Top pharmacy schools to avoid

[MatCauthon]

There is a projected job GROWTH of 41k pharmacists, with... say 141k new pharmacists. But the figure of 14% growth does not account for pharmacists that go into retirement, this figure is simply the number of new positions that will be available. So in the next 10 years 100k pharmacists need to retire for supply to meet demand. There are currently around 300k pharmacists in the USA. So in the next 10 years 1/3 of them would need to retire. For supply to meet demand.

Though this may or may not happen, the severity of this situation was overstated in your post.

This isn't to mention the idea that pharmacists could end up handling warfarin tests/managing diabetics/etc potentially creating even more jobs. Chains will certainly push this if they can bill for it.

You aren't even exaggerating for some schools! Wasn't there one in California that charged $73,000 per year without living expenses? After living expenses especially in expensive California, easily can hit $100K per year. Good luck paying back those loans in an unpredictable job market.

Chains might push these things but they won't provide any extra help to get them done. This goes back to the mandate of putting pharmacists on salaried wages and making them do extra work for free on their off-time.

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[Grace184]

This post is ridiculous and inflammatory. As you can probably deduce I am a graduate of one of these "top schools to avoid." The education I received was well beyond that of many other state schools and diploma mills I ran into on rotation, earned me a residency spot at a top academic hospital, where I am now an adjunct professor. My education/life is fulfilling, but please, follow the advice of some person that is unhappy with their education and the course of their life.

 

[Guilded_Age]

"My feelings say pharmacy is amazing! I must disregard all the actual practicing pharmacists who are making well-founded arguments to exercise a bit of caution before entering this field."
---Every poster with 'Pre-Pharmacy' in their profile.

It's like poetry.

 

[SClENCE]

"I love helping people and making a difference in their lives"

A few months of being yelled at for wait times/cost/insurance rejections will probably cure them of this. The first thing anyone in pharmacy should understand is that 90% of customers only care about 2 things - wait time and how much they pay. Most customers have no comprehension of the true cost of healthcare and think that your number one priority is customer service. If you are looking for job satisfaction through customer interactions you should stop now and understand the nature of the general public.

 

[future pharmacist2016]

Thank you for this information.

 

[RxStudentatUB]

This post is ridiculous and inflammatory. As you can probably deduce I am a graduate of one of these "top schools to avoid." The education I received was well beyond that of many other state schools and diploma mills I ran into on rotation, earned me a residency spot at a top academic hospital, where I am now an adjunct professor. My education/life is fulfilling, but please, follow the advice of some person that is unhappy with their education and the course of their life.

If you are going to spend this kind of money on school, choose medical school. Anyone that chooses to attend a pharmacy school on this list will need to rewire their brains and find the role of debt slave very fulfilling for many decades. If anyone enjoys working for decreasing wages and being in bondage to debt, attending UCSF and UCSD pharmacy school is a good start to achieving this goal.

 

[radio frequency]

This post is ridiculous and inflammatory. As you can probably deduce I am a graduate of one of these "top schools to avoid." The education I received was well beyond that of many other state schools and diploma mills I ran into on rotation, earned me a residency spot at a top academic hospital, where I am now an adjunct professor. My education/life is fulfilling, but please, follow the advice of some person that is unhappy with their education and the course of their life.

It might be inflammatory, but it's hardly ridiculous. Ridiculous is overspending on a degree to the point that paying it back is difficult.

 

[Grace184]

or one receives academic scholarships and the rest they pay back through the government like an adult, along with other bills that come along with being said adult. The title of the thread is misleading- one should not avoid a quality education because of a post on SDN. That being said, the ones feeding into this seem to be those who may be unable to get into school and quoting various anti-pharmacy propaganda. Those seem to be the ones needing "re-wiring" and choose another path if this thread makes you so leary of a possible profession.

 

[RxStudentatUB]

or one receives academic scholarships and the rest they pay back through the government like an adult, along with other bills that come along with being said adult. The title of the thread is misleading- one should not avoid a quality education because of a post on SDN. That being said, the ones feeding into this seem to be those who may be unable to get into school and quoting various anti-pharmacy propaganda. Those seem to be the ones needing "re-wiring" and choose another path if this thread makes you so leary of a possible profession.

Academic scholarship merely controls the interest rate that comes with the cost of attending such schools. Your argument would be taken a little more seriously if your income as a pharmacy school instructor was not reliant on the students' tuition, easily accessible through government and private loans. On top of that, is there a reason you are bailing the pharmacy profession to pursue medical school? The people that went this route have realized that the proverbial winter is coming. The classes of 2018 and beyond have been warned.

 

[rasdent1234]

On top of that, is there a reason you are bailing the pharmacy profession to pursue medical school?

I'm curious as well.

 

[SClENCE]

This post is ridiculous and inflammatory. As you can probably deduce I am a graduate of one of these "top schools to avoid." The education I received was well beyond that of many other state schools and diploma mills I ran into on rotation, earned me a residency spot at a top academic hospital, where I am now an adjunct professor. My education/life is fulfilling, but please, follow the advice of some person that is unhappy with their education and the course of their life.

That is why your reapplying to medical school?
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/3-45c-3-31s-non-traditional.1137741/#post-16521193

 

[Grace184]

It's kind of creepy that your scoping on my posts...actually it's because I want to advance my knowledge and skills in neurology and eventually become a pediatric epiliptologist. I wouldn't have learned that without the course of my life.
My life is fulfilling- everything I said in my post my true.

But please, continue beating this dead horse by being a stalker. I bet you will work mail order one day.

 

[Grace184]

I'm not trying to tell anyone how to live their life- go to whatever school you want. Be whatever you want, in pharmacy, in life....go, live, learn...

 

[BMBiology]

^ People come to this forum to get information. It's not "telling anyone how to live their life". Obviously there are bad choices in life like taking on more debt than you can ever pay it off. That's the point of this thread.

I especially like this:

First:

No MCAT yet- looking for help on what may make me most competitive (0bviously I am going to do the best I can!)

Then a minute later:

I am actually a re applicant- I applied MD/Some DO late in the cycle- my jan 2014 MCAT was 8ps 7vr 9bs. I didn't understand the "cycle" and am more aware this year. Taking MCAT early July.

You want to apply for med schools, then go ahead. I don't think anybody here really care. Just don't be fake about it.

 

[Grace184]

I meant no MCAT this year... They revamped it in 2015 so I was referring to the new one. My intent was never to be fake, I was referencing the title of the thread. I said my education at that school was meaningful/fulfilling and led me to opportunities that I love so much so that I see the world differently.

Apply wherever you want or can get into

 

[Grace184]

And it is true- I am still paying back debt. I should be loan free by the end of the year.

As to why I am leaving pharmacy, when you work in academia and clinical pharmacy, there's a lot of room for self growth. I finally cam to the decision late last year but it was late in the cycle. If there are any clinical pharmacists out there, I think there's an understanding of no "us vs them" but what's best for the patient. And I simply want to learn more. I officially resigned at the end of the school year with LORs from the dean of my pharm school and the med school.

I apologize for my fervor in defending my pharmacy school. I understand that debts are a big concern for graduates and I didn't mean to take that lightly. I think a lot of things come into play when choosing a school and I was fortunate enough that wasn't my largest factor. Again, I apologize.

 

[Amphetamine Salts]

Honestly, I wish I didn't go to pharmacy school. The system is really corrupt in that students right after high school are faced to decide what they plan on doing for the rest of their lives. Almost all kids that age, 17-18, have no idea what the hell they wanna do, and to tell them that a 6 year pharmacy program will get them a good job is such a fool's gold way to suck them in. The truth is, going to pharmacy school unless you really enjoy the material and are intrigued by pharmacy blows completely. On top of that, you'll be borrowing money up your ass for 6 years, only to work for another 6 years after you graduate to pay off those loans.

What sense does that make to throw away 12 years of your life like that? If only I was this smart compared to after I graduated high school, if only I had someone with some sense mentoring me about the reality of going down pharmacy. I would have just went to state college, spend a **** ton less money, and come out with a degree in 4 years and get some job in finance or something. During my college years I'd also be doing some internet marketing or business related things so I can work from my computer, I already have some projects I'm working on now.

My point is, no one knows for sure after they graduate high school whether they want to pursue a PharmD or not. And it truly does blow because once you're so far down the program you're essentially forced to complete it since you've borrowed so much up to that point. It sucks **** but what are the benefits? Well, I guess you'll be making 80k-100k after graduation after you get taxed. This is good but it's not the million dollar salary that people automatically assume when they hear a healthcare related profession. After all your loans are paid off then you'll be able to enjoy that money, which will be after 3-5 years following graduation most likely. There are other benefits such as you get a kick ass amount of knowledge related to healthcare, but in order for you to see the value of that you have to really give a **** about this profession and healthcare has to be apart of your life and mean something to you, meaning if you're just doing this for the money you won't take value out of your knowledge. With the 6 years of pharmacy school, and the 3-5 years of paying off loans, I could be doing so much ****. I would probably have 10+ websites by then all making me money on a passive basis and be debt free...

 

[oogens]

you too can make passive income, working from home with websites!

The magical money tree doesn't exist. Not for pharmacy, not for med school, not in computer sci. Maybe for dental school.

 

[PharmtoCS]

you too can make passive income, working from home with websites!

The magical money tree doesn't exist. Not for pharmacy, not for med school, not in computer sci. Maybe for dental school.

Computer science provides the best return on investment for your education overall, IMO. If you are good, you can earn pharmacist or even physician salaries without the $200k+ debt and 4-8 additional years in school/residency.

Sent from my SM-N910V using SDN mobile

 

[CMUchicka]

Computer science provides the best return on investment for your education overall, IMO. If you are good, you can earn pharmacist or even physician salaries without the $200k+ debt and 4-8 additional years in school/residency.

Sent from my SM-N910V using SDN mobile

You can only make $100 +K in computer science if you went to big schools like MIT, standford and other well known, top notch private and state schools. You will still be needing MS or Ph.D in some case as you will be competiting with lot of international students. These jobs can be easily outsourced and companies usually look to hire international over US citizens to save $$$ and benefits. How would i know? My fiance is in field, he went to ivy league, scored $150 K right out of school, amazing benefits and debt free ( thanks to his parents).. And most importantly, programming is hard and i can tell you its not everyone's cup of tea.