**PHARMACY STUDENTS: Pros and Cons of your PharmD school**

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CareDD

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Current pharmacy students, help out the prepharmers by telling us what you love and hate about your school! Please share anything you would have liked to know. I believe this would be a helpful resource for pre-pharm.

Name of school:

Year you are in (if willing to share):


Comments:

Curriculum:

Location:

Cost:

Faculty:

Reputation:

Clinical Rotations:

Housing:

Study areas:

Social Scene:

Local Hospitals:

Board Prep:

Other:

Overall:

Grades:

Curriculum:
Location:
Cost:
Financial Aid:
Faculty:
Reputation:
Technology:
Study Space/Library:
Library technology/Resources:
Rotations:
Social:
Hospitals:
Post Grad:

Overall Grade:

Credit to meds forum for making this list

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hm ... because the ranking by US.News is not valid, I thought this would be a helpful thread to start for pre-pharmers to choose schools based on their preferences. Really guys? No one has anything to say about his or her school? I am sorry if I sound mean, but I don't mean it
 
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hm ... because the ranking by US.News is not valid, I thought this would be a helpful thread to start for pre-pharmers to choose schools based on their preferences. Really guys? No one has anything to say about his or her school? I am sorry if I sound mean, but I don't mean it

I thought it was a pretty cool idea too :thumbup:
 
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hm ... because the ranking by US.News is not valid, I thought this would be a helpful thread to start for pre-pharmers to choose schools based on their preferences. Really guys? No one has anything to say about his or her school? I am sorry if I sound mean, but I don't mean it

I like what you are trying to do, but that form is too long for me to fill out. Cost/location/etc can easily be found out online. Perhaps if it was trimmed down to just stuff that cannot be found on the school's website...Also would be nice for a place to put general comments. Some of it doesn't really seem to apply to us anyway.

I think perhaps it would be easier if it was more open-ended. Let me give it a try.

Name: UF COP

Curriculum: First year is mostly useless, second year was horrible, third year seems to focus on applying it, can't speak to fourth year or rotations yet. (Is that what this question is asking for?)

Location: Easily found online

Cost: Easily googled

Faculty: Approachable, focused on helping the student succeed. I think the staff at the distance campuses are more student focused than the staff on the main campus.

Reputation: Unbeatable. Many pharmacists in FL are UF grads and we have a strong alumni network.

Clinical Rotations: I know we have them.

Housing: Yes?

Study areas: Yes

Social Scene: Yes

Local Hospitals: Yes

Board Prep: Yes


Grades:

Curriculum: B
Location: How do you grade this?
Cost: A+, cheapest COP in FL by far
Financial Aid: See above
Faculty: A
Reputation: A+
Technology: Hit and miss, B+
Study Space/Library: Meh, C I guess?
Library technology/Resources: Meh, C-
Rotations: Haven't done em yet
Social: I can't grade this
Hospitals: Shands is one of the best hospitals in the world. A+
Post Grad: I don't know how to grade this :shrug:
 
And I would just leave it at that. The comments will be more helpful than arbitrary grades anyway. Hopefully a few more people will contribute and get the ball rolling.
 
Name: University of the Sciences, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy

Curriculum: They are trying to do "active learning" and it really hasn't been working out well. Basically, the professors give students "roadmaps" of stuff that students have to fill out before lecture (and get quizzed on before lecture starts), so it's a lot of self-teaching. They use a lot of clickers, which I find helps pay attention in lecture. They now offer a lot of different electives.

Faculty: Mixed. Most are awesome clinical practitioners, some are not that good at teaching.

Reputation: I've been told on rotations (by people from my school as well as other schools) that we have a great reputation.

Clinical Rotations: Great variety of settings. The problem is that some people (especially those that limit themselves to staying in Philly without a car) don't get exactly what they want, and we cannot choose the timing nor the exact place where we do the rotations, just the type of rotations. So far all the rotations I've had were pretty good though. We have 2 required acute care clinical rotations, which I think is good if you want to do residency. We also have a "clinical track" rotation program in some of the best hospitals on the East Coast for those who are interested and qualify. Rotation year cost is insane (additional tuition since it's year-round).

Housing: Most people get apartments around the city in professional years, though there is limited student housing available (most housing is reserved for undergrads).

Study areas: Yes

Social Scene: Not at the college itself, and a lot of people go home on weekends. Philly's a great city though.

Local Hospitals: Lots of hospitals in the city, but we have to compete with the other 2 schools in Philly for rotation sites, so offerings have gotten a bit more limited recently.

Board Prep: Yes, this year is the first year that they're offering it for free.


Grades:

Curriculum: B-
Location: A
Cost: C-
Financial Aid: C
Faculty: B
Reputation: A
Technology: C+
Study Space/Library: B
Library technology/Resources: B-
Rotations: A-
Social: B-
Hospitals: B+
Post Grad: Cannot grade, but we have an accredited PGY1 and an unaccredited PGY2. Also lots of industry-based residencies/fellowships.
 
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Thanks everyone for trying. It is a pretty long form to fill out. Something people might consider while applying such as the cost of living (e.g how much for the rent) because for me personally the lowest loan we have to take is better since the job market isn't quite good right now. Also, some people might be happy to learn about the weather. I have been living in CA all my life, so it is hard for me to imagine what is it like to be living in Carolina or Wisconsin, Florida, Texas, etc ...

Thanks guys for trying to roll this thread. Owlegrad, since you are a moderator, maybe you can create a more formal thread to attract more people from other sections.

I am going to apply to UF pharmacy school as well since the cost of living is low :D
 
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Thanks everyone for trying. It is a pretty long form to fill out. Something people might consider while applying such as the cost of living (e.g how much for the rent) because for me personally the lowest loan we have to take is better since the job market isn't quite good right now. Also, some people might be happy to learn about the weather. I have been living in CA all my life, so it is hard for me to imagine what is it like to be living in Carolina or Wisconsin, Florida, Texas, etc ...

Thanks guys for trying to roll this thread. Owlegrad, since you are a moderator, maybe you can create a more formal thread to attract more people from other sections.

I am going to apply to UF pharmacy school as well since the cost of living is low :D

Haha, your thread is great, I wouldn't think of trying to start a new thread when we have this one! Plus we love user generated content, no way I would try to start over. With your permission I will edit your original post to make it a bit easier and more relavent? I can also rename the thread, but I can't think of a better name. :laugh:
 
Granted, I'm only a first year, so I can't really say too much about any one subject.

Name of school: UCSF

Year you are in (if willing to share): 1

Curriculum: The curriculum (from what I hear) changes a lot from year to year. Student Affairs is very receptive of suggestions. We have an Educational Policy Committee made of students from every class year to make suggestions.

For first year, we really hit the basic sciences hard. Our first quarter is PChem, Biostats, Biopharmaceutics, Pharmacy Practice, and Pharmaceutical Calculations. Classes are mostly lecture based, but there are conferences and other things that facilitate discussion. The students in my class are pretty good about participating and asking questions during lecture.

There is also an emphasis on interdisciplinary education. Because there is a medical, pharmacy, dental, nursing, and a physical therapy school here, there's an effort in improving communication between all disciplines.

Also, we are grade based, not P/NP. Take this however you want to.

Location: San Francisco is an awesome place to be for graduate school. The school is located in the Inner Sunset area, which is pretty nice. Not too much nightlife around the place, but there's a lot of restaurants and some bars located within walking distance of the campus.

Cost: It's pretty expensive as far as a public school goes. In state tuition is about 32k. It's pretty ridiculous given that if I went out of state to University of Washington, my out of state tuition would be about the same. At least UCSF does try to subsidize some of it. However, it doesn't help that much, but it's nice to know they're trying.

Faculty: Overall, I'd say the faculty here is very good. Most of them seem to care a lot about how each individual student is doing. There are some that are slightly less experienced and not that good at teaching yet, but I think after some comments from our class, the faculty (in general) will work very hard to improve themselves. I think overall though, the vast majority of our faculty are really smart people who do try their hardest to help us learn.

Reputation: From what I've heard, UCSF has a very good reputation in terms of their education and preparation for careers. We are a smaller school than UOP and USC, so I think that affects us in terms of getting our names out there.

Clinical Rotations: Haven't started them yet, so I can't say. The few shadowing days I've done have really gave me a lot of new knowledge about how things work.

Housing: There's a few options. There's Parnassus Housing, which is located very close to the school (anywhere from 1-4 blocks away from school). These are houses owned by UCSF that house anywhere from 4-8 people each. These people can be students from any UCSF school, not just the pharmacy school. There's also Mission Bay Housing, which is dorm style housing that's located pretty far from campus. This is also owned by UCSF, and most students take a UCSF shuttle to and from campus to get to class.

And of course, we have students that live in off campus places in inner sunset area close to campus as well as farther away from campus.

Study areas: Compared to my undergraduate (UCSD), I feel that study areas are more accessible. Study rooms are open 24/7 with your ID card, and there's a bunch of random rooms everywhere around campus and in the library for you to study in. And if you don't necessarily need a private room, there's usually no shortage of open seating. There's also a computer lab open 24/7 as well. In the few months I've been here, I haven't had much trouble finding a place to study.

Social Scene: San Francisco is a pretty awesome place to live in. I like bars, but SF is really into the clubbing scene, which I'm not a big fan of. Luckily, there are bars here and there. There's also Chinatown, which has a lot of great food. There's Sunset, Downtown, Mission, etc. There's not really a shortage of things to do.

Local Hospitals: I can't really comment because I haven't had enough exposure to the hospitals to know how good they are. There is the UCSF Med Center/Bernioff's Children Hospital located right next door to campus, but I don't know much about it besides the shadowing days I've done at the hospital, which I liked a lot.

Board Prep: Not really sure. I believe there is free board prep help, but obviously, as a first year, I don't know much about them.

Grades:

Curriculum: A-
Location: A
Cost: C
Financial Aid: B
Faculty: A-
Reputation: A
Technology: B-
Study Space/Library: A-
Library technology/Resources: A-
Rotations: N/A
Social: A
Hospitals: N/A
Post Grad: N/A

I put N/A for things I don't think I know enough about to comment on.

Overall Grade: A-

This wasn't really addressed anywhere in the "review," so I'll put it here. I really enjoy being at San Francisco, not just because of the school, but because of the students I'm with. For the most part, they're great people to be with. They're great influences on me, and have definitely made my first quarter here amazing. The upper classes are great people that have been really welcoming as well.
 

Name of school: University of the Pacific

Year you are in (if willing to share):
1st Year

Comments: Accelerated Pharm Program (3years)

Curriculum:
Thecurriculum has improved a lot over the years, from what I’ve heard. We starthitting the basic sciences from the get go in addition to actual start learningthings applicable to pharmacy practice. 1st semester we covered PharmacyPractice & Professionalism; Dispensing, Calculations & Compounding;Molecular & Cellular Biochemistry; Physical Pharmacy & Dosage Forms;Non-Prescription & Self Care; and Practicum (P/NP). All these havelab/discussion components.

This semester we’llbe doing Informatics, Statistical and Research Design; Physiology &Pathophysiology I & II; IPPEs; and Drug Metabolism & Disposition (BasicPharmacokinetics).

Location:
Stockton, CA

Cost:
Tuition is expensivesince it is a private institution (50K+) but it is a good 20K less during 3rdyear (final yr rotations). You will be able to get enough FinAid to cover forall expenses.

Faculty:
I would say ourfaculty here is pretty good with a few exceptions. Overall the professors willdo their best to ensure that everyone understands and is able to pass theircourse. They have office hrs dedicated for tutoring purposes. We usually havereview sessions the week prior to midterms and finals.

Reputation:
Verygood. We usually have a very large class (200+) and an extremely large alumnibase. I read somewhere that around 1/3 of pharmacists in CA are UoP grads.

Clinical Rotations:
Prettygood. We have our rotations built into our curriculum and I actually start thisnew semester. There are pros and cons to this method. One pro is that you areplaced at a site so no need to go searching for one on your own. One con wouldbe that it takes up some of your time during the semester. You’ll need goodtime management.

Housing:
Yes and lots ofapartments near campus.

Study areas:
Lots andthe main library is usually open 24 hrs during midterms and finals. Healthsciences library closes at 10pm, I think. Public safety is 24 hrs and theyallow us to study in their conference room. Lots of study areas located oncampus (housing).

Social Scene:
We have alot of parties and social events on both the Health Sciences and main campuses.

Local Hospitals:
Yesaround 4 and some in nearby cities.

Board Prep:
Yesduring the final weeks of 3rd year.

Other:

Overall:

Grades:

Curriculum:
A-
Location:
B-
Cost:
C
Financial Aid:
A
Faculty:
A-
Reputation:
A
Technology:
B+
Study Space/Library:
A-
Library technology/Resources:
A-
Rotations:
A-
Social:
A-
Hospitals:
B+
Post Grad:
B+ (if you’re asking about residencies)

Overall Grade: A-

Other: Stockton pretty much sucks(most of the time) but your classmates will make the experience pretty good foryou. Plus Stockton is close to Sacramento, Fresno, Oakland and San Francisco(all within 1-1.5 hrs away). Also there are lots of volunteering opportunitieswithin the community and lots of health fairs. You also get your intern licensesby October/November time frame.
 
Name of school: University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

Year you are in (if willing to share): 1st (I know who you are ladnar ;])

Curriculum: Simply amazing. UCSF is never comfortable in its curriculum. The school's education committee constantly critiques and challenges itself to change and push the limits of their pharmacy students. They take a lot of time to determine what courses can complement each other and put them into a quarter; they also determine what courses are substantial for teaching in other quarters. It's all very logically sequenced and consequently, students build off their foundation knowledge really well.

Like ladnar said, we have a heavy science curriculum (but not basic science as there's a difference between learning mitosis/meiosis, which one should have learned and understood really well in prereq classes, and physical/adv. organic chemistry). Because of this, students are taught how to think, react and adapt quickly to situations. This gives us an advantage as we're expected to not only know specific dosage, mechanism of action and pathophysiology but conduct research to enhance hospital and health systems. On that note, there aren't very many UCSF pharmacists who are in community settings because UCSF primes us with opportunities to affect pharmacy on a state, national and international level.

Our curriculum is split into 3 pathways. Depending on the pathway, you will be exposed to different skills. For one of the pathways, you are guaranteed to go to Geneva to intern in the World Health Organization and create change on a world scale.

Location: San Francisco, need I say more?! We're between Stanford and Berkeley. Silicon Valley is only 45 to an hour away. We are surrounded by prestigious institutions that work closely with UCSF such as the Stanford-UCSF relationships.

Cost: It rose a little bit, but still definitely worth the investment. UCSF doesn't only teach material but ways to find resources, critically assess situations and interprofessionalism with health professionals, business administrators, government agencies, scientists, etc.

Faculty: One reason why UCSF has a great education is due to its faculty members. UCSF has nobel winners left and right, whether they are based at UCSF or are visitors from other institutions. Our lecturers are the ones that invented all the pharmacokinetic equations, wrote the multiple textbooks such as therapeutics, and contributed tremendously to health science. At times, they stumble on teaching a concept, but they acknowledge when they aren't clear and send out supplemental emails and review in the lecture to help us understand.

Reputation: UCSF has a great reputation and not because of US News. It's great because the education you receive is a world class education and expectation. They attract the brightest and most genuine people who want to move the world in a positive direction.

I also hear many employers say that UCSF students tend to know a lot more. Again, that's only what I've heard from them. It's an observational statement.

Clinical Rotations: I haven't experienced rotations yet, but from what I hear UCSF rotations are hard. They expect a lot from their students.

Housing: There are options :] It's more expensive than other places, but again, it's SF.

Study areas: Library, LOTS OF COFFEE HOUSES (chain like starbucks, and many many mom/pop shop cafe places :])

Social Scene: Loads. Lots of clubs, many bars, great food. San Francisco brings many people from all over the world. There is a constant in and efflux of people. Great networking! I randomly met Stanford law students at a coffee house once and we had a great conversation about pharmaceutical law.

Local Hospitals: I hear they're great, but I haven't been on rotations yet.

Board Prep: They help prep us in the middle of our last year.

Overall: I love it. I think that you should find a pharmacy school that fits you. What makes UCSF so amazing is the people. We have a very diverse class with different religions, ethnicities, cultures, sexual orientation, etc. We also have great relationships with the other programs such as dental, medicine, physical therapy, phd/master, and nursing.

We are assigned into groups where we have 2 dental, 2 med, 1-2 PT, 1-2 nursing students, and 2 pharmacy students. We choose a community center or underserved institutions such as API wellness center, elementary schools, etc. and we do a project to benefit it. We have to utilize the different skills in our professions to educate and empower their patients, students, etc. It's a great way to learn how each profession works and network!



Grades:

Curriculum: A+
Location: A
Cost: B-
Financial Aid: B+
Faculty: A
Reputation: A
Technology: B+
Study Space/Library: A-
Library technology/Resources: A-
Rotations: N/A
Social: A
Hospitals: N/A
Post Grad: N/A -- but there is a lot of alumni support. I don't know why people think that only private schools have a great alumni network.

Overall Grade: A-

I am being real and not giving As or A+s to all the criteria. I don't really think that there is any perfect school. Overall, I am really enjoying my time here. I have access to opportunities that I never imagined. I love the people in my class and at the school. When it comes down to it, the people make the program amazing. The San Francisco is our campus, and the SF community members support us. As our director of admission always say, "We're not #1 for everyone!" This is my experience and is definitely different from everyone else's. Ask yourself what the important facets to an education are, and what institution will give it you that. There is no such thing as a perfect school.
 
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Name of school: Touro College of Pharmacy NY

Year you are in: Class of 2012

Curriculum: B+ ( I like how it's the 2+2, meaning 2 years of classes and 2 years of rotations. First semester you're pretty much thrown right into the fire since a lot of P1 classes at other schools would be prereqs here.)
Location: A (It's in Harlem, which is fine with me. I like the location because it's the most accessible area in Manhattan by car. You can also get here very easily by Subway or Bus. I also grew up in a rough neighborhood, so Harlem is nothing new to me.)
Cost: C+ (30K +)
Faculty: A
Reputation: B
Clinical Rotations: A
Housing: F (Find your own, there are no dorms or anything. Gotta find your own apartments around the city. I commute from Long Island.)
Study areas: B
Social Scene: A (it's NYC)
Local Hospitals: A (it's NYC)
Board Prep: (about to experience this Spring)
Overall: A-
 
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Haha I like how everyone's overall grade is the same A-.....
 
Haha I like how everyone's overall grade is the same A-.....

Haha, it's hard to be objective when we're asked to give our opinion on the school, and given that I think a lot of people are pretty happy where they are, you're gonna get a lot of good grades.
 
For my school's rating I will go with p/f grading and I would give my COP a pass.
 
Just remember that our gradings and comments are subjective. I'm sure if another one of my classmates (same goes for the others that posted in this thread) were to post their opinions in here the grading will not be the same. Keep that in mind y'all.
 
Name of school University of Arizona

Year you are in (if willing to share): P2

Curriculum: Excellent. Case studies begin first semester so you can integrate your knowledge. All the curriculum is coordinated so your learning in reinforced. Very heavy on case studies that are detailed, challenging, and"real world". There are some classes that are strictly memorization but you can't pump and dump and expect to do well where it matters. Very good electives that can be taken in other health professions orin graduate sections of programs like psychology. IPPEs are diverse, especially if you do the rural health program. Plenty of opportunities for dual degrees and tailoring you're education to suit your interests. They don't mess around here...
Location: Tucson, arizona

Cost: Tuition is about 21k a year in state. Lots of scholarships

Faculty Exceptional. Well respected and accomplished. Really care about students for the most part. Wide variety of research and independent study opportunities.

Reputation: excellent. Strong alumni network. We produce excellent pharmacists, or so I hear
Clinical Rotations: excellent. Affiliated with many institutions.

Housing: Yes and lots ofapartments near campus.

Study areas: we have our own study rooms and computer labs, share the medical library with other health professions
Social Scene: it's a college town ;)
Local Hospitals: a ton
Board Prep: yep!
Other:

Overall:

Grades:

Curriculum: A+
-Cost: A
Financial Aid: A
Faculty: A+
Reputation: A +
Technology:A+ wireless everywhere, all printing within the college.plugs for every four seats Study Space/Library: A
Library technology/Resources: A+ we have our own librarians in the college of pharmacy. They are very helpful for research and senior projects
Rotations: A+ lots of hospitals in the areaand great ambulatory sites like IHS or el rio community center. We have a poison center in the college (same building) run by pharmacists. Some students work there as interns or rotate there. We have lots of opportunities for out of state rotations and international rotations. One of my friends went to Fiji.
Social: A-can be cliquey
Hospitals:A
Post Grad: A+ plenty of graduate degree programs and the strong alumni network helps with job hunting
Overall A+
 
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Name of school: Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center-Abilene

Year you are in (if willing to share): P1


Curriculum: In my opinion, it is well structured. First semester was biochemistry, immunology, drug information, anatomy, immunizations, and drug delivery. This semester is physiology, pharmacology, compounding, OTC, IPPE, pathophysiology, and pharmacotherapy (integument). Your first year is to build foundation in the basic sciences that will prepare a student for case studies and more application based courses. You have three years of courses, you start rotations in your third year, and your last year is solely rotations and grand rounds (45 minute presentation given once in the fall and once in the spring).

Cost: $15,000 per year for tuition which really isn't bad at all.

Faculty: Excellent. Nearly every professor that is a pharmacist has their own practice site. Plenty open-door policies with the majority of the professors to just get to know them, get help, etc.

Reputation: I've talked to many clinical and community pharmacists, and when I mention that I go to Texas Tech, they know how good the students are. The amount of knowledge and application we experience here translates very well in practice and Texas Tech is continuing to grow its outstanding reputation.

Study areas: I cannot speak for Amarillo but Abilene needs to expand since we share the study areas with case study courses. The Abilene campus is trying to expand.

Social Scene: Abilene is a small city. It has everything you want in regard to major retailers yet still has the small town feel. There are a few clubs and bars that the pharmacy students go to (and there are a lot of students from the other undergrad institutions that go to them as well). It's nothing compared to the larger cities but if you want to have a good time, you can do it.

Other thoughts: I was sold on Abilene since there are only 40 students that enroll each year at the regional campus (for each class). I feel that I know my class very well and I enjoy that aspect of my experience a lot.



 
The OP did mention that she got the idea from the med forums.;):D

This is why I always get test questions wrong that pull information from footnotes. :cool:
 
Name of school: Jefferson School of Pharmacy (Thomas Jefferson University)

Year you are in (if willing to share):
P1

Comments:

Curriculum: Difficult the first semester because you have to adjust to the course load and learn how to really study for exams. IPPEs are integrated so you don't have to find them on your own. ~16-17 credits per semester. Most of your grades are based on exams, but some classes have group projects and papers. You have 6-7 classes per semester. We also have OSCEs almost every semester (at least the first four we do for sure, not sure about P3 year). We also have a huge interdisciplinary program where we are in a group with medical, PT, OT and nursing students where we follow a single patient for the first two years. Jeff also requires students to maintain a 3.0 GPA, which is higher than other schools in the area (and gives us a claim to higher standards).

Location: Center City Philadelphia. Safer than Temple in North Philly. Close to everything; a part of Jefferson hospitals

Cost: As private school tuition goes, I'm not complaining. It's cheaper than the state schools for out of state students and not that much more than the public schools for in-state.

Faculty: Mostly PharmD's that work in clinics at Jefferson's hospital. We also have professors from the Med School that are MDs or PhD's. Classes are team taught so everyone teaches their specialty. All the faculty are willing to help you learn (much more so than what I've heard about other schools)
The other schools in the area (not to be named) like to talk smack on Jefferson but that's because their good teachers came to work at JSP.+pity+

Reputation: Jefferson's pharm school doesn't have much of a reputation as of yet because it's still new. But if the hospital and med school's reputation have anything to do with what our reputation will be in a few years, I think it will be a very popular choice for pharm school.

Clinical Rotations: IPPEs start the first semester and continue each semester. APPEs are in 6 six-week blocks the 4th year starting in May. In the 2nd-4th years you get some say in your assignments as they use this system that ranks all of your preferences and gives everyone what they want to the best of it's ability.

Housing: Jeff offers on campus housing to all first year students and you can keep that housing for the whole four years. It's very, very expensive but also very, very convenient. Finding housing in center city is also very expensive. A lot of students commute with no problems except the occasional down train.

Study Areas: huge library, plus 2+ other campus buildings where you can reserve study space with whiteboards for group studying.

Social Scene: Please, it's center city. There is so much to see, and lots of fun places to go. Philly is historical plus it has all the modern stuff we love like bars in olde city and fancy restaurants like Fogo de Chao

Local Hospitals: Jefferson is known around the country because of its great reputation. In addition, there are many good hospitals in the city like UPenn, Temple, etc.

Board Prep: don't know yet because we are graduating our first class this year!

Other: I love it here. I tell all of my friends that are applying for pharmacy school they should come here. But don't think you can just breeze through. it is challenging but even after the first semester I'm amazed at everything I've learned. One of the things that's great about Jefferson is that they really take into consideration student feedback each semester and try to improve the curriculum. I don't know of any other schools that value student input so highly.

Overall: :)

If you have any questions about Jeff, feel free to send me a msg!
 
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Can anyone here review USN. I plan to go there when I'm done with my pre-reqs.
Name of school: University of the Pacific
Cool, I live in Stockton!

I want to attend UOP but their tuition is ridiculous...and they require a bachelor degree. :[

But UOP is one of the most renowned Pharmacy school in the nation.:thumbup:
 
Can anyone here review USN. I plan to go there when I'm done with my pre-reqs.
Cool, I live in Stockton!

I want to attend UOP but their tuition is ridiculous...and they require a bachelor degree. :[

But UOP is one of the most renowned Pharmacy school in the nation.:thumbup:

I didn't think UoP in Cali required a degree.
 
Can anyone here review USN. I plan to go there when I'm done with my pre-reqs.
Cool, I live in Stockton!

I want to attend UOP but their tuition is ridiculous...and they require a bachelor degree. :[

But UOP is one of the most renowned Pharmacy school in the nation.:thumbup:


Tuition is ridiculous but they don't require a degree. There are about 5-10 people in my class that are transfers, including myself, that don't have degrees. The bachelors degree is highly recommended though.
 
Hey If you don't mind Can you share how you did in you undergraduate studies. What was your GPA and your PCAT scores and stuff. Did u have extracurricular activities?

I also applied here and I just want to see what my chances are
 
Name of school: University of Maryland

Year you are in (if willing to share): P3

Curriculum: 1st semester is basic science courses plus Principles of Drug Actions. Starting 2nd semester of P1, you will begin Therapeutics as part of the Pharmacology, Pathophysiology, and Therapeutics series, there are 9 of those classes (27 credits) and it is in the span of 3 semesters. P3, you take Pharmacotherapy I & II (managing more than one disease state at a time) and electives. Also in P3, there many non-clinical classes: Pharmacy Management, Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmaco-economics, and Public Health...just to name a few. My class was the first class to have this new curriculum, it has been very intense and a bit frustrating being the trailblazers/guinea pigs.

Faculty: Awesome. We have faculty members that have been here for a loooong time that their some of their students are now our faculty members. Because of partnership with Johns Hopkins Hospital/University, we also have assistant professors from Hopkins. We just got a new faculty member, a senior scientist from the FDA who's coming to open a new research center at our school.

Reputation: We are the 4th oldest pharmacy school and until recently the only school in Maryland so we have a decent reputation.

Study areas: We have brand new building (2010). The Baltimore campus has some great study area: the Health Science Library and even the Law Library.

Social Scene: Lots of bars and dance clubs (Power Plant/Fed Hill) in Baltimore. At Shady Grove, which is close to DC, you have the DC nightlife (Dupont, Adams Morgan, K Street...)

Other thoughts: Great school, the only issue is being the class with the new curriculum. We had to work out a lot of kinks (much to the benefits of the classes behind us). The pharmacy school is in same campus as the medical, dental, social work, nursing, and law school. We are also apart of the University of Maryland Medical System so a lot of our students rotate there. Also next to the school is the Maryland VA and the school of pharmacy runs the Maryland Poison Center. We have a close relationship with Johns Hopkins, in fact, Hopkins has a clinical track program for 4th year rotations for UM pharmacy students, where you can do 4 consecutive rotations at Hopkins. The Shady Grove campus is in the BioTech corridor, many of our students have gone on to get fellowships at MedImmune (which is 10 minutes away). Of course, we are close to the FDA, so many of our students do their rotations at the FDA.

Overall: I am enjoying my experience at this school. Before I got in I heard that it was very cut-throat but I come to find out that the students here are very helpful (we pass around notes and study guides all the time). Baltimore can be sketchy at night, so be careful and always walk with a buddy or use the free Caravan service. If you are a commuter, you have to pay for a parking garage or pay $5 a day to park. Shady Grove campus is in the suburb (sometimes there a gaggles of geese running around) and parking is free.
 
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This is a very useful thread. Thank you to all the pharm students who have posted!
 
Someone review Roseman College of Pharmacy plox!
 
This is an awesome thread! In addition to the other requests above I was wondering if maybe a current Temple, University at Buffalo or University of Michigan student could contribute. Thanks in advance :)
 
I would also like to see reviews on Buffalo and Michigan!
 
Ooh this is great timing for regular applicants to make their decision on which schools to attend. :)

Somebody please review Loma Linda and U of Colorado!
 
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Well since everyone is making requests I might as well jump on the bandwagon... :)

Can anyone from UNC or from U. Iowa post their thoughts?
 
I wasn't going to "review" because I'm only a P1 so I can't say much about P2-P3 curriculum (which are more important anyways), but since you guys requested :)

Name of school: University at Buffalo, State University of New York (SUNY)

Year you are in (if willing to share): P1

Curriculum: MAJOR CHANGES.
This year, a lot of our classes are together with UB undergrads (biochem, physiology, microbiology, to a certain extent pharmaceutical calculations & physical pharmacy, but those only pharmaceutical sciences people are allowed to take). However, next year, they're changing their curriculum so the P1 will have a medicinal chemistry, pathophysiology, and so on, all with just pharmacy students & taught by school of pharmacy faculty. So I can't comment on P1 curriculum at all, except I hope it'll be more specialized and catered to pharmacy students.

We have IPPE starting first semester, and I don't know about other schools but we have to look for our own IPPE's (contacting the list of preceptors on our own). It's not hard, but it takes some prior planning (aka don't wait 'till the last week of the semester to start cramming in 20 hours). IPPE P2 year is 100 hours, and P3 150 hours, for a total of 300 hours by the end of P3. Pretty standard.

Faculty: Hit and miss. I guess our pharmacy faculty is good, but since we have a fair share of classes with the undergrad, the professors aren't that great... I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, since professors within the school of pharmacy are good so far.

However, they do take student feedback seriously. If a professor receives too many complaints, he/she won't be teaching for a long time.

Reputation: Oldest pharmacy school in New York, and when I told people on the West Coast I'm going to New York for school, they just assumed it was Buffalo, so I guess reputation is good.

Study areas: Not much this year specific to pharmacy students, but next year we'll have a building of our own (it's really pretty and awesome) with lots of lounges and study rooms.

Social Scene
: Not that great. Buffalo is not a major city the way NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc. are, but if you want to do stuff, there's always Elmwood and downtown. Of course basic things like malls and movie theaters are abundant, but if you want great bars/clubs/museums, etc, there aren't that many. I suppose you can always go to Toronto (1.5 hours away).

Other thoughts: I actually really like the people here, they're friendly and willing to help, but for those of you from warmer climate (especially people from the West Coast), be prepared:
- For snow. The lowest it's gone down is 10 deg. but I heard it could go to 0. However, my roommate is from NYC and she said while it's definitely colder than NYC, it doesn't snow much more. Those of you from the East Coast should have little to no problem. (unless you're from Florida, that is :D)
- Lack of good Asian/Hispanic food. There are a few options for Asian food, albeit not that great, but in terms of Hispanic food I'm only aware of Chipotle... If you learn how to cook...

In short: you just learn to adapt, for someone like me who doesn't go out much anyways (and not like you should go out too much during professional school), it doesn't really matter. Housing here is relatively cheap (unfortunately food isn't so), and hopefully I'll get in-state tuition next year, which is a really sweet deal. You can't do that in most states :D
 
Name of school: University of Southern California (USC)

Year you are in (if willing to share): 2

Curriculum: Seems like its very similar to other schools. 1st year feels like a total waste of time. Its pretty much like undergrad all over again, just at hyper speed. You do get your intern license within the first month or so, allowing you to start your IPPEs first semester. You'll also get your certificate to allow you to vaccinate in the first couple of weeks. First years are required to get competencies done both semesters, which consists of attending health fairs and screening participants (cholesterol, DM, HTN, and flu shots).
So far second year has been a lot better. You start the therapeutics modules (which I'm enjoying). Seems a little more laid back than first year, which makes it the year to get involved. A lot of people that hold board positions for the various organizations are second years.
Third year, from what I've heard, is the worst. Classes move quickly, tests almost every week.
Fourth year is all rotations. Don't know too much about it.

Faculty: Same as the person above me. The faculty here are hit and miss. There are a lot of amazingly smart people here who do awesome work. Then there are very few faculty (who still do amazing work) that can't really teach.

Reputation: From what I hear, USC is very respected. It's located in Los Angeles, giving us a lot of opportunities to work with the community. There are health fairs almost every weekend helping some under served area. I'm one of the project directors this year, so I've attended almost every one (18 just last semester). We are very involved in community outreach.

Study areas: Plenty of places to study. There is a large computer lab in the pharmacy building. There is also a library right next to it which is open until midnight every night (I think... I always study at home).

Social Scene: Great social scene. We're not far from downtown LA, Hollywood, Pasadena, Santa Monica, etc. There are a lot of social events going on for pharmacy students. We're about 15 minutes from USC main campus, a lot of people tailgate and go to the football games.

Overall: I would highly recommend this school to anyone thinking about applying. The Trojan family is very strong, a lot of people get intern positions just because the pharmacist working there is a USC grad. I'm extremely happy with my decision and don't regret it one bit. Please feel free to ask any other questions!
 
I would love to hear from UNC or Utah students.
 
Hmm, anyone for Midwestern CCP, or Creighton?
 
Other thoughts: Great school, the only issue is being the class with the new curriculum. We had to work out a lot of kinks (much to the benefits of the classes behind us).

Thanks! :D

Pretty much agree with what Luckyphooey has posted. The faculty, staff, and internship/rotation opportunities at Maryland are awesome.
 
Name of school: Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center-Abilene

Year you are in (if willing to share): P1


Curriculum: In my opinion, it is well structured....

Cost: $15,000 per year for tuition which really isn't bad at all.

Faculty: Excellent....

Reputation: ...Texas Tech is continuing to grow its outstanding reputation.

Study areas: I cannot speak for Amarillo but Abilene needs to expand since we share the study areas with case study courses. The Abilene campus is trying to expand.

Other thoughts: I was sold on Abilene since there are only 40 students that enroll each year at the regional campus (for each class). I feel that I know my class very well and I enjoy that aspect of my experience a lot.

It;s funny how your opinion changes from the P1 to the P2 or P3 year at tech. P1s are in that period that lasts about six months where they still believe all the hype.


Name of school: TTUHSC SOP

Year you are in (if willing to share): class of 2013:)

Curriculum: Not at all well coordinated. We were led to believe the instructors worked hand-in-hand so that the classes complimented each other. If so why was the curriculum changed so that P1s and P2s were taking classes together (at the same time - class size ~260 students not counting the grad students aslo taking the class) during our first year? there are scheduled test blocks so you supposedly do not have more than two major tests/week. that has not stopped there from being 5+ tests in one week, most of which account for more than 25% of your grade.

Location: Amarillo

Faculty: some are outstanding -
Overall, the basic science instructors are great, Dr. Mehvar teaches pk and he is easily the best instructor anywhere.:love: Dr. Stoll teaches biochem and cannot be beat.:love:

Once you get to the pharmacy practice instructors, it is another story.

Some could care less and are only there because it allows them to do research. the instructor teaching drug delivery systems was actually overheard telling this to a grad student.:thumbdown:

There was an instructor who recently left who used to send harassing emails to
female students :mad:

Reputation: TTUHSC SOP considers itself to have a great reputation.:cool: Preceptors on rotations consider the students to be so weak on drug knowledge that there is a "high risk drug knowledge assessment" given in the third year. They had to throw out about 20% of the questions this year because over 1/2 of the class got them wrong.:eek:

Clinical Rotations: P3 rotations have actually been great learning experiencers. Wish they had more options available for the P4 elective rotations as they are mostly geared to someone wanting to do a residency, teaching, writing or clinical. How about nuclear, compounding, vet, military, IHS, independent pharmacy???

Housing: Amarillo has adequate housing and is not outrageously priced

Study Areas: Inadequate. plenty of open space, but for guaranteed quiet space there is very little.

Social Scene: Adequate, but certainly less than a big city would have.:thumbdown:

Local Hospitals: Not bad, there are 2 major hospitals, a va hospital, plus many other specific specialty sites, such as cardio, oncology, etc.

Board Prep:supposedly good.

Other: Tech makes many promises when recruiting and fails to follow through on many of them. I have said, and have heard many of my classmates say, that we would not have chosen tech had we known how things really are.Preceptors on rotation have told me that other students are not happy either. I have actively discouraged people from coming here and will continue to do so.

Overall: if you are not convinced that you are going to be a CLINICAL pharmacist, this is not a good school to attend. That is their focus even though 95% of their graduates, or more go to community pharmacy.
The technology is particularly bad. They have students mikes hanging in the classroom that pick up every little noise, but when someone asks a question on another campus it is hard to hear them. The instructor often cannot hear, either.
On the other side, the dean is leaving this summer, and we recently lost the dean of academics. Maybe this will allow some fresh blood to improve the atmosphere.

Grades:

Curriculum:
B+
Location: B
Cost: B
Financial Aid: A+
Faculty: Some A+, Some D, one or two F
Reputation: B
Technology: F :thumbdown:
Study Space: D
Library: A
Library technology/Resources: A+:)
Rotations: B
Social: B
Hospitals: B
Post Grad: unknown
 
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Haha, it's hard to be objective when we're asked to give our opinion on the school, and given that I think a lot of people are pretty happy where they are, you're gonna get a lot of good grades.

Sure wish that were true at my school!
 
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