No.  The Early Assurance Program is not the only pathway to pharmacy school admission. Many students may find that they prefer to complete the regular admission path rather than applying for early assurance.

Early Assurance can be a great option for students who:

• Are comfortable taking a very rigorous course load every semester, beginning with the first semester of the freshman year.
• Are committed to pharmacy as a career path, and not considering other professional options.
• Are interested in shortening their undergraduate career and completing their education as quickly as possible.

Early Assurance may not be a great option for students who:

• Prefer to ease into their college coursework, and do not wish to start off with a rigorous course load in their first semester
• Are interested in participating in numerous undergraduate opportunities (including study abroad, Greek life, research, double majors or minors), and do not want to feel rushed through college
• Are considering other academic or career options and want the flexibility to explore.
• Are interested in earning a bachelor’s degree before starting pharmacy school.
• Do not meet math placement or other admission requirements for the Early Assurance Program.

Only a small fraction of our PharmD students are admitted through the Early Assurance pathway. The majority of students apply through the regular admissions path, allowing themselves more time to finish admission requirements. Don’t feel that you have missed a step or are “behind” if you are not on an Early Assurance pathway.

International students who attended a US high school and who meet the GPA and math placement requirements are eligible to apply.  This program is not available to international students who attended high school in another country.

The College of Pharmacy cannot guarantee the availability of courses offered by other university departments. Students who register as early as possible each semester will have the best chance of getting into their desired courses. Students who miss the opening day of registration may have a more difficult time getting into high-demand courses across campus.

Students who are unable to enroll in required courses at UA may choose to enroll in equivalent courses at another institution (including community colleges) in order to stay on track. Students will be held to admission requirements, course prerequisites, and registration protocols of other institutions; UA cannot guarantee a student’s ability to enroll in courses at another school.

Students who are accepted to the Early Assurance Program must be enrolled as undergraduates in the College of Pharmacy. Early Assurance students will declare the Pharmaceutical Sciences major, which will allow them to receive all academic advising through the College of Pharmacy. Any student who does not meet Early Assurance Program requirements or who changes their mind about early admission will be allowed to continue in the Pharmaceutical Sciences major and to complete a BS degree.

The Pharmaceutical Sciences major is a four-year bachelor’s degree. This major is a great foundation for students who are pursuing careers in clinical healthcare (including pharmacy, medicine, etc), or for students who are interested in careers in drug discovery and drug development.

“Pre-pharmacy” is not a major. Any student who is planning to apply to pharmacy school can call themselves a “pre-pharmacy student,” regardless of their official major. Pharmaceutical Sciences is an ideal major for pre-pharmacy students to declare, because the curriculum overlaps significantly with pre-pharmacy requirements and the courses tend to be interesting to students who are considering careers in pharmacy. That being said, the average pre-pharmacy student is allowed to declare any major that interests them. Early Assurance participants are the only students who are required to declare Pharmaceutical Sciences as their major, as a condition of Early Assurance Program admission. Declaring the PharmSci major assures that Early Assurance students are formally enrolled in the College of Pharmacy and receive all academic advising from Pharmacy advisors.

No.  The Early Assurance Program is available only to non-transferring freshmen. Students who are transferring from other colleges or universities may apply to pharmacy school via the regular admissions path.

Because Early Assurance students only pay for two years of undergraduate tuition, the overall cost of their education will be less than students who pay for three or four years of undergraduate tuition. 

Students who receive a four-year merit scholarship from UArizona MAY be able to use any remaining scholarship funds toward PharmD tuition, but this varies from scholarship to scholarship.  Check the conditions of your specific scholarship to find out if remaining semesters of funding may be used in pharmacy school.

Although the accelerated pathway of the Early Assurance Program may provide tuition savings, students should be aware that it may cause complications with financial aid access. In order to qualify for full federal financial aid/student loans for the PharmD program, a student must have completed at least 90 units. (AP, IB, CLEP, and transfer units count toward that total.) Because the Early Assurance Program only includes 59 required units in the first two years, students need to be aware that they may not qualify for the loans that they need to cover PharmD tuition in their third year. Students may decide to take extra courses or delay PharmD admission in order to qualify for more financial aid.

In addition to successfully completing all prerequisite courses, Early Assurance students must submit a PharmCAS application and complete a PharmD interview in the fall of their sophomore year.  It is possible, albeit unlikely, that an Early Assurance student could be denied admission to the PharmD program if academic standards are not met or evidence of a poor fit with the field of pharmacy is demonstrated.  If academic standards are at issue, the student may continue in the Pharmaceutical Sciences major and reapply to the PharmD program in their junior or senior year.

Your academic progress will be reviewed after the summer of your first/freshman year.  You must have a 3.0 science GPA and 3.0 non-science GPA at that point in order to maintain your enrollment in the Early Assurance program.  You are allowed to retake any freshman course in which a low grade was initially earned, but this must be completed by the summer after freshman year at the latest. The college will consider your highest attempt of a course when reviewing your progress and calculating your prerequisite GPA.  Students who do not meet all Early Assurance requirements by September 1st of their sophomore year will no longer be part of the Early Assurance program; however, they may still move forward with PharmD admission in that same year or in a later admission cycle and will be held to standard admission requirements. 

Early Assurance students must enroll full-time at the University of Arizona during the fall and spring semesters of their freshman and sophomore years; however, not every prerequisite course needs to be completed at UA. Students may take prerequisites at other schools during summer session. (Be sure to have any non-UA courses pre-approved.) Courses completed prior to enrollment at UA (such as through dual enrollment) may also count toward prerequisite requirements.  Courses completed at other schools will be calculated into your prerequisite GPA for PharmD admission purposes.  

When enrolling in courses at other institutions, students should also be aware of UA scholarship requirements.  Courses completed at other schools do not count toward UA merit scholarship requirements.

AP, IB, and CLEP credits can be used to fulfill physics or any other non-science prerequisite requirement. Exam credit cannot be used toward the chemistry, biology, microbiology, or physiology prerequisite requirements.

Yes. You will also be asked to select your preferred campus when submitting your PharmCAS application in your sophomore year.  Early Assurance students who submit their applications by the priority deadline will be guaranteed a seat at their preferred campus, pending admisson to the professioal program.  Please note that the first two years of the Early Assurance program are available exclusively on the Tucson campus.  The Phoenix campus is only available for the four-year PharmD curriculum (years 3 through 6 of your program).