Entry Requirements

Who should apply for the Master of Pharmacy?

The Master of Pharmacy is designed for people who have a previous bachelor's degree (in any field) who wish to pursue a career in Pharmacy. This degree is open to both local and international students.

Entry requirements

Applicants for the Master of Pharmacy are required to:

• have a prior bachelor’s degree
• meet the minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) requirements OR
  have sat the Graduate Australian Medical Admissions Test (GAMSAT) OR
  have sat the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)
• meet a minimum of 42 out of 54 credit points, or equivalent, in seven prerequisite subjects at university level
• have English language proficiency (if relevant).

Due to a high volume of applications for the Master of Pharmacy, meeting the minimum entry requirements criteria does not guarantee a place in the course.

Bachelor's degree.

All applicants must have completed, or be in the final year of, a bachelor degree and have a minimum GPA of 5.5 (7.0 scale) at the time of application (roughly approximate to a credit level at the University of Sydney or 65% based on a pass mark of 50%) in order to be considered for admission (calculations are not rounded up, i.e. a GPA of 5.49 does not meet the entry requirement).

The bachelor degree must be completed by the time of enrolment for the year in which the applicant intends to commence the Master of Pharmacy program.

Applicants who have undertaken a bachelor degree in an accelerated program are eligible to apply only after completion of the full degree.

Applicants with overseas qualifications are required to achieve an equivalent level (e.g. a GPA of 2.7 out of 4 for USA/Canada universities, a GPA of 3.3 out of 5 for Singapore universities, bachelor degree at a Lower II class for UK universities).

The University will not calculate your GPA prior to your application.

GPA or Admission tests

1. The GPA is calculated for the most recent 3 full-time (or equivalent) years of the bachelor degree or years 2, 3 and Honours year if undertaken. If you obtained credit from an institution other than the institution awarding the degree, please refer to point 11 (below).
2. Subjects are grouped chronologically to form 3 roughly-equal groups. If you studied part time or undertook any Summer/Winter School units, you would still, working backwards, divide all the subjects into 3 roughly-equal groups.
3. Each year is weighted equally.
4. Percentages are used when available rather than grades and are converted into Sydney University (SU) grades using the SU conversion table (pdf).
5. All failed subjects must be listed. The SU grade for a failed subject is zero (0). If a subject appears on your transcript as 'withdrawn' or 'discontinued', i.e. a subject in which you were enrolled but did not complete, you only include this in the GPA calculations if 'Withdraw/Fail' or 'Discontinue/Fail' is shown. In this case, these subjects are designated a SU grade of zero (0) and no percentage marks can be used.
6. If a subject has been failed and repeated, both marks will be included in the GPA calculation.
7. Applicants are instructed to enter unit values if they have subject weightings, otherwise a value of 1 will be assigned.
8. Calculation is based on subjects completed at the time of application. First semester results of applicants who are applying whilst in the final year of their degree will be included in the assessment only if those results are available on the transcripts at the time of application. Any offer of a place is provisional on the applicant completing his/her degree at the appropriate level of performance.
9. Honours year grades will also be converted to SU grades using the conversion table. Percentage marks are not used at this academic year level.
10. For applicants who have undertaken a combined degree or parallel degree program, the final 3 years only will be calculated, whether or not they count towards the award of the degree.
11. Where a transcript contains specified and unspecified credits for subjects, only specified credits will be included when calculating the GPA. Applicants must have obtained a credit average in their most-recent bachelor degree (65% or greater at the University of Sydney). Applicants with unspecified credits exceeding 1/3 of the total credits must obtain a statement from the awarding institution, indicating that they have a credit average for their unspecified credit.
12. Exchange subjects are included in the GPA calculation (applicants must submit original transcripts). If these are recorded as Pass/Fail and comprise 1/3 or more of the units of study awarded, please see the section “Pass/Fail Grading System” below.
13. Postgraduate coursework qualifications are not used in the calculation of a GPA.

Pass/Fail Grading System

Applicants with a bachelor degree where results in 1/3 or more of the units of study are awarded on a Pass/Fail basis only must provide official documentation, signed by the Dean of the relevant faculty, indicating that they have a credit average. For bachelor degrees where such results comprise less than 1/3, these do not need to be included unless they were failed subjects.

*Either an Australian university is listed in the Australian Qualifications Framework at: sub-category i. Australian Universities or ii. Self-Accrediting Higher Education Institutions).

GPA Calculation Spreadsheet

All applicants must calculate their own GPA.

Please fill in the GPA Calculation spreadsheet following the instructions given above and on the conversion table.

Example:

You have received a score of 65% in the unit of study CHEM1001, worth 6 credit points. You completed this unit of study at the University of Sydney in 2009. This should appear in the Excel form as follows:

Prerequisite subjects

You are required to meet a minimum of 42 out of 54 credit points, or equivalent, in the following seven prerequisite subjects at university level:

Calculus, Statistics, Human Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Pharmacology and Physiology.

All of these prerequisite subjects must have been completed in the last five years. Students can enrol in the program with 12 credit points of prerequisite subjects outstanding as long as these subjects are completed by the end of the first year of the Master of Pharmacy program.

English language proficiency

Applicants who do not have English as a first language must meet the English language proficiency requirements as a condition of entry to the degree. (Applicants who do not meet the English requirements will not be considered).

Alternative means of entry

If applicable, the following means of entry by applicants are considered:

Domestic:

• The Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Sydney accepts transfers from current Master of Pharmacy programs across Australia. Exemptions are assessed on a case-by-case basis.

International:

• International pharmacy graduates are accepted, provided pharmacy registration has been within the last five years. It is not a requirement to have a GPA, MCAT or GAMSAT for this application.

Please contact the for more information about the above alternative means of entry.