I’ll start with the statistics for students accepted into the University of Southern California’s Doctor of Pharmacy program for 2009. Interviews were offered to 460 students out of a pool of over 2,000 applicants. Accepting 240 students (11 students from out-of-state schools), the expected class size for 2009 is 190. It should be noted that USC offers its undergraduates the opportunity for guaranteed admission as long as they complete their requirements in the TAP program. . (These students occupy a large portion of the seats available to other applicants.)

Obtaining a bachelor’s degree is now a requirement for admission to USC. The minimum GPA requirement is 3.0 (the average GPA of accepted students is 3.60). Since USC does not require taking the PCAT, other admission criteria (GPA, interview performance, extracurricular activities, personal statements, etc.) are weighted more.

For the application process, it is very important to note that the University of Southern California sends out interview invitations on an ongoing basis, so it is important that you submit your PharmCAS application and companion application as soon as possible. The deadlines for both are early November, but I recommend you turn them in no later than early August (I turned in my applications in mid-July, just 1.5 months after the application became available).

At your interview, you will be asked questions by a current pharmacy school student and faculty member. Think of it more like a conversation where you also ask both of them questions. When you first arrive for the interview session, you will be greeted by several current pharmacy students, who do a great job of calming you down before your interview. Take this opportunity to ask questions and warm up your oral communication skills. Don’t worry too much about the “essay” part, as it’s just a test of how well you take notes from a random article you read. MAKE SURE you follow all the instructions given to you, as this is also a test of how well you pay attention to detail.

Here are the prerequisites for the USC pharmacy program:

Calculus (for science students)

Statistics (non-commercial)

Physics with Laboratory (Science/Life Science Major: Thermodynamics and Electromagnetism recommended)

General Biology with Laboratory (excludes Human Anatomy and Physiology, Botany, and Microbiology)

Mammalian Physiology with Lab (Preferred by Humans, Excludes Plant, Cell, and Marine Physiology)

Microbiology with Laboratory (Fundamentals of Microbiology for Science Students)

Molecular or cellular biology (for science majors: an upper division course)

General Chemistry with Laboratory (for science students: includes inorganic and qualitative analysis)

Organic Chemistry with Laboratory (for science students)

Biochemistry (for science majors, an upper division course)

Human Behavior (General Psychology or Introductory Sociology)

Microeconomics

For internationals (holders of the US equivalent of a foreign bachelor’s degree):

French (expository writing)

Interpersonal communications or public speaking

To find out the equivalencies of specific courses at your university, consult the forms available on the USC website.

The Pharm.D. The program at USC is a 4-year program. USC is a private school, and our estimated tuition and cost of living for 2009 is approximately $60,000.

The University of Southern California provides students with the opportunity to earn dual degrees in addition to their Doctor of Pharmacy degree. These include the following:

Doctor of Pharmacy/Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Doctor of Pharmacy/Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD)

Farm.D./Master of Public Health (MPH)

Pharm.D./Master of Science in Regulatory Science (MS Regulatory Science)

Pharm.D./ Master of Science in Gerontology (MSG)

Pharm.D./Graduate Certificate in Gerontology (Certificate of Gerontology)

Pharm.D./Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)