Official University Of Alberta 2017 Pharmacy Applicants - Class Of 2021

[Lungj]

I received offer on June 12th and accepted the offer on the 21st.

Did my interview on May 23rd. cGPA was 3.95. Have thousands of hours between volunteer and work experience.

Congrats to those who also got in and best of luck to everyone else!

[fbgroup2021]

8 people have been accepted. 92 spots remain.

[Kvya]

Anyone know what days of the week are offers usually given out? Also, should the remaining of us expect a response in 1st week or second week of July ?

[pharm1916]

anyone know how many applications U of A pharmacy received this year? I read somewhere that last year Rae said they received 512.

[fbgroup2021]

5 hours ago, Kvya said:

Anyone know what days of the week are offers usually given out? Also, should the remaining of us expect a response in 1st week or second week of July ?

They do it during the weekdays when the admission committee meets.

 

4 hours ago, pharm1916 said:

anyone know how many applications U of A pharmacy received this year? I read somewhere that last year Rae said they received 512.

Gonna have to wait until we have orientation on Aug.31 and they tell us the stats. It's probably just about the same though.

[pharmlife]

Hi everyone,

I received my acceptance email this morning!

pGPA: 3.8

cGPA: 3.7

Best year GPA: 3.9

I finished my interview on May 24th.

Best of luck to those who are still waiting!

EDIT: Seeing everyone post such thorough descriptions of their applications has inspired me to provide more context of my experience for future applicants as well. 

I am a Calgary resident coming from MRU after two years of study. I am a first-time applicant with a considerable amount of volunteer experience volunteering in hospitals, homeless shelters, etc. My LOI was very well written and probably the strongest component of my application. As for the interview, I was very nervous and tried my best to answer each question fully, clearly, and genuinely.

My best advice for future applicants is to not be afraid of actually being yourself and to do what personally works for you. For instance, to prepare for my interview, I printed out a picture of Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and taped it to the back of my webcam so I could simulate talking to a real person (as ridiculous as it sounds, this actually really helped me maintain eye contact). And even during my interview, I would share things about me that were more quirky than professional. 

I wanted to mention this because I would receive a lot of suggestions from other people on how I should go about the interview and I was either advised to act extremely professional or to come up with an emotional story that would pull on heart strings. I am glad that I never gave into those pressures and decided to be more transparent than that. I tackled the interview in my own way and would like to advise future applicants to do the same.

 

[Blondie123]

Hey guys! For those of you who were accepted, how did you pay the deposit? Does the charge show up or do you just pay the fee even though there's no "outstanding charges"?

thanks!!

[UAlberta14]

1 hour ago, Blondie123 said:

Hey guys! For those of you who were accepted, how did you pay the deposit? Does the charge show up or do you just pay the fee even though there's no "outstanding charges"?

thanks!!

The fee didn't show up for me on my account. I just went into beartracks -> financials -> make a payment and put in 175. They received the deposit so it worked

[Blondie123]

Thank you so much!

[Ualberta18]

Hello! 

I just got accepted this morning and applied on May 22nd.

pgpa: 3.8, cgpa: 3.75. My best year was a 3.8. I am an in province student that attended the U of A for two years. The majority of my courses were prereq's along with some pharmacology courses. I believe my letter and interview were both on the weaker side - however I was very honest in both. I did not try to sugar coat any of my answers and finished very early for the interview. I did not want to drag out my answer when I could be more concise. I only practiced for approximately 15min before taking the official interview and looked at the camera the whole time. I did end up blanking out on one of the questions so I had to pause for a few seconds. I handled it professionally by using that time to recollect my thoughts, and spoke calmly when continuing as if nothing happened.

Good luck to everyone that has yet to receive a response!

[Lil_pink]

do you guys know are there people that are already rejected or we all have to wait until the very last minute? 

[Ualberta18]

37 minutes ago, Lil_pink said:

do you guys know are there people that are already rejected or we all have to wait until the very last minute? 

I'm not sure if they've rejected anyone yet, but I'd assume they're not rejecting many people right now. I'm sure many student are on the waiting list in case someone rejects their offer!

[fbgroup2021]

1 hour ago, Lil_pink said:

do you guys know are there people that are already rejected or we all have to wait until the very last minute? 

They do reject people before everyone gets accepted, but you'd have to be at the bottom of the list. I was rejected fairly early last year.

5 people have been accepted, 87 spots remain.

[pharm1916]

70 spots remain. did they send out offers on july 1st then?

 

[fbgroup2021]

4 hours ago, pharm1916 said:

70 spots remain. did they send out offers on july 1st then?

 

Either that or friday, but I'm pretty sure on July 1st

Also, they have an official Facebook group run by Rae herself. She'll email the acceptees that info.

[pharm1916]

anyone know what date last year they gave out the majority of acceptances by? i know someone said they can give some before school starts but were they done by july 15th or earlier ?

 

[bk2017]

I received an offer as well, thought I'd add to the forum 

Stats (IP): cGPA: 3.8, highest 30* (this year): 3.9, lots of volunteer experience and other extracurriculars/leadership (not related to pharmacy though, just what I was interested in and passionate about). I believe my LOI was pretty strong, and after my interview I thought one of my answers was good and well though out, for the others I could have elaborated more. Oh and applied as a 3rd year.

Good luck everyone!! I think the rest of the offers should be going out this week and the next   

[pharmieclass2021]

I received an offer as well July 5th.  CGPA 3.83 and full course load GPA 3.9.  

For those who were admitted did you get enrolled yet. I paid 175$ fee and sent in the 2 forms they asked for, but haven't been registered yet. Also, have you done the police clearance? Do they need 2 copies of the police clearance > can someone please explain what they mean by "  Service learning program sites generally require that the clearance be dated within 45 days before your start date for volunteer service; therefore, a PIC obtained for summer employment will not be valid. Please note that there is a fee for PICs in Alberta, and that a vulnerable sector check is also required.  The Alberta College of Pharmacists also requires a copy of the Police Information Check.  For their purpose, you can use BackCheck to obtain this, but the Faculty and the Service Learning site are not able to accept a Police Information Check from BackCheck."  what is back check and what is vulnerable sector check? also who do we send the police clearance to?

Any response  would be appreciated,

 Thanks

 

[pharmieclass2021]

On 6/28/2017 at 9:22 PM, Kvya said:

Anyone know what days of the week are offers usually given out? Also, should the remaining of us expect a response in 1st week or second week of July ?

Did you hear back yet? 

[pharmlife]

2 hours ago, pharmieclass2021 said:

I received an offer as well July 5th.  CGPA 3.83 and full course load GPA 3.9.  

For those who were admitted did you get enrolled yet. I paid 175$ fee and sent in the 2 forms they asked for, but haven't been registered yet. Also, have you done the police clearance? Do they need 2 copies of the police clearance > can someone please explain what they mean by "  Service learning program sites generally require that the clearance be dated within 45 days before your start date for volunteer service; therefore, a PIC obtained for summer employment will not be valid. Please note that there is a fee for PICs in Alberta, and that a vulnerable sector check is also required.  The Alberta College of Pharmacists also requires a copy of the Police Information Check.  For their purpose, you can use BackCheck to obtain this, but the Faculty and the Service Learning site are not able to accept a Police Information Check from BackCheck."  what is back check and what is vulnerable sector check? also who do we send the police clearance to?

Any response  would be appreciated,

 Thanks

 

Hi pharmieclass2021,

From what I understand, what they mean is that the Police Information Check (PIC) that is required for the program must be dated within 45 days before classes start. This means that a PIC that has been obtained prior to those 45 days will not fit the requirement. A Vulnerable Sector Search is required as well and they suggest that these be initiated by August 1st because it may take up to 6 weeks to process. As for the Alberta College of Pharmacists, a PIC is also required for registration, however, this can be done through BackCheck (used to obtain online criminal records) and the PIC cannot be older than 6 months. 

I was a bit confused as well but you should receive an email that explains everything in greater detail. Hopefully this helped a bit but if you still have questions you can always email Rae.

Congratulations on your acceptance!

[dragondoodler]

Hi guys! I just got my pharmacy admission e-mail today at about 2 pm. This forum was a big help in calming my nerves about the admission process. The comments with more details about the person accepted helped me more, so I'll provide what I think might help people still waiting or who will look at this forum in the future.

I had a pGPA and cGPA of 3.9 (best 30 credit year also 3.9), took 2 years of undergrad to fulfill pre-reqs (originally intended to do the PharmD program but they pushed that back). I applied from the University of Alberta, and I'm an in province student. My letter of intent was really well done; I also had my former English tutor proof-read it and help me with the professional tone of the letter. I don't think I did that well in the interview, though. My answers weren't as fleshed out as I'd have liked, and I ended my answers before the time limit so I wouldn't be recorded blanking out with nothing to do. I did keep my eyes on the camera and tried to be as confident/friendly as I could, though. I also had no relevant volunteer/work experience.

Hope that helps, looking forward to seeing the rest of you come September!! 

[PMCOL]

Hello everyone, thought I would share my experience for those still waiting and for future applicants. I'm a first time applicant and received my acceptance letter on June 29th, IP with pGPA 3.3 and cGPA 3.5. My LOI was well written with a strong knowledge of the profession and some work/volunteer experience, none of which is directly pharmacy related. I did not use any of the max allotted time for the interview questions; just practice, be yourself, and present your answers with some enthusiasm and passion! I completed my interview on May 25th.  Lastly, having some undergraduate research experience and taking pharmacology courses can only be  beneficial. Hopefully this motivates everyone who doesn't have a 3.999 GPA to still apply and chase your dreams. 

Look forward to meeting everyone in the fall!

[pharmieclass2021]

3 hours ago, PMCOL said:

Hello everyone, thought I would share my experience for those still waiting and for future applicants. I'm a first time applicant and received my acceptance letter on June 29th, IP with pGPA 3.3 and cGPA 3.5. My LOI was well written with a strong knowledge of the profession and some work/volunteer experience, none of which is directly pharmacy related. I did not use any of the max allotted time for the interview questions; just practice, be yourself, and present your answers with some enthusiasm and passion! I completed my interview on May 25th.  Lastly, having some undergraduate research experience and taking pharmacology courses can only be  beneficial. Hopefully this motivates everyone who doesn't have a 3.999 GPA to still apply and chase your dreams. 

Look forward to meeting everyone in the fall!

Congratulations! Just curious, did you have a degree ? Also, do you know when we'll be enrolled in classes?

thanks

[pharmieclass2021]

On 7/9/2017 at 0:02 AM, pharmlife said:

Hi pharmieclass2021,

From what I understand, what they mean is that the Police Information Check (PIC) that is required for the program must be dated within 45 days before classes start. This means that a PIC that has been obtained prior to those 45 days will not fit the requirement. A Vulnerable Sector Search is required as well and they suggest that these be initiated by August 1st because it may take up to 6 weeks to process. As for the Alberta College of Pharmacists, a PIC is also required for registration, however, this can be done through BackCheck (used to obtain online criminal records) and the PIC cannot be older than 6 months. 

I was a bit confused as well but you should receive an email that explains everything in greater detail. Hopefully this helped a bit but if you still have questions you can always email Rae.

Congratulations on your acceptance!

Thanks a lot that was great help. I sent the PIC to Alberta college of pharmacist through BackCheck.  And Ill try to get the sector done by Aug1st.  Were you enrolled in classes yet? 

[pharmlife]

2 hours ago, pharmieclass2021 said:

Thanks a lot that was great help. I sent the PIC to Alberta college of pharmacist through BackCheck.  And Ill try to get the sector done by Aug1st.  Were you enrolled in classes yet? 

First year courses are registered by the Faculty so there should be nothing to worry about. Since I last checked, I am only enrolled in one class so far. I believe some time after your admission is confirmed, you should be able to see your full course schedule through your Google Calendar even though you haven't been enrolled into those classes yet.