Is Pharmacy Worth It in Pittsburgh, PA?

[Septenary]

I'm an 18-year-old senior, I have a 3.5 GPA currently. I have a some serious questions regarding pharmacy. My main goal is to make 6 figures or more comfortably. Is the 100K+ debt worth all of those years in school? Is the job market over saturated in Pittsburgh, PA? Should I base my life off of this career? BTW, this is not my "passion". I don't know my "passion" yet.

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[297point1]

Is anything worth it in Pittsburgh, PA?

 

[VeeSee]

if you want to end up on the drugs u fill than go ahead

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Yinzerville has 2 schools in the city and WVU an hour down I-79, plus LECOM up I-79. It's a small city. Do the math...odds are, you will find it tough to get a job in town right out of school when 300+ graduates briefly flood the market. Between the usual retail operations, UPMC's bazillion satellites, CVS's giant operation in Monroeville, and all of the PBM mail order jobs in town, there are a lot of pharmacist positions in town. If you hang around long enough, you'll probably find something in the fall or Spring. Make the right connections and network.

 

[zelman]

I'm an 18-year-old senior, I have a 3.5 GPA currently. I have a some serious questions regarding pharmacy. My main goal is to make 6 figures or more comfortably. Is the 100K+ debt worth all of those years in school?

No

Is the job market over saturated in Pittsburgh, PA?

Yes

Should I base my life off of this career?

No

BTW, this is not my "passion". I don't know my "passion" yet.

If you think you want to go to pharmacy school, get into the most affordable 4 year program you can and make sure to do all the pharmacy school prereqs in the first two years. Then you can decide in a year if you want to apply for pharmacy school after 2 years of college, or finish a 4 year degree there.

 

[alprazolamborghini]

no

 

[Chalupa_Batman86]

I would only go if you have plans of following the Pittsburgh Penguins and Steelers all year long. Be prepared to have a fantasy football and hockey team to keep yourself busy during the long stretch of skimpy per diem hours, if any are even available by then.

 

[awval999]

Is anything worth it in Pittsburgh, PA?

Have you ever been?

Pittsburgh is very nice.

 

[297point1]

Have you ever been?

Pittsburgh is very nice.

I've been.

The Warhol Museum is nice.
PNC Park is beautiful- best in all of major league baseball.
And...well, that's the two things I liked. That's two more nice things than Cincinnati has, so you've got that going for you.

 

[RxPreceptor]

Forget about the "comfortable" part for pharmacy. Yes, Pitts burg is extremely saturated. No offense, but people like you who are not passionate about meds, pharmacology, etc. and only care about the financial incentive along with the expanding schools of pharmacy are only contributing to poorer working conditions and lack of jobs for those who actually deserve them.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I've been.

The Warhol Museum is nice.
PNC Park is beautiful- best in all of major league baseball.
And...well, that's the two things I liked. That's two more nice things than Cincinnati has, so you've got that going for you.

At least get a Primanti's sammich. Jesus.

 

[rph3664]

No

Yes

No

If you think you want to go to pharmacy school, get into the most affordable 4 year program you can and make sure to do all the pharmacy school prereqs in the first two years. Then you can decide in a year if you want to apply for pharmacy school after 2 years of college, or finish a 4 year degree there.

Or better yet, a community college. In many, if not most, cases, you can get as good an education at a CC for a fraction of the money of a 4-year college. You'll also be able to get a lot more individual attention from your teachers.

Choosing a college major because it pays well is not a good reason to do it. Are you interested in medicine as a career? If you are interested in pharmacy, GET A JOB IN ONE before you lock yourself in. That way, you'll know if it's really what you want to do. You aren't limited to a drugstore, either; you could work at a hospital or a long term care pharmacy (they mostly service nursing homes).

 

[zelman]

Or better yet, a community college. In many, if not most, cases, you can get as good an education at a CC for a fraction of the money of a 4-year college. You'll also be able to get a lot more individual attention from your teachers.

Choosing a college major because it pays well is not a good reason to do it. Are you interested in medicine as a career? If you are interested in pharmacy, GET A JOB IN ONE before you lock yourself in. That way, you'll know if it's really what you want to do. You aren't limited to a drugstore, either; you could work at a hospital or a long term care pharmacy (they mostly service nursing homes).

Community college is a great choice for prepharm, but may not be a good choice if you are open to stumbling into a major you want to pursue for a BS (or longer). Getting in from high school opens up scholarship opportunities that are unavailable to transfer students, and the transfer process itself can be a real hassle. A two year community college is a risky choice, but larger ones with 4 year degrees aren't bad.

 

[rph3664]

Most people do not graduate with the degree they intended to get when they entered college, and among liberal arts students, most change their major several times.

 

[BC_89]

I'm an 18-year-old senior, I have a 3.5 GPA currently. I have a some serious questions regarding pharmacy. My main goal is to make 6 figures or more comfortably. Is the 100K+ debt worth all of those years in school? Is the job market over saturated in Pittsburgh, PA? Should I base my life off of this career? BTW, this is not my "passion". I don't know my "passion" yet.

Until you experience college life your high school gpa is nothing much to evaluate (assuming being 18 yrs old maybe your talking about your first semester of college which I imagine is GE courses). If your in it for the six figure salary, why not go big and be a specialized anesthesiologist or brain surgeon? Make triple+ your debt in the long run...or why not pick the easiest six figure salary and be a petroleum engineer with just a bachelors?

You will waste your livelihood pursuing something you have no passion for...I'm not saying 100% of the time of every waking second you feel nothing but love of what you do, but you have satisfaction in the long run having a skill Joe Shmoe can't do and something you "like." Take college courses and find your niche never do it for the money alone.

I imagine if ya make it to organic chemistry your path may narrow a bit (it did for 60% of my classmates).

 

[lord999]

Is anything worth it in Pittsburgh, PA?

Heh, guess you've walked up that hill before too...drinking town with a football problem. Maybe if you want to buy an abandoned church, it'd be worth it.

More seriously, even BEFORE the oversaturation nationally, Pittsburgh having two pharmacy schools, the good one and the bad one had pretty much divided the city up by the late 80s (as in, if you graduated from Pitt or Duquesne, you had to leave the area). That's also considering that there were 5 in the state as of 2000, and Ohio had an overproduction.

So, you want to become a pharmacist, that's fine, but it's deeply unlikely you'll stay in Pittsburgh. That's why the #1 team of pharmacists (both hospital and retail) in Arizona is the Steelers even today. How many pharmacists aren't Ohio, Illinois, or Pennsylvania transplants is a running joke there.

 

[jayreb]

lol i go to pharm school in Pittsburgh and have talked to pharmacists in the area that told me that it will be unlikely to get a job since it is saturated. First and foremost, work in a pharmacy before you get into the profesiomal phase.. I don't wanna live here anyway but i love primantis

 

[Rouelle]

I always thought Primantis was a bit overrated and way too touristy. I'm a bigger fan of the Original Hot Dog Shop and the monstrous french fry orders therein.