List of Pharmacy Schools in the USA That Don't Need PCAT Exams

Anyone studying for a standardized test required for graduate school, whether it is the LSAT, the MCAT, the GRE or others, can tell you that performing well is both stressful and key to gaining admission to a reputable school. However, according to PharmCas, a pharmacy college application service, one area of graduate study, pharmacy, has 15 schools that do not require a Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) score in order to gain admission.

Currently, there are eight pharmacy schools within the state of California that do not require PCAT scores: California Northstate, University of California, San Diego, University of California, San Francisco, University of the Pacific, University of Southern California, Touro University -- California, Loma Linda University and Western University.

Seven pharmacy schools outside of California also do not require PCAT scores. They are: Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (Boston, MA), Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (Manchester, NH), Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (Worcester, MA), Oregon State University, Pacific University Oregon, Purdue University and Washington State University.

Prospective pharmacy school students should keep in mind that even though they are not required to take a standardized test to get into pharmacy school, the number of applications will often be higher at schools without a PCAT requirement. A higher volume of applicants could result in it being more difficult to gain admission to these 15 schools. Furthermore, a student's undergraduate grade-point average could weigh more heavily--meaning a student should not slack off in her studies, especially without the potential buffer of high test scores.