Blog Challenge #1

For the first blog challenge of SEED Summer 2014, we were asked to select a prospective career choice and then three universities/colleges that offer degree programs in the field of our choice.

I have always been interested in science, but recently I have become interested in the medical field. I know that I do not have the stomach to be a doctor nor the social skills to be a medical assistant, so I decided to do a little bit of research on careers that are in the medical field that I would be able to handle. For this blog posting last year, I thought that biomedical engineering would be the career path for me. Unfortunately, I have decided that engineering is not something that I would like to pursue because I want to be involved more than just making medical equipment for patients. So, the career path that I have decided on is pharmaceutics. Pharmaceutics is basically turning a chemical into potentially effective and safe drugs to be used by patients. I decided on pharmaceutics because I feel like I could really made a difference in the medical field. Also, the pay is fantastic.

Three potential universities that I am going to be applying to in the fall are The University of Pittsburgh, Ohio State University, and Duquesne University.

The University of Pittsburgh- 
UPitt is considered to be a large university, having an undergraduate student population of over 18,000.  It is located three miles from the heart of Downtown Pittsburgh. For acceptance into the school, a high school student must take honors/AP/IB/ or college courses in high school and perform well in advanced level classes. Their SAT/ACT scores must be submitted including the writing portion of the SAT. For a student's senior year, a rigorous schedule is suggested. The University takes this into consideration and it will make transitioning into college-life easier. As well as one to three letters of recommendation and a $45 application fee, a personal essay must be submitted that includes the following:
-A description of yourself in 140 characters or less
-An explanation in 140 characters or less of why Pitt is a good choice for you
-And in 7,000 characters or less, a description of a situation where things were working against you

This information is also considered for application into the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. The school offers a Doctor of Pharmacy program as well as Ph.D. and Master of Science (thesis and non thesis) programs. For entry into the PharmD program, a student must complete two year of pre-professional study and must meet credit requirements for consideration into admission into the professional program. If accepted into the professional program, a student must have completed the following prerequisites:

8 credits Biology (1 year of lecture and lab)
8 credits General Chemistry (1 year of lecture and lab)
8 credits Organic Chemistry(1 year of lecture and lab)

3-4 credits Calculus(1 course in calculus covering the derivative and integral of functions of a single variable)
3-4 credits Statistics (1 course in descriptive and inferential statistics)
6 credits English Composition ( 2 courses in college composition)
3 credits Economics -(1 course in microeconomics, introduction to economics, or macroeconomics)
3 credits Psychology (1 course in general Psychology)
18 credits of Electives in the Humanities and the Social Sciences

Humanities: (6 credits) 

As well as have submitted a supplemental application, have paid the $65.00 application fee, and have taken the PCATs.

Ohio State University-
In Columbus, Ohio, OSU is a large-sized public university. Its undergraduate population is over 44,000 and in 2014, it had a freshman class of over 7,000 seeking a degree. To be accepted into the university, a student must have fully completed the college preparatory curriculum in a way that is shown through a high GPA/class rank, and significant performance on the SAT/ACT.
The School of Pharmacy currently has five degree programs available:
-BSPS (Bachelor of Science in the Pharmaceutical Sciences)
-MS (Master of Science in Health Systems Pharmacy Administration)
-MS (Master of Science in Community Care with PGY1/PGY2 Residency Programs)
-MACPR (Master of Applies Clinical and PreClinical Research)
-PharmD (Doctor of Pharmacy)-  4 year professional program to prepare for licensure and practice

Admission in the BSPS program means filling out the online Ohio State University admissions application, submitting a composite SAT score of 1150 or more and an ACT score of 25 or more.

Duquesne University-
If given the opportunity to decide which university accepted me, I would love for it to be Duquesne. TheCollegeBoard considers it a medium-sized university with an undergraduate population of only around 5,000. Duquesne University is a private university that was founded in 1878. Four degrees are offered in the Pharmaceutical Sciences:
-PharmD
-Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy (Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmacology)
-Master of Science (Pharmacy Administration)

-Doctor of Philosophy

To be accepted into Duquesne, and more importantly into their PharmD two-year pre-professional program, an upcoming freshman must submit an online application, high school transcripts, SAT/ACT scores, a $50 application fee, and a personal essay. The essay should include something unique about he/she and why he/she chose his/her major. It should also include how he/she believes DuqU will help he/she achieve his/her goals and give examples of research, any shadowing experience and/or volunteering experience he/she may have. Duquesne is looking for students who have an excellent GPA who have taken a well rounded series of classes that have an emphasis on sciences, math, and communication. 

For admission into the four-year professional program, the following prerequisites must be met: 

Completion of pre-professional course requirements:

Calculus I (4 cr.)

Creative Arts (3 cr.)
Economics (3 cr.)
English Composition and Literature (3 cr.)
English Literature (3 cr.)
Ethics (3 cr.)
Faith and Reason (3 cr.)
General Biology I & lab (4 cr.)
General Biology II & lab (4 cr.)
General Chemistry I & lab (4 cr.)
General Chemistry II & lab (4 cr.)
General Physics I & lab (4 cr.)
Global Diversity (3 cr.)
Information Literacy (3 cr.)
Organic Chemistry I & lab (4 cr.)
Organic Chemistry II & lab (4 cr.)
Philosophy (3 cr.)
Psychology (3 cr.)
Statistics (3 cr.)
Theology (3 cr.)

Completion of School of Pharmacy application plus cumulative QPA and PCAT scores.

A background check is also required.