What PCAT score should I be shooting for to get into pharmacy school ?

[LEE ADAMA WILLIAMS]

I have an overall science gpa of 3.6 according to pharmcas, and a 3.47 pre req gpa, I have applied to the following schools:

TAMU, UofH, UNT, and TTUHSC.

what PCAT score should I be aiming for to get accepted in these schools?

Should I just keep studying for the pcat after I take it?

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[BC_89]

Some programs do not require the PCAT (ie California schools and some newer established institutes). Many are getting in with lower than usual scores if you consider the past 5-10 years.

To actually know if you are "competitive" overall, the PCAT is scored based on your competitors aptitude over the past 5 years. For example, if everyone missed 2 questions the past 5 years and you missed 3, you got a 1 on a scale of 99 (terrible). Likewise, if everyone misses 3 questions in each category over that same period of time and you missed only 2, you just scored a 99. Thus, to score a 50 means you did better than 50% of your peers over the past 5 years. The idea is to score a 75+ to be in the top third of test takers. Many score in the upper 90's while others who get accepted score in the lower 40's and 30's.

Established schools and top 10 programs will put out a mean PCAT score of the students that were accepted. Look up each school by Googling "Pharmacy School Locator" and click on the state and institute to know what their criteria is. Truth be told though, you may not need to score very high as pharmacy is not nearly as competitive as it used to be.

 

[zona2016]

70+ composite PCAT would be good enough for 99.999% of the programs.

 

[mentos]

You don't even need PCAT for some schools anymore. They are desperate to fill seats.

 

[Alaskanpharmacist101]

^ this is true.

I got 18th percentile on PCAT, just straight up bombed it, but found out this cycle that the school i'm applying for doesn't even require PCAT lol. I applied and got an interview for December

 

[PharmtoCS]

^ this is true.

I got 18th percentile on PCAT, just straight up bombed it, but found out this cycle that the school i'm applying for doesn't even require PCAT lol. I applied and got an interview for December

Sounds about right.

Pharmacy is pretty much a scam though since there are practically no jobs for you after you graduate. You’ll just be stuck with a ton of student loans after you make your pharmacy school $200k richer.

 

[LEE ADAMA WILLIAMS]

^ this is true.

I got 18th percentile on PCAT, just straight up bombed it, but found out this cycle that the school i'm applying for doesn't even require PCAT lol. I applied and got an interview for December

What school and whats the cost of tuition ?

 

[Timbo]

Go look at aacp.com. Pharmacy school applications have dropped 40% from 2012 until now, yet schools are continuing to graduate new PharmDs in record numbers at 14k-15k every year. How do you think schools are managing to do this? Why do you think less and less people are applying to pharmacy school?

 

[mentos]

Sounds about right.

Pharmacy is pretty much a scam though since there are practically no jobs for you after you graduate. You’ll just be stuck with a ton of student loans after you make your pharmacy school $200k richer.

But I heard from someone on SDN who heard from a P4 that they got an offer for 193k in Bettles, Alaska which has a population of 12!

 

[VictorOfHungerGames]

Go look at aacp.com. Pharmacy school applications have dropped 40% from 2012 until now, yet schools are continuing to graduate new PharmDs in record numbers at 14k-15k every year. How do you think schools are managing to do this? Why do you think less and less people are applying to pharmacy school?

Stop it. You're making schools nervous by stating facts and asking legitimate questions.

And I know schools read this forum since that's how i found out about it. lol. A school admin told me about this forum... lolol