chance me, please!

[daisy95]

Hey so if someone could give some good info about the PCAT changes and how to study for them... Im currently studying collins and Kaplan, but I still feel really underprepared... Anyway, moving on...
Biology degree- 3.77 cGPA/ 3.84. science GPA
Taking the PCAT in July, but would like to know around what percentage would be competitive.
Pharmacy Tech- retail about one year and still working
Biofeedback/neurofeedback technician- 2 years
Undergraduate researcher- 2.5 years
Chemistry and Biology tutoring- 2.5 years.
Working at a free medical clinic- 1 year
I have throughout the course volunteered, started a club called the National Society of Women in Science, been a part of many clubs, introduced panel events at my university, etc.,

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[impatientcollegestudent]

What schools are you looking into? Also you really shouldn't invest in pharmacy if those are your grades...seriously.


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[daisy95]

looking to apply to unc, uf, and possibly some schools in CA. I was planning on going to medical, but decided that I wanted to go into compounding, possibly.

 

[common scents]

One thing that surprised me about the PCAT was how much calculus was on there. Definitely brush up on that because I bombed that section bad. I would say try to score at least in the 70 range to be competitve.

 

[*Typical*]

What schools are you looking into? Also you really shouldn't invest in pharmacy if those are your grades...seriously.


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Why? Are they considered low?

 

[AsuPharm]

Why? Are they considered low?

No, they're too high. TBH OP you should go to med school pharmacy is a dying market even if you want to go into compounding by the time you graduate pharmacist unemployment will be around 25%. Go to med school. Plus, as a Dr. you can legally dispense medications if you truly wanted to.

 

[Apples2Oranges]

AsuPharm is bringing doom & gloom even though his/her status is still related to pharmacy. It's one thing to warn people about the saturation and to pursue another career. It's another to devalue a profession that you went to.

But there is a lot of concern about the future of pharmacy. It's not necessarily dying, but it's heading down a dark path in the next several years due to diploma mills.

I honestly wouldn't even consider med school. But if you enjoy that realm of medicine, NP or PA is much easier. I'm around medical students. They say the same thing.

I have some advice, but take what you will of it.
1. You MUST have connections in pharmacy. Pharmacy is a small world compared to other fields. With increasing saturation results in increasing competition. The more connections you have, the better your chances of getting a job.
2. After pharmacy, accept anything and go anywhere to pay of your debt.
3. GO TO THE CHEAPEST SCHOOL YOU CAN GET INTO THAT IS ACCREDITED.
4. The PCAT is not that big of a deal. The average at UNC is an 87, which is the highest average in pharmacy school. You can make it with some good studying.

 

[AsuPharm]

AsuPharm is bringing doom & gloom even though his/her status is still related to pharmacy. It's one thing to warn people about the saturation and to pursue another career. It's another to devalue a profession that you went to.

But there is a lot of concern about the future of pharmacy. It's not necessarily dying, but it's heading down a dark path in the next several years due to diploma mills.

I honestly wouldn't even consider med school. But if you enjoy that realm of medicine, NP or PA is much easier. I'm around medical students. They say the same thing.

I have some advice, but take what you will of it.
1. You MUST have connections in pharmacy. Pharmacy is a small world compared to other fields. With increasing saturation results in increasing competition. The more connections you have, the better your chances of getting a job.
2. After pharmacy, accept anything and go anywhere to pay of your debt.
3. GO TO THE CHEAPEST SCHOOL YOU CAN GET INTO THAT IS ACCREDITED.
4. The PCAT is not that big of a deal. The average at UNC is an 87, which is the highest average in pharmacy school. You can make it with some good studying.

Im not doom and gloom. Im realistic. Going to pharmacy school right now is seriously stupid. If I could start over I would trust me. I was the same as you prepharmers, bright eyed and optimistic. This was until UAs dean doubled the class size claiming theres a need in Phoenix. Spoiler alert: theres no need. Wal-Mart is in a hiring freeze in the area. Cvs lists 7 jobs available. Banner has no listings for new grad jobs. That is probably 60% of the job market. UA and MW will be pumping out more and more graduates a year. Are you ignorant enough to think its gonna get better?

 

[Apples2Oranges]

Im not doom and gloom. Im realistic. Going to pharmacy school right now is seriously stupid. If I could start over I would trust me. I was the same as you prepharmers, bright eyed and optimistic. This was until UAs dean doubled the class size claiming theres a need in Phoenix. Spoiler alert: theres no need. Wal-Mart is in a hiring freeze in the area. Cvs lists 7 jobs available. Banner has no listings for new grad jobs. That is probably 60% of the job market. UA and MW will be pumping out more and more graduates a year. Are you ignorant enough to think its gonna get better?

Wasn't there a shortage of applicants for one of the Arizona pharm schools? That's pathetic. If anyone sees that a pharmacy school is struggling to have people apply, then that would really be dumb to pursue.

Let's not criticize ignorance or jump the gun here. Just like assuming I'm a pre-pharm who is optimistic. I'm neither. It doesn't take a genius to see that there are too many schools built and too many students are graduating at once. It doesn't take an intellectual to know other fields can provide better options.

It does get worse, but it may get better if pharmacy grows in responsibility and pharmacists/ pharmacy students will stop complaining on a forum about being jobless and the sky will fall. That's the truth. All we do here is criticizing the profession we, ourselves, chose. Does that really make anything better? It will take years to even make a dent on this issue. It's why pharmacy roles, unlike nursing roles, have been restricted. You know why nurse practitioners and PAs can prescribe drugs with a master's degree vs a doctorate of pharm degree? Politics, not necessarily skill.

 

[AsuPharm]

Wasn't there a shortage of applicants for one of the Arizona pharm schools? That's pathetic. If anyone sees that a pharmacy school is struggling to have people apply, then that would really be dumb to pursue.

Let's not criticize ignorance or jump the gun here. Just like assuming I'm a pre-pharm who is optimistic. I'm neither. It doesn't take a genius to see that there are too many schools built and too many students are graduating at once. It doesn't take an intellectual to know other fields can provide better options.

It does get worse, but it may get better if pharmacy grows in responsibility and pharmacists and pharmacy students will stop complaining on a forum about being jobless and the sky will fall. That's the truth. It will take years to even make a dent on this issue. It's why pharmacy roles, unlike nursing roles, have been restricted. You know why nurse practitioners and PAs can prescribe drugs with a master's degree vs a doctorate of pharm degree? Politics, not necessarily skill.

No Midwestern has a million applicants every year and literally accepts anyone. UA last year didnt have enough qualified applicants and didnt fill my class. So what did they do the next year? Dropped the standards and presto, filled the class and extra to make up for the year before. Classes went from 100 for 2018 to 120 for 2019 to 111 for 2022 to 140 for 2021.

 

[cakezyum]

Given your high GPA and extracurricular activities, you are a very competitive applicant. Score at least a 70+ on the PCAT and you're set. Good luck!

 

[WickedGoogly]

don't listen to ASUpharm. Midwestern doesn't accept "literally everyone". The ***** is pre pharm so what does he know about anything haha