accreditation and instate questions

[petaro]

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hey guys, first time posting. i looked over a few threads, and i just needed some clarification.

it is my understanding that accreditation only means that you have the chance to take NAPLEX, which is the test that gives licenses. and candidate status is equal to accreddited status when it comes to taking the NAPLEX. does this mean that precandidates are unable to take the naplex if they graduate during this precandidate status, or after they graduate and it becomes a candidate/full.

i also have heard mixed things about prices for unaccredited schools. someone said they're cheaper cause they want to get students to go to their school, while someone else said it's more expensive due to lack of funding.


also, is it more difficult to get into a public school that is out of state?

 

[catchsomezz]

confettiflyer!

hey guys, first time posting. i looked over a few threads, and i just needed some clarification.

it is my understanding that accreditation only means that you have the chance to take NAPLEX, which is the test that gives licenses. and candidate status is equal to accreddited status when it comes to taking the NAPLEX. does this mean that precandidates are unable to take the naplex if they graduate during this precandidate status, or after they graduate and it becomes a candidate/full.

i also have heard mixed things about prices for unaccredited schools. someone said they're cheaper cause they want to get students to go to their school, while someone else said it's more expensive due to lack of funding.


also, is it more difficult to get into a public school that is out of state?

 

[Transformer]

hey guys, first time posting. i looked over a few threads, and i just needed some clarification.

it is my understanding that accreditation only means that you have the chance to take NAPLEX, which is the test that gives licenses. and candidate status is equal to accreddited status when it comes to taking the NAPLEX. does this mean that precandidates are unable to take the naplex if they graduate during this precandidate status, or after they graduate and it becomes a candidate/full.

i also have heard mixed things about prices for unaccredited schools. someone said they're cheaper cause they want to get students to go to their school, while someone else said it's more expensive due to lack of funding.


also, is it more difficult to get into a public school that is out of state?

Not sure if we already have a sticky on the different Accreditation status and definitions. If we don't, maybe we need one.

Only students from candidate and fully accredited schools can take the NAPLEX.

I have come to understand that a lot of people identify schools with pre-candidate status as unaccredited schools. If that's the case, No, students from pre-candidate and/or unaccredited schools cannot sit for the NAPLEX.

In terms of tuition for new schools, is it a public or private school?? Private schools are usually more expensive than public ones. I don't see why new schools would need to lower tuition to attract students when there is on average 9 to 10 applicants competing for 1 spot.

 

[themulya]

Usually by the time a pharmacy school graduates its first class it will move from being a Candidate to being fully accredited. No school so far has had a class graduate without reaching candidate status.

Prices are determined by private and public. Public schools receive money from the state government and therefore are cheaper in price.

However public schools receive money for the purpose of producing pharmacists for that state and if you come from out of state, chances are that you are more likely to go back to your home state to practice. That is why out of state public schools do not accept many out of state students

 

[confettiflyer]

Ugh, do people not read?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=7671760

Read posts #22 and #27 for my primer on accredited/preaccredited schools.

But to answer your questions..


1) If you graduate when a school is pre-candidate....let's stop right there. If you hit 4th year and your school is still pre-candidate, your school has problems, you better start praying. You won't be able to sit for NAPLEX until it hits Candidate status. Schools advance to candidate status within 1-2 years of being granted precandidate status.

With that said, since the "modern ACPE" period (ie post 2004, post HICP), no school has failed to make it out of pre-accreditation. It's an inherent risk (obviously) to attend a pre-candidate school, which is why you need to do more research than the average applicant who is applying into established programs.

All new schools also had to implement an 'escape hatch' plan with their pre-candidate status applications. I have never seen one, no school has had to use one. I would imagine that means they would award you some other degree aside from the PharmD.

2) Pre-accredited schools can be cheaper (I paid $28k for tuition, the established schools around me were charging between $30-35k). See my primer on accreditation I posted above on federal/private loans.

People tend to shy away from applying to schools with limited status because of the inherent risk. When I applied to my school, it had NO status (nothing, nada), it was granted pre-candidate status the day after my interview. That cycle saw way less than 1000 applicants. The following year, applications doubled since it had pre-cand status. My school was just granted candidate status....holy hell, adcom is going to have a field day.

With that said, schools applying for pre-candidate and/or are IN pre-candidate are easier to get into by virtue of a lower # of applicants. I actually chose my school over a candidate program at the time due to other factors, and I actually take pride in my choice because the faculty members were pulled from the large hospital next door, USP, and Univ. of MD (and others). That's something you wouldn't be able to tell just from looking at accreditation.

To sum it up: yes, pre-cand/no status programs are on average easier to get into.

3) Yes, public school out of state tends to be more difficult. Some schools don't even accept out of state students. Often, charters demand that public universities give preference to in state residents since tax dollars are supporting tuition.