Tips on Applying

Hello, everyone!  My name is Caleb, and I'm a P1 student at PCSP.  Before coming to PCSP, I did my undergraduate work at Campbell University in NC, where I was a biology major.  I'm excited to serve PCSP this year as a pharmacy student ambassador, and I wanted to chat a bit about the application process and give you some tips which will hopefully help you when you get to the point of applying to pharmacy schools. 

    One of the most important things that you can do to be successful in an application cycle is to apply early!  Admission is competitive, and PCSP employs rolling admissions, which means that students are continuously accepted until the class is full.  By applying early in the application cycle, there are more seats open, so the odds are much better that you will be admitted if you apply early than if you wait to apply towards the end of the application cycle, when most, if not all, of the seats for the next class have been filled.

            I also wanted to chat for a bit about early decision admission, which is what I did last year.  Applying to a school of pharmacy as an early decision applicant has many advantages.  One of the biggest advantages is that you are able to get a decision from the school considerably sooner than if you apply for regular admission because most schools don’t begin to interview regular admission candidates until they have interviewed all of the early decision applicants.  As a former applicant, I can’t even begin to tell you how much of a relief it was to find out I was accepted in September; this allowed me to place my focus on my classes and also gave me a little extra free time since my spare time wasn’t occupied with applications, so I was able to have a little fun during my last year of college as well.
            But if you apply early decision, you must be aware that it is a binding agreement; if you are accepted, you must accept the offer.  I knew that PCSP is where I wanted to attend pharmacy school. The location is wonderful, and I was really impressed with the curriculum and technology being utilized to enhance classroom learning.  I also liked the idea that I would have access to all of my professors since none of the classes are distance learning, like many other schools of pharmacy are using today.  Furthermore, I liked the fact that I would be able to participate in the introductory rotations throughout the school year, which would allow me to search for an internship during my summer months off. 
            So if you are sure that PCSP is the school for you, I encourage you to apply early decision!