Cakewalk?
I'm sorry but...taking a nap is a cake walk, becoming an accredited pharmacy program and having to pony up $25,000 in application fees for that accreditation is probably as far from a cake walk as you can get.
I took the risk with a pre-accredited school but I didn't freakin' engage in several hundred thousand dollars in transactions in the process. Hell, I didn't even look for a cheapie
apartment until the official pre-candidate status was signed, sealed, and delivered by ACPE.
It's one thing to make plans, it's another to execute on a decision.
NEVER NEVER NEVER execute until there's a firm contract in front of you for anything (be it employment, or awaiting pre-accreditation).
As for the last portion I put in bold...they couldn't say they were pre-accredited because, technically speaking, they
did not exist as a pharmacy school yet and had NOTHING. They can be as optimistic as they want, but their inability to say "precandidate status," or those "formalities" as the school described them, are what protect the public from deception.
In the end, people sold their houses and moved for technically nothing except some unbridled optimism and nothing on paper.