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^^ zing. (I agree too)
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Good question. I would contact the school(s) to which you are considering applying now (not later) - you don't want to have a question like this lingering if you are uncertain. I would guess that if the school requires Bio w/labs, upper level courses with labs would be more than sufficient.
For the schools that require 2 semesters (6 or 8 credits) of Human Anatomy/Physiology, is it a must that it has to be that much semesters and credits. The reason is my college only offers one semester (4 credits) of HA/P that covers 2 semesters worth of material. Would that be acceptable or do I have to look to take the second semester of the course at another college?
I had that same issue and the schools I contacted said you MUST take Bio I and II. I have not found that most schools accept AP/IB or clepped courses.
All of the schools I applied to allowed me to substitute higher level courses and labs as long as I accumulated the same total credit hours.
Hi I'll be applying for pharmacy school for fall '10 and just had a question about pharmcas gpa....my college currently takes the better grade when you repeat a course. So that means my gpa is 2.7 with the 'A' vs F in English, now my pharmcas gpa, will it be the same or lower? I heard that pharmcas takes the average of the 2 grades, so that'll be a C. Now I wonder if pharmacy schools actually look at the Retake or the average, cuz in that case I won't be able to apply if i end up having a lower gpa than actual....I plan on repeating couple science courses in which i received a C/D in. I started off pretty bad, but now i'm trying to get back on track and I need advice as to how the gpa works and/or if there is any point in retaking the course....
help me!!
i'll be applying to all the illinois schools
midwestern, uic, chicago state, rockford (new)
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Someone told me a few days ago that the grades are averaged together, so you can see a drop in you GPA when PharmCAS calculates it; however, Admissions told me yesterday that if you took the repeated course at your same university and not a community college, that the committee sees that and takes into consideration that you worked hard to get a better grade in the class and didn't take the easier way by going to a community college.
if I may add:
uic requires you to list all repeated pre-req courses so yes uic looks at both grades.
Here are instructions for the supplemental with specific instructions regarding repeated courses (page 4)
http://www.uic.edu/pharmacy/student_affairs/prospective_students/UICPharmInst2009.pdf
This is UIC's entire supplemental application:
http://www.uic.edu/pharmacy/student_affairs/prospective_students/supplemental_application.php
uic requires you to list all repeated pre-req courses so yes uic looks at both grades.
Here are instructions for the supplemental with specific instructions regarding repeated courses (page 4)
http://www.uic.edu/pharmacy/student_affairs/prospective_students/UICPharmInst2009.pdf
This is UIC's entire supplemental application:
http://www.uic.edu/pharmacy/student_affairs/prospective_students/supplemental_application.php
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Your PharmCas GPA will include all courses on your transcript. Just to more thoroughly explain the "averaging" of grades, that is a bit of a misnomer.
If you get an F in a 3 credit course (ie, English) and retake it for an A, you will score 0.00 for 3 hrs and 4.00 for 3 hrs. Thus, your calculated GPA would be 2.00 for 6 credit hrs. You won't receive a GPA "average" of 2.00, you earn the equivalent of 6 hrs worth of C's. I hope that makes sense.
email me with any questions: [email protected]
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I suspect most schools know what their typicaly success rate is when making offers and plan based on that. If a school has 50 seats, they may know that 20% of the offers they make will attend other schools so they will start by sending 55 or 60 offers. If the school has rolling admissions, they would have a much better idea of what their success rate was during the admission process.
So, to answer your question, I suppose it is possible that alernate/waiting lists may not be used at some institutions if they have a high success rate and they can be "choosey" with their applicant pool. If you have been placed on a waiting list, it would be interesting to know (and you should ask) how many students are typically pulled from the list and when they are notified. If the school says the numbers are ever changing and they can't provide specifics, ask nicely, "Approximately how many students were pulled from the alternate pool for last year's P1 class?" - they should be able to answer that question.
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Admissions, earlier in the thread you mentioned that a bad interview may ruin a person's chances for admission even if the school had already decided to admit them. Anyway, I was just wondering: Are there any common mistakes that people make during the interview? And how many of these mistakes are completely avoidable?
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Yes there are common mistakes and all of the mistakes are avoidable in my opinion. I suggest doing some trial interviews with family, friends, classmates, etc. As part of the unlinked blog, we will have some IM conferences and possibly webcasting features where we can discuss interviews in greater detail.
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Excellent thread! I'm gonna spend the afternoon reading this. Thanks Admissions
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Admissions,
I noticed upthread that you might be exploring the possibility of adding a value added service to your blog for one on one counseling. I assume that means that for a fee, you would guide a person through the admissions process, right? I'm sure that could be very helpful to some people but if you are still working on an admissions committee, isn't that a conflict of interest? If you were pursue this, would you inform your employer of your side gig?
I noticed upthread that you might be exploring the possibility of adding a value added service to your blog for one on one counseling. I assume that means that for a fee, you would guide a person through the admissions process, right? I'm sure that could be very helpful to some people but if you are still working on an admissions committee, isn't that a conflict of interest? If you were pursue this, would you inform your employer of your side gig?
i already go to a community college! that's the problem. Our college is one of the few schools who still takes the better grade when you retake a course. So as I was looking at my unofficial transcript, on one term for english it'll say R and the next term i retook it and it says A. Now my question is when I do send in my official transcripts to pharmcas for verification, how will they know what grade to average or count if it says R, as far as they know I just retook the course and have an R and an A. That R could be a B,C,D, or F. If there is no record of it, how will they calculate it?
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There are a number of issues with such a scenario. At present, free advice is the plan. We have individuals from various institutions who would collaborate under such an arrangement, but nothing has moved past the discussion phase. Presently, if we know an applicant or have written a LOR for them, we must leave the room and recuse ourselves while their file is being reviewed. Without doing so, I imagine it could become a conflict.
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Thank you. I hope it is helpful. If you have additional questions, you can email: [email protected]
Enjoy the holiday, everyone!
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I asked someone in our admissions office about this and they indicated (at least their belief) that an R would be treated like a W on the PharmCas transcript. That is, it will not affect your calculated GPA. The committee, on the other hand, will probably notice if there are many retakes and consider that when reviewing your application. Hope that helps - sorry the delay in responding.
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View from the corner office:
Repeated courses are a fact of life, and, in a perfect world will not serve as a negative for the following reasons: they are an allowed activity by most accredited colleges and universities; they show a determination to get it right; they can show growth/maturity, etc. That said, however, the humans involved in the admissions process are creatures of emotion, and we do not always let reason serve as our only determinant.
Repeats aren't a problem if you are dealing with a program that takes care in its review of applicants. These programs are looking for a big picture on applicants, not just one or two sets of numbers. Multiple repeats of a single/several courses, however, may set some reviewer's "spidey senses" a-tingle. The question that might raise is this: Given this applicant's history, can s/he reasonably complete the 4-yr program within the time frames allowed by the Catalog (usually 6 yrs from point of matriculation)?
This question is important because, unlike degree programs that use a distributive curricular model, the PharmD is prescriptive; it requires courses to be taken in sequence, and often precludes progression without all courses completed in a semester/year. Because of these restrictions, anyone who performs poorly is almost guaranteed to be delayed, often by a year per incident.
Limit the repeats as much as possible, understanding that such option will not be readily available in pharmacy school, so setting better habits early on is worth the investment in study habits, time spent on task, tutoring, fewer social events, etc.
Eric H. Hobson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean
Belmont USOP
Repeated courses are a fact of life, and, in a perfect world will not serve as a negative for the following reasons: they are an allowed activity by most accredited colleges and universities; they show a determination to get it right; they can show growth/maturity, etc. That said, however, the humans involved in the admissions process are creatures of emotion, and we do not always let reason serve as our only determinant.
Repeats aren't a problem if you are dealing with a program that takes care in its review of applicants. These programs are looking for a big picture on applicants, not just one or two sets of numbers. Multiple repeats of a single/several courses, however, may set some reviewer's "spidey senses" a-tingle. The question that might raise is this: Given this applicant's history, can s/he reasonably complete the 4-yr program within the time frames allowed by the Catalog (usually 6 yrs from point of matriculation)?
This question is important because, unlike degree programs that use a distributive curricular model, the PharmD is prescriptive; it requires courses to be taken in sequence, and often precludes progression without all courses completed in a semester/year. Because of these restrictions, anyone who performs poorly is almost guaranteed to be delayed, often by a year per incident.
Limit the repeats as much as possible, understanding that such option will not be readily available in pharmacy school, so setting better habits early on is worth the investment in study habits, time spent on task, tutoring, fewer social events, etc.
Eric H. Hobson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean
Belmont USOP
I had a few questions. For PharmCAS, do I pay a one time fee for them to provide my transcripts and information to all PCAS schools? What other payments do I need to make to apply for PharmCAS schools?
Also, if in my 5th semester out of 9 semesters I was academically ineligible, how will PharmCAS show that or will they not? If they do of do not show it, would it be advisable to state and explain the reason for ineligibility in any PharmCAS comments section?
Also, if in my 5th semester out of 9 semesters I was academically ineligible, how will PharmCAS show that or will they not? If they do of do not show it, would it be advisable to state and explain the reason for ineligibility in any PharmCAS comments section?
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The fee you pay PharmCAS depends on the number of schools you apply to. Many schools have secondary applications, which may include additional essays, and these have a fee around $50-70 per school. Your question being ineligible showing up on PharmCAs or not should probably be addressed directly to PharmCAS. You might want to address being academically ineligible, which I'm assuming was from low grades, in your personal statement.
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Starting.... now. I made the mistake of answering a question in another thread that has been asked about 10 times in the past week. I couldn't let it go unaddressed as I read through the PMs sent.
Thanks to everyone for their emails and support. Best of luck to you in your pursuit of an amazing profession!
-Admissions
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The staff has gotten a few questions since Admissions posted a portion of the PM that I sent him, so I would like to make a formal statement to clarify the situation.
The PM that was posted earlier by Admissions was only a portion of the text I sent, and it was placed in an incorrect context. What had been happening prior to that PM being sent was that Admissions had actually copied some posts word for word from the forums and answered them on his blog, which was a copyright violation. He'd also posted on SDN that he wanted users to PM him questions so that he could answer them on his blog rather than SDN. There were also several unsolicited in thread referrals to the blog, which is a violation of SDN's spam policy. And, a reference was made to possibly starting up a for-profit advising company. All of this information is publicly viewable and searchable, except for the posts which have now been removed from the blog. The remainder of the PM that was not posted encouraged Admissions to post in the forums and suggested that he go through the vetting process to become and SDN Mentor. Ultimately, it is up to Admissions whether he continues to post on SDN or not. But, contrary to what many users seem to believe, the staff has not discouraged him from posting in the forums. In fact, quite the opposite.
Hopefully we can lay this matter to a peaceful rest. If Admissions decides to come back, the forums will always be here.
If anyone has further questions or concerns, feel free shoot me a PM.
The PM that was posted earlier by Admissions was only a portion of the text I sent, and it was placed in an incorrect context. What had been happening prior to that PM being sent was that Admissions had actually copied some posts word for word from the forums and answered them on his blog, which was a copyright violation. He'd also posted on SDN that he wanted users to PM him questions so that he could answer them on his blog rather than SDN. There were also several unsolicited in thread referrals to the blog, which is a violation of SDN's spam policy. And, a reference was made to possibly starting up a for-profit advising company. All of this information is publicly viewable and searchable, except for the posts which have now been removed from the blog. The remainder of the PM that was not posted encouraged Admissions to post in the forums and suggested that he go through the vetting process to become and SDN Mentor. Ultimately, it is up to Admissions whether he continues to post on SDN or not. But, contrary to what many users seem to believe, the staff has not discouraged him from posting in the forums. In fact, quite the opposite.
Hopefully we can lay this matter to a peaceful rest. If Admissions decides to come back, the forums will always be here.
If anyone has further questions or concerns, feel free shoot me a PM.
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This is kind of rdiiculous, but why not respond. I acknowledge the error of initially using SDN questions on the blog, but you will see this didn't last long once we were notified by Ms. Peck.
I do not believe we have ever discussed starting a for profit advising company as Ms. Peck alleges. Post 226 specifies that we were considering 1-1 guidance through the blog to determine if there was the potential for a value added service, but nothing beyond this was ever mentioned. Over and over again we have offered our time for free to anyone requesting it - almost like the pharmacist behind the counter willing to explain medications to an 85 year old woman who is forced to get her Rxs filled through mail order pharmacy. We make no money by giving her our time, but we hope she will keep coming back to our pharmacy because we are professionals and believe there still might be some altruistic folks out there. Someone in a thread asked if there would be a conflict of interest if we did charge a fee for service and I answered the question that he/she asked. On multiple occasions, we very specifically reiterated that we were happy to assist pharmacy school applicants for no charge. This included reviewing personal statements (at no charge), reviewing transcripts (at no charge), and even having online webcasting and/or IM chat conferences (at no charge). We have reviewed many statements and transcripts and request Ms. Peck produce a single instance where there was a "fee" discussed. There has been none.
I wanted to point out several of my posts within this thread that might enlighten Ms. Peck and my future colleagues:
Post 182:
Post 212:
Post 226:
Post 235:
Post 271 (in response to question about a fee service):
I wear no halo and am not perfect, but I do take issue with the notion that my answering questions through my email address (the preferred method for most of us to correspond) and keeping a blog (as many people do) has become such an issue for SDN and Ms. Peck to warrant such a response. I acknowledge that on multiple occasions I have referred people to the blog via post or PM to address questions within a thread rather than repeatedly post the same thing time and again - I do not regret doing so. I feel as though this situation could have been handled in a much more professional manner, but we are all beholden to someone or something and it has become clear to me who is the predator and who is the prey.
Best of luck to you all.
Your colleague,
-Admissions
I do not believe we have ever discussed starting a for profit advising company as Ms. Peck alleges. Post 226 specifies that we were considering 1-1 guidance through the blog to determine if there was the potential for a value added service, but nothing beyond this was ever mentioned. Over and over again we have offered our time for free to anyone requesting it - almost like the pharmacist behind the counter willing to explain medications to an 85 year old woman who is forced to get her Rxs filled through mail order pharmacy. We make no money by giving her our time, but we hope she will keep coming back to our pharmacy because we are professionals and believe there still might be some altruistic folks out there. Someone in a thread asked if there would be a conflict of interest if we did charge a fee for service and I answered the question that he/she asked. On multiple occasions, we very specifically reiterated that we were happy to assist pharmacy school applicants for no charge. This included reviewing personal statements (at no charge), reviewing transcripts (at no charge), and even having online webcasting and/or IM chat conferences (at no charge). We have reviewed many statements and transcripts and request Ms. Peck produce a single instance where there was a "fee" discussed. There has been none.
I wanted to point out several of my posts within this thread that might enlighten Ms. Peck and my future colleagues:
Post 182:
Post 212:
Post 226:
Post 235:
Post 271 (in response to question about a fee service):
I wear no halo and am not perfect, but I do take issue with the notion that my answering questions through my email address (the preferred method for most of us to correspond) and keeping a blog (as many people do) has become such an issue for SDN and Ms. Peck to warrant such a response. I acknowledge that on multiple occasions I have referred people to the blog via post or PM to address questions within a thread rather than repeatedly post the same thing time and again - I do not regret doing so. I feel as though this situation could have been handled in a much more professional manner, but we are all beholden to someone or something and it has become clear to me who is the predator and who is the prey.
Best of luck to you all.
Your colleague,
-Admissions
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I'm not sure what is causing the misunderstanding here. Bananaface said this:
Admissions said this:
Perhaps she was not precise with her exact wording but wouldn't value added service imply for profit? And isn't this a possibility if the results of the direct 1-1 counseling point to a successful venture? Maybe it is erroneous to call a blog that has a value added service a for profit advising company if much of the other content is free but it isn't totally off base either. Besides, she just said that there was a possibility of this happening and it appears that there is. There is nothing in her post said that anyone was currently profiting from the blog.
What I find interesting about this is that you guys are talking past each other on the forums. Can't you just address these things in PMs? Otherwise, you have people like me weigh in and I'm more than happy to oblige because I have way too much time on my hands now that school has ended. The predator/prey line was pretty funny though. If you do continue this public dispute, lines like that make it more entertaining for the rest of us. And you are doing this for the benefit of the audience, right?
(emphasis mine)
Admissions said this:
(bold emphasis mine)
Perhaps she was not precise with her exact wording but wouldn't value added service imply for profit? And isn't this a possibility if the results of the direct 1-1 counseling point to a successful venture? Maybe it is erroneous to call a blog that has a value added service a for profit advising company if much of the other content is free but it isn't totally off base either. Besides, she just said that there was a possibility of this happening and it appears that there is. There is nothing in her post said that anyone was currently profiting from the blog.
What I find interesting about this is that you guys are talking past each other on the forums. Can't you just address these things in PMs? Otherwise, you have people like me weigh in and I'm more than happy to oblige because I have way too much time on my hands now that school has ended. The predator/prey line was pretty funny though. If you do continue this public dispute, lines like that make it more entertaining for the rest of us. And you are doing this for the benefit of the audience, right?
I'll tell you what I don't get, bananaface.
You say that referencing the blog is against policy. Fine. If that's such a big deal, then why has this thead: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=629257 not been locked and the user told to stop? It's been going on for days without any mod saying, "you can't post that link on here."
If you want to do that, at least be consistent. You know very well that Admissions is making much less money (less than 5 dollars since it started, I believe) than his time is worth and you should be ashamed for encouraging the most useful pre-pharm forum poster to stop posting his helpful advice. If you honestly think he is taking membership away from SDN then you need help. Seriously.
Edit: Regardless of what you say, you are at the very least encouraging him to help us pre-pharmers less. It is VERY clear to anyone who has read it that the blog is extremely useful for any student applying to pharmacy school. You need to take a step back and remember what it's like to be applying, instead of being snug in your position of a moderator and an already-in pharmacy student. I'm sure if you were applying to pharmacy school this fall, you would want access to that blog too. Shame on you for forgetting that he's HELPING us.
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Thanks - was watching a Discovery Channel story about the lioness' of the Serengeti.
To your point, my verbiage regarding a value added service was probably inaccurate or misleading. Maybe I should have called it a, "super cool" added service or a "really beneficial" added service. Choosing "value added" probably does convey something different and for that I regret the poor choice of words. I believe my actions in providing free information to potential applicants speak noticeably louder than the misconveyed words typed during a single post.
Plus, why would Ms. Peck want us around to dispense free information on how to get into pharmacy school when you can buy her book on Amazon.com for just $17.95? Oh, the irony.
The Student Doctor Network Pharmacy School Admissions Guide (Paperback)
by Anna Peck (Author)
List Price:$19.95 Price:$17.95 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details You Save:$2.00 (10%)
In Stock.
About the Author:
Anna Peck was born in Tacoma, WA and is presently a PharmD student at the University of Iowa. Since 2004, she has volunteered with the Student Doctor Network and is now serving as a site administrator.
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Admissions,
Why do you want to escalate this? First, you made public a portion of a PM. I'm certainly no expert on forum etiquette but I think that is frowned upon. It's a violation of privacy. Then you connected a real life name to a screen name. Again, you weren't respecting the privacy of bananaface. I find this part to be especially ironic as you have taken great pains to preserve your anonymity. Don't you think that the mods deserve the same consideration? And if that weren't enough, now you seem to be suggesting that bananaface is trying to keep you from giving free advice so she can personally profit. Or was that not the message that you were trying to convey?
While I have to admit that I find this all very entertaining, I'm starting to question your judgment. You have been giving good advice and it is greatly appreciated but this dispute is not putting you in the best light. I saw you take the high road earlier in this thread when someone challenged you about thank you notes. Why not do that here so we can get on with helping people get into pharmacy school?
Why do you want to escalate this? First, you made public a portion of a PM. I'm certainly no expert on forum etiquette but I think that is frowned upon. It's a violation of privacy. Then you connected a real life name to a screen name. Again, you weren't respecting the privacy of bananaface. I find this part to be especially ironic as you have taken great pains to preserve your anonymity. Don't you think that the mods deserve the same consideration? And if that weren't enough, now you seem to be suggesting that bananaface is trying to keep you from giving free advice so she can personally profit. Or was that not the message that you were trying to convey?
While I have to admit that I find this all very entertaining, I'm starting to question your judgment. You have been giving good advice and it is greatly appreciated but this dispute is not putting you in the best light. I saw you take the high road earlier in this thread when someone challenged you about thank you notes. Why not do that here so we can get on with helping people get into pharmacy school?
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Just be aware, while it may be an entertaining read for some users, we are dealing with actual people and the outcome does have an affect on them for good or bad.
Carboxide, your question will be addressed. By PM most likely as it appears public discourse may prove unintentionally indiscrete.
Carboxide, your question will be addressed. By PM most likely as it appears public discourse may prove unintentionally indiscrete.
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I agree with you 100% and apologize for the error in judgment. I have sent a PM to Ms. Peck to apologize and have asked her to delete this thread and disable the account I created on SDN. It has been a pleasure working with everyone on this board and I wish you great success in your careers. I hope that you have chosen this profession for the right reasons. Pharmacists are the most accessible health care professionals and we positively impact millions of people everyday. With great power comes great responsibility.
Best of luck to everyone. You know how to reach me.
-Admissions
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Hello,
I am a recently accepted Pharmacy student at UIC. I turned in my deposit and got my acceptance email and awaiting for my official letter in the mail. I have finished all the prepharm requirements and achieved the required GPA for all of it in all categories. I am finishing my last semester of undergrad at UIC before I start pharm school in the fall by finishing my B.S. in Biochemistry. Last semester I received a D in a class that I required for my major. My GPA and everything is still good and above the 2.0 requirement however am I required to repeat that class in order to matriculate in the college? It isn't a required class for the pharmacy school but getting a D in it is good enough for my major. What should I do? Any opinions and recommendations would be great. Thanks~!
I am a recently accepted Pharmacy student at UIC. I turned in my deposit and got my acceptance email and awaiting for my official letter in the mail. I have finished all the prepharm requirements and achieved the required GPA for all of it in all categories. I am finishing my last semester of undergrad at UIC before I start pharm school in the fall by finishing my B.S. in Biochemistry. Last semester I received a D in a class that I required for my major. My GPA and everything is still good and above the 2.0 requirement however am I required to repeat that class in order to matriculate in the college? It isn't a required class for the pharmacy school but getting a D in it is good enough for my major. What should I do? Any opinions and recommendations would be great. Thanks~!
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