my social and communication skills with people from all walks of life.

Admissions: I would avoid mentioning your choice to waitress rather than working in the pharmacy. You can write about your pharmacy experience in your personal statement without any reference to your decision this past summer. It simply isn't necessary to point this out and it will probably give the committee a reason to doubt your commitment to pharmacy. Make the reviewer focus on what you have (pharmacy experience) rather than pointing out what I would consider to be a questionable choice. Simply state you have pharmacy experience and leave it at at that.


2) In this case, the applicant is trying to make the point that pharmacists are an important part of the health care team. I disagreed with the method in which it was conveyed.

After a visit to the doctor, the next step is to visit the local pharmacy to get the required medication necessary to get you well. Initially, you would think that the person behind the counter handing you your pills has a pretty simple job. However, the responsibilities and duties of a Pharmacist are vital to the health of an ill individual.

Admissions: This comment caused me some heartburn on the applicant's behalf: "Initially, you would think that the person behind the counter handing you your pills has a pretty simple job."

Please remember your audience. Some of the readers of this statement (referred to as "you") are very likely pharmacists and probably do not think this your statement is accurate. Some might even be offended at the inference. From time to time we will read a statement that makes a sweeping generalization that sinks like a lead balloon. Why a pharmacy school applicant would use an example implying that the public thinks poorly of the profession of pharmacy is beside me. I strongly recommended changing this paragraph. The message can be conveyed without the aforementioned sentence.

Thanks again to everyone. We will try to post as often as we can as the October PCAT beckons and interview season begins.

Thank you!

We wanted to take a moment to express our thanks to everyone for reading the blog. Yesterday, we had over 700 different visitors check the website - a new record. As mentioned, we don't make any money by doing this, other than a few pennies when somone clicks on an ad. We do this because we like to help.

In the 6 months since we have started posting blog entries, reviewing statements, and answering questions via email, we have met a lot of really great people and think that we have been able to provide some much needed assistance to prospective applicants.

We hope that you have found the blog to be useful. If you have, please "follow" the blog by clicking on the right hand side of the page. We also hope that you will tell your friends, classmates, co-workers, colleagues, and any pharmacy organizations you belong to.

Please keep the questions, emails, and comments coming in.

Thanks again.

-Admissions

Question about accelerated programs

Question: I just applied to Massachusetts college of Pharmacy and Health Sciences- Boston. I am trying to get into their 2 year programme after which i will start my 3 year ( First Professional Year ) because they dont require the PCAT. do you know anything about it and is it a good move for me or i should just stay at my current school and finish all the required classes and take the PCAT.

Answer: I think an accelerated program fits some students well, however, it does require an adjustment in the scheduling mindset. It's not for everyone. Mature students probably do a bit better, in my opinion.

If you have already applied, I suspect you have all of the information on the program so I'm not sure what more I can tell you. Certainly, you could stay at your current school if not admitted and reapply to other institution. In the latter case, taking the PCAT would probably be necessary.

Studying, studying....

Hello! I am down to my final three weeks of studying before the Oct. 17th PCAT. Since I didn't do well on the bio and chem sections the first time around, I have only been studying these two areas. Last Saturday I spent time shadowing a pharmacist who also happens to be someone I have asked for an LOR. I do work part-time in a retail pharmacy, but it was a good experience for me to shadow a pharmacist in a different setting. She is a pharmacist in a student health center on a college campus. I have had a professional relationship with this pharmacist for years through my job as a pharmaceutical representative. The shadowing was helpful in that I was able to see the differences between her position and what I see in the retail setting, and also for her to have more time with me so she is able to write a more detailed LOR. She was able to ask me a lot of questions about my motivations for pharmacy school, my interests, my volunteer background, etc.

Although I am busy studying for the PCAT, I've also been continuing to fine tune my personal statement. I've found it's very helpful to write a bit, walk away for a few days, come back and fine tune some more. It's very beneficial to have several people read what I've written to make sure I'm on track with getting my point across and for grammatical errors. Admissions initially reviewed my statement which gave me an excellent start to fine tuning even more.

I hope everyone who is preparing for this next PCAT is having success!

Should I retake the PCAT?

Question: I received my August PCAT today:
Verbal: 53%Biology: 80%Reading Comprehension: 21%Quantitative Ability: 91%Chemistry: 81%Writing: 2, 2Composite: 71%

I am shocked to see that my reading comprehension and verbal scores are that low. Although English is my second language, I've been in the US for 13 years now. What do you think about the 71% composite score and should I re-take it in October? But if I take it in October, my application won't be complete until November until the schools receive it (I'm applying to some rolling admission schools)...What should I do??? Thank you!


Answer: This is a tricky one. If you had scored 71 in each category, I wouldn't be as concerned with a composite of 71. However, having one very low score (21 on PCAT Reading) won't help you. Plus, scoring a 2 on the writing doesn't minimize any concerns. On the blog previously, we did address how to handle one deceptively low PCATsub-category score. You might review some of the earlier posts.

I would make the argument that if your statement is well written (which is a must in this case), you could try to persuade a committee that the test does not accurately reflect your abilities. Certainly, in an interview setting, I would imagine that an interviewer would pay particular attention to your communication skills.

In short, yes I would retake the PCAT. I would focus on thereading/verbal areas. Work on pre-tests and study guides. You have taken the test once and now have an idea what to expect. I would anticipate improvement in your second attempt.

Good luck.