Taking undergraduate courses in the natural sciences is an important part of meeting requirements for pharmacy school admissions. The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) maintains a listing of required courses by institution. This listing reveals that the majority of the AACP's 117 member schools require applicants to complete courses in biology, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry and physics. Two semesters of each subject are generally required. More than 100 pharmacy schools require applicants to complete two semesters of organic and inorganic chemistry. Just under 100 schools require applicants to take two semesters of biology, and about 90 require physics coursework.
Proficiency in mathematics is needed not only to succeed in pharmacy school, but to complete science classes required for admission. Of the AACP's 117 member schools, 111 require applicants to complete one or two undergraduate courses in calculus. About a dozen schools, including Texas Southern University, Long Island University and Xavier University also look for applicants to complete a precalculus course.
Coursework in humanities and social sciences are not required across the board by pharmacy schools; however, it can be to an applicant's advantage to take undergraduate courses in humanities and social sciences. About 100 pharmacy schools require applicants to complete at least one semester of English composition. Because pharmacists are in constant communication with doctors and patients, public speaking skills are necessary and some 66 pharmacy schools require applicants to take a course in public speaking. More than 60 schools look for social science courses such as psychology, anthropology or sociology. Economics is another course that prospective applicants to pharmacy school should consider taking as undergraduates, as it is required by 73 of the AACP member institutions.