2015 California Northstate Application Thread

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Hey Guys,

I just wanted your opinions on the new school in Sacramento called California Northstate CoP. Do you guys think this school is safe to go to? They did get their pre-candidacy back in June, but it seems like they may be experiencing some financial problems. A lot of students are complaining b/c the school isn't able to provide student loans. And the economy being bad as it is, its hard to find private loans, hence students may have to pay 40 grand, give or take, out of their own pockets. I am sure this will cause some students to withdraw from the school. Do these things jeopardize the chances of the school from succeeding (ie full accredidation...)? But at the same time i hear pre-candidacy is the hardest part to obtain and CNCP got pre-candidacy. Do any of you guys know of any school that got pre-candidate, but failed to get candidate status? I really like the location of this school but I dont know if I should be worried that this school will shut down or something. Is it worth the risk or is it even a risk? What do you guys think? I would really appreciate your opinions!

hawaii college of pharmacy, if you consider interest rate you would have to repay it will be close to 200k

Originally Posted by ruth265

hawaii college of pharmacy, if you consider interest rate you would have to repay it will be close to 200k

From a financial standpt, I would say consider CNCP as a backup school but not as the first choice. Since CNCP is a stand alone school, attending this school means that student will not be qualified for federal loans until the first class graduates which will make you accrue a great deal of debt. If you like the Sacramento area, think about other schools that are located in NorCA like Touro or UOP.

Originally Posted by jscho

Hey Guys,

I just wanted your opinions on the new school in Sacramento called California Northstate CoP. Do you guys think this school is safe to go to? They did get their pre-candidacy back in June, but it seems like they may be experiencing some financial problems. A lot of students are complaining b/c the school isn't able to provide student loans. And the economy being bad as it is, its hard to find private loans, hence students may have to pay 40 grand, give or take, out of their own pockets. I am sure this will cause some students to withdraw from the school. Do these things jeopardize the chances of the school from succeeding (ie full accredidation...)? But at the same time i hear pre-candidacy is the hardest part to obtain and CNCP got pre-candidacy. Do any of you guys know of any school that got pre-candidate, but failed to get candidate status? I really like the location of this school but I dont know if I should be worried that this school will shut down or something. Is it worth the risk or is it even a risk? What do you guys think? I would really appreciate your opinions!

I got accepted to Cal-northstate too and really like the area, I am worry too. Any advise??

Apparently, discussing the financial aid situation at CNCP hits a nerve with several members here so expect to have them accusing you of talking trash about the school.

Read the long CNCP thread if you're really curious about what people think about the loan situation there.

Originally Posted by bluesickle

Apparently, discussing the financial aid situation at CNCP hits a nerve with several members here so expect to have them accusing you of talking trash about the school.

Read the long CNCP thread if you're really curious about what people think about the loan situation there.

hahahahahaha,

your sig is awesome :

"I'm a human with two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. What are my chances??? "

Originally Posted by ruth265

hawaii college of pharmacy, if you consider interest rate you would have to repay it will be close to 200k

HICP never got pre-cand.

I got accepted by CalNorthstate and NEOUCOP so far
Both are pre-candidate
Although I am in CA, I will go to NEOUCOP

I don't wanna risk my $$$ and future
last year CalNorthstate couldn't get the loan, they still can't this year
What's the problem?
And they just rent a place
Which school doesn't have a permanent site?

NEOUCOP has no problem with loans
I am gonna study with medical students there for some classes
It's much more professional than CNCOP

Just my personal opinion
Don't feel be offended

As someone pointed out earlier, Northstate is a standalone school. For this reason, I would be cautious about attending..especially the way the economy is now-a-days. Even for an academic institution, it may be tough to acquire credit to keep the school going. I don't question their integrity on an academic level...it's just that the financial situation on the part of the student and institution is too dicey for me to complete their supplemental.

my opinion is that if you got into a school that is accredited and got into say like north state you should just go to the school that is accredited no matter the distance or the money since you know that your degree would be upheld in the future. I say do not take the chance with your future... just my two cents.

Originally Posted by CokeCoffee

I got accepted by CalNorthstate and NEOUCOP so far
Both are pre-candidate
Although I am in CA, I will go to NEOUCOP

I don't wanna risk my $$$ and future
last year CalNorthstate couldn't get the loan, they still can't this year
What's the problem?
And they just rent a place
Which school doesn't have a permanent site?

NEOUCOP has no problem with loans
I am gonna study with medical students there for some classes
It's much more professional than CNCOP

Just my personal opinion
Don't feel be offended

FYI, CNCP DOES HAVE A LOAN through Sallie Mae. It's not the best of loans, but it is a loan. Don't say anything if you don't know what you are talking about..they rent a place? ya it's a big nice building..Go to NEOUCOP, it's a good school, I have a friend in that program right now..but think about this, it's their second year now, how come they are still pre-candidate status? usually schools get candidate status after their first year. CNCP is up for candidate status this June. How the hell do you know that NEOUCOP is more professional? I love it how people talk out of their *****..but anyways, goodluck to u in Ohio

Maybe nay sayers will direct their attention away from California Northstate and towards Central California School of Pharmacy when it opens in 2011.
http://www.ccspedu.org

In any case, if you are going to attend Cal Northstate, all the power to you! I hope this school succeeds. I haven't read any issues about this school besides the loan situation.

NEOUCOP has a medical school that was founded in 1973 while CNCP is a stand-alone pharmacy mill that seated it's first class in 2008. I don't blame CokeCoffee for choosing NEOUCOP over CNCP, as if the loan problem (requiring co-signer w/good credit, interest accuring while in school) wasn't enough.

Who knows why NEOUCOP doesn't have their candidate status yet but there's no guarantee that CNCP will get their candidate status after their first year either.

I just received an e-mail invite to do their supplemental application. Did anyone else receive one as well?

Originally Posted by dnguyen401

I just received an e-mail invite to do their supplemental application. Did anyone else receive one as well?

Yes...I did a couple days ago

This is what I recieved....

Dear Fall 2011 Applicant,

Thank you for applying to California Northstate College of Pharmacy. The Office of Admissions has received your PharmCas application for the
2010-2011 admissions cycle.

An additional email notification will be sent to you, once your supplemental application has been received. The supplemental application can be found on our website at www.californiacollegeofpharmacy.org under Prospective Students/Admissions/Step 3.

Once both applications have been received, your file will be placed in secondary review (complete applications include CNCP’s two required letters of recommendation). Interviews will be offered throughout the 10/11 admissions cycle.


Is this the same one you received?

Originally Posted by RDuran

Yes...I did a couple days ago

This is what I recieved....

Dear Fall 2011 Applicant,

Thank you for applying to California Northstate College of Pharmacy. The Office of Admissions has received your PharmCas application for the
2010-2011 admissions cycle.

An additional email notification will be sent to you, once your supplemental application has been received. The supplemental application can be found on our website at www.californiacollegeofpharmacy.org under Prospective Students/Admissions/Step 3.

Once both applications have been received, your file will be placed in secondary review (complete applications include CNCP’s two required letters of recommendation). Interviews will be offered throughout the 10/11 admissions cycle.


Is this the same one you received?

Yeah, is this an invite to submit the supplemental? They said to only submit the supplemental application only if invited so I'm not sure if it was or not.

Originally Posted by dnguyen401

Yeah, is this an invite to submit the supplemental? They said to only submit the supplemental application only if invited so I'm not sure if it was or not.

I am assuming it is because they are providing the link and telling us that another e-mail will be sent to us when our supplemental is received. I finished it, but have not sent it yet. I'm going to e-mail them to see if this is the invite.

Is supplemental for Cal Northstate by invitation? On PharmCAS it says to go on school website to obtain supp application, doesn't say its by invitation....I am confused now????

Originally Posted by PharmAim

Is supplemental for Cal Northstate by invitation? On PharmCAS it says to go on school website to obtain supp application, doesn't say its by invitation....I am confused now????

This is from the school website:

Do I submit my PHARMCAS application and supplemental application at the same time?
No. Submission of the supplemental application is by invitation only. The Office of Admissions will notify applicants if they are selected.

I emailed them about a half hour ago to make sure because now I am confused

Originally Posted by dnguyen401

I just received an e-mail invite to do their supplemental application. Did anyone else receive one as well?

Nguyen401,
Why would you waste your money on Northstate with your gpa? There are 7 accredited schools in CA that have other health programs.

I know I will take a big hit for this but I don't care. A lot of the working pharmacists in Los Angeles, OC, San Bernadino are fed up with these brand new schools that pop and saturate the pharmacy market. There are practically no jobs in LA and OC as it is now... Right now you can't even be hired as a intern at cvs in OC.

Okay Gail from admissions e-mailed me back and apparently for this admissions cycle you DON'T need an invite to submit a supplemental application. There was a misprint on the website stating that you did.

Originally Posted by RDuran

Okay Gail from admissions e-mailed me back and apparently for this admissions cycle you DON'T need an invite to submit a supplemental application. There was a misprint on the website stating that you did.

RDuran, Thanks for the information

Originally Posted by RDuran

Okay Gail from admissions e-mailed me back and apparently for this admissions cycle you DON'T need an invite to submit a supplemental application. There was a misprint on the website stating that you did.

Thanks for the info. I only wish they would tell us that sooner.

Originally Posted by steveysmith54

Nguyen401,
Why would you waste your money on Northstate with your gpa? There are 7 accredited schools in CA that have other health programs.

I know I will take a big hit for this but I don't care. A lot of the working pharmacists in Los Angeles, OC, San Bernadino are fed up with these brand new schools that pop and saturate the pharmacy market. There are practically no jobs in LA and OC as it is now... Right now you can't even be hired as a intern at cvs in OC.

Northstate is my last choice out of the schools in CA. I'm applying here as a backup-- just in case if I don't get into my top choice.

Originally Posted by dnguyen401

Northstate is my last choice out of the schools in CA. I'm applying here as a backup-- just in case if I don't get into my top choice.

Same here

Originally Posted by dnguyen401

Northstate is my last choice out of the schools in CA. I'm applying here as a backup-- just in case if I don't get into my top choice.

Why not apply to nearby out of state schools like Washington, USN, PacificU instead. Those schools are accredited and established.

Originally Posted by steveysmith54

Why not apply to nearby out of state schools like Washington, USN, PacificU instead. Those schools are accredited and established.

I thought about it, but location matters to me. I have family all over Norcal and Socal so I want to stay in Cali to save money

I submitted my pharmCAS application but they havent sent out my application to my schools yet. Should I wait for an email from Northstate to start the supplemental or should I go ahead and make my username for the supplemental and start filling it out?... since its apparently not by invitation.

Originally Posted by freshnewkicks

I submitted my pharmCAS application but they havent sent out my application to my schools yet. Should I wait for an email from Northstate to start the supplemental or should I go ahead and make my username for the supplemental and start filling it out?... since its apparently not by invitation.

Yeah, you should start working on it as soon as you can. I had mine all done before they sent out invitations. But apparently, they're not doing invites for supplementary applications this year.

Originally Posted by dnguyen401

I thought about it, but location matters to me. I have family all over Norcal and Socal so I want to stay in Cali to save money

My thoughts exactly

I understand location is very important. But, you have to consider the cost to attend school ~40K tution+20K living expenses+cost of not working full time (30K for me) so you're giving up roughly 90K per yr. You want to get the bang for your buck and go to the best possible school. If you go to a well established school, you can do your rotations anywhere as they usually have perceptors in various places... Also, with the competitiveness of pharmacy profession, going to a well respected school might become important. Not only that, Northstate doesn't qualify for subsidized loans right now.

well am I anti northsate?
California and pharmacy doesn't need further saturation. Look at the job market. They are a for profit school.

Originally Posted by steveysmith54

I understand location is very important. But, you have to consider the cost to attend school ~40K tution+20K living expenses+cost of not working full time (30K for me) so you're giving up roughly 90K per yr. You want to get the bang for your buck and go to the best possible school. If you go to a well established school, you can do your rotations anywhere as they usually have perceptors in various places... Also, with the competitiveness of pharmacy profession, going to a well respected school might become important. Not only that, Northstate doesn't qualify for subsidized loans right now.

well am I anti northsate?
California and pharmacy doesn't need further saturation. Look at the job market. They are a for profit school.

I see your point....most likely I won't be going here anyway if everything goes as planned. My number one choice is UCSF followed by UOP not to mention the 4 other schools I applied to that I would choose to attend (if accepted) before Northstate. This is just my backup school.

Originally Posted by steveysmith54

I understand location is very important. But, you have to consider the cost to attend school ~40K tution+20K living expenses+cost of not working full time (30K for me) so you're giving up roughly 90K per yr. You want to get the bang for your buck and go to the best possible school. If you go to a well established school, you can do your rotations anywhere as they usually have perceptors in various places... Also, with the competitiveness of pharmacy profession, going to a well respected school might become important. Not only that, Northstate doesn't qualify for subsidized loans right now.

well am I anti northsate?
California and pharmacy doesn't need further saturation. Look at the job market. They are a for profit school.

I appreciate your concern, but I put in a lot of thought and consideration to the schools I'm applying to. It's more personal. And like I said, Northstate is my last choice.

I have an aunt (a UOP alumni) who owns a pharmacy store in Stockton. She decided not to retire yet until I get my Pharm.D and take over her shop. Getting a job after I get my Pharm.D is the least on my mind...

Originally Posted by steveysmith54

I understand location is very important. But, you have to consider the cost to attend school ~40K tution+20K living expenses+cost of not working full time (30K for me) so you're giving up roughly 90K per yr. You want to get the bang for your buck and go to the best possible school. If you go to a well established school, you can do your rotations anywhere as they usually have perceptors in various places... Also, with the competitiveness of pharmacy profession, going to a well respected school might become important. Not only that, Northstate doesn't qualify for subsidized loans right now.

well am I anti northsate?
California and pharmacy doesn't need further saturation. Look at the job market. They are a for profit school.

You can go to any pharmacy school and still land a job at Rite Aid, Walgreens, CVS. You know what the cool thing is????? You will get paid the same amount of money as a person who graduated from a top ranked pharmacy school. I understand your point with the loans and rotations, but these topics have been beaten to death and it's not a secret.

and FYI, California has been saturated long before Northstate opened up. My friend knows someone who graduated from Western and that person couldn't land a job in SoCal. Does this mean you should get rid of Western too? NO. From my understanding, California is set to open two more pharmacy schools in the next couple of years and you know what, we can't do anything about it. I see your points but it's not your job or business to tell others not to apply to "x" pharmacy school. You worry about you and let others worry about themselves..

Originally Posted by Hizzo23

You can go to any pharmacy school and still land a job at Rite Aid, Walgreens, CVS. You know what the cool thing is????? You will get paid the same amount of money as a person who graduated from a top ranked pharmacy school. I understand your point with the loans and rotations, but these topics have been beaten to death and it's not a secret.

and FYI, California has been saturated long before Northstate opened up. My friend knows someone who graduated from Western and that person couldn't land a job in SoCal. Does this mean you should get rid of Western too? NO. From my understanding, California is set to open two more pharmacy schools in the next couple of years and you know what, we can't do anything about it. I see your points but it's not your job or business to tell others not to apply to "x" pharmacy school. You worry about you and let others worry about themselves..

Nicely said!

Originally Posted by Hizzo23

You can go to any pharmacy school and still land a job at Rite Aid, Walgreens, CVS. You know what the cool thing is????? You will get paid the same amount of money as a person who graduated from a top ranked pharmacy school. I understand your point with the loans and rotations, but these topics have been beaten to death and it's not a secret.

and FYI, California has been saturated long before Northstate opened up. My friend knows someone who graduated from Western and that person couldn't land a job in SoCal. Does this mean you should get rid of Western too? NO. From my understanding, California is set to open two more pharmacy schools in the next couple of years and you know what, we can't do anything about it. I see your points but it's not your job or business to tell others not to apply to "x" pharmacy school. You worry about you and let others worry about themselves..

Assumptions that you can find a job after graduations from any school is very old, meaning many things have changed. I know for a fact that chains come to USC and western to interview graduating students and offer them jobs. WIll this happen at Northstate? Who knows. But i can tell you that i spoke to two hospital directors and two chain managers. They both said they are irate that more schools r opening.

Next, your point about existing saturation and not caring that it gets worse is absurd and hope you are kidding. The more saturation occurs, we will be faced with less raise in wages, worse working conditions which will lead to worse quality of care. You are basically saying that you want to make something bad even worse. this is most ridiculous thing i;ve heard in a while.

Thirdly, you want to tell me what my job is. I am making a valid point about considering what school to attend and i care about pharmacy profession and saturating it is not protecting it.

Originally Posted by steveysmith54

Assumptions that you can find a job after graduations from any school is very old, meaning many things have changed. I know for a fact that chains come to USC and western to interview graduating students and offer them jobs. WIll this happen at Northstate? Who knows. But i can tell you that i spoke to two hospital directors and two chain managers. They both said they are irate that more schools r opening.

Next, your point about existing saturation and not caring that it gets worse is absurd and hope you are kidding. The more saturation occurs, we will be faced with less raise in wages, worse working conditions which will lead to worse quality of care. You are basically saying that you want to make something bad even worse. this is most ridiculous thing i;ve heard in a while.

Thirdly, you want to tell me what my job is. I am making a valid point about considering what school to attend and i care about pharmacy profession and saturating it is not protecting it.

I am not saying saturation is good. All I am saying is no one can do anything about it. The irate pharmacists can be irate all they want, but they can't do anything. Pharmacy schools are popping up left and right, with no slowing down. I think there has to be a stop to it because it will be harder to find a job. I am not from California so I don't have to worry about wanting to live in SoCal or not but many of my classmates do which really sucks..

Originally Posted by steveysmith54

Assumptions that you can find a job after graduations from any school is very old, meaning many things have changed. I know for a fact that chains come to USC and western to interview graduating students and offer them jobs. WIll this happen at Northstate? Who knows. But i can tell you that i spoke to two hospital directors and two chain managers. They both said they are irate that more schools r opening.

Next, your point about existing saturation and not caring that it gets worse is absurd and hope you are kidding. The more saturation occurs, we will be faced with less raise in wages, worse working conditions which will lead to worse quality of care. You are basically saying that you want to make something bad even worse. this is most ridiculous thing i;ve heard in a while.

Thirdly, you want to tell me what my job is. I am making a valid point about considering what school to attend and i care about pharmacy profession and saturating it is not protecting it.

Worrying about saturation in the pharmacy market is reasonable so I agree with you on limiting new schools from opening up. With this said, you should focus on limiting new schools from opening up, not criticizing schools that have opened already. Also, know that part of this saturation problem is due to older schools expanding their class sizes, not just cause of new schools. Northstate is a newer school give it time to develop instead of dismissing it. The ease of finding jobs depends on the students ability and connections and not due to the schools they go to, this is especially true for the community pharmacy setting. The current economy doesn't help with the pharmacist job market either so maybe it will be better once it recover in a couple of years.

Originally Posted by steveysmith54

Nguyen401,
There are practically no jobs in LA and OC as it is now... Right now you can't even be hired as a intern at cvs in OC.

This is actually what I loved about Northstate. No saturation up by Sacramento, Northstate students will have no problem finding an internship position while in school and ideally after they graduate. The reason they started CNCP up in Sacramento was because they need pharmacists up there. No competition with the Bay area (UOP, Touro, UCSF) or So Cali. Pretty nice

Originally Posted by Heylo

This is actually what I loved about Northstate. No saturation up by Sacramento, Northstate students will have no problem finding an internship position while in school and ideally after they graduate. The reason they started CNCP up in Sacramento was because they need pharmacists up there. No competition with the Bay area (UOP, Touro, UCSF) or So Cali. Pretty nice

I just submitted my supplemental.....this is good to know.....thanks

I would also like to add, just FYI for everyone that I did not know until I went to visit Northstate. Pharmacies are dying for interns up there, so you are pretty much guaranteed a job while you are in school. We were told at the interview that they visit the school and try to get you to intern at their pharmacies. And the rent up there is super cheap. I met some students that I keep in touch with from the interview who will be attending, and 1 bed 1 bath rent average up there is like $600-$700. Lowest I've heard was like $550. And of course some higher. Which was also a huge plus for me. There are many apartment complexes that are not far from the school.

The bad thing? It's so BORING up there! I'm from LA so I'm just comparing. But it might be a good thing so you can focus on your studies instead lol. Just wanted to share that.

But of course a well established school is always nice! I'm just posting Northstate info, the only people who really hate it are the ones who know they will have more competition finding jobs.

Best of luck to everybody!

Originally Posted by RDuran

I just submitted my supplemental.....this is good to know.....thanks

No problem and good luck! Regardless of what school you get into

Originally Posted by Heylo

I would also like to add, just FYI for everyone that I did not know until I went to visit Northstate. Pharmacies are dying for interns up there, so you are pretty much guaranteed a job while you are in school. We were told at the interview that they visit the school and try to get you to intern at their pharmacies. And the rent up there is super cheap. I met some students that I keep in touch with from the interview who will be attending, and 1 bed 1 bath rent average up there is like $600-$700. Lowest I've heard was like $550. And of course some higher. Which was also a huge plus for me. There are many apartment complexes that are not far from the school.

The bad thing? It's so BORING up there! I'm from LA so I'm just comparing. But it might be a good thing so you can focus on your studies instead lol. Just wanted to share that.

But of course a well established school is always nice! I'm just posting Northstate info, the only people who really hate it are the ones who know they will have more competition finding jobs.

Best of luck to everybody!

Great info. Thanks!

Just forwarding info for those looking into CNCP

"I thought I'd post this email I got from WASC concerning government aid and accreditation from Christine Castagnola, the finance operations manager from WASC.

What I can tell you is that they (WASC) have a
visit scheduled in the fall of 2010. If everything goes well a decision will be made by our commission middle of February which would grant them candidacy. From my understanding at that point you would be eligible to submit an application to FASFA."

Hey Guys

About how long were your responses to the supplemental questions? For this questions.... "Summarize other information that may provide the admission committee a deeper understanding of your personal strengths...." Are they looking for an additional personal statement or just something brief?

Originally Posted by freshnewkicks

Hey Guys

About how long were your responses to the supplemental questions? For this questions.... "Summarize other information that may provide the admission committee a deeper understanding of your personal strengths...." Are they looking for an additional personal statement or just something brief?

Mine was around 430 words.

yeah but we did!!.....

Originally Posted by Dmadina

yeah but we did!!.....

Oh, so you can file a FAFSA now?

hmm i think i made a post with the same but w/e. I thought I'd share this with ppl planning to apply to cncp. This is from Christine Castagnola, the finance operation manager at wasc.

What I can tell you is that they (wasc) have a visit scheduled in the fall of 2010. If everything goes well a decision will be made by our commission middle of February which would grant them candidacy. From my understanding at that point you would be eligible to submit an application to FASFA.

Good Luck

It would be great if we can get federal aid with candidate status. I've found a couple schools that are in candidate status from wasc that qualify for fafsa. CNCP is still up in the air, but this would be great news.

Has anyone here received an interview invitation,yet (Early decision applicants)?