The SFSU Pre-Pharmacy Association set up a UCSF student panel Wednesday night. Well... set up a UCSF student for us to talk to. One of the two could not show up for one reason or another. Was that a problem? Absolutely not.
The event was very relaxed. We all sat in a circle, and just let questions fire away. The student was a second year student, and she kept on firing out information left and right. One question would just ignite all sorts of side tangents from her and there was a lot of information presented to us in the two and a half hours that she was there for.
I could try grouping all the information into relevant info clusters... but I'm probably going to be doing that a lot in future posts. This time you guys'll get to enjoy the randomness that I got to enjoy.
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UCSF Student - Hi, my name is [keeping this out for privacy]. I'm a second year student. Why don't we all sit in a circle. If you like this kind of setting, the school in Sacramento is group oriented. What's it called? I think it's Northstate. [Note: This whole thing is going to be paraphrased from my notes. I'm going to try to be as accurate as possible of course, but this is not word for word.]
Why did I choose pharmacy? I was originally a pre-med student, but I don't like bood, phlebotomy, the whole "do no harm" thing,... and gross mucus.
When you get into pharmacy, I thought you would get eased into it, but in the first month, you're already doing immunizations. Flu, hepatitis.
Taking a year off was a big change, but it was a good change. I was working in research/industry.
Pharmacy is a dynamic field. You get to interact with other fields. In clinics it's half research, half ___ [Me: Why can't I remember the word! It should be so obvious]. There's management where you can run your own formulary.
What was the most difficult part? Getting started on California applications. It took a month to finish my applications. (Her aside: I used to work for Bayer, then had a job as a technician, and now intern at a clinic.) UCSF has a good workshop for the supplemental application. You get ask what it is they're looking for. On the apps, a lot of it is monotonous work. You could get your mom to do it. Name, address, grades. I also got last minute letters of recommendations.
For the interview, you get paired up with one professor and one student. Make sure you know what you wrote on your application. They choose who you interview with based on your application. This isn't a fact, but from talking with other students, it seems like a lot of them were paired up that way.
Q: How do you answer the question "Why pharmacy?" without having it sound like a generic answer?
A: [I forget her full answer.]... look for some kind of personal story. What got you to decide to pursue pharmacy, and not just "I like helping people."
[Continuing from before the question was asked.] You get paired up that way so there is some common ground there for a flowing conversation. There is a set number of questions they want to hit, but the order is different based off how the conversation is going. [I thought that was interesting.]
Q: How did you prepare for you interview?
A: I got hired just a couple weeks before my interview as a pharm tech. My boss did a mock interview with me. Everyone should do a practice interview, even if it's just with family or a friend. He really grilled me on what I know about pharmacy. And when I went home he got me panicked enough that I did a lot of research on the website about what kinds of clubs and organizations they have, what conventions they're known for, etc.
Q: Why UCSF?
A: Basically I grew up here, and I wanted to stay close to home. Then after already choosing that, I kept on hearing that it was basically the best school in the universe. It's academically driven hospital so you'll get lots of clinical experience. Lots of orgs on campus, and they got me really excited to join one. Lots of social events.
Since SF has a lot of very distinct districts, there is a lot of opportunities for translational work if you know another language. There is an HIV clinic on campus and you can shadow people. If you want to get more into law and politics, Sacramento isn't that far away. In the city there is some kind of heath fair almost every Saturday.
The P2/P3 students get to basically run the school. There is a proctor that signs off on the liability forms, but we basically get to set up what we want.
Q: What other schools did you apply to?
A: Pretty much every school in California. Do apply early. UCSD has a fairly lenient application process. They just have one essay. Definitely have someone read over your essay and help you with grammatical stuff, etc.
To prep for your interview, know your own essay. You don't want to write something on there that you don't really know much about and then get asked about it.
Q: How many questions are on the application?
A: It's a template. Maybe nine questions, with a tiny box that you have to fit your answer into. PharmCAS is the easy part. Touro doesn't ask for your supplemental applications unless you pass the 1st tier of screenings. You just have to do your research. Some applications are electronic, and some have to be post marked by a certain date. Those are scary. That's why I just walked mine in.
Q: On questions about extracurricular activities, is it ok to write down random things? Or should it all be pharmacy related?
A: It's better to be well rounded.
Some people say that if you're into research, you have a 50% better chance of getting accepted because there is just so much funding for research out there, and if you're into research they're hoping you'll stay on with UCSF after graduation and bring that money to the school, but that's not necessarily true. Some people say you have to become a pharm tech before apply, but that's not necessary either.
UCSF has the least amount of prerequisites. When I decided to go into pharmacy, I had 25 units to go, and I finished those in a year. English classes, etc. There's a link on the website which shows you all the equivalent courses.
I was interviewed late in the process. I thought there wouldn't be much chance for me, but I got in. It happens. You hear stories about people getting the news. One student was already in a school in Arizona, and was done with his first year. He applied again to UCSF, got accepted and left the school.
Q: What's the on site essay like?
A: The on site essay is easy. They questions are generally like "Rank these four things and [explain] why." Just use common sense. Choose the ethical reason over money. They pretty much just want to see that you speak English. You can't write on the back of the paper, or outside of the box. Just one period outside of the line and you fail. Don't write too much. You can read more about what questions other people got on studentdoctor.net. Communication, following directions, and having a moral conscience. It seems like that's what they want to see.
If you have bad grades, don't bring it up. They don't have access to transcripts. Emphasize stuff like involvement in other things and community service.
Q: What about the question that's asking something about the "human condition?"
A [A lot of people chimed in on this, and came to a consensus that the question is purposefully vague.]
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And I think I'll cut it off right there. I'm not even close to halfway through my notes. There was essentially no silence for the two and half hours that the UCSF student was there. Come back for Part 2!
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