What to do to become a pharmacist?

What do I need to do to become a pharmacist?

• I'm going to be a senior in high school in a few months. When I graduate from high school do I need to go to a pharmacy school first or a UC first. Whats the difference? Is there a UC in California where I can just get my degree and be done with it. Who knows of any roads to take on becoming a pharmacist thats quick and simple??

• Answer:

  In order to apply for pharmacy school, you need to take at least two years of prerequisite courses, but people also choose to apply after getting an undergrad degree. Some places have an option for you to apply to their school and you get automatically accepted into their six year program (two years of prereqs and four years of professional program) if you meet and maintain certain requirements. Other places require that you have a bachelor's degree to even apply for their pharmacy program. It all depends on how good of a student you are and how quickly you want to get your degree--anywhere from 6-8 years--depending on whether or not you want to get your professional degree right away, build up a stronger foundation by getting your bachelor's degree first, and a pharmacy school's prereq requirements. I'm starting my sophomore year of college in the fall, and originally I was planning on doing a six year program, but I felt my interests have shifted and may not want to do pharmacy anymore. I am, however, still interested in a science field, so I'm doing coursework that will still help me apply for pharmacy school in the future. Personally, I think it would help you if you kept your options open and choose a program where you would be fufilling requirements for a major and pharmacy school prereqs at the same time. I'm not familiar with the UC system, but if you look on the collegeboard website or at the various UC schools' websites, I'm sure you'll be able to find the information that you are looking for.