3 Year Schools vs 4 Year Schools

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pharmerted

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I'm possibly looking at the pros and cons of a 3 year vs a 4 year school. For people attending 3 year and 4 year schools, could you tell us your personal experiences/opinions?

Is a 3 year program too stressful? Does it limit your options to have a life? Do you feel burned out by second year?
One problem i have is that the 3 year schools i applied are located in cities with great weather and lots of great partying potential (USouthern Nevada and Glendale)

Is a 4 year program more relaxed and easier on you? Or do you just wish you could get it over with earlier?

BTW, i have one point of contention with arguments for 3 year schools. One year of salary would be about 85K a year (and possibly lower if you didn't go into retail). 85K after taxes would be closer to 50K, NOT 100K, so you are NOT getting a free education, but rather a 50K discount. However, in addition, i'd say 90% of people spend more of that extra money that they earn, so it's not like they pay off their student loan with that extra cash. So a 4 year student would pay about 95K for a state school, 140K for a private/out of state school, 3 year students pay approximately 120K.

I'd like to know people's input on 3 year and 4 year schools.
 
4 year school.... I like my summers... I need them... if i didn't have them i would have died from burn out and probably failed something and required 4 years as it is....

No i don't care to get it over with earlier... again.... summers are very nice...... and it is well worth it. also i hate block scheduling... we did one month of it in january and i thought i was going to not make it through the month....
 
Yes, it can be stressful (some weeks more than others), but it goes by very quickly. But it is doable; in addition to school I have approximately a 40 minute commute each direction and work 15 hours a week on the weekends (so I don't even get a day off most weeks). It's a just a price I need to pay now to have a better life later. But, those who live near campus and/or don't work definitely have time to socialize! It's all about budgeting your time.

We have on average two tests a week and are set up on an 11 week quarter system. Toward the end of the quarter we start to "burn out" a little (which is kinda dangerous aroudn finals!) But at the end of each quarter we get 1-2 weeks off to recharge. The only advantage I would see to having summers off is working more during that time.

As far as salary; regardless of what your "take home" is, it will be more than if you were in school that extra fourth year.
 
pharmerted said:
I'm possibly looking at the pros and cons of a 3 year vs a 4 year school. For people attending 3 year and 4 year schools, could you tell us your personal experiences/opinions?

Is a 3 year program too stressful? Does it limit your options to have a life? Do you feel burned out by second year?
One problem i have is that the 3 year schools i applied are located in cities with great weather and lots of great partying potential (USouthern Nevada and Glendale)

Is a 4 year program more relaxed and easier on you? Or do you just wish you could get it over with earlier?
Click to expand...

This is also my very question!!! Those of you with experience on this, please let us know... 👍 thanks 🙂
 
I go to a three year school as well. It is dooable, but it sure is not easy. There are points and times where you scratch your head and say what the hell I'm doing here?! but you work through the rough times. The other problem with 3 year programs is if you like to be involved in leadership. I know that the schedules get real funky with organizations like APhA and ASHP due to the format. That is the nature of the beast though. I know sometimes I wish I would of went to the 4 year school, but I know when I am done I will be happy.
 
Pharmerted, your salary details and tax ideas are off a bit. There are easy ways to save on taxes. If you don't participate and buy housing, or live in CA, then you deserve to pay 35K in taxes like you state. Salaries in AZ are around 95K now, and I expect them to be atleast another 5-10K higher by the time I graduate in 2 years in this high demand state. Here is an article on them: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/careerbuilder/articles/0227jobsmain27.html

I have a different tax situation than many of you probably since I am married and have 3 kids. (Thank you George W and your $1000/kid tax CREDIT!!) But making 95K in a low tax state like AZ, then there is no reason to not take home at least 75-80K, even if you are single. You might have to buy a house, donate to charity, etc., but I thought that was the American way anyways. I fully expect to make 100K my first year out of school, without any overtime counted, and out of that, take home 90K in this state. For those of you that wish to live in more expensive, overpriced, high tax states, (CALIFORNIA!!!!), well, you might have to pay out the wazoo in taxes.

As far as 3 vs 4 year schools, I really like MWU-Glendale and the pace. Yes, it is fast and we always are busy, but that makes it go by quick. We are done with 2 qtrs now and it seems to me like I just started a few weeks ago. The school is in a block system which could be corrected a bit to save us some down time, but overall, I like it because I will be at school from 8-3 or 4 mon through thurs, and 8-2 on friday. I have time to studay a coupld hours right after school, then be home by 6-7 to be with my family and "have a life" as so many are worried about. I do absolutely no schoolwork from the time I get out on Friday until usually monday morning. Sometimes I do study Sunday nights right before tests, but I still have two whole days off a week with no schoolwork. Summers are overrated, I would much rather get done early.

Midwestern is really 2.75 years also, not bad.

Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
Jeddevil said:
Pharmerted, your salary details and tax ideas are off a bit. There are easy ways to save on taxes. If you don't participate and buy housing, or live in CA, then you deserve to pay 35K in taxes like you state. Salaries in AZ are around 95K now, and I expect them to be atleast another 5-10K higher by the time I graduate in 2 years in this high demand state. Here is an article on them: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/careerbuilder/articles/0227jobsmain27.html

I have a different tax situation than many of you probably since I am married and have 3 kids. (Thank you George W and your $1000/kid tax CREDIT!!) But making 95K in a low tax state like AZ, then there is no reason to not take home at least 75-80K, even if you are single. You might have to buy a house, donate to charity, etc., but I thought that was the American way anyways. I fully expect to make 100K my first year out of school, without any overtime counted, and out of that, take home 90K in this state. For those of you that wish to live in more expensive, overpriced, high tax states, (CALIFORNIA!!!!), well, you might have to pay out the wazoo in taxes.

As far as 3 vs 4 year schools, I really like MWU-Glendale and the pace. Yes, it is fast and we always are busy, but that makes it go by quick. We are done with 2 qtrs now and it seems to me like I just started a few weeks ago. The school is in a block system which could be corrected a bit to save us some down time, but overall, I like it because I will be at school from 8-3 or 4 mon through thurs, and 8-2 on friday. I have time to studay a coupld hours right after school, then be home by 6-7 to be with my family and "have a life" as so many are worried about. I do absolutely no schoolwork from the time I get out on Friday until usually monday morning. Sometimes I do study Sunday nights right before tests, but I still have two whole days off a week with no schoolwork. Summers are overrated, I would much rather get done early.

Midwestern is really 2.75 years also, not bad.

Good luck with whatever you decide.
Click to expand...


Well, like i said above, you'll only make 85K+ if you go directly into retail. IMO, that means win now, lose later. I'd like to get some experience at a pharmaceutical company or in clinical pharmacy, if i get sick of it, I'll go into retail. Whereas, if you go directly into retail, I have heard that it's much more difficult to get into other areas. Who knows? I may end up in retail myself.

As for netting 75-80K after taxes, well, i'm not married, i don't have 3 kids, and i am dead broke, so it's pretty unlikely that i'll be buying a house my very first year out. Maybe i'm just not an expert on tax code, but i believe that without deductions, you'll pay 20K in federal taxes alone on a 90K salary along with FICA, state, social security, medicare/medicaid taxes and even property taxes (if you own a house), etc. And no i don't live in CA, i live east of the missisippi!

Anyway, do you find it to be too demanding at a 3 year school? If you had to do it over again, would you go to a 3 year or a 4 year school?

Here is my question. Would it be better to go to a school that was 4 year with an excellent reputation or a 3 year school with a lesser rep? Would it still be worth it just to try and finish in 3 years? Thanks!
 
pharmerted, I've been debating the same thing for a couple of months now. What finally led me to my decision was from speaking to the students of both schools that I applied to (one a 3 year and one a 4 year). Both sets of students told me pretty much the same information...its challenging, either way you look at it. So I thought, do I really care that I dont have the 2 summers off that I would at a 4 year school, and does that make up for getting out a year early?

If your so worried about the reputation of the school, and want to do a competitive residency then you should go there and forget that you even had the option of the 3 year...if not, then disregard reputation. Good luck. 🙂
 
Is there a 3-year public pharm school? That would be the best of both worlds, cheap and fast. 😀 If there's none of those, I would go with a 4-year public school, cheap and the pace is not as hectic.
 
Pharmerted, one last thing about taxes. Our tax code is set up to benefit business owners. They get many deductions that normal people can't deduct. It never says that you have to make money at this business, but you can't take a loss from the same entity three years in a row. It doesn't matter if it is a ebay business, you sale crap at craft shows a couple times a year, or you trade. In this country, you can actually have a $0 federal tax load and the feds will still pay you a couple grand on top of it if you work it right. Wonderful country this is. Yes, you still pay FICA and state. If you really don't want to pay tax, even single and broke, take a little time down the road and look into these ways to save you money.

Onto the subject at hand. You ask:: "Anyway, do you find it to be too demanding at a 3 year school? If you had to do it over again, would you go to a 3 year or a 4 year school?

Here is my question. Would it be better to go to a school that was 4 year with an excellent reputation or a 3 year school with a lesser rep? Would it still be worth it just to try and finish in 3 years?"

If you need the reputation to get you the residency you want, you better go to the 4 yr with the rep. If you are going to just go work retail like many of us, then it doesn't matter where you go.

It depends on other circumstances also. I know for myself and many others in my class that are married with families, the extra year saved is worth a lot more than just making money faster. For singles that don't have that added push to get done, then a year probably doesn't mean that much to you. For me, I want to get done quick, because then I plan on working for one of the evil retail giants and pumping out overtime for 5-10 years. I don't want a clinical job. In ten years, I will reevaluate and work somewhere else, stay, change jobs completely, or a combo. That extra year means a lot to the goals of my family. If it doesn't to you, go to the 4 year and pay a lot less enjoying a couple summers.

One word of caution: I got into 2 three years and 2 four years before I canceled other interviews. Both 4 year schools bragged about the summers off, but when talking to students, the only one I would get off would be the first. They had you scheduled doing rotations during the other few summers. Make sure you really get them off if that is what you are looking for.

I am sure you will make a good decision for yourself whatever it is. Take care and good luck in your studies.
 
Jeddevil said:
Pharmerted, one last thing about taxes. Our tax code is set up to benefit business owners. They get many deductions that normal people can't deduct. It never says that you have to make money at this business, but you can't take a loss from the same entity three years in a row. It doesn't matter if it is a ebay business, you sale crap at craft shows a couple times a year, or you trade. In this country, you can actually have a $0 federal tax load and the feds will still pay you a couple grand on top of it if you work it right. Wonderful country this is. Yes, you still pay FICA and state. If you really don't want to pay tax, even single and broke, take a little time down the road and look into these ways to save you money.
Click to expand...

Not to change the subject or anything, but for some reason this paragraph reminds me of that crazy old guy in the black suit covered w/ question marks, pitching his government free-ride book on late night infomercials. 🙂
 
I will hunt you down come Monday when we get back in class.

My wife says I am crazy, and I am getting older. Don't pay the guy with the question marks, just have a brother who is a CPA!
 
Does it matter what school you go to if you want to do a residency? I thought that pretty much it didnt matter where u went to pharm school as long as u pass the NAPLEX. Do residency programs look down upon attending certain schools?
 
Tai said:
Does it matter what school you go to if you want to do a residency? I thought that pretty much it didnt matter where u went to pharm school as long as u pass the NAPLEX. Do residency programs look down upon attending certain schools?
Click to expand...
they definitely look at grades and from what i've heard to get some of the competitive ones you need to have done some stuff in pharmacy school and interview well...
 
I go to a 4 year school. It is only my first year, and although I am looking forward to the summer, I am not looking forward to not having financial aid. Most of the pharmacy jobs have already been sucked up by upperclassmen, and I'm not qualified to do much else. My husband is a substitute teacher and is also in graduate school, so he is in the same bind as me...no summer job. With a 3 year program you don't have that stress of worrying about how you are going to eat or keep your apartment during the summers. I just interviewed for a summer intern job at a hospital, and they informed me 20 first year pharm students have applied. So as of right now I have a 10% chance of employment this summer (they accept 2 interns). Keep your fingers crossed.
 
Good luck with the internship OSURxgirl! Also, if you're worried about $ for the summer here is an idea that is kinda out there. I got a job 3 years ago at a Marriott hotel as a banquet server. I had no prior serving experience, just customer service experience. The job is super easy and fun and you get to interact with lots of different kinds of people. I have never served at a restaurant, but I think banquets is way better 'cause you don't have to work for tips or memorize menu's or anything - seriously it's the easiest job I've ever had. The summers are usually really busy because they have lots of weddings and conferences and stuff. The starting pay was $11.50 for part time and you got a raise after 3 months. I am still a seasonal employee so I can work in the summers and holidays and stuff. Well, that's my little plug for banquet serving. I know some people are totally against food service or semi manual labor, but I just thought I'd throw it out there. 👍
 
I'm leaning toward a 3 year university myself, but really want to land a clinical job or residency afterward. Can anyone give any insight into whether or not a relatively well-known 4 year trumps a 3 year in this respect?
 
xtsukiyox said:
Jeddevil, they've got this class & the next one coming in June to start & graduation is also in June. Isn't that 3 full years? Or are you counting the 2 week breaks in there?
Click to expand...


Haha...you do realize that this thread is over 6 yrs old, right? I doubt that person even comes back on here (at least I've never seen that screen name floating around).:laugh:
 
delano2000 said:
Haha...you do realize that this thread is over 6 yrs old, right? I doubt that person even comes back on here (at least I've never seen that screen name floating around).:laugh:
Click to expand...

DANGIT. Snookered again. :laugh:

That would explain the 2.75 year comment. MWU-CPG's since changed to a 3 year program (used to start in September but now starts in June.)
 
I am prefer 4 years.
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