Midwestern, CCP (c/o 2020)

Hey lunesta,

I should start off by saying that I am in my current position because I was not very smart about choosing classes or a career path throughout most of undergrad. I was originally a Biology (Pre-Med) major for 2 years at Elmhurst College before transferring as a Chemistry major (Pre-Pharm) to UIC last year. My cGPA is ~3.2 (sGPA is ~2.7) and that's after 4 W's (however, the pharm school that I am applying to isn't concerned unless it's 8+ W's). I have approximately 150 hours of volunteer work at a local hospital (~50 hours being in an outpatient pharmacy as a volunteer pharm tech). In addition, I worked for UIC’s campus housing as a summer housing assistant this summer (only for a month, ended up resigning due to summer classes).

I am going to be a regular senior at UIC this coming semester and I am working on a BA Chemistry degree. I am hoping to start pharmacy school at Midwestern University CCP in fall 2016, if I get accepted. Here is my dilemma:

1. I am registered to take the PCAT on Friday, September 18th, 2015. I have been studying on and off for the past week but am hoping to study more intensively for the remaining days leading up to the test date.

2. There is a very good chance that I will not be able to graduate on time if I do not take 5 classes/semester. This may not sound so bad but I have to study for the PCAT concurrently and the classes are as follows (note: ALL of these are required for the degree EXCEPT for Intro to Communications, which is a Midwestern CCP prereq):

Fall 2015

PChem I (I hear it’s easier at UIC but still a tough subject)
Intro to Communications (easy)
Anatomy & Phys I w/ lab (moderate-hard)
Music History (easy)
Italian 3 (probably easy)

Spring 2016

PChem II (different professor than PChem I, probably a great deal more difficult overall)
PChem I Lab (can't be taken concurrently with PChem I, unfortunately)
**Analytical Chem w/lab (only 1 professor, 2.0 average on RateMyProfessors.com based on 19 reviews)
Chem Elective (it’s a toss-up)
Italian 4 (probably alright)

Summer 2016 (MAYBE)

**Inorganic Chem w/ lab (it’s a toss-up)

** denotes substituting one course for another

With all of that being said, would it be worth it for me to continue on and get my BA Chemistry degree or should I just complete the pre-reqs for Midwestern CCP and take additional, somewhat easier classes to boost my cGPA/sGPA (cGPA to ~3.3, sGPA to ~3.0 by the end of this semester, at most), so that I don’t kill myself with the tentative schedule that I listed above? My parents would definitely not be happy if I stayed an extra semester, and I really do not want to make them pay more for my own stupidity. They have been fully supporting me financially throughout college, so I already feel terrible for all of the mishaps that I have had. I should mention that the only semester that I took four classes was first semester of freshman year. Ever since then, it’s been three classes per semester (one semester was two classes >_<). I offset this a little bit by taking a summer course each year (but two this year, actually). Like I said, I was not very smart about choosing classes… Anyway, please let me know. Thank you!

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Midwestern, CCP (c/o 2020)