The idea of attending college for six years might seem like more of a punishment than a reward to most, but for Seward County Community College sophomore pre-pharmacy majors Karlo Flores and Huy Cam, their dreams of an extended education have just become a reality.

After completing a rigorous application process, both Flores and Huy were recently accepted into their school of choice: the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy.

“First, you have to be accepted into the school itself. You also have to take the PCAT, which is basically a readiness test for pharmacy school,” Flores said. “There’s an application called the PharmCAS that you have to complete as well.”

Once they had made it through the application process, both students were required to attend interviews with staff and pharmacy students currently enrolled in the program.

“The interview itself was pretty straightforward. I basically talked about myself and why I chose to pursue pharmacy,” Cam said.

Typically, most students who attend pharmacy school transfer from a four-year university, but since Flores and Cam both met the requirements, they were accepted into the program anyway.

“This was certainly an impressive commitment for both students–they competed for a limited number of spaces in the program against people with bachelor’s degrees and even doctorates,” William Bryan, chemistry instructor and math and science division chair, said.

“It’s not that typical to be accepted straight out of community college, but if you have a good record and all of the prerequisites, then you can have just as much of a chance,” Flores explained.

The news of his acceptance came as bit of a surprise to Flores, who worried that, despite his experience with research and extracurriculars at SCCC, he wouldn’t be accepted.

“I was paranoid that I would fail to get into any of the schools I had applied to, so when I was accepted into all of them, I was ecstatic,” Flores said. “Pharmacy school is a professional school, and it costs upwards of $150,000, so I ultimately chose to go to KU because of the cost.”

Since Flores and Huy will be able to transfer directly from SCCC to KU’s School of Pharmacy, they’ll also be able to graduate early and begin their careers as soon as possible.

“I was happy to find out that I was accepted because going straight to pharmacy school will allow me to finish two years early,” Cam said. “As of now, when I graduate I want to become a clinical pharmacist at a hospital or clinic.”

“I’m happy about what’s happened, but I’m restless–I’m ready to get it started. When I’m finished, I want to go into hospital pharmacy, and then move towards clinical administration,” Flores said.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Annette Meza

Sophomores Huy Cam and Karlo Flores have been conducting research over anti-biotic properties of plants. Flores and Cam take plants from the greenhouse and test the properties with a bacteria called Mersa to see if it is treatable or resistant to the anti-biotic.