Choosing a pharmacy school?

[Jaded03]

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I guess this is to current pharmacy students and accepted pre-pharm that are in-the-know.

I'm not really sure how it's done for pharmacy school. A lot of people seem dead set on one school. For medical applicants, a lot of them apply pan-US and get multiple acceptances. For many, the method of choosing is accepting all practical choices (schools you are willing to matriculate) and going by funding (the most cost-effective school factoring in financial aid). However, I'm starting to get the feeling this isn't so for pharmacy?* Are students not given scholarships or grants from the institution AT ALL? Not to say there's anything wrong with going to your best fit and knowing where that fit lies. It's just a lot of my pre-med friends had great choices and ultimately followed the grants/scholarships, where I'm sure they will become great physicians.

*A lot of differences between pharmacy and medical application processes gave me this insight. Schools do not have hosting programs for interviewees (staying with a current student), lack campus tours (in many instances), large interview groups (20+ vs <10) a day, and a movement against multiple acceptances. There's just overall little competition to entice applicants to attend THEIR university in pharmacy than medicine.

 

[treetop02]

in the end, you ultimately have to factor in everything and see which school is best for you. Only you can determine that. Besides, you've only been accepted to 1 school so far.

 

[Jaded03]

in the end, you ultimately have to factor in everything and see which school is best for you. Only you can determine that. Besides, you've only been accepted to 1 school so far.

O haha. Sorry. I guess I wasn't clear since I rambled there. I still had questions in there: Whether or not funding can be weighed as a factor. It seems pharmacy schools simply provide complete funding (through loans) without awards.

 

[Lotus89]

O haha. Sorry. I guess I wasn't clear since I rambled there. I still had questions in there: Whether or not funding can be weighed as a factor. It seems pharmacy schools simply provide complete funding (through loans) without awards.

You know I was wondering about financial aid and grants/scholarships and such through pharmacy school. I mean alot of us have taken out loans just to pay for undergrad and + degrees, so does that mean that you have to pull out more then double what you have already accumulated in debt just to pay for pharmay school? From my research, some schools like USC and other private schools have like a combo of scholarships/ other financial aid/loans. I don't know about state funded schools like the UC's but I mean I guess if it comes down to taking out more loans to get your education and obtain your career, then we all would definitely do it right? 🙂

 

[confettiflyer]

yeah med school admissions has its own drumbeat and traditions...pharmacy more resembles traditional graduate programs than medicine.

I go in this order:

1) Accreditation status
1.5*) Geographic location
2) Cost of attendance
3) Strength of faculty (do your research)
4) "Prestige" of school (ie support for students, name recognition)

*I actually personally put geographic location 1st in my decision over accreditation status due to some other overriding factors, and the fact that I felt confident enough that accreditation was not going to be an issue.

In terms of scholarships/grants...I already knew going in/applying that my income was too high to qualify for anything significant. Much to my surprise, I received a small merit scholarship for $2k I believe...in the grand scheme of things, that's practically nothing. You won't know until you apply for fin-aid, which is a separate process from admissions for that very reason (so you can generally get an idea of what you'd get before making an admissions decision).

 

[Jaded03]

yeah med school admissions has its own drumbeat and traditions...pharmacy more resembles traditional graduate programs than medicine.

Very insightful! This puts things into perspective. I guess I can't rely on the school begging me to attend their school. 😛 It made medical school app process easier. O well. 🙂

You won't know until you apply for fin-aid, which is a separate process from admissions for that very reason (so you can generally get an idea of what you'd get before making an admissions decision).

It's not completely separate from admissions, is it? I had always thought schools' limited funding only enabled them to make financial aid summaries for students who accepted their offer.

 

[Jaded03]

I guess if it comes down to taking out more loans to get your education and obtain your career, then we all would definitely do it right? 🙂

It's not really about that. I know I will take out extensive loans to pay for school. However, in my experience professional school was competitive with their students as well. Making the burden lighter financially for students is one way to get THAT student into YOUR school. I made an assumption that schools of pharmacy was similar to those of medicine, but it really is not.

 

[SHC1984]

Low cost+ hot weather= we have a winner! 😀

 

[confettiflyer]

It's not completely separate from admissions, is it? I had always thought schools' limited funding only enabled them to make financial aid summaries for students who accepted their offer.

Ya know I'm not entirely too sure now...I just remember getting the process for fin aid going for all the schools I had applied to regardless of admit status (I think the priority deadline for FAFSA is 3/2?)

Yeah...now I remember, I didn't get a full award summary until later. Granted, my income was too high in '07 so I pretty much knew all I'd get were loans when I matriculated in '08, so I can't speak for the scholarship end of it. I have a friend who got in a few weeks before class and she was still sorting out fin-aid 2 weeks in and she got aid (loans).