» Accelerated Pre-Pharmacy Experience Program (APEx)

In this rigorous program, cohorts of ambitious students with a passion for pharmacy gain the foundation needed to excel in Chapman's PharmD program. Your PharmD will prepare you for a number of meaningful and lucrative careers.

In the first two years, courses are taken on Chapman's Orange Campus, with many classes in the newly remodeled Keck Center for Science and Technology. During this time, living in on-campus housing is required, although students can opt out if they live nearby with family.

All Pre-Pharmacy students are guaranteed admission to the PharmD program as long as they satisfy all program and admission requirements. For more information on these requirements, including required courses, visit our Pre-Pharmacy Catalog Page.

Our cohorts are anticipated to be around 45-55 students. Approximately 25% of our students are first-generation. Chapman offers extensive resources for those who are the first in their family to go to college.

As an APEx student, you'll receive the following privileges:

• Able to join the Pharm.D. program after satisfying all program and admission requirements
• Undergraduate research opportunities with faculty and graduate assistants in the School of Pharmacy
• Guaranteed additional scholarship for the Chapman University Pharm.D. program

After admittance to the APEx Program, students receive their financial aid offer for their first two years in the program on our Orange Campus.

In addition, all students will receive a separate and conditional $44,000 tuition scholarship. This scholarship will be applied to students' Pharm.D. tuition (beginning in the third year of the program) in the amount of $5,500 per trimester with the following conditions. You must:

• Satisfy all requirements necessary to receive admission to the Pharm.D. program.
• Achieve a 3.0 or higher GPA each semester during the two years of the APEx program, and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 in the APEx and Doctor of Pharmacy Programs.
• Take a minimum of 13 credits per semester at Chapman University.
• Complete all prerequisites by the end of the spring semester of your second year.
• Complete all prerequisite classes for a letter grade.
• Receive no grade below a C in any prerequisite class.

Scholarship amount and terms are subject to change and will be confirmed to students in their financial aid offer.

Our first Pre-Pharmacy cohort graduated in the spring of 2019. We were proud to have 85% of our graduates accepted to residency programs. This is far above the national average of 65%.

Here are some of the places our students went on for residencies and fellowships after earning their PharmD If you would like to be connected with any of our alumni, please contact us at prepharmacy@chapman.edu.

Class of 2019

• Cedars-Sinai Medical Care Foundation (Beverly Hills, CA)
• Clinical Pharmacist at MedWatchers (Irvine, CA)
• Managed Care PGY-1 Residency at VA San Diego (San Diego, CA)
• Outcomes and Analytics PGY-2 Residency at VA Sierra Pacific Network/VA Nevada (Reno, NV)
• Oncology 2-year Fellowship through CUSP-Amgen (Thousand Oaks, CA)
• PGY-1 PIH Hospital (Whittier, CA)
• PGY-1 Residency at Pomona Valley Hospital (Pomona, CA)
• Residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Care Foundation (Beverly Hills, CA)

Class of 2020

• PGY-1 Residency at Antelope Valley Hospital (Lancaster, CA)
• PGY-1 Residency at Desert Hospital (Palm Springs, CA)
• Pharmacist at the County of San Diego
• Ph.D. Candidate in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Chapman University School of Pharmacy
• Managed Care PGY-1 Residency at Prospect Medical Group (Orange, CA)
• Regulatory Affairs Fellowship through Rutgers-Genentech (San Francisco, CA)

Class of 2021

• Late Stage Clinical Development - Oncology Fellowship through Rutgers – Merck (Kenilworth, NJ)
• PGY-1 (Ambulatory Care) CHI Franciscan St. Joseph Medical Center (Tacoma, WA)
• PGY-1 (Ambulatory Care) County of Santa Clara Health System (San Jose, CA)
• PGY-1 Kindred Hospital (La Mirada, CA)
• PGY-1 Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center (Spokane, WA)
• PGY-1 VA Northern California Health System (Mather, CA)

Class of 2022

• Pharmacovigilance and Patinent Saftey Fellowship Purdue, AbbVie and FDA (Indianapolis, IN)
• MCPHS Biogen Therapeutics Development Fellowship (Boston, MA)
• PGY-1 Desert Oasis Healthcare (Palm Springs, CA)
• PGY-1 St. Joseph's University Medical Center (Patterson, NJ)
• PGY-1 Cedars-Sinai Medical Network (Los Angeles, CA)
• PGY-1 Riverside Community Hospital (Riverside, CA)
• PGY-1 Loma Linda University Health (Loma Linda, CA)
• PGY-1 Mountain View Hospital (Las Vegas, NV) 
• PGY-1 University Washington Medicine (Seattle, WA) 

APEx applicants generally follow the same application process as all first-year applicants to Chapman. However, there are some additional considerations and steps unique to this program:

• The Early Action and Early Decision Application deadline is November 1. The Regular Decision Application deadline is Jan 15.
• While completing the Common App, choose “Pharmacy” as your major. You can also select a second-choice major when applying. If you are not admitted to Pre-Pharmacy, we will consider you your second choice.
• You will need to complete an additional essay on why you would make a good pharmacist.

Competitive applicants should have taken honors, AP, or IB classes when available. Math level should be up Calculus. If AP exams are taken, the minimum test scores to count as a prerequisite are:

• Calculus AB/BC: 4/3
• Biology: 5
• Statistics: 4
• Economics: 4
• English Language: 4
• Physics C - Mechanics: 4
• Psychology: 3

Chapman University and the School of Pharmacy review applicants on a holistic basis. We use the same criteria to evaluate California and out-of-state applicants. These admission criteria include:

• Rigor of High School curriculum completed
• Academic strength
• Motivation to pursue pharmacy
• Maturity
• Communication skills
• Community involvement

There is no interview involved in the APEx admission process.

Those who apply by the priority application deadline (and select Early Action or Early Decision as their notification plan) should receive their admission decision by mid-December. 

Those applying after the priority application deadline will be notified by mid-March.

If you are not offered admission into the Pre-Pharmacy Program and applied with a second-choice major, your application will automatically be considered for your second choice.

Chapman’s Pharm.D. has other pathways outside of the Pre-Pharmacy program. These might be good alternatives if you are unsure about your readiness to commit to an accelerated program. 

You can complete PharmD prerequisites, at an accredited community college, or you can complete your PharmD prerequisites while enrolled in a B.S. Degree program, at any accredited institution, including Chapman.

For more information on the majors that Chapman offers, review the Selecting a Chapman Major page.

For a list of the PharmD prerequisites classes and other requirements for admission to the PharmD program, review the Chapman University School of Pharmacy Admission page.

When you are within a year of completing those prerequisites, either at a community college or as part of a B.S. program, you can apply to Chapman’s Pharm.D. program by using the PharmCAS website.