USC Info Session - Part 4 - Admissions Part 2

Next up was talking about the website.

-- First up, was showing how to confirm what classes counted towards the prerequisites.  That can easily be found at the Course Equivalencies link.

-- Next was talking about the actual application.  That can usually be found in the How to Apply link.  It's down at the moment, but will be back up when the application cycle for the entering class of 2011 begins (which should be sometime in early June.)  Applications have to be turned in by November 1st.

Before starting the USC application, start the PharmCAS application first.  At minimum, sign up for the process, because you need to get a PharmCAS ID to start the USC application.  This way the info can be properly synched up.

It was suggested to start the application process early.  It takes about 2-5 week for the PharmCAS application to be processed, and USC won't look at your USC application until that gets finished, so it's helpful to take care of PharmCAS first to make sure it's all done as soon as possible.

USC has rolling admissions and do interviews in November, January, February, and March.  The specific dates will be published in June or July.  USC is the only school (in California) that publishes the exact dates when interviews will be conducted, so make sure you know when those dates are (which are always on a Saturday), and don't have plans during any of those dates.  About 1/3 of the applicants get interviewed.

About 50% of the applicants send in their completed applications one month before the deadline.  The earlier you send in your applications, the earlier you have a chance of getting interviewed.  (Try for July/August)

If you need to ask "Is (the deadline) midnight Eastern or Pacific (standard time)?" then you're probably too late.  You'll still be considered of course, but it's a sign you might not be prepared.

IMPORTANT: There is a second part to the application.  You do the first part, you'll get an email congratulating you for completing part one, but then it says to proceed to part two.  A lot of people don't read the full email and don't proceed to part 2.  Be sure to read all the instructions.

-- The Interview

It's good to have:

Knowledge and Experience in Healthcare

Leadership Extra curricular Activities

Oral Communication Skills

Reading Comprehension and Writing Skills

It's about 20 minutes.  No phone interviews.

Know how to answer Why Pharmacy?  And Why Here?  Be able to communicate those answers.  People have had 3.8/3.9 GPAs and thought they were locked in to get accepted, didn't prepare for the interview, and were rejected.

It is very beneficial to be involved in organizations.  You don't necessarily need to be president, but being involved in general helps.  In pharmacy, you'll be interacting with patients and doctors, and communication skills are essential.

And of course, there is a writing test.

-- FAQs

- Do I need to send in my transcripts to USC? Yes.  Send them into the pharmacy office and not the general graduate office.

- Do you accept AP scores?  Yes.  For a one semester class (Not for prerequisites that require two semesters)… general bio will satisfy the first class in a one year series.  AP report do not have to sent in as an official report.  Prefer personal copy.

- Do you waive any pre-reqs?  No.  If you have a degree but are still missing a class, that doesn't count.

- Do you prefer a specific major?  No requirement.  English Business, Piano Performance, Psychology… we accept all kinds.  However.  If we see that you’re not academically strong, that's a bad sign.  Even if you get all A's in the prerequisite classes, but they're all taken at a community college, they won't be sure you can handle the program.  It's recommended that you take as many classes at a four year college as possible.  It's fine to take some at a community college for time/money/whatever reasons, but take at least more than half of the classes at a four year school.

- What is the average GPA? The min is 3.0, the average has been going up every year.  5-6 years ago, it was 3.3.  Last year, it was 3.5.  If you’re above 3.0, you all have a chance.  You’ll want to finish your remaining classes as strong as possible.

- Where do I send in Letters of Recommendation?  Go to PharmCAS.  If someone wants to mail it to the pharmacy office, as long as they have their name on it.  That’s fine.  One from must be from faculty.  Another ideally from someone who can describe your potential to be a pharmacist.  If three letters come in, we’ll read all of them.  (But don't send in 4 or 5, we likely won't read them all, because of how many we need to read through.)

- When do I expect to hear from you?  When you submit your application, you’ll get an email right away saying you completed the application.  Everyone with a completed application will get an email first regardless if you get an interview or not.  It will tell you if your application is complete (or incomplete)  Everyone will get this checklist email.

Do not ask them to check if they got it if you sent it in a week ago.  If two months pass…. That’s another question.  Sometimes people list their names wrong  (mix up first and last), PharmCAS ID, etc, so be careful.  Double check.  Can’t merge the USC and PharmCAS applications if they're different.  It happens every year.

Must reply to invitation.  If you're not invited for Nov, you may still be invited for Jan/Feb/March.

(Additional questions beyond the FAQ)

What is the class size?  185, the classroom (that we were in) sits 190.

How many people get interviewed?  We interview about 450 to 550 applicants.  About 1/3^rd of interviewees are accepted.  Sometimes half.  For the November interviews, we accepted just over 50 of 145 applicants.  The others are on active consideration list.  Then January interviews happen, some will get accepted, then look over consideration list again (of both the January and November applicants who didn't get accepted right away), and so on.

- Do people get accepted in the summer?  (Due to people declining their acceptance because they decided to go to another school, decided they didn't want to move that far, etc.)  One year we did not accept anyone in summer.  But usually accept 5 to 40, varies quite a bit.

- What kind of extracurricular activities are favored?  Anything really.  On the USC campus, you'll be entering competitions, participating in Kids Day, giving flu shots, etc.  We want to see that you want to do that kind of stuff too.

- Is it in your favor if you come from a UC or CSU?  It doesn't matter.  A little over 60% of our students are from UCs, but most of our applicants are from UCs.

Next: Financial Aid

USC Info Session - Part 3 - Admissions Part 1

[Quick Note: Before he left, Dr. Baron answered some questions, and one was about acceptance rates.  He said that about 1500 people applied, and 187 were accepted.  That info just seemed to fit better for this post.]

This next session was headed up by Xin Gong, the Admission Coordinator.

-- Do your research - The first thing they look at is academics, but after that, demonstrating your knowledge of the field will become a big factor.

-- Get some experience - Five years ago, maybe half the candidates had some kind of experience, now it is considerably higher than 50%.

-- Check the requirements - They have more required courses than all the other California pharmacy schools.  Starting with the entering class of 2010, a degree is required.  All courses must be completed by mid-August (before orientation.)  It's ok to take a summer class that you need to complete, as long as finals are over by orientation.  They'll allow time for transcripts to arrive, but just make sure that you do turn those transcripts in or you will be kicked out.

-- Minimum 3.0 GPA - That's for both Cumulative and Prerequisite GPA (prerequisite really meaning math and science, and not including classes like economics and psychology).

Many schools have some kind of academic forgiveness program, and that's fine.  USC will take whatever GPA your school says you have for your cumulative, and not what the PharmCAS says (which counts every class no matter what).

For your prerequisite GPA, they will only count the last time you took a course, so it will benefit you to retake classes.  Must have a C or higher.  [Note:  This is what I typed in my notes, and I'm pretty sure it's right.  But always double check everything.]

-- Resume and Two Letters of Recommendation required

-- Send a copy of your official transcripts to the pharmacy office - Do not just send it to PharmCAS, and do not send it to the graduate office.  Send specifically to the pharmacy office.  They are a separate office from the graduate office.

For those of you who realized that you wanted to do pharmacy while you still have a long way to go in your undergrad career.  She encouraged everyone to begin the application process early, even if you still have seven classes to go.  And as each semester finishes, just keep on sending them updated transcripts.  That way they know you're still interested, and they'll adjust your place in the application process accordingly.  (How many classes you've completed will affect how they prioritize you.)

-- No standardized tests required - Meaning no PCAT or anything else.

-- Online/Distance courses are not accepted for prerequisites - If it's for a non-math/science class they may make an exception.

-- Changes this year - Physics has been reduced to one semester (two quarters), as opposed to a full year.  And as a tip, if you did take a full year, put down the one with the higher grade.  [Note: Just to be clear, that was their tip, and not mine.]  There is no more English/communication requirement (unless you're an international student).  Only micro-economics is accepted, and no more macro.

[That's it for now.  There was a lot of info, so I'm going to break here, and continue with the rest of of the admissions info with the next post.]

Next: Admissions continued

UCSF Preview Day - Part 3 - Admissions

Time to get into what it takes to become a pharmacy student (or as they refer to themselves, student pharmacists) at UCSF.

First, some fast facts:

- UCSF admitted precisely 122 students for the last term.

- 6 of those students came from the waitlist. (One of those students was driving on his way to a school in a different state when he got the call, and turned around.)

- The deadline for the application is November 2nd, eastern standard time. (But San Francisco is in the PST time zone? Weird. I know.)

- PCAT will not help you whatsoever. The admissions director claimed that he doesn't even know the meaning of the numbers as presented on the PharmCAS.

- Minimum GPA required as calculated by PharmCAS: 2.8

- The GPA of the previous class ranged from 2.96-3.97. Many 4.00 students applied, but they did not have the characteristics that they were looking for.

- You must complete and submit the PharmCAS and the Supplemental Application. Unlike some other schools, you are not supposed to wait for an invitation to turn in the Supplemental Application. You turn in both at before the deadline.

Some info specifically related to the Supplemental Application:

- It is available mid-July

- $$60 fee for domestic students, $80 for international students.

- No preference for submitting it early.

- It is suggested to take your time to make it as good as possible, but at the same time turn it in early enough so that if there is something wrong with it, it can be sent back and fixed to be resubmitted.

- If a student has to be denied, they would prefer the denial be based off of the application, and not a technicality, and will do their best to make sure that doesn't happen.

- Suggested date to turn in an application is October 1st.

More fast facts:

- Over 1,600 applicants this past cycle.

- About 200 more applicants apply every year.

- 275 were invited to an interview (17.2%)

- Once again, 122 accepted. (44.4% of those interviewed)

- 99% had a bachelor's degree

- 3.55 average GPA

- 3.47 average GPA

Admissions Timeline:

- June 1 - PharmCAS available

- Mid-July - Supplemental Application Available

- Nov 2 - Application Deadline

- Nov/Dec - Initial review

- Dec/Jan - notify 95% of potential students to be interviewed

- End of Jan - Interviews begin

- Jan/Feb - Interviews conducted in SF

- Feb/March - Admission Committee review

- April - Decisions mailed

Admissions Beyond the Numbers

- UCSF wants to prepare students be become leaders in pharmacy

- GPA is only one factor (This is something that was repeated in various forms multiple times throughout the presentation.)

- Other important factors include: Communication skills, Leadership potential, Community service, and Health Care experience

- Mission Statement

USCF is looking for:

- Strong and detailed letters of recommendation

- Detailed biographical information

- Well written and thought provoking statements

- A confident interview and good interview essay

- Demonstration of personal motivation through: Community service and volunteer work, a knowledge of pharmacy and health care, and excellent communication skills.

Discussion points:

1) Preparation begins now

2) Select individuals to write letters of recommendation

3) Take time to prepare your essay

4) Be able to communication what you will be able to add to the class and to the program

5) Make sure your application looks professional. Double check for spelling and grammar. Mistakes demonstrate a lack of attention to detail.

6) Know how to answer the question "Why pharmacy?"

7) Q: What if my GPA is below average? A: If you take one thing from this presentation remember that GPA is only one thing we look at. Focus on the things that you have control over.

8) Q: Do I have to be a biology, chemistry, or biochemistry major? A: No.

9) Q: What about extenuating circumstances? A: The application is very detailed. We take a holistic view of the application.

10) Have some experience in pharmacy or health care.

11) If invited, prepare for interviews!

You can read the admissions blog at pharmdadmission.ucsf.edu. It contains helpful hints, funny stories, and an insider's view.

Back to the GPA issue

I can't stress enough how many times it was said that GPA is only one factor, our admission process just doesn't work that way, we take a holistic view of the application, etc. It was mentioned, in various ways, ten or so times over the course of the one hour and twenty minutes before the student panel began.

He really wanted to make sure that it was understood that GPA alone does not make a good candidate. There is much more to a student than just that. Coming away from the presentation, I definitely left with more hope about being able to get into pharmacy school.