St. John's Pharmacy Interview: Year 2 Progression & Admissions

St. John's University runs a six-year, 201-credit entry-level Doctor of Pharmacy program on its Queens, New York campus, so the interview sits at a different point in your timeline than at four-year pharmacy schools. First-year applicants apply directly from high school, and St. John's Undergraduate Admission FAQ states that an interview is not required for undergraduate admission and is not a factor in the admission decision.

Your mandatory interview happens two years later. The curriculum splits into two pre-professional years of foundational science, liberal arts, and introductory pharmacy coursework, followed by four professional years (Years 3 through 6, or P1 through P4). To move from the second pre-professional year into the first professional year in the spring of Year 2, every student must pass a progression review that includes a standardized faculty interview and a writing skills assessment.

Progression into Year 3 rests on three requirements in the spring of your second year:

• 3.0 GPA threshold: You must attain both an overall GPA of 3.0 or better and a math/science/professional GPA of 3.0 or better by the end of your second year to be eligible to interview.
• Standardized faculty interview: You must demonstrate satisfactory oral communication skills through a standardized interview with pharmacy faculty.
• Writing skills assessment: You must also demonstrate satisfactory writing skills alongside the oral interview.

The College spells out a review and remediation process if you fall short of the progression standards in Year 2.

If your overall or math/science/professional GPA is below 3.0 at the end of your second year, you are referred to the Pharm.D. Progression Subcommittee, which evaluates your eligibility on a case-by-case basis. The Subcommittee is chaired by the Senior Associate Dean for Pharmacy and includes two voting pharmacy faculty members from each department, plus the Pharm.D. Program Director as an ex-officio member. If the Subcommittee approves your case, you are included in the spring interview process. If not, the Subcommittee issues recommendations regarding your status.

If you qualify for the interview and writing assessment but fail to earn a satisfactory score in either area, you must complete a formal remediation process approved by the College's Faculty Council. Faculty provide remediation materials and activities that you must finish and have evaluated before a re-evaluation of the deficiency. Only if a student fails to reach satisfactory performance after completing remediation are they referred to the Pharm.D. Progression Subcommittee for potential dismissal.

St. John's public pages specify a standardized faculty interview and a writing assessment in the spring of Year 2. Confirm your exact spring interview date, format (such as MMI, panel, or one-on-one, and onsite or virtual setup), and writing assessment instructions with your assigned academic advisor and on your class Canvas page during your second year.

To rehearse speaking clearly under pressure before your faculty evaluation, Confetto offers AI mock interviews for pharmacy school interview practice with follow-up questions and rubric feedback. Start your free week.

The standardized faculty interview assesses your oral communication skills, while the Doctor of Pharmacy Technical Standards and program mission define the professional behaviors expected of every student entering P1. For a broader look at how pharmacy schools structure their evaluations, see our guide to pharmacy school interview formats and dates and our VCU Pharm.D. interview and writing guide.

St. John's describes its mission as Catholic, Vincentian, and metropolitan. The Pharm.D. program emphasizes academic service-learning and clinical care for urban, culturally diverse, marginalized, and underserved patient populations across more than 180 practice sites in the New York metropolitan area (with over 160 affiliated sites for Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences). Map your interview stories to the four non-academic areas in the Technical Standards and Pledge of Professionalism:

• Communication mastery: Read, write, speak, and comprehend English well enough to communicate with colleagues, professors, patients, families, and healthcare providers in a timely, accurate, and professional manner.
• Cultural respect and compassion: Recognize and show respect for differences in culture, values, and ethics among people, and display compassion in line with the Vincentian mission.
• Stress management and adaptability: Handle physically, emotionally, or intellectually stressful situations with appropriate coping responses, and accept constructive criticism in a mature manner.
• Interprofessional teamwork and integrity: Act as moral and ethical practitioners who collaborate on interprofessional healthcare teams, including Interprofessional Education (IPE) activities with nursing, physician assistant, radiologic sciences, and clinical laboratory sciences students.

Our team wrote the practice questions below around the program's 250-word admissions essay prompt, its Vincentian and metropolitan mission, the Technical Standards, and the Pharm.D. co-curriculum. Pair these with our full list of pharmacy school interview questions and answer tips, and practice answering each out loud.

• Motivation and fit: When you applied to St. John's, you wrote about why you chose pharmacy and why you chose this university. How has your understanding of the pharmacist's role changed during your first two years on the Queens campus?
• Vincentian mission and urban care: St. John's trains student pharmacists at more than 180 practice sites serving diverse and disadvantaged communities in the New York metropolitan area. Tell me about a service-learning or community experience that shaped how you will care for underserved patients.
• Oral communication: Explain to an older adult patient with limited health literacy why they need to finish their full course of antibiotics even after they start feeling better.
• Cultural sensitivity: A patient at a Queens community pharmacy tells you they want to stop taking their prescribed blood pressure medication and use a traditional herbal remedy from their home country instead. How do you respond?
• Constructive criticism (Technical Standards): Describe a time in a laboratory, class, or job when a professor or supervisor gave you feedback that was hard to hear. How did you respond, and what did you change?
• Handling stress: The professional phase of the Pharm.D. program is demanding, and more than three grades below a C triggers a dismissal review. What coping strategies and campus resources, such as the Academic Success Center, do you use when your workload peaks?
• Interprofessional teamwork: On an Interprofessional Education (IPE) team with physician assistant and nursing students, one teammate dismisses your medication safety concern. How do you handle the conversation?
• Ethical integrity: You notice a classmate using a cell phone during a Canvas quiz, which violates the College's electronic device policy and Academic Honor Pledge. Walk me through what you would do.
• Co-curriculum and lifelong learning: Which co-curricular activity or student organization at St. John's has taught you the most about nontraditional or clinical career paths in pharmacy?
• Global perspective: Whether through our Queens classrooms or study abroad options in Rome and Paris, our mission emphasizes a global perspective on patient care. Tell me about a time you adapted your communication style for someone whose background or first language differed from yours.

Below are two additional example answers written by our team to show how to weave St. John's curriculum, Queens context, and Technical Standards into a spoken response. The applicants are invented.

Question 1: How have your first two years at St. John's prepared you for the transition into the first professional year (P1)?

Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented: "My first two years taught me how to pair foundational science with clear communication. In high school, I thought pharmacy was mostly about understanding chemistry in a quiet lab. Working through my pre-professional chemistry and biology labs here on the Queens campus, while participating in academic service-learning, showed me that scientific knowledge only helps a patient if you can translate it for them. Last fall, when I struggled with time management before midterms, I started attending group tutoring at the College's Academic Success Center right away. That habit helped me keep my math and science GPA above a 3.0, and more importantly, it taught me how to ask for help early. Entering P1, I know the pace will step up, and I already have the study structure and faculty mentorship through the co-curriculum to handle it."

Question 2: Tell me about a time you had to communicate clearly under stress or resolve a misunderstanding with a patient or customer.

Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented: "Last summer I worked as a pharmacy clerk at an independent pharmacy in Jamaica, Queens. One Friday evening, a patient came in upset because her insulin copay had jumped, and she thought we had charged her for the wrong medication. The line behind her was growing, and I felt my heart rate go up. Instead of speaking quickly or getting defensive, I asked her to step to the consultation window so she had privacy. I listened until she finished, repeated back her concern so she knew I heard her, and brought the supervising pharmacist over with her profile pulled up. Watching the pharmacist explain the insurance deductible tier in plain language and call her prescriber about a covered alternative showed me what the Code of Ethics means by a covenantal relationship. Under stress, slowing my voice down and protecting the patient's dignity kept the conversation productive."

Use this checklist during your pre-professional years to prepare for both parts of the spring progression evaluation.

• Audit your GPA every semester: You need a 2.0 overall GPA in your first semester, a 2.3 math/science GPA through Year 2, and both a 3.0 overall GPA and a 3.0 math/science/professional GPA by the end of Year 2 to interview without Subcommittee review. Meet with your assigned academic advisor at least once a semester and use the Academic Success Center early.
• Manage your Spring Year 2 schedule: Block scheduling begins in the spring semester of your second year, and students can also complete that spring semester abroad in Rome, Italy, or Paris, France. Coordinate with your advisor during registration so you know when your progression writing assessment and standardized faculty interview take place.
• Draft and time your writing practice: Because progression requires satisfactory writing skills alongside the interview, practice writing a clear, structured short response under a timer on an ethical or patient-care topic.
• Run timed spoken drills out loud: Pick five questions from our list above and answer them on camera or with a partner, avoiding clinical jargon when role-playing patient explanations.

St. John's mission emphasizes serving culturally diverse, underserved urban populations across the New York metropolitan area. Tell me about an experience during your pre-professional years that prepared you to communicate with and care for patients from backgrounds different from your own.

• St. John's CPHS: Student Handbook (Progression & Technical Standards)
• St. John's University: Undergraduate Admission FAQs
• St. John's CPHS: Pharmacy Program Outcomes Data
• St. John's University: Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) Program
• St. John's CPHS: Pharm.D. Co-curriculum
• PharmCAS: Pharm.D. School Directory
• ACPE: St. John's University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (PharmD)