We’ve heard it from several students who applied to pharmacy school: The interview is critical. “I read about a lot of pharmacy schools online and talked to people that had gone to the schools,” said pharmacy student Bethany Von Hoff, “but until you actually visit and see it for yourself, it’s really hard to know where you want to go.” After several interviews, Bethany explained that the school she thought she would never go to is the one she ended up selecting (and the school she thought would be her first choice she ended up liking least).

Aside from selecting the right pharmacy school for you, the schools are also accessing if you’ll be the right fit for them. To help you prepare, below are 10 practice pharmacy school interview questions.

1. Why do you want to become a pharmacist? Describe your interest in the field and the meaningful purpose you see in the job. 
2. What motivates you to make this career choice? Show them that you don’t wear rose-colored glasses and you understand how challenging the curriculum can be. Describe your determination to become a pharmacist or your motivation to help people.
3. Are there any doctors or pharmacists in your family? If so, ensure the interviewers that you decided to pursue pharmacy school on your own free will and your family members didn’t pressure you to apply. If one of your parents owns a pharmacy, or if they serve as a good role model for you, mention it.
4. Why do you want to study at our school, and not somewhere else? Praise their location, reputation, professors, and status. You should convince them that you didn’t apply by chance and explain why you would picked their school over another one.
5. Why should we give you a place, instead of prioritizing someone else? This is a tough question and most interviewees don’t know how to answer it. Use it as an opportunity to point out your skills and strengths. Describe what makes you you and the value you can bring to the student community. You can’t speak for the strengths of others, but you can speak for yourself.
6. Pharmacy studies are extremely hard and time demanding. Are you ready to handle that? What are you willing to sacrifice? Show them that you are ready for the challenge. Tell them that you expect to spend most of the year reading and preparing for exams, and are well-aware of the difficulties this path presents. Once you graduate and start working as a pharmacist, all your hard effort will pay off.
7. What makes our school unique in your eyes? Research their school in advance and find a good answer to this question. It can be their program, the reputation of the educational institution, their professors, the campus, and much more.
8. Do you watch trends in the industry? What caught your eye lately? Google “latest trends in pharmacy,” read some articles, and prepare your answer. The key is to show that you care and that you’re honestly interested in pharmacy. Do not worry, they won’t elaborate on the subject, so you do not have to learn details of recent medical discoveries to impress them. Just mention two or three things that caught your eye and you’ll be fine.
9. Except for studying, what do you plan to do while being at the college? Try to speak about some worthy goals, such as participating in the community, working as RA, having a part time job, taking part in events, etc. The goal is to show that you plan to actively contribute to their community and won’t be isolated to your dorm all day long.

We hope these pharmacy school interview questions are helpful. Good luck!