Pre-Pharmacy Course Requirements

Course Requirements Overview

The following is a guide to common pre-pharmacy course requirements. Professional schools have a variety of prerequisites required for admission to their program. On this page, we will review general requirements, timelines, and course recommendations to fulfill these requirements at the University of Texas at Austin.

A few things to note:

• These are general recommendations. Individual schools may require or recommend additional courses not listed. If you have a certain school in mind, make sure to check their website for a full list of their course requirements.
• All prerequisites must be completed for a letter grade with a C or higher.
  • Some schools may require a higher minimum grade. 
• Schools vary on their policies for accepting Credit-By-Exam (AP/IB/CLEP) for prerequisites. For our recommendations, view our FAQ page on “Should I claim AP/IB Credit?”
• Many programs prefer in-person coursework, and some may not allow online coursework. Make sure to Research Pharmacy Schools before you apply to make sure you are meeting all requirements posited by the program.

Students are responsible for understanding the specific academic requirements for admission to pharmacy school. The Health Professions Office is available to assist students with research skills for finding admissions details, as well as course recommendations.  

General Requirements

Each pharmacy school has the ability to dictate their own prerequisite courses students must take prior to admission or matriculation. Therefore, it's very important that students Research Pharmacy School requirements when putting together their schedules. PharmCAS, the pharmacy school centralized application service, keeps an updated comparison database of pharmacy school prerequisites. Students may also look up details on specific school admission websites.

Generally, pharmacy schools require courses in the following areas:

• Introductory biological sciences, including labs
• Advanced biological sciences, like anatomy, physiology, and/or microbiology
• General and organic chemistry, including labs
• General physics, including a lab
• Mathematics, like calculus and statistics
• General education requirements, like those courses that meet the Texas Core Curriculum

Additionally, you may find that pharmacy schools recommend or require additional courses, inside and outside of the sciences. We strongly recommend taking courses in the following areas:

• Psychology, Sociology, or other social sciences
• Philosophy, ethics, or other humanities
• Interpersonal communication or professional speaking courses
• Rhetoric, writing, and/or literature courses
• Foreign language or cultural studies courses relevant to your career goals
• Courses that improve your understanding of business management, such as accounting, finance, or human resources
• Courses that improve your critical thinking and problem solving skills

Course Timelines

Completing the pre-pharmacy coursework can generally require six semesters or more. Your personal timeline may differ depending on your academic record or other factors. Here are our general recommendations for course timelines:

• At minimum full-time enrollment (12 hours), aiming for 14-16 hours a semester
• 6-9 hours a semester of science or prerequisite courses
• A healthy balance between you core, major, and prerequisite requirements

The following are examples of how you can structure your requirements with these recommendations in mind, but they do not contain all course options and requirements for all pharmacy programs. To be sure you meet all requirements, make sure that you Research Pharmacy Schools for additional requirements.

Sample 4-Year Timeline

UT Austin Courses

The following are the courses commonly taken at UT Austin to complete prerequisite requirements. This is not an exhaustive list of all options. For more detailed recommendations, please contact your academic advisor or schedule an appointment with the Health Professions Office.

Researching Pharmacy Requirements

Because pharmacy requirements differ based on the program, we highly recommend that students research the requirements for all the schools that they are interested in attending while creating their four-year plan. There are a few ways that you can research these requirements:

• PharmCAS Program Directory - This is a directory managed by the Pharmacy College Application Service, the service you'll use to apply to pharmacy school. In this directory, you can sort by location and program structure. You can find information here or click on the school's linked website for details.
• PharmCAS Compare Programs - Using the information managed from the PharmCAS Program Directory, this comparison program allows you to compare requirements from multiple institutions. There is also a downloadable prerequisites comparison chart with all schools that is updated per cycle.

If you need assistance using these programs or understanding the requirements as stated, please schedule an appointment with a HP Coach.

Other Recommendations

Please read below for additional considerations as you select your courses.

AP, IB, Dual Credit, and Transfer Courses

Students should take care when deciding whether to claim AP or IB credit for prerequisite courses. Please see our FAQ with our full recommendations. If you are thinking about taking courses away from UT Austin after your first year at UT Austin, please see our recommendations for where to take courses.

What if I'm a transfer student who took prerequisites at my previous institution?

Our recommendations are different for students who transferred to UT Austin with previous prerequisite courses completed, especially science and math courses. Please see our FAQ for our full recommendations on advising transfer students. 

Non-Science Pre-Health Courses at UT Austin

If you are interested in taking additional pre-health related courses to strengthen or diversify your application, we recommend reviewing the approved courses for the Pre-Health Certificate for Science Majors in your catalog. 

It is not required for students to pursue the certificate to take these courses. Visit the Pre-Health Certificate website for more information.