What We Offer

As a participant, you will attend presentations, skills labs, discussion groups, workshops and social/teambuilding activities.  You will receive mentoring from pre-pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy students.  You will learn directly from pharmacists about their different practice settings.  Additionally, you will come to understand the wide variety of opportunities available for pharmacy students.  You will participate in a group project about public health.  The different pathways into pharmacy school will be shared so students can develop their individualized plans for their pharmacy journeys, including being exposed to the UF Pharmacy Early Assurance Program.  Finally, students will be introduced to wellness and self-care as important components of a successful collegiate experience.

Program activities may include (not an exhaustive list):

• Explore the College of Pharmacy: Step into the world of pharmacy with hands-on tours of our cutting-edge campus and labs. See firsthand how medications are made and even try your hand at creating custom treatments yourself!
• Meet Real-Life Pharmacists: Chat with licensed pharmacists from all fields—hospital, retail, research, and beyond! Get the inside scoop on their careers and discover the endless possibilities pharmacy has to offer.
• Unlock Pharmacy Math & Compounding: Learn the essential math skills used by pharmacists to calculate perfect medication doses, then dive into the hands-on fun of creating your very own custom formulas!
• Ask Current PharmD Students Anything: Get the real story straight from our current PharmD students about what it’s like to be part of the UF College of Pharmacy—ask your burning questions and get a peek into life as a pharmacy student.
• Discover Over 100 Career Paths: Explore the exciting variety of career options available with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree—find out how you can make a difference in healthcare in ways you never imagined!
• Join the Adventure with Your Peers: Experience the camp alongside fellow peers, share your excitement, and walk away with exclusive UF College of Pharmacy swag to remember the adventure!

Program Cost & Fees

*This program does NOT count towards tuition reimbursement programs like Florida Prepaid*

The amount of personal spending money required for the program varies. Participants should not bring large amounts of cash to the program.  Instead, families should arrange for students to have a debit, prepaid card, or credit card. Students should budget for the following:

• Souvenirs from the UF bookstore and fieldtrips
• Transportation: cost for travel to and from Gainesville are the responsibility of the students and their families.
• Dorm equipment: bedding, toiletries 

Eligibility

All students who are currently an 11th grader and will be an 12th grader this coming fall, are eligible to apply. Graduating seniors are encouraged to contact the PharmD Program directly for other opportunities to connect at pharmdadmissions@cop.ufl.edu

Important Information: This program is available to Florida residents ONLY. Students must make a commitment to attend and participate in the entire program.  Please confirm no other academic, school-related, sports, or family events will conflict with the program dates.

In an effort to increase awareness and expand opportunities within the pharmacy profession, priority will be given to students from medically underserved areas as defined by HRSA, students who attend federally designated Title 1 schools, or those who face socioeconomic challenges. This support extends to individuals experiencing financial hardship, limited access to educational resources, or other obstacles that may affect their pursuit of opportunities in healthcare. The goal is to support and encourage students to explore the many rewarding career paths within the pharmacy field.

About Applying

Applicants must create an account in our online application portal in order to apply for any student programs offered by UF CPET. The online application portal is www.ufcpet.smapply.us.  All components are submitted using the online application process unless noted.  After all the below components of the application are completed, student must log into their account and SUBMIT their application.

The GPEC Application consists of:

• User Information: Provide applicant and parent/guardian contact information.
• Application Form: Provide additional information such as student involvement and responding to three writing prompts (each is limited to 500 words).
  • Prompt 1: What is your favorite subject or activity? What do you enjoy about this subject/activity?
  • Prompt 2: Please share your experience with Pharmacy so far? If you don’t have any experience in this field, that’s absolutely fine—we’re just interested in learning about your background and any relevant knowledge you may have.
  • Prompt 3: Many pharmacists enjoy helping others, often by working with a team. Can you tell me about a time when you worked with a group to help someone? What was your job, and how did the team work together to get the job done?
• Teacher Endorsement Form:  OneOnline Teacher Endorsement Forms from a high-school or college-level math, science, research, or computer science teacher or mentor are recommended. 
  • Endorsers are asked to evaluate the student’s maturity, collaborative learning capacity, and ability to work in a university-level research lab. Applicants should think carefully about which teachers know the student the best and will be able to evaluate according to the criteria.
  • Endorsers will receive an automated request from noreply@smapply.io once a student has requested an endorsement in their online application. However, we recommend that students contact their teacher prior to filling out the online request.
• High School Transcript:  Submit your unofficial transcript with grades till this past fall semester via the application portal (Either as a .PDF, .JPG, or .PNG). An official transcript may be asked of you to submit at a later point in time once accepted. 
• Application Fee:  The link to pay the $20 Application Fee is available on the application in the fee payment step.  Students attending a Florida High School who qualify may request an Application Fee Waiver. 
• *Task Approval Process: In the application portal, students are required to acknowledge the requirement of each of these “offline” portions by clicking “submit for approval”. The CPET office will log receipt of each requirement.  After the requirement is logged, students will need to complete the section by clicking “complete” in the on-line portal.  After all portions are complete, students can then submit their full application.

Notifications

GPEC-Start reviewing applications in March and will have decisions available for students in early April. 

Students will receive automated emails from noreply@smapply.io to the “Student’s E-mail Address” provided on the application confirming his or her application in complete. It is the student’s responsibility to provide a working email address and check that email address regularly for communication from the program. 

Participant Selection: Notification of Selection will be made via email to the student email address provided on the application. Failure to respond to email in a timely manner may result in the student being placed on the wait list.

• Students invited to participate are required to respond to the invitation within 14 days of the email being sent.  
• Students invited to attend, but not ready to commit to may defer his or her invitation.

The student may be placed on a waitlist if not invited during the first time their application is reviewed.

• This is an active waitlist, and applications will continue to be reviewed until the program is filled.  Students must confirm their place on the waitlist to continue being considered.  The waitlist is not ranked.

If you are not selected for the program, we wish you luck on your future endeavors. We do not provide or give comments or feedback on applications

The UCPET staff abide by FERPA and University application standards and therefore do not discuss applications, applicant data (individual or aggregated), nor selection with students or parents.  Once an application is submitted, students may view and download, but not edit, their application through the online portal.

*Please note that applicants, not their parents, receive all correspondence from our office.  It is the student’s responsibility to provide a working email address and check that email address regularly for communication from UF CPET.  Failure to respond to email in a timely manner may result in the student being placed on the wait list. At any time applicants and parent “collaborators” may check on acceptance status in the on-line portal.*