Have you always been “Smart”

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wildcat5206

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I believe there is a correlation between intelligence and being a pharmacist. You have to be smart to get through all that schooling in order to be a pharmacist. And just was wondering if you pharmacists and practitioners have always been smart in school. For instance, have you always been a good student in school? A’s and B’s and always active in your studies? Just wondering because I am a 3.0 student and thinking about pharmacy school.
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wildcat5206 said:
I believe there is a correlation between intelligence and being a pharmacist. You have to be smart to get through all that schooling in order to be a pharmacist. And just was wondering if you pharmacists and practitioners have always been smart in school. For instance, have you always been a good student in school? A’s and B’s and always active in your studies? Just wondering because I am a 3.0 student and thinking about pharmacy school.
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Do you consider yourself smart?

I remember teaching myself math in middle school. Eventually, my father said that there was no point in me going to school if I was teaching myself everything. I still remember him saying that.

I learn patterns quickly, and I prefer to think ahead. I like concepts a lot, but it's more difficult for me to absorb specific details about a subject that I do not find significant. That's why I despise history. There are just too many useless details. I had to force myself to learn in American History; I put that class off until the very last semester of undergrad.
 
in second grade I got moved up to third grade reading ;)
 
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When I was a child going to school in California, they wanted me to skip grades. My parents said no, that it was more important to keep me with my same age group. Otherwise, I would have been a geek with no friends. I thank them for this.

So, yes I've always been smart. I found out early that I didn't have to study or apply myself to make good grades. I learned to study when I got to college. Once I got to pharmacy school, I studied a lot.
 
I think everybody in pharmacy is smart to a certain degree. I also think that people needs more than "smarts" to become an excellent pharmacist. That is something that most of us forget.
 
Yeah, I think I and probably almost everyone here has had an opportunity to skip a grade. That's actually quite easy, especially the younger grades, but there are obviously more psycho/social implications.

I was valedictorian high school, had a high average in pharmacy pre-reqs [deans list], got accepted into pharmacy school, my marks have lowered a bit. That's not speaking to the difficulty of the information, but rather I hate multiple choice style testing - memorizing tons of random details. I do much better at problem solving, conceptual issues, a la physics/chemistry/calculus, even pharmacology. If pharmacy was predominantly this, my average would be higher. It's still an A though.
 
I was in regular 7th grade math :(
 
I'm smart in some things, dumb in others. I do have this incredible ability to memorize almost any fact I come across except for those that will appear on tests. More then once in pharmacy school I found myself being able to write a whole page of facts about a drug (including structure) but yet unable to answer the question.

From my observations you do need to be smart to get into pharmacy school (or most professional or graduate programs). On the other hand you need to either work hard or be a super genius in order to get through the program. But as for being successful when you get out, well that may have everything or nothing at all to do with how smart you are or how hard you work. Just depends on which way you try to take your career.
 
I thought I was smart *UNTIL* I took the 300 and 400 level engineering classes. Especially during the class where the teacher expected us to design and make our own operating system and expected us to know how to without his help. I ended up with a 2.7ish GPA for my bachelor's degree. Kinda below average GPA.

However in pharmacy school, I pretty much study only the night before the test and I have no summer remediations to do. I know - I'm trying to improve my study habits.
 
Well... I was one of those people who never studied and still got As... and I can remember a page of text after reading it twice (though I hardly ever read anything twice), and speak five languages, and was able to understand Calc II and Physics the first time I heard it, yada, yada, yada. Some people are just born smarter, or taller, or thinner, or faster than others... it doesn't matter in the long run. Things other than intellect made a much higher impact on what I have been able to achieve to this point, steamroller personality being the most valuable. :) In real world "soft skills" matter a lot more than knowledge, especially now when knowledge is easily accessible to anyone, and the ability to interpret and apply it is what adds value.
 
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I don't really think you have to be all that smart to be a pharmacist. I mean, there are many "not so intelligent" people in my class, and I have run across pharmacists that are dumb as dirt.

Just my opinion....
 
I thought I was pretty smart until I read some of the comments/stats of those applicants on the pre-med forums here on SDN...those guys are intteennnse!! Usually on the pharmacy forums, when someone is coming from an ivy league institution, the poster usually mentions it...while on the other forum, it seems as if almost everyone comes from an ivy (and with high GPAs too), so posters don't really allude to it anymore.
However, booksmarts don't always correlate with success as a pharmacist. I know some classmates of mine who would make the best pharmacists, but their GPA isn't exactly that great; but that's not to say that people who are booksmart won't make good pharmacist. I think people who have high GPAs are either naturally smart, or very hard working, both of which can contribute to make them become successful in their field. However, one needs to manipulate their knowledge and retain the knowledge, not simply memorize information and spit it out on a multiple choice exam.
I guess what I am trying to say is that don't let your average GPA or your self perception of not being the most intelligent person limit your choices. If you are not as smart as other people, you can always work harder than they do. Not every pharmacist is smart, but yes, you do need to be active in your studies in pharmacy school because there is a lot of information to retain. I think you should know the information in pharmacy school not only for your self, but also for the patients you will serve in the future.
 
I think I'm pretty smart, but being smart doesn't necessarily mean you'll get the grades. I was practically a raging alcoholic/party regular during 3 of my 4 undergraduate years. I regularly got C's, one F, and a random D my 1st year. Oh boy, I could go on and on....

Then I decided to get my act together and got straight A's/few B's my 4th year + post graduate prerequisite work. How I got into pharmacy school will be one of life's unanswered questions.

So yes, I guess you could say I'm smart. I managed to party for 3 years straight and get into pharmacy school anyway.
 
I have always earned good grades - but it's form hard work and hours of studying. It does take me quite a bit of repetition to learn things, but once I know it - I know it. I also HAVE to be taught concepts; I have a very hard time memorizing something without in depth knowledge of why/where it came from. I was the kid that was always asking "WHY or HOW" growing up. :)
 
I was smart until organic chem... now I feel like a *****.
 
AngelaCL said:
I was smart until organic chem... now I feel like a *****.
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The first organic chem wasn't hard. I understood the material.
The second organic chem was total bs. I don't give a crap about all of those crazy agents like Lindlar's catalyst. Organic chem II was a total waste with respect to pharmacy school.
 
I did great in elementary school. Tops in the state in all of my stupid standardized tests. Then I realized it was all pointless and stopped caring. I think my high school GPA was in the 2s somewhere. Class rank somewhere around 50th percentile. I held the record at the time for accumulating the most detention slips for not attending study hall in the history of the school. I assume it still stands.

Of course, I never felt school was a measure of "smart". Any idiot can memorize something, then regurgitate it. Smart is being able to improvise when something utterly unexpected comes your way.
 
I was really lazy and goofed off in middle/high school and stayed in trouble all the time. I skipped school a lot. Think I graduated with a 2.6ish. I could have had a 4.0 but I would have had a lot less fun lol..

I took a year off and realized that I needed to get my stuff together.
 
I think there is a distinction that is not made here between "intelligence" and "smartness". Being intelligent means you were fortunate enough to be born with a high IQ, whereas being smart means having acquired a wealth of knowledge. Thus, I think, the two get mixed up quite a lot. I would say that I'm a jack of all trades who is 'average smart' with above average intelligence.
 
FixLittlePeople said:
I think there is a distinction that is not made here between "intelligence" and "smartness". Being intelligent means you were fortunate enough to be born with a high IQ, whereas being smart means having acquired a wealth of knowledge. Thus, I think, the two get mixed up quite a lot. I would say that I'm a jack of all trades who is 'average smart' with above average intelligence.
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I think I'm about the same as you...I actually have a 150 IQ and I think I'm relatively knowledgable in most areas. I never did much studying for my undergrad at all and still had a 3.2. I do, however, admit that writing and spelling are not my strong suits. I definately do agree with fixlittlepeople...you can be the most intelligent person around but still be an idiot in the real world. My father never even finished high school, but is still one of the smartest people I know. He taught me how to work on cars and build engines, do metal fabricating and just about everything you need to know to build a house.
 
WVUPharm2007 said:
I did great in elementary school. Tops in the state in all of my stupid standardized tests. Then I realized it was all pointless and stopped caring. I think my high school GPA was in the 2s somewhere. Class rank somewhere around 50th percentile. I held the record at the time for accumulating the most detention slips for not attending study hall in the history of the school. I assume it still stands.
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Elementary School... I was the quiet Asian kid from Taiwan who came in half way through the year and had to go to ESL with all them foreigners :scared: I also remember, testing to get into Algebra I for 7th grade, and failing because I didn't know what the hell the Pythagorean Theorem was :confused: and I still don't what the hell it is :laugh:
 
FixLittlePeople said:
I think there is a distinction that is not made here between "intelligence" and "smartness". Being intelligent means you were fortunate enough to be born with a high IQ, whereas being smart means having acquired a wealth of knowledge. Thus, I think, the two get mixed up quite a lot. I would say that I'm a jack of all trades who is 'average smart' with above average intelligence.
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smart = quick intelligence (wittiness if you will) or mental capability
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/smart

Are you trying to describe "knowledgeable" or "educated"? People might confuse those adjectives with "smart".
 
Damn, am I the only non-smartie here? My grades come from sheer hard work. I am so average in every way... including intelligence/smartness, whatever you want to call it. I try to make up for my inadequacies by working twice as hard as everyone else. I wish things came easy to me!
 
confettiflyer said:
I think I'm pretty smart, but being smart doesn't necessarily mean you'll get the grades. I was practically a raging alcoholic/party regular during 3 of my 4 undergraduate years. I regularly got C's, one F, and a random D my 1st year. Oh boy, I could go on and on....

Then I decided to get my act together and got straight A's/few B's my 4th year + post graduate prerequisite work. How I got into pharmacy school will be one of life's unanswered questions.

So yes, I guess you could say I'm smart. I managed to party for 3 years straight and get into pharmacy school anyway.
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My story is quite similar to confettiflyer's. Too much partying....and not even knowing what studying was. I didn't study once from elementary through my first two years of college.....no joke. I didn't really ever put effort into school until I went back to college after a 4 year break for more partying. All of my sub-par grades in high school and the 26 ACT didn't comeback to haunt me. Kinda funny to think that I only made it to pre-calc in high school, didn't take physics, and got kicked out of chemistry.....twice. When I actually went to class (in my later years of college) and put an effort into them I rocked out all of the "hard" classes. So, I guess my intelligence was masked by my lack of interest. I still wouldn't consider myself a genius by any means...I just needed to have some motivation to study.....and go to class. So I am glad I enjoyed myself when I did....because pharmacy school is prolly gonna kick my ***. It is also good that I got the hardcore partying out of my system.
 
I guess after thinking about it...if I weren't smart, I would have gotten straight F's from my partying/lack of studying and would have gotten kicked out of school. My C's were the result of me just absorbing the lecture and taking the test, no studying.
 
I thought I wasn't smart at all but somehow everytimes I took tests...I passed with the very high scores (in my country). I was a person who always waited for the last minutes to study so I think I was a luckier more than smarter.
 
I might add, however, that even though I flew through my undergrad 10 years ago, I'm finding now the older I get, the more it takes to do well! Maybe you don't retain information as well as when you were younger? I'm not saying I'm old...I'm 31, but still makes a difference!
 
BlueCrayon said:
I might add, however, that even though I flew through my undergrad 10 years ago, I'm finding now the older I get, the more it takes to do well! Maybe you don't retain information as well as when you were younger? I'm not saying I'm old...I'm 31, but still makes a difference!
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I am 28 almost 29 and I have the opposite feeling. I study less now because I know how I learn best and get the job done quicker. I still can photograph pages, etc.

I do not feel I am overly "smart".

I ain't the sharpest tool around, but I can still cut ya.
 
J DUB said:
I am 28 almost 29 and I have the opposite feeling. I study less now because I know how I learn best and get the job done quicker. I still can photograph pages, etc.

I do not feel I am overly "smart".

I ain't the sharpest tool around, but I can still cut ya.
Click to expand...

I do also agree with that...I definately find I'm genuinly more interested and WANT to learn much more than when I was in undergrad...I definately have learned how to learn much better, I think maybe it takes just a bit more time to memorize the same amount of stuff. Most likely because I'm sure I've destroyed many billions of neurons in my brain since then!:D
 
phuang06 said:
I also remember, testing to get into Algebra I for 7th grade, and failing because I didn't know what the hell the Pythagorean Theorem was :confused: and I still don't what the hell it is :laugh:
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a(squared) + b(squared) = c(squared). Does this equation matter at all in pharmacy school or for 99% of the population? Nope.

I always felt like I was smart until I hit pharmacy school. Even in my grad level courses for molecular biology and biochem I was blowing the rest of the class out of the water. Now I just feel average. But I DO know that I think better on my feet and am a better problem solver than at least 1/2 of the people that they announced for Rho Chi yesterday :p What's the use of getting all A's if you can't apply the info? One of the guys that was offered Rho Chi doesn't understand that DiPiro isn't the bible and that there can be flexibility when it comes to patient care plans.
 
Moxxie said:
a(squared) + b(squared) = c(squared). Does this equation matter at all in pharmacy school or for 99% of the population? Nope.
Click to expand...

It was a joke @_@
 
Moxxie said:
One of the guys that was offered Rho Chi doesn't understand that DiPiro isn't the bible and that there can be flexibility when it comes to patient care plans.
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That sounds familiar.
Lesson learned by student: more side effects with a safer treatment >>>> risky treatment with fewer side effects (side effects >>>> death).
 
very interesting posts guys, thanks for the input.

In high school i was the average joe and i got a 3.2 gpa and when i went to college (a university) i was initially a pre-med major for a year and a half and then switched to a business major since i found pre-med overwhelming.. now im seriously deciding going back to a community college and finish up the pre-reqs for pharm school (might take me a year and a half or less if i take summer school). Its gonna be hard explaining the transition to pre-med to business to pharm school:confused:. I Hate myself a lot for that :mad: and whats worse is i graduated with a 2.94 gpa. but i now have the tenacity and passion for pharm school.. so well see. what do you all think about stupid me? be honest please:oops:
 
in high school...i hanged out with the wrong crowd...didn't think i would even pass HS
but i met someone (now my wife) who turned my life around for the best

i got into Pharm school with a 3.3 GPA undergrad (i think i did really well on the interview)
and now i'm wrapping up my P3 year & holding onto a 3.6 GPA

i don't consider myself smart all...with half a brain & dedication...you can
accomplish a lot
 
Yeah I think for us guys...it's the meeting of a girl that can get us out of funks and make us do things we wouldn't normally do (ie be social, study, etc...)
 
This isn't exclusive to Pharm.Ds, of course. I think you'd find a similar correlation to many doctorates; maybe it'd just be a stronger correlation between that question and Pharm.D / MD / DO / DDS / DMD folks.

Yeah, I consider myself smart, and was val of my high school class / could've skipped like many others here.

I also think I'm dumb as a goddamn brick in other areas, so obviously, there's more to life than having a stellar GPA and gaining acceptance to a degree that'll land you in the top few percent education- / salary-wise.

(That said, when it comes to "smarts," I fully expect med school to sodomize me with a Staff of Asclepius-shaped javelin.)
 
I disagree with the OP and his/her idea regarding intelligence and being a pharmacist. Being smart can definitely help in becoming a pharmacist, but that "trait" isn't necessary. Hard work and perseverance can easily replace "smarts." What is the cutoff for a smart pharmacist and a dumb/average pharmacist? Who or what can discern between the two?

To me, the real "smart" is being studious and responsible. The combination of intelligence and responsibility is the foundation of something else...
 
nnguyenc said:
i met someone (now my wife) who turned my life around for the best
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Mr Nguyen,
Wow, ur wife turned your life around, lucky you.
I met someone who turned me back to school too but he wasn't my husband lol (This was a secret. If I become a pharmacist, i would thanks to him a lot)
 
smart, thats a subjective word to me. most people think smart is associated with the grades you make. Your ability/motivation to follow directions in a structured environment can get you A's in most classes. I guess thats how I viewed HS.
taking something that is really tough conceptually, like differential equations, and making an A...well thats a different story! :eek:
 
huh?

thats my usual asnwer when people ask me questions. I think that means i am not.
 
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