[H] UCSD 7year B.S./PharmD program

[ttlu]

Hi,
I'm relatively new to the forums. I recently came to the realization (after weeks of thinking about my future) that I really want to become a pharmacist. I will be an sophomore at UCSD in the fall. I've been looking into UCSD school of pharmacy's 7 year b.s./pharmd program which accepts applications during summer after sophormore year.

Does anyone have any information regarding how difficult it would be to get into this program?
Are there any UCSD students out their who applied to this or are planning to?

my major is Biochemistry/chemistry and my gpa right now is 3.223, and i need to raise it to 3.5 to be eligible. I'm taking 24 units this summer in 2 session to try to raise it.

Is there a path I should follow to get into pharmacy school in case i do not get into this program?
I'm planning to apply to CVS pharmacy this summer, is their any specific skills that i would need? is the PTCE required to work at cvs as a Pharm tech? Also, my main concern about pharmacy school are the letter of recommendations... sadly i do not know any of my professors personally, so im totally lost as to how i will get those letters. I'm a fairly shy person too, and i'm hoping my public speaking class next fall will help me with that. How did you guys become close enough to professors that they would write you a rec?

Sorry for asking so many questions. I'm just really lost as to how I will manage to get into pharmacy school in 3 years. it seems like a really difficult feat and i really want to be a pharmacist

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[bacillus1]

A B.S. won't be too useful for a PharmD. I talked to the asst. dean of pharmacy about whether I should get a BS in pharmacology/toxicology along with my PharmD, and she said it's not worth the extra work.
So you should probably consider just going to pharmacy school after your soph. year (and it'll be 6 years in total). I mean if you don't get in, you could still do that 7-year program.

 

[jyw003]

this program isn't even out yet...they suggested this program, and said they are "working" on it....if they DO do it, i am quite sure that they will only accept ppl with 3.7+ gpas....UCSD has too much pride...their pharm program avg acceptance scores were higher than ucsf...

 

[ttlu]

oh no the program started alrdy in 2007 for freshman who entered in 2005 for the fall 2008 admissions.
the fall 2009 admission application is out too

 

[AbsoluteEthanol]

never heard anything about the program, but sounds very competitive!

my input to you is quite simple, I graduated from UCSD in '07 and I caN tell you that taking 24 units in the summer is nothing but trouble, you will not be improving your GPA with such courseload, if anything, you will drop it! play it safe!

 

[ttlu]

Thank you for your input guys.

And regarding summer session, I think i may be in over my head. I'm planning to take Ochem part 1 and 2 this summer along with differential equations calc . those are really the only classes im worried about. the other 3 are general bio part2, microecon, and psychology. these shouldnt be too bad. If i feel that i cant handle so much, I will probably drop a class during each session from the latter.

 

[starrfishes]

this program isn't even out yet...they suggested this program, and said they are "working" on it....if they DO do it, i am quite sure that they will only accept ppl with 3.7+ gpas....UCSD has too much pride...their pharm program avg acceptance scores were higher than ucsf...

Yea, I agree UCSD has too much pride. Hahah. I graduated from UCSD in 2006 and can say their pharmacy school is good for what it's worth tuition-wise (I agree), but I cannot say yet that their program to me is an astounding 'WOW!'. To be honest with you, when comparing California pharmacy schools, UCSF offers so much more than what UCSD has to offer right now . Not only has UCSF been around for a very long time, they are very strong in clinical pharmacy and have a strong track record of curriculum and student success. And they also have cheap tuition!

Seeing how you're going to be a UCSD sophomore this Fall, I don't think it matters if you get into the combined 7-year program at UCSD, or whether you go to a pharmacy school that will take you another 4 years. However, finding a pharmacy school that matches your interests, academic and career goals will.

Apply to UCSD and other 4-year pharmacy schools, and see what your options are.

Good luck on your decisions.