UW PharmD prerequisites: the University of Washington School of Pharmacy course list

The UW PharmD prerequisites are more detailed than most. The University of Washington School of Pharmacy in Seattle asks for a full set of science courses (Anatomy and Physiology, General Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Microbiology), plus Calculus, Statistics, English Composition, a communication course, and humanities and social science electives. Every prerequisite needs a C- or better, and all of them must be finished by the end of the spring term before you start the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program in autumn.

UW reviews applications on a rolling basis through PharmCAS. For the 2026-2027 cycle, the October 1 priority deadline has passed, but the final deadline is May 1, 2027, and you can apply while you are still completing courses. The catch is that the class can fill before May 1, so earlier is better.

What about online courses? UW states its policy plainly: online courses from regionally accredited colleges and universities “may be used for prerequisite requirements pending approval by the UW School of Pharmacy.” In other words, online courses can count, but UW decides course by course and may ask for a syllabus. PrereqCourses offers self-paced online courses through Upper Iowa University (UIU), which is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), and credit appears on a UIU transcript. Those courses can help you fill gaps in the UW PharmD prerequisites, but PrereqCourses cannot promise that UW will approve a specific course.

Table of contents

• UW PharmD prerequisites at a glance
• About the UW PharmD program
• Science prerequisites
• Math, writing, communication, and electives
• Grades, AP credit, and recency
• Online courses: pending UW approval
• GPA and the admitted class profile
• Letters, tests, and pharmacy experience
• Interviews and technical standards
• Deadlines and timeline
• How to fill missing UW PharmD prerequisites with UIU courses
• How UW compares with other PharmD programs
• FAQ
• Next steps

UW PharmD prerequisites at a glance

This table follows UW’s Prerequisite Information page. UW runs on quarters, so we list the semester course counts it publishes, with quarter counts in the notes.

The rules that apply to every course:

• Grade of C- (1.7) or higher in each prerequisite; anything lower must be repeated.
• No Pass/No Pass, except for terms affected by COVID-19 (winter 2020 through spring 2021).
• Courses must come from an accredited college, university, or community college in the United States or Canada.
• All prerequisites must be finished by the end of the spring term before you enroll. Summer courses taken right before the program starts are not accepted.
• Math and science courses taken within the last six years are strongly recommended.
• Before you start, you need 90 quarter credits or 60 semester credits of specific pre-pharmacy coursework.

About the UW PharmD program

The UW PharmD is a four-year professional program that admits students for autumn quarter only. It is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). The curriculum, updated for the Class of 2030, begins with courses such as Fundamental Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Formulation, and Foundations of Being a Pharmacist. Students spend time in practice early through Wednesdays-in-Practice in the first two years, complete introductory pharmacy practice experiences in the summers after the first and second years, and move into advanced rotations during the third and fourth years. Students also complete 23 elective credits.

UW publishes its recent outcomes on its Why UW PharmD page. For 2025 graduates, the first-attempt NAPLEX pass rate was 89%, compared with a national rate of 86%. For the class of 2026, 85% of residency applicants matched.

Admission is competitive. UW says it receives about three to four times as many applications as it has seats, so it cannot admit every qualified applicant. Offers also depend on finishing all prerequisites, being eligible for a Washington State pharmacy intern license, and passing a criminal background check.

Science prerequisites

The science block is where most applicants find gaps, and it is also where UW is most specific.

Anatomy and Physiology. You need two semester courses. UW accepts either a full A&P sequence (A&P I and II) or one standalone Anatomy course plus one standalone Physiology course. Whichever path you choose, the coursework must cover the whole human body. Labs are strongly recommended but not required.

General Biology. UW wants a full-year Biology series with labs: two semester courses or three quarter courses.

General Chemistry. This must be a full-year series intended for science majors, with labs. If your Chemistry course was designed for another audience, check it with UW.

Organic Chemistry. Again, UW asks for a full-year series with labs.

Biochemistry. UW says one semester or two quarters of Biochemistry is enough in most cases, but this varies by school. Labs are not required.

Microbiology. One general Microbiology course with a lab.

Finish each series at one school if you can. UW’s Admissions Committee highly recommends taking sequence courses (General Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Anatomy and Physiology) at a single institution. You may take prerequisites at different schools, but if you start a series at one school and finish at another, the combined courses may not cover every topic UW requires. If you are about to split a series, check with UW first.

Math, writing, communication, and electives

Calculus. UW requires the first course in a Calculus series. Its listed UW equivalents are Math 124 or Math 112, so compare your course description with those if you are unsure.

Statistics. One course in statistics, statistical methods, or statistical reasoning.

English Composition. Two courses in composition or academic writing. ESL courses do not count.

Communication. One course in interpersonal communication, public speaking, or speech. UW’s list also mentions intercultural communication.

Humanities and social science electives. One humanities course and one social science course. UW’s examples for humanities are art, art history, dance, music, theatre, religion, literature, and classics. Its examples for social science are anthropology, most gender studies, history, psychology, philosophy, and sociology.

What a bachelor’s degree waives. If you will finish a bachelor’s degree before you start, UW waives English Composition, the communication course, and the humanities and social science electives. The science, Calculus, and Statistics courses still apply to everyone. Most admitted students already hold a degree: 83% of the 2025 entering class had a bachelor’s degree or higher, and UW’s FAQ says the average is 90 to 95%.

A note on Microeconomics. UW’s Prerequisite Information page does not list Microeconomics as a required course. However, UW’s application criteria and application FAQ both include Microeconomics in the list of courses used to calculate the prerequisite GPA, and the AP chart lists an Economics credit option. Because the pages do not match, email uwpharmd@uw.edu to ask whether you need it. If UW tells you to take it, a principles of Microeconomics course is the usual fit.

Grades, AP credit, and recency

Grades. You need a C- (1.7) or higher in every prerequisite. Any prerequisite below a C- must be repeated, and UW’s prerequisite GPA includes all grades for repeated courses, not just the newer one.

Pass/fail. Prerequisites cannot be taken pass/fail if a letter or numeric grade is available. UW makes an exception for terms affected by COVID-19. Coursework taken before winter 2020 or after spring 2021 must have a letter or numerical grade.

AP and IB. AP or IB credit may count for General Chemistry, Calculus, Statistics, Economics, and the humanities and social science electives, with specific score rules on UW’s AP/IB credit page. It does not count for General Biology, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Microbiology, English Composition, or the communication course. CLEP credit is not accepted.

Recency. UW strongly recommends completing math and science courses within six years of starting the program. Its FAQ says that if your courses are older, you may be advised to retake them after a transcript review.

No individual reviews. UW’s admissions office says it cannot complete individual transcript or prerequisite reviews. Use its Prerequisite Self Checklist and Prerequisite Database to check your courses, and send questions about specific courses to uwpharmd@uw.edu.

Online courses: pending UW approval

Here is UW’s online policy, word for word from its prerequisite FAQ: “Online courses taken at regionally accredited colleges and universities may be used for prerequisite requirements pending approval by the UW School of Pharmacy. Course syllabi or other materials may be requested in order to deem online courses acceptable.”

So online courses are allowed, but they are not automatically accepted. UW decides whether each course meets its description, and it may ask for a syllabus. Two more rules apply. First, the course must appear on a college or university transcript with a grade and credits. Second, a certificate of completion is not enough.

Practical tips:

• Save the syllabus and course description for every online course you take.
• Match the course to UW’s description, especially the lab requirement for Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Microbiology.
• Avoid splitting a science series between schools when you can.
• If you are unsure, email uwpharmd@uw.edu before you enroll.

GPA and the admitted class profile

UW has no official minimum GPA. However, applicants with a cumulative or prerequisite GPA below 2.8 are generally not considered competitive for an interview, and meeting 2.8 does not guarantee admission. If your grades were affected by hard circumstances, UW suggests explaining them in the optional PharmCAS special life circumstances essay.

UW looks at two GPAs:

• Cumulative GPA: all college coursework, whether or not it counts as a prerequisite.
• Prerequisite GPA: the prerequisite courses, including labs and every attempt at a repeated course.

UW’s class profile on its Why UW PharmD page shows these averages:

Letters, tests, and pharmacy experience

Application. UW uses PharmCAS only. There is no separate supplemental application. Send official transcripts from every college you attended to PharmCAS, including Running Start and College in the High School credit, even if the courses do not count as prerequisites.

Letters. UW requires two recommendations on the PharmCAS form (a letter can be added). They should come from someone who can speak to your professional demeanor, accountability, and maturity, such as a professor, teaching assistant, employer, or volunteer supervisor. UW does not accept recommendations from family, friends, fraternity or sorority advisors, personal health care providers, high school staff, mentors, job shadow professionals, or reference letter services.

Tests. None of the UW admissions pages we reviewed list the PCAT. UW says interview invitations are based on essays, recommendations, prerequisite coursework, and cumulative GPA. The TOEFL is required if you will not complete a U.S. or Canadian bachelor’s degree before starting the program.

Pharmacy experience. Experience is not required, but it is strongly encouraged, as a volunteer or an employee. If you have none, UW suggests talking with several pharmacists about the profession. Leadership, community service, and professional organizations can also strengthen your application.

Interviews and technical standards

Interviews are required, and not every applicant is invited. UW offers both virtual and in-person interviews. Most on-campus dates fall in autumn and early winter, so apply early if you want to interview in person. The interview day includes two one-on-one interviews of about 25 minutes each, a student panel, and an admissions overview. Most applicants hear a decision one to two weeks after the interview.

UW’s PharmD Student Handbook lists technical standards for all students. They include perceiving signs of disease and adverse drug effects, performing limited physical exams, obtaining capillary or venous blood samples, giving medications by injection, communicating effectively with patients and care teams, and functioning well under stress.

Deadlines and timeline

UW’s application procedures page lists this 2026-2027 timeline:

Priority applicants were the first invited to interview and the first considered for UW’s limited recruitment scholarships. After that, review is still rolling, so applications are read in the order received. If the class fills before May 1, remaining applicants are considered for the waitlist. PharmCAS can take up to a week to process an application, so do not wait until the last few days.

If you cannot finish your prerequisites by the end of spring 2027, plan for the next cycle instead. If UW keeps the same pattern, PharmCAS would open in mid-July 2027 with an October 1, 2027 priority deadline.

How to fill missing UW PharmD prerequisites with UIU courses

PrereqCourses offers self-paced online courses through Upper Iowa University, which is accredited by the HLC. Credit appears on a UIU transcript, and UW requires prerequisites to appear on a college transcript rather than a certificate of completion. Because UW approves online courses one by one, save each syllabus and check with UW if you have any doubt. Courses start on the first of every month.

Please note: Any prerequisite requirements listed on the syllabus apply only to full-time UIU students. Students enrolling through PrereqCourses.com are exempt from prerequisite requirements.

What PrereqCourses does not offer. We do not have a standalone Human Anatomy course or a standalone Human Physiology course, so our option for UW’s Anatomy and Physiology requirement is the full BIO 270 and BIO 275 series. We do not offer an art, art history, dance, music, theatre, literature, or classics course; REL 120 is our only humanities option for UW. We also do not offer a Biochemistry lab, which UW does not require.

A sample plan. Most applicants are missing a few courses, not the whole list. Here is one way to approach it for the current cycle:

How UW compares with other PharmD programs

UW’s list is longer than many because it includes Calculus, a communication course, and humanities and social science electives, but a bachelor’s degree waives four of those items. Its online policy is open but conditional. If you are building a list of programs, compare UW with other PharmD programs we have covered: UCSF PharmD prerequisites on the West Coast; Ohio State PharmD prerequisites, Purdue PharmD prerequisites, and University of Michigan PharmD prerequisites in the Midwest; and UNC Eshelman PharmD prerequisites in the Southeast.

FAQ

What are the UW PharmD prerequisites? Two semester courses each of Anatomy and Physiology, General Biology with labs, General Chemistry with labs, and Organic Chemistry with labs; one to two courses of Biochemistry; one course each of Microbiology with lab, Calculus, and Statistics; two English Composition courses; one communication course; and one humanities and one social science elective. A bachelor’s degree waives English Composition, communication, and the electives.

Does the UW School of Pharmacy accept online prerequisites? Yes, pending approval. UW says online courses from regionally accredited schools “may be used for prerequisite requirements pending approval by the UW School of Pharmacy,” and it may request a syllabus. The course must appear on a transcript with a grade and credits.

What GPA do I need for UW PharmD? There is no official minimum, but a cumulative or prerequisite GPA below 2.8 is generally not competitive. The 2025 entering class averaged a 3.45 cumulative GPA and a 3.41 prerequisite GPA.

Can I still be taking prerequisites when I apply? Yes. You can apply with courses in progress, but all prerequisites must be finished by the end of the spring term before you enroll. UW does not accept prerequisites taken in the summer right before the program starts.

Does UW require the PCAT? None of the UW admissions pages we reviewed list the PCAT. UW selects applicants for interviews based on essays, recommendations, prerequisite coursework, and cumulative GPA.

Is Microeconomics required for UW PharmD? It is not on UW’s prerequisite course list, but UW includes Microeconomics in its prerequisite GPA calculation. Ask uwpharmd@uw.edu whether it applies to you.

When is the UW PharmD application deadline? For the 2026-2027 cycle, the priority deadline was October 1 and the final deadline is May 1, 2027. Review is rolling and the class may fill early, so apply as soon as you can.

Next steps

Start with your transcript and the at a glance table. Mark which UW PharmD prerequisites you have finished with a C- or better, which ones a bachelor’s degree waives for you, and which science series are still open. Use UW’s Prerequisite Database and self checklist, and email uwpharmd@uw.edu about any course you are unsure of, especially online courses and the Microeconomics question. If you are missing a few courses, the UIU options above can help, as long as you keep each syllabus for UW’s approval. Then apply through PharmCAS early, since UW reviews on a rolling basis and the class can fill before May 1, 2027.