Admissions Requirements

Academic Requirements

To be considered for admissions to our PharmD program, applicants must meet the following academic requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree
• Minimum GPA Requirements
• Prerequisite Coursework
• International Coursework/Degree Evaluation (if applicable)

Important: While you do not need to have completed all academic requirements at the time of application, please note that all academic requirements must be fulfilled prior to matriculation if you are offered admission. It is recommended that you have most of the academic requirements completed or in progress at the time of application to ensure a smooth transition into the program.

Bachelor's Degree

A bachelor's degree from an accredited institution is required for admission. While there is no required major, a solid foundation in sciences is essential for the study of pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences.

Below is a graphic for the Most Identified College Majors for Accepted PharmCAS Applicants from the 2023-2024 PharmCAS Applicant Data Report released on November 19, 2024:

Minimum GPA Requirements

Applicants must have a minimum cumulative overall GPA of 3.0 and a minimum cumulative overall science GPA of 2.8. Please note that cumulative GPA includes coursework from every college or university attended, not just the institution where the bachelor's degree was earned.

PharmCAS will calculate your GPA during the application verification process. You can also use the GPA calculator on the PharmCAS website to estimate your GPA before application submission.

Prerequisite Coursework

Completion of the following prerequisite courses with a grade of C- or higher at an accredited college or university is required. To see a list of pre-approved courses from hundreds of schools nationwide, please visit our Institution Course Equivalencies.

Category	Requirements	Notes
Cell and/or Molecular Biology	1 course of lecture and laboratory
Anatomy or Microbiology or Biochemistry	1 course of lecture and laboratory
Physiology	1 course of lecture and laboratory	The study of the biology of whole animals or humans
Chemistry	One year (or equivalent) lecture and laboratory
Organic Chemistry	One year (or equivalent) lecture and laboratory
Physics	1 course
Calculus	1 course
English Composition	2 courses	Must include English with a writing component. English as a Second Language courses are not acceptable to meet this requirement
Economics	1 course	Macro or Microeconomics
Public Speaking or Debate	1 course
Human Behavior	1 course	May include a course in psychology, sociology, cultural anthropology, or related course

Additional requirements:

• Our policy is that science prerequisite courses may be no more than 10 years old. If any science coursework is beyond the 10-year time limit, they must be retaken. Some exceptions to this policy may be made to applicants who have worked in an environment that allowed them to remain up-to-date on the subject in question. Exceptions will only be granted by SOAR upon review of the applicant's academic and work history.
• Letter grades are required for all prerequisites. Pass/No Pass (P/NP) grading from 2020-2022 will be accepted. Any P/NP grading outside of this timeframe will require review by the SOAR team.

Considerations:

• Online coursework is acceptable, but we highly recommend taking in-person courses wherever possible, especially for labs.
• Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) credit will be honored based on how your undergraduate institution(s) awarded the credit.
• English courses taken outside of the United States will not be accepted toward meeting the English requirements unless English is the official language of the university or college attended and all instruction (except for foreign language courses) is conducted in English.

International Coursework/Degree Evaluation (if applicable)

If you have completed coursework or earned a degree from an international institution, you must:

• Complete a World Education Services (WES) evaluation. Please note that PharmCAS specifically requires WES evaluations, so other evaluation services will unfortunately not be accepted.
  • WES evaluations should be submitted as part of your PharmCAS application alongside all of your official transcripts.
    • If you'd like for us to do any kind of prerequisite evaluation prior to submitting your application, you may also choose to send your WES evaluation to Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science via the AccessWES portal. However, please keep in mind that a fee will be incurred every time you send your WES evaluation to any entity.
  • Note that your WES GPAs will not be included in the overall or science GPA calculations in the PharmCAS application verification process. However, we will manually calculate the cumulative GPAs to include all coursework.
    • If our manual calculation determines that you do not meet the minimum GPA requirements, we must deny your application, even if your US coursework meets the minimum requirements.
• Complete at least one year of full-time study at a four-year college or university in the United States prior to application. A four-year college or university is one that is accredited to award bachelor’s degrees. Enrollment in a community college does not satisfy this requirement.

Application Requirements

After you have met our citizenship and academic requirements, the next step will be to apply.

Submit a PharmCAS application

Navigate to PharmCAS and select "Apply Now" to begin your application. You can review information on the PharmCAS Applicant Help Center which gives step-by-step guidance on each section of the application.

We do not have a supplemental application that needs to be completed as part of the submission process at this time.

Pay special attention to the verification status of your application upon submission and note that we will not be able to review it until it is in Verified status. Click here to learn more about the various types of application statuses in PharmCAS.

Important: To be considered for admission, it is required that all application materials are submitted on or before our final application deadline each year. Late submissions will not be accepted, and applicants who fail to meet our final application deadline will be automatically denied. We encourage all prospective students to plan accordingly and submit their applications well in advance of the deadline to ensure timely consideration. Deadline information can be found in the PharmCAS PharmD Directory.

Letters of Recommendation

As part of your application, you must submit a minimum of two letters of recommendation, although we recommend submitting three. PharmCAS will allow you to submit a maximum of four. If you are unsure whether a particular letter writer is acceptable, please contact SOAR.

Acceptable Letter Writers

Acceptable letter writers include, but are not limited to, the following. Please note that no type of letter writer in particular is required.

• Pharmacists
• Professors
• Employers/Supervisors
• Other healthcare professionals
• Mentors
• Academic Advisors

Unacceptable Letter Writers

Unacceptable letter writers include, but are not limited to, the following. If you choose to submit a letter from one of these individuals, you will still need to obtain a minimum of two additional letters from acceptable writers.

• Family members
• Friends
• Clergy
• Politicians

Special Requirements for Certain Letter Writers

In some cases, additional signatures may be required for certain letter writers.

• Teacher's Assistants (TAs) must have their letter co-signed by the Professor directing the course.
• Pharmacy Technicians must have their letter co-signed by a Pharmacist at the same pharmacy.
• Post-Doctoral or Graduate Student Researchers must have their letter co-signed by the Principal Investigator (PI).

If you receive a letter from one of the individuals listed above and another letter from the person who should be co-signing, our Admissions Committee will count both letters as one combined approved letter. You may still need to obtain another accepted letter to meet our minimum requirement of two letters.

Interviews

Interviews are an important and required step of the admissions process. Competitive applicants will be invited to interview in person or virtually in either the fall, winter, or spring quarter depending on when their applications are verified and all required materials received. Applicants can expect to be notified approximately a month in advance of each interview session whether they have been invited.

Interview day structure:

• Welcome by the Dean and Associate Dean for Admissions and Recruitment
• Presentation about SSPPS
• Breakout groups will then complete each of the following three activities in varying order:
  • 30-minute interview
    • 2-on-1 interview with a combination of faculty, alumni, students, or other members of the Skaggs community
    • Questions will generally be related to motivation for the profession of pharmacy, leadership qualities, work/life balance, soft skills, and more.
    • Interviewees will also be given time to ask questions of the interviewers. We recommend coming prepared with topics that are important to you to maximize your interview experience.
  • Student Host Room
    • Informal chats with current students about anything you want to know
  • School tour (if in person)
    • Guided walking tours of our Health Sciences campus by current students

 

Dress Code:

We want to ensure that you feel prepared and confident during your interview at our pharmacy school. We recommend dressing in professional attire. This may include items such as blouses, button-down shirts, slacks, dresses, or skirts. Please don't feel pressured to purchase new or expensive clothing for the occasion - we understand that financial barriers can exist, and we're more interested in getting to know you as a person and a future pharmacist. What's most important is that you present yourself in a way that feels authentic and respectful to you and our community.

If you are interviewing in person, we do highly recommend wearing comfortable shoes as the activities listed above include guided walking tours of our Health Sciences campus.

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For the 2024-2025 PharmCAS application cycle, we will have three in-person interview days and two virtual interview days:

Application Deadline	Corresponding Interview Dates	Modality
Tuesday, October 1, 2024	Friday, November 8, 2024	Virtual
	Saturday, November 16, 2024	In Person
Wednesday, January 1, 2025	Saturday, February 8, 2025	In Person
	Friday, February 14, 2025	Virtual
Monday, March 3, 2025	Friday, April 4, 2025	In Person

Pre-Matriculation Requirements

Upon accepting your offer of admission, there are several key requirements that must be completed before the start of the program. The following are some of the notable requirements that you will need to fulfill prior to matriculation. Please note that these and additional onboarding tasks will be assigned to you by SOAR and the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) with detailed instructions in the months leading up to the fall quarter of your P1 year, so no action is needed until you receive those notifications.

Certiphi Criminal Background Check

As a participant in the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Criminal Background Check Program, we require all incoming students to undergo a criminal background check as a condition of matriculation. This is a standard requirement for most schools of pharmacy.

Upon acceptance of your offer of admission, you will be notified to complete a criminal background check, which will be conducted by Certiphi Screening, Inc., a vendor contracted by AACP. You will be responsible for paying the cost of the background check. The results will be sent to you for review and then forwarded to the school.

Failure to complete the background check will result in your inability to matriculate into the school and subsequent revocation of your offer of admission. Additionally, if you take a break in enrollment of one quarter or more, you may be required to undergo an additional background check.

If the background check reveals any issues that may preclude your ability to obtain your Intern Pharmacist License or participate in Introductory and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPEs and APPEs), the Associate Dean for Admissions and Recruitment will review the results and may revoke the offer of admission. Please note that decisions regarding admission are final and not subject to appeal.

Some clinical training sites may also require urine drug testing, which you will be expected to undergo as part of your training. You will be notified of any additional requirements by the school or the clinical training site.

School Policies

As a condition of matriculation, you are required to review, understand, and comply with the following policies and guidelines, which are essential to your participation in the program:

• Technical Standards Policy
• Guidelines on the Evaluation of Professionalism
• Policy on Integrity of Scholarship
• All other policies and guidelines listed on our website

Computer Requirements

To ensure that you have the necessary technology to succeed in the program, you must meet our computer requirements. The Office of Student Affairs (OSA) will provide detailed specifications and configurations, but the following are the general requirements:

• You must have a laptop computer with wireless and Ethernet networking capabilities. While we do not require a specific brand, your laptop must meet the minimum processing power and resolution requirements as specified by OSA to ensure that you can effectively complete academic tasks.
• You must purchase a computer privacy screen/filter for your laptop. This is a thin piece of plastic that is placed over the monitor or display panel to prevent others from viewing your screen, particularly during exams.

 

As part of our program, we will provide you with an iPad for use throughout pharmacy school. You will be able to keep the iPad after graduation. We will provide more information on the iPad and its uses in the program.

 

Health Requirements

To protect the health and well-being of our students, faculty, staff, and patients, all incoming professional school students are required to meet the UC Immunization and Tuberculosis (TB) requirements. Instructions for submission of the necessary documentation will be provided by OSA, but you may review the documents in advance below.

• Incoming Immunization Requirements
• Tuberculosis Health Assessment

Intern Pharmacist Licensure

As a condition of matriculation, you are required to obtain an Intern Pharmacist License from the California State Board of Pharmacy. OSA will provide detailed instructions and deadlines for obtaining this license during the summer preceding your P1 year.

For more information on this requirement, please review our Intern Pharmacist License Policy.

Basic Life Support Certification

All incoming students are required to be certified in American Heart Association (AHA) Basic Life Support (BLS) for Healthcare Providers. Active BLS certification must be maintained through your four years of pharmacy school training, and it is a requirement in order for you to participate in community outreaches, Introductory and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPEs and APPEs), or to work as an intern pharmacist.

SSPPS has partnered with the American Pharmacist Association (APhA) to offer AHA BLS training to all of our student pharmacists. Each certification is valid for two years and will be offered prior to the start of your P1 and P3 years.

In order to ensure the standardization of learning and competency of BLS as future healthcare providers, online and non-SSPPS BLS courses will not be accepted, with limited exceptions.