Pre-Pharmacy
The two pre-pharmacy or pre-professional years are at the entry-level of the curriculum. After successful completion of pre-pharmacy courses, students may apply for admission to the professional program leading to the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degrees.
Admissions
Applicants to pre-pharmacy studies should contact the LAU Admissions Office and follow the University regular undergraduate application process. Eligible applicants include students who have been admitted to LAU, or others who hold an academic degree (e.g., B.A., B.S.) of different majors or course of study. Applicants who hold an academic degree from an American institution are exempted from taking the Liberal Arts Core (LAC) courses.
Major Declarations/Admission Criteria for Freshmen Students
The criteria, deadlines and standards for freshman students who want to declare major into pre-pharmacy are:
Criteria
- The applicant should file a petition with the Admissions Committee of the School of Pharmacy with updated transcripts attached.
- All criteria of “Section I” apply: SAT scores and high school grades (if the applicant spent one semester or less in another university).
Deadlines
The deadlines for submitting a petition is the end of each semester (i.e., fall, spring and summer terms) to be admitted into the following semester.
Standards
To be eligible for applying to admission into the pre-pharmacy program, applicants must fulfill all of the following:
- Completed the freshman science requirements before submitting a major declaration petition.
- Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5.
- Obtained a minimum letter grade B in the following science courses: Chemistry 101; Physics 111; BIO 101; Math 101; and Math 102.
- Did not exceed three (3) course repeats, whether these repeats were of the same course or different courses. Note: a course withdrawal as WF is counted as a repeat.
Curriculum
Pre-Professional Year 1
Fall Semester (17 credits)
| Number | Course Name | Cr. |
|---|---|---|
| ARA___ | Appreciation of Arabic Literature | 3 |
| BIO201 | General Biology I | 3 |
| BIO201B | General Biology I, Lab | 1 |
| CHM005 | Preparatory Chemistry | 0 |
| CHM205 | Fundamentals of Chemistry | 3 |
| PED___ | Physical Education | 1 |
| ______ | LAC-Arts and Humanities (*) | 3 |
| ______ | LAC-Digital Cultures | 3 |
(*) Excluding Arabic Literature. This is applicable to LAS curriculum Z.
Spring Semester (16 credits)
| Number | Course Name | Cr. |
|---|---|---|
| CHM311 | Organic Chemistry I | 3 |
| CHM313 | Organic Chemistry I, Lab | 1 |
| ENG202 | Advanced Academic English | 3 |
| PHA202 | Medical Anatomy & Physiology | 4 |
| PHA204 | Computer Application to Pharmacy | 2 |
| ______ | LAC-Change Makers | 3 |
Pre-Professional Year 2
Fall Semester (14 credits)
| Number | Course Name | Cr. |
|---|---|---|
| CHM312 | Organic Chemistry II | 3 |
| CHM314 | Organic Chemistry II, Lab | 1 |
| COM203 | Art of Public Communication | 3 |
| PHA209 | Principles of Pathophysiology and Immunology | 4 |
| PHA211 | Microbiological Basis of Disease | 3 |
Spring Semester (17 credits)
| Number | Course Name | Cr. |
|---|---|---|
| ECO20_ | LAC-Micro/Macroeconomics | 3 |
| PHA205 | Statistics for Health Profession Majors | 3 |
| PHA208 | Medical Biochemistry | 4 |
| PHA210 | Systems Pathophysiology | 4 |
| ______ | LAC-Change Makers | 3 |
For more details regarding Liberal Arts and Sciences requirements, kindly refer to this link.
Academic Rules and Procedures
Pre-pharmacy students follow LAU’s undergraduate academic rules and procedures that govern passing grades, academic standing, probation, recognition, student classification, academic load, and student conduct.
To be eligible to apply for the professional pharmacy program, LAU students must fulfill all of the following conditions during their pre-pharmacy years:
- Completed all pre-pharmacy courses with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5.
- Passed pre-pharmacy PHA courses with a minimum letter grade C.
- Passed pre-pharmacy BIO and CHM courses with a minimum letter grade D (effective for courses taken starting with fall 2020).
- Passed other pre-pharmacy non-major courses with a minimum letter grade D.
- Did not exceed three course repeats, whether these repeats were of the same course or different courses. Note that a course withdrawal that is noted as “WF” is counted as a repeat.
- Did not receive more than one official academic warning.
Major pre-pharmacy courses include PHA, BIO and CHM.
For transfer students, only the courses that are listed in the pre-pharmacy curriculum, either transferred from their previous University or done at LAU, will be taken into consideration in the calculation of the GPA and number of repeats.