PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Admissions Cycle
Once you have submitted your application, it will be reviewed by our staff and Admission Committee members. The Admissions Committee will select individuals that they would like to interview for our program. Selection of applicants is based on the pre-requisite grade point average, the Admissions Committee's assessment of the candidate's personal statement, sustained community service, demonstrated sustained leadership ability, pharmacy/healthcare experience, and strong letters of recommendation. If your application meets requirements, and is deemed competitive, it will move forward through the admissions process.
Applicants will be notified, by email, about the current status of their application.
Students will be invited to interview throughout the admissions cycle, depending on when they apply. A personal interview will be scheduled by the Committee to further assess those factors, as previously listed, as well as communications skills, maturity and career goals. Individuals chosen to interview will be given 2-4 weeks to prepare travel arrangements for an in person interview. After the interview process is complete, each applicant will be notified with a decision from the Admissions Committee within 1-2 weeks, via phone call and/or email.
The full deposit amount required is $500.00. To hold your seat in this class, please pay this deposit within two weeks of receiving your acceptance notification. The $500.00 deposit is nonrefundable; however, it will be applied to your Fall Semester tuition. You may pay the required deposit with either a credit card, a cashier's check, a personal check, or a money order.
Once an applicant has accepted their admissions offer, they will receive instructions of the next steps needed. Those steps will include: a criminal background check through Certiphi, completion of the Graduate School application, updated and current record of immunizations, and more.
Here at the University of Utah, College of Pharmacy we participate in a rolling admissions cycle. Due this type of admissions cycle, we accept applications all throughout the year starting in July, and going until June of the following year. Admission to the Doctor of Pharmacy Program is highly selective and competitive. Students meeting our required criteria will be invited to interview for a seat in our upcoming class. Please reach out to our Pre-Pharmacy and Admissions advisor for more information how you can secure a seat in our class.
Application Process at a glance
Meeting with our Pre-Pharmacy advisor can make the admissions process less stressful, and they will ensure that you are prepared and ready to submit an application. They are willing to help go over the admissions requirements, your personal statement, and general questions you might have about applying. By meeting with an advisor, applicants can feel confident that when they are to submit their application they have the best opportunity of admission. You can set up an appointment with our current Pre-Pharmacy advisor.
Applicants must complete the:
PharmCAS Application
Submissions are accepted at any point during our rolling admissions process, please reference the dates above for additional information. Applications must be submitted no later than June 1st to be reviewed by our Admissions Committee.
A Bachelor’s Degree is not required to apply to University of Utah’s College of Pharmacy. Applicants are required to complete all prerequisite courses prior to starting the program. To see a list of our pre-requisite courses, click here. The minimum OVERALL GPA required for applicants to be considered for admission to the program is 2.75. The minimum PREREQUISITE GPA required to apply is 2.8.
NOTE: All prerequisite courses MUST be completed with a final grade no lower than a C. Students may retake a course one time to fulfill this requirement and that retake grade will be used for admission review. Courses completed over ten years prior to the application year may not be considered for application.
Applicants will submit a Statement of Purpose through PharmCAS in an essay format with a limit of 4500 characters. It is required that your Statement of Purpose should address the following prompts:
- Why you selected pharmacy as a career?
- How does the Doctor of Pharmacy degree relate to your immediate and long-term professional goals?
- Describe how your personal, educational, and professional background will help you achieve your goals.
The Statement of Purpose is a vital piece of your application and MUST cover these questions thoroughly. Please ensure that your statement is thoroughly edited for grammar, spelling, and formatting.
It is recommended that if there are gaps (poor semesters, break in academics, unique circumstances, etc.) that they be addressed in the personal statement.
Two (2) recommendation forms and letters of recommendation are required and must be submitted through the PharmCAS application. The University of Utah College of Pharmacy requires a minimum of two letters of recommendations and will accept up to a total of four letters. These letters should come from a source who can speak to your professional demeanor, accountability and maturity and who you have had a relationship with over an extended period of time. This ability to provide insight into these principles is more important than the title or role of the letter writer. Letters may come from an employer or volunteer supervisor, professor, teaching assistant, or healthcare professional who you have associated with in a professional setting. The committee will NOT accept letters from family members, friends, fraternity/sorority advisors, clergy, personal health care providers, high school faculty/advisors, or job shadow only professionals.
The goal of the PharmD program is to develop individuals into excellent pharmacists who provide leadership in their organizations and service to their community. Experiences outside the classroom are essential to becoming this type of pharmacist and include employment (in and out of healthcare), leadership roles, service/volunteer activities. While not required healthcare and pharmacy related experience is highly recommended, and will strengthen your application. Consistent and long-term commitment to service is the preferred form of volunteerism. Leadership in multiple arenas is welcome and encouraged. Be sure to list all your paid work experience, volunteer, or extracurricular experiences in the Experiences section of your PharmCAS application, not just pharmacy or healthcare related experience.
- Pharmacy, healthcare and work experience
- Pharmacy or healthcare experience isn't required, but is preferred and will strengthen your application.
- Approximately half of each incoming class has experience as a pharmacy technician.
- Pharmacy experience also includes shadowing or interviewing practicing pharmacists.
- Include all employment experiences in your application.
- Community service / volunteer experience
- Focus on helping people and creating positive change demonstrates the ideal traits of a pharmacist who can provide service to their community after graduation.
- Demonstrated commitment to community service and volunteerism is to key to a strong application.
- Long term commitment to a cause and consistency is preferred.
- Please list all service/volunteer experience on your PharmCAS application.
- Leadership experience
- Leadership centers on working with others to accomplish shared goals and comes from a variety of life experiences and roles including but not limited to work, student organizations, volunteer work, school, home, etc.
- Leadership experience should be noted in the Leadership section of your PharmCAS application and, in addition, can be expressed in your personal statement.
- Research experience
- Professional or academic experience in employment or undergraduate settings is encouraged and reflects a commitment to discovering new knowledge.
- Research publications can be uploaded to your PharmCAS application as supplemental information.
Please contact the advising office to discuss your experience section in order to strengthen your application. The committee takes a holistic approach in review of files so including all the experience listed above with improve your application.
An applicant whose first language is not English will be required to take some sort of English Literacy Exam. To be considered for admission, applicants will need to submit a test score for whatever test/exam they choose. Listed below are approved forms of English literacy and the scores an applicant will need to meet the requirement. For more information, you may contact the University of Utah, Graduate School Admissions with questions about international matters. A waiver may be granted in place of an English literacy exam if the applicant received a high school diploma from a United States institution, otherwise one of the following exams will be required:
- TOEFL iBT: 80 or higher
- DUOLINGO: 105 or higher
- ACT English score of 18 or higher
- SAT Reading score of 27 or higher
PharmD First Year Free
We are delighted to announce the University of Utah College of Pharmacy’s First Year Free Program. Beginning in 2023, students entering the program from everywhere will have the opportunity to take advantage of this unique initiative. Through the contributions of generous donors and with the support of the University, every accepted student will receive a scholarship that covers their full first-year tuition. This is NOT a deferred payment plan. Please note: This does not include housing, food, or other non-tuition expenses. This new scholarship program will increase both the access and affordability of pharmacy education and allow our first-year students to focus on their studies and overall college experience at the U, with fewer financial stresses.
Who qualifies for First Year Free? The First Year Free program will provide full-tuition coverage of the first year (P1) for every student accepted into the PharmD program at the College of Pharmacy. This includes in-state and out-of-state students alike.
Who’s the best resource for more information regarding this program? Our dedicated Dean’s Office Administration and Student Affairs staff are on standby to answer any more questions you may have. Please send us an email to PharmD.Admissions@pharm.utah.edu, visit our full contact information page, or call a member of our student affairs team today.
What’s the benefit for students heading into P2, P3, and P4? By increasing the overall access and affordability of The College of Pharmacy’s PharmD program to first-year students, we expect to increase both the quality and overall number of students attending the school you already call home. Additionally, we expect this initiative to foster more equal opportunities for prospective pharmacy students of all backgrounds. This will, in turn, provide more alumni of the school for future career opportunities and connections, as well as improve the reputation of the program, benefitting prior and current students alike.
What does it Cover? (In State & Out of State): First Year, Fall Semester 16.5 & Spring Semester 16.0 Credits.
Request Information
Out State: Important Information: Through available demographic information, you may be entering the College as a non-resident student. As we have communicated, tuition for the P1 year will be waived. Non-resident students need a total of 40 credit hours in order to petition the University for resident tuition status. Upon the completion of the P1 school year students will have completed 32 credit hours. This creates a gap of 8 credits. We are aware of this gap, and we are currently working on an option to resolve this, however, we do want students to be aware of this difference. In some years, students have taken courses during the summer after P1 year, to ensure they qualify for resident status during the Fall semester of their P2 year. We encourage you to reach out to our Student Affairs team if you have questions about this process.
Application Deadlines
The first step to admission to the PharmD Program is contacting the College of Pharmacy advising office for assistance in the application process. Additionally, please ensure you have started your PharmCAS application. With the help of the advising office, please ensure you have a thoroughly completed application prior to final submission. It is your responsibility to make certain that all items arrive at the Office of Admissions. We will consider your application complete and proceed with an admissions review as soon as we receive all required documents. Applications for the each Admissions Cycle will open mid July. Please check Pharmcas.org for more information in the year you plan to apply.
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Our PharmD Program
The PharmD program graduates high-quality professional pharmacy practitioners possessing the pharmacotherapeutic knowledge, professional abilities and expertise, and social cognizance to provide the highest standards in pharmacy care, patient-specific drug therapy, drug therapy information dissemina tion, and the knowledge to educate others about the manner in which drug therapy optimizes health care outcomes meeting or surpassing that as required by the Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 18 / Friday, January 28, 2005 / Rules and Regulations for Medication Therapy Management.
The College of Pharmacy is fully accredited by the American Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) under the guidelines effective July 1, 2007. The Professional Pharmacy curriculum meets the educational requirements of the University of Utah Graduate School (UU General Catalog - Grad School Regulations & Information) and meets the educational requirements for licensure nationally as well as in the State of Utah (Guideline 9.1 and Utah DOPL Utah 2007 Rx Practice Act 58-17b & Rules R156-17b).