Accepted to several pharmacy schools with 2.1 GPA & criminal history

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wilsonpink

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Hi all,

I wanted to share my story with any future applicants to show that even in the most unfavorable scenario, it is possible to get admission offers. Last cycle I was a nervous wreck and I scoured these forums for any insight into my chances. I was certain that it was impossible for me to even get an interview. Being a reserved person, I am embarrassed to share this even anonymously (haha) because I know how pathetic my stats were. But I hope this can serve as anecdotal inspiration to keep working towards your goal even if you doubt yourself, cause I sure as hell did.

My background:
My undergrad GPA was around 2.12. I switched majors several times in college and never found my passion. Several of these majors were in the engineering field, thus many of my F's and D's were in high-level math and science coursework. But toward the end I had lost motivation entirely and was performing poorly on just about everything. I didn't like any of my classes, I was always absent, and I felt very disconnected from school.

I ended up graduating in 5 years with a bachelors degree in biology. I worked serving jobs for a couple years, and then got a job in a retail pharmacy as a tech. It was during this time that I came to love pharmacy and decided to apply. While working full-time, I re-took many of the math & science pre-reqs I had done poorly in...about a year's worth of classes... at my local community college. I got mostly A's and a few B's on these (my post-grad GPA was 3.6), but with how many credits I had already taken it didn't even put a dent in my cGPA.

About a year before I applied, I had a personal situation arise that left me and my family devastated. Without going into too much detail, I did not handle the stress properly and made an extremely poor decision that led to me being charged with a misdemeanor. The judge granted me deferred judgment and 12 months probation. It was my first criminal offense and I was so angry with myself that I could let something like that happen.

As you can imagine, at this point it seemed almost a joke to want to apply. I was already worried about my poor GPA, but a recent criminal charge on top of that? I read EVERY possible post and discussion and I believed I was doomed. The only redeeming factors of my application were my work experience (3+ years as a tech at the time I applied) and my PCAT score (98th percentile). I also believe I had a solid personal statement. Between that and the section to explain my criminal record, I was extremely trite about my past failures and the lessons I had learned. In my application I also focused on the many valuable experiences I had gained from being a tech.

I applied to 6 schools and got interview offers from 4. I was offered admission from every school I interviewed at, including my first choice. So... it is possible. Not everyone's situation is the same, but I just wanted to share my story for anyone possibly freaking out... whatever you do, please don't give up just like that. I wish all of you the best of luck with applications!

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What is it with people on this forum and trying to sell people short? So she didn't have the ideal GPA. She had an awesome PCAT, a good post grad GPA, and strong extracurriculars. A misdemeanor is pretty bad, but you know what people make mistakes, they learn from them, and they grow.

It's like people are angry that instead of falling into a pit of depression and giving up, students with a situation similar to hers bounce back when the odds are stacked against them and put in effort to better themselves both mentally and academically.

Many of the core values across all health professionals are compassion, kindheartedness, empathy etc. Tbh I don't know what half the people on this website are doing pursuing a career in the health field when they can't even be decent people on an online forum.
 
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What schools did you apply for? I find it hard to believe any credible school with any long term history would accept you.
 
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Pics or it didn't happen. :whistle:
 
Pics or it didn't happen. :whistle:

Could very well be true. OP probably applied to schools that didn't use pharmcas to bypass being dropped for min gpa or applied to schools with no minimum gpa. Those schools would have definitely showed interest in an applicant with a 90%+ pcat and a post grad gpa of 3.6 in the prereqs even with a criminal record depending on what the misdemeanor is.

OP, I'm all for a good comeback story. Love an "underdog" story just as much as the next person. But word of advice, think about if you'll be able to get a pharmacists job AFTER school with your misdemeanor. I don't know much about records, but the market is already tight and you'll be competing with others who have no record. If you really want to do this, you must work 10X harder than anyone else to prove your as worthy as they are. Just getting good grades won't cut it. You have to really sell yourself for employers to overlook it.

If youre up for the challenge, then good luck to you.
 
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And there we have it- definitive proof that all you need is a pulse to get into pharmacy school
LOL!!!

Could very well be true. OP probably applied to schools that didn't use pharmcas to bypass being dropped for min gpa or applied to schools with no minimum gpa. Those schools would have definitely showed interest in an applicant with a 90%+ pcat and a post grad gpa of 3.6 in the prereqs even with a criminal record depending on what the misdemeanor is.

OP, I'm all for a good comeback story. Love an "underdog" story just as much as the next person. But word of advice, think about if you'll be able to get a pharmacists job AFTER school with your misdemeanor. I don't know much about records, but the market is already tight and you'll be competing with others who have no record. If you really want to do this, you must work 10X harder than anyone else to prove your as worthy as they are. Just getting good grades won't cut it. You have to really sell yourself for employers to overlook it.

If youre up for the challenge, then good luck to you.
just CUT MY LIFE INTO PIECES
 
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