Our staff academic and faculty advisors are here to support you in the Pre-Professional and Professional (Pharm.D.) Programs in Pharmacy. The staff academic advisors are experts in the prerequisites for the Professional (Pharm.D.) Program, as well as your general education requirements, course selection and registration, policies and procedures of the University, and UConn resources. The staff academic advisors can also provide useful insights into how best to approach the Pre-Professional curriculum and apply to the Professional (Pharm.D.) Program. Our faculty advisors provide mentorship and support to Professional (Pharm.D.) students in their areas of expertise, the profession of pharmacy, research, and more.

You can find your advisor(s) via Student Admin.

To make an appointment with any of our advising team, please review our make an appointment page.

We are located in the Pharmacy/Biology Building (PBB), on the third floor.

Yes! We offer regular virtual and in-person drop-in hours for Pre-Professional and Professional students during the semester. Drop-ins are for quick and general questions that can be answered in 5-10 minutes. If your concern can’t be fully addressed, you’ll be asked to schedule an appointment.

You can find the current schedule of hours on our make an appointment page.

Degree Options

The School of Pharmacy offers only one undergraduate degree, the BS in Pharmacy Studies. Students wishing to add an additional "major" must pursue an additional undergraduate degree with another college or school at UConn. You can find out more information about additional degrees on our degree options page.

Yes, though students will only start in another graduate degree after they have completed the BS in Pharmacy Studies and this will add additional years prior to graduation with the Pharm.D. You can find out more on our degree options page.

Yes, you do not need permission to declare a minor, and many pharmacy students minor. However, we recommend that you discuss the change with one of our staff advisors and an advisor for the minor. Due to how rigorous the pharmacy curriculum is, careful planning is required to complete many minors.

To declare most minors, you will go to the minor declaration form housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. If it is a School of Business minor, there is a separate School of Business minor declaration form.

Most minors require 15-18 upper-level credits in a particular subject or cluster of subjects. There may also be specific courses that are required. You can view a list of all minors and their requirements on the Undergraduate Catalog website.

No, the minor will only be listed on your transcript.

Pursuing a clinical professional doctorate like the Pharm.D. is a big decision! Students who are feeling unsure are encouraged to discuss this with one of our professional advising staff or their faculty advisor (if applicable).

UConn has a number of resources available for students interested in exploring different majors and career pathways, including:

• The Academic Center for Exploratory Students
• The Major Experience
• The Center for Career Development

Courses

Yes, all courses taken at any UConn campus are UConn courses. Your transcript will not indicate the campus where the course was taken and all courses will show on the same transcript.

This depends on the course in question. Any course that is graded pass/fail will count toward your total credits, provided that you pass, but not toward your  GPA. However, it cannot be used to satisfy degree requirements, such as for general education, major, or minor requirements. Pharmacy students must talk to a staff advisor prior to getting permission to put a course on pass/fail.

You can review current pass/fail rules and restrictions can be found on the Office of the Registrar's FAQ page.

After the tenth day of classes (the end of the add/drop period) you must submit Student Enrollment Request Form (SERF) approved by one of our staff advisors to make a change to your schedule. Pharmacy students must talk to a staff advisor prior to getting permission to add or drop a course at this time. If you are dropping more than one class, this form will also need to be approved by a Dean's Designee in the Pharmacy Advising Center.

After the tenth day of classes, your status as full- or part-time will be recorded by the University. Your full-time status does not change if you drop below 12 credits after this date.

However, for courses dropped at this point, you will have a W (withdrawal) recorded on your transcript as the final grade in the course. For those reviewing transcripts (such as the UConn Pharm.D. Admissions Committee, or residency/fellowship admission committees) one or two Ws over four years is not terrible, but multiple Ws may suggest an inability to handle a full course load.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Withdrawing from a course could violate the University's Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) rule. SAP requires students receiving financial aid successfully complete 67% of the credits they attempt, which includes withdrawn courses. This is out of the total credits, not just a single semester. You can learn more about SAP requirements on the Office of Financial Aid website.

Yes. This is common for pharmacy students who may need to repeat a prerequisite course over the summer to keep on their desired curriculum map, or who may need to complete general education, additional degree, or minor courses over a summer or winter session to be able to graduate on-time. Pharmacy students who plan to take a prerequisite course for the Professional (Pharm.D.) Program or a professional elective at another college or university should meet with one of our staff advisors to discuss how this will impact their application or professional plan of study.

If you plan to attend a college or university in Connecticut and the course can be found on the Transfer Admissions Transfer Course Equivalencies page, you do not need to fill out a Prior Course Approval request. For all courses taken at an institution outside of Connecticut, even if the course is on the Transfer Course Equivalencies page, you must fill out a Prior Course Approval Request on Student Admin.

You can review the full requirements to transfer credit as a current UConn student on the Transfer Admissions website.

Not towards your UConn cumulative GPA. It is typical for colleges and universities to only count courses completed within the institution towards GPA and Honors requirements. The course and the credits will transfer to UConn but not the grade. UConn requires that students earn a C or better in a course for it to be eligible for transfer. There are no exceptions to this policy.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Pre-Professional students who are applying to the Professional (Pharm.D.) Program in Pharmacy are required to submit all official transcripts from institution attended (even dual enrollment or ECE courses) to the centralized application service, PharmCAS. Grades for STEM prerequisite courses taken at institutions outside UConn will count toward custom PharmCAS GPAs (also referred to as math/science GPA).

Pharmacy students should meet with one of our staff advisors to determine whether or not a course from another institution can be used for a general education requirement.

A course completed with a grade of C or higher at another institution can be transferred to UConn by having that institution send a copy of your official transcript Undergraduate Admissions. Typically, this is done with a service such as Parchment.

Please consult the Registrar's Office or equivalent office at the institution you completed the course at with questions and concerns. Pharmacy Advising Center staff advisors cannot answer questions about the process at another institution. Transcripts can also be sent electronically to beahusky@uconn.edu if the institution does not use a service.

You can learn more about transferring credits to UConn on the Undergraduate Admissions website.

Registering for Courses

Every student at UConn is assigned a specific date and time to enroll (their enrollment appointment) that is based on their current earned credits. Students with higher credit amounts will have earlier "pick times."

You can find your enrollment appointment on Student Admin.

We recommend students review the Top Registration Tips page on the UConn Undergraduate Advising site.

We recommend students review the Can't Enroll page on the UConn Undergraduate Advising site.

There are University holds which prevent you from adding or dropping classes. All students in the School of Pharmacy will have an advising hold requiring them to have an advising meeting every semester. It is your responsibility to schedule this appointment prior to your pick time. Other holds that could prevent you from registering for courses include:

• Bursar Holds for students who need to resolve a finance issue with the Bursar’s Office.
• Academic Notice Holds for students who are on academic notice and need to meet with an advisor.
• Holds for trainings on subjects like sexual assault and diversity.

You can find out how to view your holds and details about who placed them through Student Admin.

Seats may be reserved for students in a particular major, the Honors program, first-year students, or other populations of students at UConn. Fall semester classes often have seats reserved for summer orientation for incoming students. If you are attempting to register for a class where only reserved seats are open, you will get an error message on Student Admin saying that you do not meet the reserve capacity.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The University Scheduler (Schedule Builder) may show you a course has seats open when they are really reserved seats. We recommend using the Dynamic Class Search if you cannot register for a class to see if there are unreserved seats available. Our advising staff cannot help you get into a class if you are not part of the reserved seat population. You may email an instructor for a permission number to enroll.

If the course section is full and has a waitlist available, add yourself to the waitlist. Required Pharm.D. (PHRX) courses do not have waitlists and so students must choose from what options are available. If the course in question is a prerequisite course to apply to the Professional (Pharm.D.) Program, we recommend that you register for an open section in addition to adding yourself to the waitlist, if possible. There is no guarantee that you will be moved from the waitlist into the course.

If there is no waitlist, please register for another course that fits the requirements you are looking to fulfill (e.g., a general education course). You can continue checking to see if a seat opens up. Our advisors cannot register or overenroll students into courses that are taught outside the School of Pharmacy.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Lab courses cannot be overenrolled due to physical space in the lab. Please do not request permission to overenroll in any lab courses.

Permission numbers are unique codes generated in Student Admin that allow for registration into courses during special circumstances. Most of the time when you register for a course, you will not need a permission number. Some examples of when you would need a permission number:

• The class is full and you are asking to overenroll (be added into the course over the set number of seats).
• You are on the waitlist and a seat has become available.
• Class is listed as “instructor consent required.”
• All remaining seats are reserved.
• You have not met the prerequisites.

To get a permission number, you should email the listed instructor of the course unless instructed otherwise. Some departments and programs at UConn may have permission numbers granted through a central office.

Repeating Courses

When you repeat a course, "repeat forgiveness" will be noted with the previous attempt(s) on your transcript.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The last attempt is the one you keep, even if it is a lower grade.

A student may repeat a course previously taken one time without seeking permission in order to earn a higher grade. The student may take the course a third time with the permission of a Dean's Designee in the Pharmacy Advising Center and the instructor of the course. Under no circumstances may a student take a course more than three times. Attempts include credits from another institution, AP/ECE credits, and attempts at UConn.

Withdrawing from a course with a "W" notated on the transcript does not count towards the three total attempts.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Repeating a course can impact financial aid and your application to the Professional (Pharm.D.) Program if applicable. Pharmacy students who plan to repeat a course for the third time must meet with a staff advisor prior to seeking permission.

The original grade will remain on your transcript with the notation “repeat forgiveness,” but it is replaced in your cumulative GPA by the new grade.