Admissions Rx

Short answer – yes.

Oregon State does not require a bachelor’s degree for admission to our Pharm.D. program – only the completion of certain prerequisite courses listed on our website.

However, our admissions committee has found that finishing a bachelor’s degree helps students develop a broad academic preparation that includes strong communication skills and the ability to work with diverse patients – all important traits for pharmacists. Therefore, candidates who finished their degree (or who are about to finish it) are favored in our admissions process. Spending that fourth year in college to finish your degree also gives you more time to take advanced science courses, which can impress our committee if you do well in them. You could also use that time to gain more healthcare experience, improve your writing ability, or do other things that would make you a better candidate for pharmacy school admission.

The numbers tell the story best. In recent years, 70% to 80% of admitted students have held bachelor’s degrees when they started the Oregon State Pharm.D. program.