University Of Alberta 2020 Pharmacy Applicants - Class Of 2024

[uofapharmgal]

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[uofapharmgal]

Are you guys getting a schedule conflict for PHARM 213 and 243 Tuesday seminars in winter 2021 timetable? there's only the one option to select so I'm not sure what to do....

[Sun444]

I’m curious to hear from current pharmD students on how moving course delivery online you think is going to affect us as first years. I mean are there events and social get togethers or what have you that y’all went through in first year that you think we’d miss out on? We already know that orientation is going to be virtual so that’s already a bummer coz it would’ve been nice to see everyone or pick up free stuff at the very least lol.

[PharmDB]

8 hours ago, Sun444 said:

I’m curious to hear from current pharmD students on how moving course delivery online you think is going to affect us as first years. I mean are there events and social get togethers or what have you that y’all went through in first year that you think we’d miss out on? We already know that orientation is going to be virtual so that’s already a bummer coz it would’ve been nice to see everyone or pick up free stuff at the very least lol.

This is such a good question. I’m gonna answer this the best I can, as honestly as I can.

The community: This faculty is such a tight community. From orientation, you meet people that become your best friends in a matter of days. Seeing everyone everyday is such a joy, even on the bad days. The social events are unparalleled. The student association (APSA) takes this very, very seriously and does everything possible to ensure we’re all having a great time, taking our minds off of school, and keeping that mental health strong. I wish I could better describe to you how great the events are, but wow. So so good.  

Going online: To put it lightly, going online sucked. Not only were we ripped away from each other without notice, but we had to cancel two of the biggest events of the year: pharm/dent hockey game and Blue&Gold. It was devastating. As for school, it was a stressful transition, but the faculty worked so hard for us and made everything literally as easy as possible.

How we managed: We were still a tight group, so we met on online forums like Discord, Zoom, etc., all the time and talked, played music, played games, and helped each other with assignments. It wasn’t ideal whatsoever, but it’s all we had and I’m so glad we had it. I don’t know how I would’ve managed without it. 

How this affects the class of 2024: Academically, I wouldn’t fret too much about this as a first year student, as I know the faculty will do their absolute best for you. It won’t be perfect by any means, but you have us upper years to help you out as well :). Socially, I’m very optimistic. I don’t speak on behalf of APSA, but I know they’re gonna do their very best with online orientation in order to get you all familiar with each other. The thought of this is awkward to me too, but my advice is be as open minded as possible, put yourself out there even tho it’s scary, and make the best of it. I know the other social events so far are being planned online, but as the pandemic relaxes, you can bet we’ll transition to in-person, and we’ll finally throw you guys a proper orientation ;). 

There’s so much more I could touch on, but I’ve already written too much lol. Hopefully I didn’t discourage anyone, because this is truly gonna be the best four years of your lives. It has to start a little weird, but we’ll all be together in no time and I’m so excited to meet all of you!! 

[Sun444]

Thanks you so much for all that information! It’s going to be exciting to see how this all pans out for us. @PharmDB

The other thing I just thought of is our white coat ceremony? Is that a first year event too?

Also anyone able to speak on the course load. I know we are all used to full time course loads so is that what we will continue with in pharm or is it even more than 5 courses/semester. Just the volume of the content looks overwhelming.

 

[PharmDB]

2 minutes ago, Sun444 said:

Thanks you so much for all that information! It’s going to be exciting to see how this all pans out for us.

The other thing I just thought of is our white coat ceremony? Is that a first year event too?

Also anyone able to speak on the course load. I know we are all used to full time course loads so is that what we will continue with in pharm or is it even more than 5 courses/semester. Just the volume of the content looks overwhelming.

 

Yup, white coat is usually third week of first year and was held at the Shaw Conference Center. I’ll have to ask around to see what they have planned for your class. 
 

The course load looks overwhelming, but it’s tailored around YOU. Unlike undergrad where your midterms and exams are random and you might have 3 on one day, pharmacy staggers everything. I found the exam schedule the easiest I’ve ever had and very manageable. The program is still very challenging, but guess what, it’s a professional program. What did you expect? Lol. Good news is, grades don’t matter anymore. Only your effort matters and how much you want to get out of the program. My motto is ‘do your best and forget the rest’. Focus on becoming the best pharmacist you can be, not the best student you can be. There’s a difference. 

[Sun444]

3 minutes ago, PharmDB said:

Yup, white coat is usually third week of first year and was held at the Shaw Conference Center. I’ll have to ask around to see what they have planned for your class. 
 

The course load looks overwhelming, but it’s tailored around YOU. Unlike undergrad where your midterms and exams are random and you might have 3 on one day, pharmacy staggers everything. I found the exam schedule the easiest I’ve ever had and very manageable. The program is still very challenging, but guess what, it’s a professional program. What did you expect? Lol. Good news is, grades don’t matter anymore. Only your effort matters and how much you want to get out of the program. My motto is ‘do your best and forget the rest’. Focus on becoming the best pharmacist you can be, not the best student you can be. There’s a difference. 

Maybe they’ll talk about the ceremony during orientation or once school starts and give us more insight.

I am happy to hear about the exam situation lol coz god knows how much we hate 3 exams on the same day. As for how challenging it could potentially be, I think we are more then ready to take it on. This is a dream for all of us and all I say is bring it on!  . Also glad to hear that grades aren’t a priority now but admittedly that will take some time to adjust to, for me atleast, as we’re almost programmed in undergrad to strive for that A lol. It’ll be nice to go to class and actually be passionate about learning as opposed to sitting in a statistics class mindlessly re-evaluating life.

[PharmDB]

18 minutes ago, Sun444 said:

Maybe they’ll talk about the ceremony during orientation or once school starts and give us more insight.

I am happy to hear about the exam situation lol coz god knows how much we hate 3 exams on the same day. As for how challenging it could potentially be, I think we are more then ready to take it on. This is a dream for all of us and all I say is bring it on!  . Also glad to hear that grades aren’t a priority now but admittedly that will take some time to adjust to, for me atleast, as we’re almost programmed in undergrad to strive for that A lol. It’ll be nice to go to class and actually be passionate about learning as opposed to sitting in a statistics class mindlessly re-evaluating life.

It's an adjustment, no doubt. You will find your balance. But it's also very possible to have excellent grades in the program. I'm just saying that grades don't reflect who you are. One of the recent "pharmacist of the year" winners had barely above a 2.7 during the entire program. Also lol at statistics. Unfortunately, it comes back to haunt you in pharmacy in Evidence Based Medicine. So ya... sorry about that haha.

[PharmD?]

Has anyone received admissions recently? 

Are admissions to the end of July? 

[ProspectPharmD]

1 hour ago, PharmD? said:

Has anyone received admissions recently? 

Are admissions to the end of July? 

I’m wondering the same thing. I’ve heard that acceptance continue to occur throughout July and August, and that anyone who hasn’t heard back until August was waitlisted. I don’t know how true this is though? 

 

Would anyone recommend (or has anyone) emailed to see if they were waitlisted/how far on the waitlisted they are? I was thinking of emailing to ask, but I wasn’t sure if they’d provide that information. 

[Pharmhopeful20]

Just wondering if anyone has worked a part time job (I’m thinking only 4 hours a week) while doing the fall semester of their first year of PharmD? If so, how was it? If not, was it due to course load? 

[Sun444]

Did ya'll notice the time clashes between seminars for 2 of the courses both in fall and winter semester or is it just me? I believe :

pharm 201 and 212 in the fall

pharm 213 and 243 in the winter

Weirdly it still enrolled regardless of the time clash.

[PharmDB]

Just now, Sun444 said:

Did ya'll notice the time clashes between seminars for 2 of the courses both in fall and winter semester or is it just me? I believe :

pharm 201 and 212 in the fall

pharm 213 and 243 in the winter

Weirdly it still enrolled regardless of the time clash.

Don’t worry, they’re staggered every other week. 

[Sun444]

1 minute ago, PharmDB said:

Don’t worry, they’re staggered every other week. 

Oh ok great thanks!

[PharmDB]

15 hours ago, Pharmhopeful20 said:

Just wondering if anyone has worked a part time job (I’m thinking only 4 hours a week) while doing the fall semester of their first year of PharmD? If so, how was it? If not, was it due to course load? 

Many students, myself included, worked once a week during the program. It’s very manageable. There were several students that worked once a week, participated in multiple intramural sports, had positions in APSA, and were still very successful students. 

[PharmD2024]

I just got my acceptance an hour ago! Can't wait to meet y'all  

To be honest I didn't have the best cGPA or pGPA. However, I think I have a strong LOI and did pretty decent on the interview! Don't lose hope if you're still waiting! 

[PharmD99]

I just received my admission this morning! My stats were honestly not great, pGPA of 3.2 and oGPA of 3.45. My LOI was pretty strong and my interview didn't go as great as I thought but I don't think it went terrible either so don't worry too much if you haven't heard back yet!

[Docktor Ellis]

I received my acceptance today as an OOP applicant. I've been accepted to 2 pharmacy schools now, U of A and U of S, both as an OOP applicant. Maybe a dumb question, but what factors do you guys consider when choosing which offer to accept? I'd have to travel, and I expect debt either way, so honestly not sure what factors I should be weighing here. Please DM or reply with any advice if you have it.

[PharmDB]

41 minutes ago, Docktor Ellis said:

I received my acceptance today as an OOP applicant. I've been accepted to 2 pharmacy schools now, U of A and U of S, both as an OOP applicant. Maybe a dumb question, but what factors do you guys consider when choosing which offer to accept? I'd have to travel, and I expect debt either way, so honestly not sure what factors I should be weighing here. Please DM or reply with any advice if you have it.

Get ready for a biased answer because I’m not an OOP student, but a few things come to mind. First, UoA has the cheapest tuition in all of Canada for pharmacy (pretty sure), granted, I’m not sure how tuition works being OOP. I also don’t know how the cost of living differs. Second, and more importantly, Alberta has the largest scope of practice for pharmacists in all of Canada, so you’ll probably get more out of your degree from Alberta. Third, and most biased, Alberta is probably more fun lol.

Where are you coming from? 

[PotentialPharmer]

54 minutes ago, Docktor Ellis said:

I received my acceptance today as an OOP applicant. I've been accepted to 2 pharmacy schools now, U of A and U of S, both as an OOP applicant. Maybe a dumb question, but what factors do you guys consider when choosing which offer to accept? I'd have to travel, and I expect debt either way, so honestly not sure what factors I should be weighing here. Please DM or reply with any advice if you have it.

Congrats on both of your acceptances!! Depends what you’re looking for! I know someone from Alberta who got accepted into both U of S and U of A, and chose U of S. On the other hand, I’m from Sask, got accepted to both schools as well and ultimately chose U of A. Someone already commented on some perks of U of A which, along with some of my own personal reasons, definitely contributed to my decision for U of A. But U of S offers smaller class sizes (90 vs 130, which may offer a more personal experience with profs and classmates) and Saskatoon is known as a university city (lots of university students and is a very social city). Not to mention it’s a beautiful campus!! From what I hear U of S still offers an awesome pharmD program too with lots of events and opportunity for socializing + networking and I know some great people that came out of that program with great job offers. You will become a skilled pharmacist either way, focus on what kind of experience you’d like throughout your four years and what is more logical for you in terms of finances, if that plays a factor in your decision good luck 

[PharmDatUofA]

Hey all!! I got accepted on July 16th and just found this forum. I just want to say that I although I am a little scared, I am so incredibly excited to start this journey with all of you... I am sad that we will miss/have to delay some of the classic entrance activities like the white coat ceremony but, I am sure that we have an incredible four years ahead of us regardless:) I have never been genuinely excited to start school so it's definitely a little bit of a weird feeling to be experiencing for the first time. I look forward to seeing all your smiling faces on zoom in September and for the journey ahead!

[pharmuofa]

I just got accepted yesterday as well! And have just spent ages reading through the nine pages... Lots of great info on here - thanks to the upper years for being on here to answer questions :) Excited to meet everyone, though it will be strange to do it virtually... just another new thing! 

PS to anyone wondering, my GPA was not great, only ~3.5, but I think I had a strong LOI and interview so fingers crossed to everyone still waiting, I know it sucks!

[PharmCrew]

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[trienebutdiene]

Yo am I trippin or what bc I just got my acceptance letter too??? It's so surreal but I'm definitely framing the acceptance letter to look at it before bed every night hahahah. How did you guys pay the $1000 deposit? I have TD and is it okay to pay through the Pay Bills instead of through launch pad?

[Sun444]

Hahaha how exciting! I had that thought to frame the letter too! I have TD too, used to app but you can even do it online. Tuition payment instructions are on the university website. Just add u of a tuition as your payee under pay bill. Congrats!!!