Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD)
Admissions Information
The WSU Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) requires 3 years of pre-pharmacy studies followed by 4 years of professional education, regardless of prior degrees.
Beginning fall 2013, the first three years of the PharmD program will be taught on the WSU Health Sciences campus in Spokane. The fourth year of the PharmD program consists of advanced experiential training, in which students will be assigned to one of the following geographic locations for rotations: Spokane, Yakima, Vancouver, Tri-Cities, Tacoma or Pullman. Students are expected to complete the majority of their rotations in their assigned geographic locations. Students will gain experience in a variety of health care environments, including community, institutional, and long-term care settings.
The College of Pharmacy takes seriously our mission to train and educate our future pharmacists. The Essential Functions are attributes and skills the College considers necessary for entrance, continuation, and graduation from the PharmD program.
To be considered for admission you must submit a completed application, be scheduled to take the PCAT, have had some pharmacy experience, and either have completed or have a plan to complete the pre-pharmacy requirements.
Quick Links to more information by subject:
- Application Timeline and Deadlines
- PharmCAS
- PCAT Scores
- Grade Point Averages
- Letters of Recommendation required
- The Interview
- Tuition Costs
- Out-of-State Residents
- The Application Pool and Class Size
- International Students
- Criminal Background Checks
- Gaining Pharmacy Experience
- Transfer Admission Policy
- Clery Act Compliance
Note: We are currently updating our PharmCAS application page. These WSU web pages contain accurate deadline information
June 1 -PharmCAS application and WSU Supplemental filing period opens.
September 2 - Early Decision Program admission deadlines. PharmCAS and supplemental applications due.
December 1 - PharmCAS and WSU Supplemental application deadline.
October 5 - Early Decision Program interviews conducted
October 19 - Early Decision Program admission decisions made
December - February - interviews are conducted
Mid-March - all applicants are notified of admission decisions.
PharmCAS
We use PharmCAS (www.PharmCAS.org) -- a centralized, national application service for colleges of pharmacy. In addition you will need to submit WSU supplemental forms. We will email you with an access code for these forms once we receive your completed PharmCAS application.
PCAT SCORES
PCAT is required for admission. Early decision applicants should test no later than July of the application filing period. Regular decision applicants should test no later than September. We do not have a minimum PCAT score.
GRADE POINT AVERAGES
In order to be considered for admission your overall GPA as reported by PharmCAS must be 3.0 or higher. If your grades are lower than this but you feel there are extenuating circumstances that should be considered, you may write a cover letter to explain your situation.
LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
2 letters are required -- one from a professional source and one from an academic source -- and 3 are recommended. A letter from a pharmacist is not required but highly recommended. Letters of recommendation are sent through PharmCAS.
Academic sources include: professors or instructors who have directly interacted with the student in a classroom setting or official, university or college-affiliated academic advisors.
Professional sources include: employers or volunteer organization personnel with whom the applicant has directly worked.
Recommendations are NOT ACCEPTED from family members, friends, politicians, teaching assistants, fraternity or sorority advisors, personal health care providers or high school faculty/advisors. Recommendations are not accepted from career services or reference letter centers.
THE INTERVIEW
Interviews are invitation only. While the students we admit demonstrate very high academic achievements, we are not looking for students with high grades alone. We are looking for well-rounded, highly motivated people who would make good practitioners.
If you are invited for an interview, you will visit with one faculty member and one student ambassador for about a half an hour. At the end of the interview we will ask you for a 15-minute writing sample to further assess your communication skills. The total time spent at the interviews is about 3 hours. Interviews are conducted in the Health Sciences Building on the WSU campus in Spokane. Interview invitations will be sent via email.
TUITION COSTS
The Doctor of Pharmacy tuition and fees for the 2012-13 year:
.......Resident - not yet available
.......Non-Resident - not yet available
Non-resident students may apply for state residency after living in the State of Washington for 12 months:
http://www.registrar.wsu.edu/Registrar/Apps/Residency.ASPX)
Pharmacy students may apply for financial aid and should submit the FAFSA by the priority deadline of February 15. Go to www.fafsa.ed.Gov and use 003800 as the school code. Some loans for healthcare professionals require parent information, regardless of the students age and independent status. www.finaid.wsu.Edu has more information.
OUT-OF-STATE RESIDENTS
Washington state residents are given priority in the admissions process. Typically fewer than 20% of each class is from out-of-state, and only about 5% are from non-WICHE states. Participating states are: Alaska, Hawaii and Nevada.
If you are a resident of a WICHE state, you may be eligible for a tuition break. For more information, contact WICHE at:
WICHE Student Exchange Program
3035 Center Green Drive
Boulder, CO 80301-2204
(303) 541-0214
info-sep@wiche.edu
http://www.wiche.edu/sep
THE APPLICATION POOL AND CLASS SIZE
For the fall of 2012, we received about 500 applications. We invited about 200 applicants to interview for the class of 125 students. Over 70% of the admitted students had already completed their baccalaureate degrees. The average age is over 25. Over 60% of the new PharmD students are residents of the state of Washington.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
We do not consider international students for admission to the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program.
Students from foreign countries who have become US citizens, permanent residents, or who have a green card will be considered for admission if they have a critical mass (two years or more) of credits earned from post-secondary schools in the United States.
Anyone who holds international transcripts is required to have them evaluated by ECE (ece.org) or WES (wes.org), or any similar translating service if you are requesting a unofficial evaluation of your coursework.
CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS
If you are offered admission to the PharmD program, PharmCAS will request by email information to allow a criminal background check on you.
If you have a criminal conviction on your record you may not be able to complete your degree, regardless of whether WSU grants you admission to the PharmD program. While public institutions may or may not deny you admission based on a criminal record, you may not receive board approval based on a felony record and thus not be able to complete the experiential portions of the professional curriculum, since board-approved internship licensure is required. Without the ability to complete the experiential portions of the professional curriculum, you would not be able to academically progress successfully beyond the first professional year. Be apprised that the Washington State Board of Pharmacy can refuse to issue you a license to practice in the state of Washington due to a felony conviction.
GAINING PHARMACY EXPERIENCE
Washington State University does not require a minimum number of hours of experience, but many applicants have worked in a health care environment. This is taken into consideration. If you are interested in gaining experience in a pharmacy, you may find it helpful to obtain a Pharmacist Assistant license through the Washington State Board of Pharmacy.
TRANFSER ADMISSION POLICY
A student who is currently enrolled in a Doctor of Pharmacy program at another campus in good academic standing is considered a "transfer student". Students requesting to transfer from their original school/college of pharmacy into the professional program at the WSU College of Pharmacy must submit the following materials by April 1 of the year they wish to transfer. Materials should be submitted to the Associate Dean of Student Services. If materials are not received by this date, the student will not be considered for transfer into the WSU College of Pharmacy Doctor of Pharmacy professional program until the following year.
- Completed WSU College of Pharmacy supplemental application, including the professional goals statement, which is available online here. This web page will also direct the student to the pharmacy prerequisite courses that must be satisfied. Potential transfer students do NOT need to fill out a PharmCAS application.
- Three letters of recommendation, including one from a counterpart to the WSU College of Pharmacy Associate Dean of Student Services (e.g. the Associate Dean of Student Services or Academic Affairs) from the student’s current college of pharmacy, and at least one from a pharmacist who has first hand knowledge of the student’s capabilities, must be provided.
- Official transcripts from the student’s current school/college of pharmacy. The student must also submit transcripts from the institutions where the pre-pharmacy coursework was completed.
- Dates and hours of the student’s pharmacy experience (e.g., retail or hospital-based clinical experience—volunteer, shadow, paid—outside of the professional curriculum) must be listed. Any applicable Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences that have been completed must be listed and documented.
- Evidence that any current intern license remains valid.
- Information about any participation in student pharmacy organizations.
- A letter detailing the reasons why the student wants to transfer into our program.
The PCAT is not required for students transferring from another Doctor of Pharmacy program.
The College will consider requests from students from other professional programs to transfer into our program on a case-by-case basis. A student wishing to transfer into our program must be in good standing at his/her current college/school, academically strong and competitive with those students who are admitted to our program through the regular process. However, a strong academic record, pharmacy experience, and professional involvement do not guarantee admission into our program. Applicants for transfer must also undergo a background check as described above.
Because of differences in professional pharmacy programs, if a student is approved for transfer into our program, there is no guarantee that the student will be granted the same year of standing as in the pharmacy school of origin. This is determined by the Associate Dean for Student Services following a careful analysis of the student’s transcript, course syllabi (the student must provide course syllabi from the previous program to help determine which Washington State University courses will be waived), documentation of IPPE activities, and E-portfolio (if this latter item exists).
Clery Act Compliance
State and federal laws require institutions of higher education to notify prospective students of the availability of information regarding campus safety. WSU’s campus safety report is available at the following link: www.go.wsu.edu/safetyinfo.
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