Mature student want to study pharmacy

[pinkroses]

hello,

im a mother of 2 children, i have a Ba Hons in Accounting and Finance 2:2, my educational status is average and i'm 29 years old.

Back in the day when i was 16 i was very unsure on my career path of whether i should persue pharmacy i was never encouraged because my GCSE grades were average but over the years i've made a final decision pharmacy is what i should study.

However im concerned at to whether its a doable degree with young children under my feet. My husband is very supportative and i will have very good childcare in place but i would hate to be in position of neglecting my children if i find the degree very difficult.

does anyone have experience in studying such a difficult degree with children??

should i take A' levels or do a Access course in medicine at MANCAT?

also how difficult is the course at university of manchester? i can only apply to this unversity because i have to stay close to home

what are the hours like?

what is the work load like and is there alot of course work and deadlines to meet?

when are the sittings for exams and can ypu defer a year if required?

please advice really appreciate the help right now!!

[Rafael]

Re: Mature student want to study pharmacy

"also how difficult is the course at university of manchester? i can only apply to this unversity because i have to stay close to home"

not easy to get an offer from this uni, highly competative.
not trying to put you down, but consider 4 years degree + 1 training year , lets say you will start next year, this means you would not be able to start working before the age of 35.

the course is hard, needs a lot of work, not sure how you would cope with 2 children.

"what is the work load like and is there alot of course work and deadlines to meet?"
yes a lot of practical sessions, that require a write up, some in-class and some to be handed next week. in general you would have 2 practical session every week, sometimes three and sometimes 1, work out as 2 in general. 5-6 groups activities ( apart from working as part of a team during some practicles) for designing posters/promoting health care/ presentations....etc

"what are the hours like?"

almost every day you go from 9-5, with 1-3 hours break in between.

"when are the sittings for exams and can ypu defer a year if required?"
you can have 1 gap year, but again you are expected to use it in a useful way......... yes you will be asked " what have you done during your gap year when you come back and at any job interview".

" is there alot of course work and deadlines to meet"
it's all about time management..... yes a lot of deadlines to meet, simple example is having to prepare for the practical session, preparing out line plan for some of them ( yes required not optional), typing 2 practical write ups every week........ apart from some research modules.
i suggest you work in a pharmacy for a couple of weeks/months in the dispensary and see whether this job suits you or not. you don't want to study for 4-5 years then find out you could not handle all the stress at work.

best of luck

[pinkroses]

Re: Mature student want to study pharmacy

thankyou so much for your honest reply and your advice is very valuable to me in this current moment in time. Life changing decisions are always the most difficult to make. THANKYOU

[Rafael]

Re: Mature student want to study pharmacy

thankyou so much for your honest reply and your advice is very valuable to me in this current moment in time. Life changing decisions are always the most difficult to make. THANKYOU

hi back
sorry i did not mean to put you down, but i thought to put you in the situation and give you some info to consider.

let's say start by applying to manchester uni, once you get an offer, think if you can go for it or no.

good luck in your life (flower)

[SolomonQ]

Re: Mature student want to study pharmacy

i would like to make my views apparent here, across the UK, in all schools of pharmacy, alot of "mature" students are taken on, they have children family etc... and are able to cope (they get through the four years), time management between children would not be an issue, similar situation if not better than if a working mother. infact you'l have all the school holidays (actually more) to spend with you children, unlike if you were working (4-5 weeks max).

When I went to one of my interviews (>5 years ago ), I talked to a early to mid 30s something girl/lady/woman/female, she was there for the interview too and guess who were there to suport her, her husband, and her two daughters.

Now, on how to go about applying for the degree in manchester-one of the best pharmacy schools in UK, (university itself is world class research led, top 50 in world etc...). this plus considering your non-science academic background, id have to advise you to do atleast biology at A-level, this can easily be done within one year, in various colleges etc... plus you can also look to revise up on chemistry and maybe some physics, this not really important. you'd be surprised at how simple GCSE science was. al this to get your mind thinking in the scientific mode, rather than numbers, if you can get through a level biology in one year, pharmacy course should also be ok with a bit of hard work.

Also talk to admissions tutor at the uni of manc, letting her know your full academic background etc.. and what you have achieved so far and ask her what they require from you for them to consider you. Also try doing a pharmacy placement, maybe 2-3 weeks, see if you like what goes on in the workplace. you can volunteer to get quick results.

I would strongly advise you to GO FOR IT!!!!!YOU CAN DO IT!!!!YOU ARE THAT DAMN GOOD!!!!

[Asterix]

Re: Mature student want to study pharmacy

There are a lot of mature students who cope. I would advice you to apply and see what happens, is there no other uni you could commute from meaning yo ucould still stay at home, e.g. preston?

[Gemini82]

Re: Mature student want to study pharmacy

Also talk to admissions tutor at the uni of manc, letting her know your full academic background etc.. and what you have achieved so far and ask her what they require from you for them to consider you. Also try doing a pharmacy placement, maybe 2-3 weeks, see if you like what goes on in the workplace. you can volunteer to get quick results.

just my 2p of advice, i think you should contact the admissions tutors as soon as possible and make that your priority, try Manchester and then those you could easily commute to. Email them details of everything you've studied before, explain the situation you are in (mature student) it helps if you've had some experience in the field - as suggested work experience so you can talk about it...these are the first steps and ask what qualification they are looking for. They do look favourably at mature students especially those that have done a degree before.

Try searching your local colleges for courses that can lead onto medicine/medical related degrees.

Also just another thing, you will be responsible to pay your own fees, which currently is £3145 however some universities are charging international fees as gov has ceased funding uni's for those wanting to do a second degree...this unfortunately impacted on my friend who worked really really hard to get in to SOP, got the grades and then had to regrettably decline as they were asking £12,300 a year.

Best of Luck

[johnep]

Re: Mature student want to study pharmacy

Well at least you should pass the calculation questions. However, bean counters have always earned far more than pharmacists and if you are a full act you can do the acts for small businesses(pharmacies) at home. A certain AH advertises every week in the PJ.
johnep

[Prospective Student]

Re: Mature student want to study pharmacy

SOP charges £12,300 a year? thats outrageous, thats over £49,000 in total.

Is the charge the same at Kings / Medway for graduate entrants ?

[johnep]

Re: Mature student want to study pharmacy

My nephew went to UEA and got an adult education grant to help as he had a wife and young child.
Check out retraining grants.
johnep

[Gemini82]

Re: Mature student want to study pharmacy

SOP charges £12,300 a year? thats outrageous, thats over £49,000 in total.

Is the charge the same at Kings / Medway for graduate entrants ?

Am not sure, SOP told me that you need to speak to the uni's yourself to ask the fee's situation in relation to the gov ELQ policy. Apparently its not to be implemented till 2010 but some uni's may put that into practice as soon as they want such as SOP...SOP actually petitioned against the gov's policy (like many of us did) but the gov still have gone ahead with it. SOP have raised their price and said they are not sure if they will increase the price next year (as its normal for every uni to raise prices every year by a couple of hundred) or if they will bring it back down to £3145-ish

Btw £12,300 is the current fee for international students wanting to study at SOP - the same fee for those wanting to do a second degree.