The Dos & Don`ts of Pharm School Admissions
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Transcript The Dos & Don`ts of Pharm School Admissions
The Dos & Don’ts of
Pharmacy School Admissions
Todd Worsham
Campus Manager
Kaplan Test Prep & Admissions
302-519-7331
[email protected]
www.kaptest.com
1-800-KAP-TEST
Pharmacy School Admissions Trends
According to the data compiled by the American
Association of Colleges of Pharmacy:
95,000 applicants for 2007
11,557 new students for 2007
And that’s including…
Pharmacy Colleges adding over 3,000 seats to accommodate the growing
need
Tip #1:
Know the competition.
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Pharm School Admissions Timeline
Get it Ready!
PCAT
Jan
May
June
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Early Decision
Period
Rolling Admissions Period
PCAT is administered 9 times: July, Fall (in 2011 all fall dates were in September and
January
Tip #2:
Submit your application early.
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Feb
Pharmacy School Admissions Factors
PCAT Score
Undergraduate GPA
Prerequisite Coursework
Personal Profile & Statements
Extracurricular & Experiences
Interviews
Letters of Recommendation
Tip #3:
Presumably Admit
Presumably Deny
Absolutely Deny
Control the process.
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The Dos & Don’ts of Pharm School Admissions
Prerequisite Coursework
Do your research
Assume that one-size fits all
Consult your Advisor
Try to get all the answers yourself
Call admissions
Go by only what you have heard from
other pre-health students
Tip #4:
Get all the information.
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The Dos & Don’ts of Pharm School Admissions
Personal Statement
Use past/present stories and a theme.
Write “why I want to go to pharm school”.
Showcase lessons learned from
Speak negatively of anyone or anything.
Write effectively and follow directions
Go at it alone.
experience
Interviews
Consider every interview mandatory
Discount them
Schedule interviews strategically
Judge schools based on ranking alone
Become acquainted with admissions staff
Inundate admissions staff with requests
Tip #5:
Distinguish yourself by showing your passion.
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The Dos & Don’ts of Pharm School Admissions
Letters of Recommendation
Select professors who know you well
Worry about clout
Give recommenders content to work from
Allow your recommenders to fly blind
Ask specifically for strong, detailed letter
Write the letter yourself
Tip #6:
Help your recommenders help you.
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The Dos & Don’ts of Pharm School Admissions
GPA
Choose major that interests/challenges
Choose Chem major "just because" prehealth
Squeeze out every point you can.
Game your GPA with easy classes or P/F
“Trend-up” and do well in major.
Over-estimate importance of GPA.
you
Tip #7:
Your academic potential is measurable.
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The Dos & Don’ts of Pharm School Admissions
The PCAT
What are most schools requiring?
What are most matriculates getting?
The sections of PCAT are:
verbal ability
quantitative ability
reading comprehension
knowledge of basic principles and concepts of biology
general and elementary organic chemistry
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The Dos & Don’ts of Pharm School Admissions
The PCAT
Give the test the attention/time it
Consider it just an obstacle to admission
Learn critical thinking skills (and science)
Tackle the exam as a whole, all at once
Learn/practice to gain efficiency for each
Take test after test w/o changing
behavior
Focus on your opportunities for
Prepare with college text books
Understand you can do it.
Consider it just an obstacle to admission
deserves
skill
improvement
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The Dos & Don’ts of Pharm School Admissions
The PCAT
What is on it?
2 Writing Sections 30 minutes each
Verbal Ability 30 minutes/48 items (60% analogies)
Biology 30 minutes/48 items (60% Gen Bio)
Chemistry 30 minutes/48 items (60% Gen, 40% O Chem)
Reading Comp 50 minutes/48 items
Quantitative 40 minutes/48 questions (40% Precalc and Calc)
The PCAT is the common measuring stick.
Average Applicant: 50th Percentile (399.44)
Average Acceptant: 69th Percentile (412)
Tip #8:
You can raise your PCAT score.
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Why prep for the PCAT?
The PCAT is the most important factor in your application.
Pharmacy schools are very competitive.
Small gains on the PCAT can translate into massive
“leapfrogging” of other test-takers.
The PCAT is an important predictor of Pharmacy school
success.
Tip #9:
The PCAT matters.
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A Sample PCAT Question…
Tip #10:
Kaplan can help.
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The Kaplan Advantage
The Most
Personalized
Prep
Greatest number of course options because one size does
not fit all.
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The Most Personalized Prep: Smart Reports
Track Scores:
Diagnostic, most recent
and highest overall
Track progress by
Subject
See how scores trend
over time
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The Most Personalized Prep: Smart Reports
Analyze performance
by Section to
determine your
areas of greatest
opportunity
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The Most Personalized Prep: Smart Reports
Dig deeper to
uncover content
strengths and
weaknesses
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The Kaplan Advantage
The Most
Personalized
Prep
Unmatched
Expertise
Guaranteed
Results
Greatest number of course options because one size does not
fit all.
Only program with online on-demand instruction (250+ hours)
Individual online score analysis and prescriptive feedback
through our exclusive Smart Reports™
Only national MCAT program with instructors who have scored
at or above the 90th percentile on each section of the MCAT
that they teach
Most realistic practice through 19 Computer-Based tests,
including all AAMC practice tests
The largest MCAT question library, with 11,000+ questions,
including the most Verbal Reasoning practice
Higher Score Guarantee
Readiness Satisfaction Money Back
More people get into med school with a Kaplan course than with
any other major course
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