TexasPharm Doc covered pretty much everything, but I'll go into detail.
Heres Tech's current catalog and around page 27 is where i'm getting my information.
http://www.ttuhsc.edu/sop/academicinfo/docs/currentcatalog/2009/Catalog_09_2010.pdf
"The interview will start with welcome and general directions for the day. It is not an assessment, simply a time to get to know you and for you to get to know the other applicants that will be with you for the day. Your performance in other activities during the day will be assessed to determine an overall Interview Score."
So nothing to worry about for the first part. Last year we measured coat sizes and turned in immunization paperwork.
"You will be asked to complete a creative writing exercise on a topic that you will be given for that day. We will be assessing your grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure. Most importantly, we will be looking to see if you develop a logical argument for your points and whether you present a comprehensive analysis. You should also come to a conclusion about what you think about the topic."
It's like the PCAT writing section. You'll be scored on grammar and logical arguments. In my opinion the topic Tech gave us was a lot easier to write about than the topics I had to write about on my PCAT.
"You will take a standardized test to assess your critical thinking abilities. Pharmacy requires you take information from multiple sources and critically analyze the information relative to a specific patients
problem with their medication. This test will allow us to assess your basic abilities to accomplish these ends. Again, the content is not important and you cannot prepare for the test."
You are not meant to do well on this test. If you score really high, there is a chance you are schizophrenic. They will tell you this before taking this test. All it is is a way to see how you think through and process certain information. I know for me there were large chunks of the test where I had no idea what the question was asking, and other parts where I knew the answer automatically. There is no way to study for it, just relax and do your best.
"As a pharmacist, you will be required to work effectively with a team of physicians, nurses and other pharmacists to solve patient and operational problems. To allow us to determine your basic teaming skills, you will be in a group of 5-6 other students and asked to group problem solving on a potential
pharmacy problem. You do not need to know anything about pharmacy beyond what you have learned in your pre-pharmacy courses; we are most interested in your abilities to work within a group in reaching a solution."
As it says, you do not need to know anything further than your prepharm course work. My best advice is to be heard but not to take over. You want to find a balance where your opinions get heard by the group but you don't want to be controlling the group by never shutting up or listening to others.
"The final assessments come from one-on-one interviews with faculty members, pharmacists who assist in evaluating students and one of our existing students. They will be interested in why you want to be a pharmacist, any experiences you have had with pharmacy, your extracurricular activities while in college, your interpersonal abilities, your strengths, and weaknesses. You will be able to really tell your
story in these sessions, so think about these types of general questions before you come, not to have a predetermined answer we can always spot an answer that is not genuine but rather your real thoughts and ideas. There will be two individuals interviewing you."
Finally, near the end of your day, you'll reach the interview. I can't say what questions we'll be asking you but I will say to look at TexasPharm Doc's advice. I'll also tell you that I will be interviewing prospective students for most of the interview days in February and I'm pretty friendly. We're not here to bite your heads off, just to learn more about you.
Lastly I want to say, don't be nervous. You might not think we can tell, but trust me, we can tell. Exude confidence and we'll believe you're confident, show enthusiasm and we'll believe you want to be here. Talk to faculty, talk to us current students, talk to your potential classmates, and just try to enjoy the experience. It's going to be a long day, why be nervous for all of it? Relax and enjoy it.
Sorry for the long post, but if you have any questions feel free to ask. There is a current Texas Tech thread going on and you can read through that if you want. You can use the search function or look at my previous posts to find it. Good Luck!
