Huge question about 3year programs

[hckyplyr]

Hello boys and girls,
I have an interview at both Pacific Oregon, and also just today I received an interview invite at USN...HOWEVER, my friend is a P1 at USN right now, and said he is stressing out big time because of their curriculum. He is not allowed to get under a 90% on any test, or he has to repeat it the following week. If that following weeks test score is below a 90%, he has to take summer school in which that is his last opportunity to beat that test. Now don't get me wrong, I am not looking for an easy way to breeze through school, but a 90% or above on each test is ALOT to ask for. Four year institutions are not like this. Lastly, I know Pacific Oregon is 3yr block as well, but do they also have that policy where you have to get a 90% or above on each test???????? Thanks alot

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[aboveliquidice]

Hello boys and girls,
I have an interview at both Pacific Oregon, and also just today I received an interview invite at USN...HOWEVER, my friend is a P1 at USN right now, and said he is stressing out big time because of their curriculum. He is not allowed to get under a 90% on any test, or he has to repeat it the following week. If that following weeks test score is below a 90%, he has to take summer school in which that is his last opportunity to beat that test. Now don't get me wrong, I am not looking for an easy way to breeze through school, but a 90% or above on each test is ALOT to ask for. Four year institutions are not like this. Lastly, I know Pacific Oregon is 3yr block as well, but do they also have that policy where you have to get a 90% or above on each test???????? Thanks alot

Yes we do - however, each test is accompanied by a group test. If your group as a whole scores above 95% (which my group did on every test for P1 and P2), then your individual score gets a plus 5%. In reality, I only needed 85 to pass. Regardless, it means you have to pursue a higher level of competency.

Think of it this way... As a practicing pharmacist - is okay to get 70% of your clinical interventions correct? Of course not - in the real world, we all strive to be perfect. Applying that same notion to academics, Pacific and USN hold you to a 90% competency.

It really isn't as rough as it appears... like anything else in life - you adjust (that's what being a professional student is all about).

 

[diastole]

How much you stress is really an individual thing. I don't stress much at all. I just know that I'm going to get a 90% and earn a three day weekend. If you know your stuff, the outcome isn't really in doubt. The trick is finding a study method that works for you. An old prof told me that more times you see something and sleep on it, the more it sticks in your head. So I review all of my notes each day that I study. We only have six lectures on each assessment so it isn't that bad. As the time goes on, I review the first lectures faster and faster and by the time the assessment comes around, I'm practically an expert. And if you think you are an expert, there is no need to stress. I know that some of my classmates are really stressing out but I suspect that as they pass more and more assessments, their stress levels will go down and that 90% mark will seem normal to them.

 

[hckyplyr]

Thanks to both of you. Its great to hear feedback since each of you attend the schools I will be interviewing at. And a special note to Diastole, I've been reading some of your posts, and you have such a good outlook on school and academics. It doesn't seem like you ever get down or stressed?? You must be on a good combo of pristiq and provigil or something.... Just kidding, but thanks again to both you you!!!

 

[Pharmgrlnxdor]

I agree!! Diastole is a good source of reliable and helpful information. This question and Diastole's answer took care of my most recent worry about applying to USN. I was feeling really good about applying to USN but then spent eight weeks over the summer suffering through an intense pace in Chem 2. As a result, I began to worry about spending two plus years trying to maintain this kind of fast pace. Diastole did you take any summer classes to fulfill prereqs and was that pace similar to USN's regular pace during the year? I would love to know this.

 

[diastole]

I agree!! Diastole is a good source of reliable and helpful information. This question and Diastole's answer took care of my most recent worry about applying to USN. I was feeling really good about applying to USN but then spent eight weeks over the summer suffering through an intense pace in Chem 2. As a result, I began to worry about spending two plus years trying to maintain this kind of fast pace. Diastole did you take any summer classes to fulfill prereqs and was that pace similar to USN's regular pace during the year? I would love to know this.

I did. I took both Chem 2 and A&P2 over the summer and I loved the pace. I actually think that the A&P pace was a bit more intense. We had an exam each week and sometimes two if there was a lab practical scheduled. At USN, we have exams once every two weeks with an occasional extra one thrown in if we have an assessment on our seminar day so we don't have as many exams packed so closely together. One advantage to this system is that you don't have three or four exams packed into one week like you might get in a more traditional pharmacy school during midterms.