The Dos & Don ’ ts of Pharmacy School Admissions - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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The Dos & Don’ts of

Pharmacy School Admissions

Todd Worsham

Campus Manager Kaplan Test Prep & Admissions 302-519-7331

Todd.Worsham@kaplan.com

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.

1-800-KAP-TEST |kaptest.com/mcat

Pharm School Admissions Timeline

Get it Ready!

PCAT

June

July

Aug

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

May

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.

Pharmacy School Admissions Factors



PCAT Score



Undergraduate GPA



Prerequisite Coursework



Personal Profile & Statements

Presumably Admit

Application Strength



Extracurricular & Experiences



Interviews

Presumably Deny



Letters of Recommendation

Absolutely Deny

Tip #3:Control the process.

The Dos & Don’ts of Pharm School Admissions

Prerequisite Coursework

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

Do your research

Assume that one-size fits all

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Consult your Advisor

Try to get all the answers yourself

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Go by only what you have heard from other pre-health students

Call admissions

Tip #4: Get all the information.

Personal Statement

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Use past/present stories and a theme.

Write “why I want to go to pharm school”.

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Showcase lessons learned from experience

Speak negatively of anyone or anything.

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Write effectively and follow directions

Go at it alone.

Interviews

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Consider every interview mandatory

Discount them

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Schedule interviews strategically

Judge schools based on ranking alone

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Become acquainted with admissions staff

Inundate admissions staff with requests

Tip #5: Distinguish yourself by showing your passion.

Letters of Recommendation

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Select professors who know you well

Worry about clout

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Give recommenders content to work from

Allow your recommenders to fly blind

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Ask specifically for strong, detailed letter

Write the letter yourself

Tip #6: Help your recommenders help you.

GPA

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Choose major that interests/challenges you

Choose Chem major "just because" pre-health

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Squeeze out every point you can.

Game your GPA with easy classes or P/F

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“Trend-up” and do well in major.

Over-estimate importance of GPA.

Tip #7: Your academic potential is measurable.

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

The PCAT





Give the test the attention/time it deserves

Consider it just an obstacle to admission

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Learn critical thinking skills (and science)

Tackle the exam as a whole, all at once



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Learn/practice to gain efficiency for each skill

Take test after test w/o changing behavior



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Prepare with college text books

Focus on your opportunities for improvement

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Understand you can do it.

Consider it just an obstacle to admission

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.

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.

Why prep for the PCAT?

Tip #9: The PCAT matters.

A Sample PCAT Question…

Tip #10:Kaplan can help.

The Kaplan Advantage

The Most Personalized Prep

Greatest number of course options because one size does not fit all.

The Most Personalized Prep: Smart Reports

Track Scores: Diagnostic, most recent and highest overall

Track progress by Subject

See how scores trend over time

Analyze performance by Section to determine your areas of greatest opportunity

Dig deeper to uncover content strengths and weaknesses

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