Pharmacy Should I apply to pharmacy school this cycle?

[BC_89]

Hello. I just recently decided to pursue pharmacy and I am going into my senior year in undergrad next semester. I am not sure if it is wise for me to apply this cycle. I still need to request Letters of recommendations and draft my personal statement. Applications open in July. I am hoping to take my PCAT in October. Not so sure I can get a committee letter since the interviews at my school end this week. My GPA is a 3.5 and I have a good amount of experience in healthcare. I am working at a pharmacy this summer. Should I apply this cycle or wait until next year and have everything ready?

When you say this cycle I'm presuming your talking about seats for 2020. With that, it'd be in your favor to work in a pharmacy and keep an upward trend in GPA before anything else. With what you seem to present, your chances of an interview are better than most if you cast a wide net to different programs. I'd also encourage you to look into the pharmacy forums about the job market:

Job Market

Pharmacy job market discussions and opportunities.

forums.studentdoctor.net

Get the best GPA with a bachelors and look at all options. After working in a pharmacy, reviewing student loans to income ratios of recent graduates, and come to peace that you'll be working in a setting many states away from your hometown, then I would say pursue pharmacy with contingency plans. Ask why pharmacy when you haven't set foot in one before and how much debt will you have to pull out while mostly likely starting off as a floater or part time worker.

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[Mr.Smile12]

Aside from echoing the previous poster's advice, I also wanted to make sure you have talked with your letters-of-evaluation writers and a health professions advisor and/or career advisor. In all likelihood, you won't need a committee letter, but you would need some experience going in. A lot of other people who have applied to pharmacy programs have worked at least a year assisting pharmacists. But as pointed out, you need to know what you're getting yourself into because pharmacy is not all about the box-store pharmacy, and you need to be ready to flex your plans because of the opportunities you have.

 

[Catalystik]

Apply next year with everything ready. Pharmacy school adcomms will not be impressed by an apparently impulsive decision to go into pharmacy as a career. In the meanwhile, raise your GPA. Continue working in a pharmacy until you have a year of experience and ask for the perspectives of the pharmacists you work with. Take the PCAT seriously and get in some dedicated study time. Do what you have to earn a solid committee letter.