The University of Iowa College of Pharmacy does not require a Bachelor’s degree for admission to our four-year professional PharmD program. Instead, students only need to complete the two years of prerequisite coursework listed below to be eligible to apply. For those who value completing a Bachelor’s degree, that path is certainly welcomed, as long as PharmD prerequisites are integrated into their undergraduate studies.
There is no single right way to prepare for pharmacy school—students can choose the path that best suits their goals.
Prerequisite Course Requirements
*All courses must be completed with a minimum C- grade
- Rhetoric (RHET:1030) - 4 semester hours
- Principles of Chem I (CHEM:1110) - 4 semester hours
- Calculus (MATH:1460) - 4 semester hours
- Statistics (STAT:XX but not STAT:1010) - 3 semester hours
- Principles of Chem II (CHEM:1120) - 4 semester hours
- Foundations of Biology I (BIOL:1411) - 4 semester hours
- General Physics (PHYS:1400) If needed** - 3-4 semester hours (lab recommended, not required)
- Organic Chem I (CHEM:2210) - 3 semester hours
- Human Anatomy (ACB:3110) - 3 semester hours
- Diversity of Form and Function (BIOL:1412) - 4 semester hours
- Organic Chem II (CHEM:2220) - 3 semester hours
- Human Physiology (HHP:3500) - 3 semester hours
- Biochemistry (BMB:3110) - 3 semester hours
- Microbiology (MICR:3164) - 4 semester hours
- General Education Electives - 16 semester hours of General Education Electives are required for admission, 6 of those 16 semester hours need to be within the social sciences.
Accepted Pre-requisite AP Credit: English Composition, Public Speaking, Microeconomics, Statistics, Calculus, General Education Courses (i.e. Psychology, Macroeconomics, History)
* A high school physics course fulfills the physics requirement
Transfer Questions?
Request an audit review from our PharmD Admissions Team.
*You must provide copies of unofficial transcripts from every institution you have received college credit from.
30%
of each PharmD cohort has a Bachelor's Degree or higher, on average
