Prepare for Pharmacy
School
Confirm your interest in pharmacy, prepare academically and develop the necessary skills and experience.
You can pursue pharmacy at UC San Diego as a traditional student or as a 7-year student. Traditional students must complete all the requirements of their B.A. or B.S. degree prior to matriculation.
Applicants interested in the 7-year program apply after their sophomore year of undergraduate studies. For more information, please see below OR click here.
- Must major in pharmacological chemistry
- Must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident, DACA approved with AB540 at time of application
- Must have a 3.0 overall GPA and complete the following courses by the end of sophomore year:
- CHEM 6A, 6B, 6C & 7L
- CHEM 41A, 41B, 41C & 43A (Or 40A, 40B, and 40C for courses taken before FA 22)
- ** MATH 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D
- ** PHYS 2A, 2B, 2C or 2D & 2BL or CL or DL
- BILD 1 & 2
** MATH 10 series also acceptable (MATH 10A, 10B, 10C, 11)
** PHYS 1 series also acceptable (PHYS 1A, 1AL, 1B, 1BL, 1C, and 1CL)
ACADEMIC PREREQUSITES
UC San Diego has updated their pre-requisite requirements for applicants applying in the 2023-2024 cycle and later. To learn more, please click here and navigate to the ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS section.
Additionally, PharmCAS has a list of Common Prerequisites and the UC San Diego classes you can take to meet them. The below listing is a general guideline. Please check individual schools for their specific prerequisites:
One year of biology- BILD 1, 2, 3, & any upper division Biology lab course (must be at least 4 quarter units)
- CHEM 6A, 6B, 6C, & 7L (lab)
- CHEM 40A, 40B, & 43A (lab),
- OR, Student who are Chem/Biochem, or Engineering majors will use: CHEM 41A, 41B, 41C, & 43A (lab)
- One of the following: BIBC 100, BIBC 102, CHEM 114A, or CHEM 114B
- PHYS 1A, 1AL, 1B, 1BL, 1C, 1CL
- OR, 2A, 2B, 2BL, 2C, 2CL
- BIPN 100 and BIPN 105 (lab)
- OR, Physiology lecture and lab at the community college
- BIMM 120 & BIMM 121 (lab)
- The Analytical Writing Program and UC Entry Level Writing Requirement courses
- TDGE 25
- ECON 1 or 3
- MATH 11 Or PSYC 60
One Human Behaviorial Course
- PSYC 1, SOC 70, or ANTH 1 (These are examples, similar content within human behavior accepted)
While many of these classes fulfill the common pre-pharmacy requirements, to learn more about the specific academic requirements for UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences please check here. Student should also understand the above courses are a general recommendation and may not reflect students taking classes outside of UC San Diego.
We provide a sample comparison chart of california schools, however students are responsible for reviewing and updating thier personal list of schools based of those institutions admissions websites.
Competencies
Evaluators will be asked to rate pharmacy applicants on each of the following characteristics:
- Oral Communication: speaks clearly with precision and accuracy, without ambiguity.
- Written Communication: writing is precise, accurate, grammatically correct, and unambiguous.
- Intellectual Ability: academic competence and aptitude for a pharmacy degree program.
- Leadership: takes initiative and motivates others.
- Ethics: displays honesty, integrity, and ethical behaviors.
- Empathy: considerate, sensitive, and tactful in response to others.
- Reliability: dependable, responsible, prompt, and thorough.
- Judgment: displays critical thinking skills, common sense, and decisiveness.
- Interpersonal Relations: able to get along well with peers and superiors.
- Adaptability: reacts well to stress, is poised and controlled.
- Professional Appearance: maintains good personal hygiene, appropriate attire, well-groomed.
Experience
We recommend students pursue pharmacy clinincal clinical experience which can be done through a vartient of acitivies such as:- Getting to know a pharmacist!
- Volunteer
- Shadow
- Work as a clerk
- Work as a pharmacy technician.
- ***Please note that beginning Jan. 2, 2020 the TCP will be requiring completion of an approved course or 500 hours of pharmacy experience prior to taking the exam. Learn more about eligibility requirements.
- Volunteer at the UC San Diego Free Clinic
- General Pre-Health Experiential Opportunities List
- Asian Pacific Health Foundation: Current stations: Hepatitis B/C, Osteoporosis, Blood glucose, Blood lipid, Hypertension, Registration, Equipment Team
Student Organizations
Students are encouraged to explore any student organization of interest, not necessarily limited to pharmacy-related groups. A comprehensive list can be found at the Center for Student Involvement.
Pharmacy-related student groups include the following:
The Pre-Pharmacy Society (PPS) provides excellent opportunities to meet other pre-pharmacy students, local pharmacists, and visiting pharmacy school deans. The Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity provides members an opportunity for service in their communities. In addition, the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SSPPS) has several pharmacy student orgs to connect with.
Additional Preparation Information
To learn more about Pharmacy, please visit the links below:
For mentorship opportunities please contact SSPPS Office of Admissions and Outreach: sppsadmissions@health.ucsd.edu