I got into West Coast and Chapman. Which one would you recommend? Haven't heard back from UOP yet.
Of the two, I'd lean towards Chapman, just because its parent school is really reputable, but with your stats, provided you do well on the PCAT (aim for a 80+), I think you have a good shot in getting into a much better school out of state. The problem with going to to an unaccredited school is you're taking a huge gamble. While most precanidate schools do end up becoming fully accredited upon graduation of their first class (but still something to consider), not only will end up being a guinea pig for the curriculum, but you might have some real difficulty getting rotation sites, especially since Southern California is already incredibly saturated between USC, Western, Keck, Loma Linda, and even UCSD in addition to the two schools you applied to. That's 7 schools in a geographic radius of maybe 200 miles? While getting retail rotations probably won't be difficult, being able to get the required hospital, ambulatory care and other pharmacy experiences will be tough as a newer school. Even if you are set on retail at the moment, I would try and keep your options open and explore all the different career possibilities. I'm currently really interested in ambulatory care, but I know I'm probably going to change my mind 50 times before I'm finished with school.
As a fellow native California girl (and long-time San Diegian) , trust me when I understand not wanting to leave SoCal. We have beautiful weather almost year-round, fantastic food, and close proximity to pretty much any kind of entertainment you possibly want. I love living here. Going out of state to go to pharmacy school does not mean you're exiled from the state and can never come back. Most of the pharmacists I work with grew up in Southern California, went to school out of state and then later moved back. There are so many options out there, and some really good accredited schools that I think you would be a fairly competitive applicant. I would try and apply only to schools that are associated with an academic medical center.
The PCAT is not hard. I spent about a month studying for it, and was able to pull off a 99 composite. The hardest part about the exam is not the content but the time management. I got a couple of books (The Princeton Review book and the Kaplan book) and went though the material, and then took some practice tests online, and treated them as if they were the real thing. With a good PCAT score, the school options dramatically open up, and can offset a lower GPA.
Regardless of where you go, you are going to be spending a lot of money on your education. I would try to make sure that I got the best education possible. Being the first one test a curriculum at a new school that hasn't gotten to establish itself is incredibly risky.