Cincinnati or Maryland??

[buckeye1991]

Hey everyone. I just got into both University of Cincinnati and University of Maryland-Baltimore. I really enjoyed both schools a lot, especially their urban atmospheres. What is your take on these two schools. Cincinnati would be much cheaper for me because I'm in state and Maryland is almost 40k a year along with a high cost of living in Baltimore.

Yet, Baltimore is ranked #17 as opposed to Cincinnati's #32. Does that even really matter? Are these two schools known for anything specific, and what's your overall opinion for either of these schools.

I'm also wait-listed for Ohio State and I should hear back from North Carolina sometime this week. Would you take either of these schools over Cinci and Maryland?

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[terra718]

The difference in ranking is not important. If you liked Cincinnati, you should go there. Don't dig yourself into debt.

I'm a current P1 at OSU. Hopefully you'll get in 🙂

 

[DrDrugs2012]

Obviously, I am biased towards Maryland. But I'll highlight the reasons that Maryland should be towards the top of any applicant's decision.

1) Learn What You Want
While any school has students placed in rotations in most any sub-specialty of pharmacy, Maryland's proximity to Washington DC and the Mid-Atlantic and its long history of excellence provide it with a wide range of opportunities. Whether your choice is clinical (Hopkins, Maryland, VA dept hospital), Managed Care (Center for Medicare Studies, Xcel Health, BCBS, etc), Government (DHHS, DoD, INH), Advocacy (APhA), Regulatory (FDA), Industry (Astra Zeneca, MedImmume) or community pharmacy, Maryland can offer you whatever you need... and if you find someone unique elsewhere, Maryland's experiential learning team will help you set it up.

2) Do You Know So-And-So?
The age old adage is still true - graduate school is 50% about what you learn and 50% about who you get to know. Networking is incredibly important. Maryland has a great established network of alumni across the country. With the proximity to DC, some big names in healthcare have come in to speak at events hosted by student groups.

3) The Weather Is Always Good At The Pub
The students of Maryland, by and large, are a big family. Always assisting each other in passing classes, its not a competitive environment but a collegial one. This extends north to the professors too, as you will encounter many of them enjoying a pint at a local watering hole... and they may or may not pull you up to sing karaoke with them. The faculty treats you as a future colleague... because in 4 years... you will be.

.... and from what I hear.... it is far easier to get in-state tuition these days. No reason you can't get it after one year.

 

[Skrumpy]

Hey everyone. I just got into both University of Cincinnati and University of Maryland-Baltimore. I really enjoyed both schools a lot, especially their urban atmospheres. What is your take on these two schools. Cincinnati would be much cheaper for me because I'm in state and Maryland is almost 40k a year along with a high cost of living in Baltimore.

Yet, Baltimore is ranked #17 as opposed to Cincinnati's #32. Does that even really matter? Are these two schools known for anything specific, and what's your overall opinion for either of these schools.

I'm also wait-listed for Ohio State and I should hear back from North Carolina sometime this week. Would you take either of these schools over Cinci and Maryland?

The rankings at that level probably don't matter that much. If we were talking top 5 schools and you were deciding between one of those and a #32 ranked school, then that should come into consideration. Cost is a big issue that you should be looking at. 40k a year is 160k just in professional school loans (if you are taking out the minimum), what do you have in undergrad? Coming out with 200k+ in loans (recall that professional loans are no longer subsidized so you will be accruing interest throughout school) is a lot of debt. My in state tuition is going to be 100k, to me a difference of 60k would be worth a good hard review of what is important to me in a school and what each school brings to the table.