What major should I take to become a pharmacist if my school doesn't offer a pre-pharmacy program?

Question

I'm a senior at high school and I'm considering being a pharmacist as a career but I'm still confused about what I need to do in terms of pre-pharmacy education. I basically know that you have to take atleast two years of pre-pharmacy study and four years of graduate study.

Is it necessary to attend a school that offers a pre-pharmacy program in order to continue at a graduate school?

Is it recomended?

What major should I take if a school doesn't offer a pre-pharmacy program?

Is it harder to get into a graduate pharmacy school if you don't take a pre-pharmacy program?

What schools do you recommend that are in california for pre-pharmacy study?

Answer 1

Not necessary to attend a school with a pre- pharmacy program. Although most usually have some sort of adviser that can help. I am currently a Pre-pharm major and applying to pharm school. I am a biology major with emphasis on physiology and anatomy. You can do chemistry as well. Regardless you still have to meet the requirements. Which include a year of biology, year of general chem, year of organic chem, biochemistry, microbiology, year of calculus, umm and general education classes.

Pre-pharmacy is usually not a major in a school that doesn't have a pharmacy school. Try to get into a school that has a pharmacy school because its easier to get into the graduate program if you did undergraduate there.

I'm in Cali and let me tell you the single most important factor is grades, must achieve at least 3.2 to be competitive. UCSF is top rated in the nation. UCSD not so bad either. Stay away from high private schools ie USC, Western, and UOP. they are $$$$$$.

good luck

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

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RE:
What major should I take to become a pharmacist if my school doesn't offer a pre-pharmacy program?
I'm a senior at high school and I'm considering being a pharmacist as a career but I'm still confused about what I need to do in terms of pre-pharmacy education. I basically know that you have to take atleast two years of pre-pharmacy study and four years of graduate study.

Is it...

Answer 4

Pre-Pharm like Pre-Med is not a major but more of an advising track or list of advised classes to take.
I went to a school, for prePharm, which had a pharmacy program, but there are plenty of pharm students who went to schools which do not have a program.
If you are on the 2 year prePharm track, you'll probably not have to name a major. The most common majors are biology, chemistry, and biochemistry.
California is the hardest state, in terms of admissions. You'll need closer to a 3.5 GPA, and that is also true at a lot of pharmacy schools. It's hard to get into a school, period. My own school has an acceptance rate of 1 in 9.
The overall average GPA for successful applicants is about 3.4-3.5.

Answer 5

Pharmacist Major

Answer 6

Most universities don't have pre-pharm as a major. You can major in anything as long as you cover the prequisites for the school you are applying to. It's always prefered though to have a science major b/c that way you are not taking extra classes for pharm school. Biology and chemistry are usually good majors for pre-pharm. To help you decide, you can talk to a counselor and he/she would help you choose the best major that would match the schools you apply to.

Answer 7

Should I Become A Pharmacist

Answer 8

First off, there are some facts you need to get straight, I think you have a lot of misconceptions here base on your comments. Pre-Pharmacy is a list of courses that are pre-requisites (requirements) for getting into Pharmacy School (The pharmacy program). It is not a 2 year process!

It is NOT necessary for you to attend a pre-pharmacy program in order to continue on to pharmacy school (it is not considered a graduate school, please do not mistake the two as the same thing). It is however recommended because you have an advantage of having an advisor you meet up with every quarter or semester (depending on the University you are attending and which system they are on) that help advise you on courses you should take to help you along.

However since it is not required, you can attend a school without a pre-pharmacy program and still take the same courses. The only difference would be the advisor at this school may or may not be as knowledgable on the courses you need to complete. All pharmacy students will complete a Bachelors degree in General Science "UNLESS" they choose to major in something more such as Chemistry or Biology for example. It is not required for you to have anything other than a degree in General Science to complete the Pharmacy Program.

You can not get into pharmacy school if you do not complete the pre-requisite (required) courses, that does not mean you have to be in any pre-pharmacy program to do so. Generally speaking, the courses you need to complete includes a year of general chemistry, principles of biology, organic chemistry, physics, a quarter or semester of microbiology, anatomy and physiology, cell and molecular biology, and some math courses (mainly calculus), and some writing courses.

Every University, regardless of where it is will also require that you complete some university core courses (called different at every school) regardless of your major to graduate. The pre-requisite courses typically takes four years to complete, however your fourth year can be counted from coursework in your first year of pharmacy school as well since you don't need your bachelors to enter pharmacy school. You only need to complete at least 3 years worth of credits that meets the pre-requisite course list to apply and be admitted to pharmacy school. Your first year pharmacy school classes can count towards your bachelors degree. You need to have your bachelors degree by the end of your 3rd year in the pharmacy program however, before you can proceed on and take your clerkship/internship your final year in the program.

So in other words, you can complete the required courses at any University. In addition, GPA is important to some degree and on average the entering GPA ranges from 3.4 to 3.6 on a 4.0 scale. It also helps to attend a school with a pre-pharmacy program "AND" a pharmacy school because students who do well academically have a higher chance of getting in. In state students for most pharmacy school tend to have a higher chance of getting in as well. Schools will also look at extra-curricular work you do while attending college such as work, volunteer, participation in school clubs (all pharmacy related will have more impact), and most (not all) will want a PCAT (Pharmacy College Admission Test) score. Its something similar to the MCAT but much easier (or in your terms, like the SAT but much harder).

Hope this clears your confusion and helps.