* Corresponding author: Ralfh Louis L. Fuerte School of Pharmacy, Centro Escolar University-Manila, 9 Mendiola St. San Miguel, Manila 1008, Metro Manila, Philippines. Copyright © 2022 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0. Evaluation of the academic stress and coping strategies of 3 rd year and 4 th year bs pharmacy students at Centro Escolar University-Manila before and during COVID-19 Pandemic Ralfh Louis L. Fuerte * , Paul Vincent A. Adug, Anne Paulynne S. Bacay, Jazel Anne Z. De Guzman, Mina M. Macmac, Clarizza V. Miras, Krisanto Miguel E. Rovillos, Muslima Amanih M. Tucal, Alexi Jorel C. Ventura, Yvonne R. Villarama and Jan Karlo T. Ecalne School of Pharmacy, Centro Escolar University-Manila, 9 Mendiola St. San Miguel, Manila 1008, Metro Manila, Philippines. GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2022, 20(02), 066–071 Publication history: Received on 01 June 2022; revised on 01 August 2022; accepted on 03 August 2022 Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.30574/gscbps.2022.20.2.0279 Abstract Due to the growth of COVID-19 cases, all educational institutions around the world have been closed to prevent the spread of viruses, causing stress and anxiety among students. Stress is part of students' learning experience as it can increase memory development but inhibit memory recovery due to internal and external expectations. Coping with stress deals primarily with external or internal pressures that are hard on one's skills and abilities. Students' coping strategies enable them to manage academic stress. The study aims to evaluate the academic stress and coping strategies of Pharmacy students before and during COVID-19 Pandemic. A descriptive quantitative type of research was conducted on a sample population of 333 of 3rd year and 4th year pharmacy students of Centro Escolar University in Manila. The study was conducted through an online survey questionnaire and gathered data from the respondents using the Factors of Academic Stress Scale and Coping Strategies Scale. The collected data were subjected to statistical tools such as Logistic Regression and Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test at 0.05 alpha level, and R Core Team version 4.0.4 was used to further interpret the study result. The research concluded that academic stress and coping strategies of the students have significant changes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Academic institutions should improve and provide counseling to their students experiencing academic stress and help the students to learn more about their different coping strategies. Keywords: Academic stress; Coping strategies; COVID-19 pandemic; Pharmacy students 1. Introduction Over 98 million COVID-19 cases were reported globally in the second quarter of January 2021, leading to the deaths of over 2.1 million individuals ⦋1⦌. Due to the widespread of COVID-19 cases, all educational institutions around the world have been closed down by the government to prevent the rapid rise of viruses, considering the safety of students, teachers and other people who are part of these institutions, causing stress and anxiety among students ⦋2⦌. Furthermore, the discontinuation of conventional learning has placed the students in an entirely new situation with no clear statement of how long it will remain, affecting their everyday lives. Study shows that compared to the general population, most college students and university students are more prone to feel lonely and have a greater level of anxiety and stress ⦋3⦌. Since a student's life is subjected to a different kind of stressor that may come from different internal and external expectations that were placed on them ⦋4⦌, which will result in minor displeasure to major life events. Thus, coping with stress is essential for students’ survival and is best described