College? Yikes

[bamabcs]

Hello, right now im having a bit of a predicament in choosing which college I should attend. It is that time of the year where I have to decide which college im going to send my deposit to but there are so many choices that its hard to choose. I have between 3 options

-Attend an in-state college

-Attend a prestigous university

-Attend a Community College

What I am very concerned about are loans. I mean, im planning on being a pharmacist and I feel like accumulating loans (mostly from board and room, personal expenses, all that crap) during undergrad years will be bad when I get my bachelors degree and than have to figure out how to pay for Pharm school! In your eyes, are taking out loans That bad? After calculating my finaid packages, I would say I would have to take out 8000 bucks in loans for an in-state college or prestigous college. Regarding the community college, it would be virtually free... I know what you may be thinking.. Go with the community college!! But, there are also things that universities offer that community colleges don't.. And im sure that some people would agree on that (or disagree.)Hehe.. Im sure you could see my frustration in all of this, but I just wanted the honest thoughts of some of the members on sdn as to what route I should take. Thank you.

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[ShineBrite]

Personally, I went to a CC and didn't have to shell out a dime. I finished in 2yrs. and got my Associate's. Then, because some upper-lvl sciences weren't offered at the CC, I attended a university to complete OChem, Genetics, BioChem, etc. You can get the basic classes ANYWHERE and they are basically the same classes no matter where they're taught at. Just be sure you're attending an accredited CC, so that those course will transfer.

 

[rxlea]

If the prestigious college is the same cost as the instate, go there!

 

[Pharmacist Zoom]

Hello, right now im having a bit of a predicament in choosing which college I should attend. It is that time of the year where I have to decide which college im going to send my deposit to but there are so many choices that its hard to choose. I have between 3 options

-Attend an in-state college

-Attend a prestigous university

-Attend a Community College

What I am very concerned about are loans. I mean, im planning on being a pharmacist and I feel like accumulating loans (mostly from board and room, personal expenses, all that crap) during undergrad years will be bad when I get my bachelors degree and than have to figure out how to pay for Pharm school! In your eyes, are taking out loans That bad? After calculating my finaid packages, I would say I would have to take out 8000 bucks in loans for an in-state college or prestigous college. Regarding the community college, it would be virtually free... I know what you may be thinking.. Go with the community college!! But, there are also things that universities offer that community colleges don't.. And im sure that some people would agree on that (or disagree.)Hehe.. Im sure you could see my frustration in all of this, but I just wanted the honest thoughts of some of the members on sdn as to what route I should take. Thank you.

It depend wat ur plans for the future are and where do u want to transfer....Since u r in pre-pharmacy thread I asume u want to pursue a PharmD degree. Personally I would complete my prereqs at a community college since it is a lot cheaper and quality of education is almost same (talking about a good community college) as a four year college. But chk with the pharmacy college u want to attend Because there are a few colleges which don't accept some courses completed at 2 year coleges.
I hope u can make a good decision....Good Luck

 

[Benelli]

Go to a school you want to attend. I would say, what are the benefits of attending school x, vs. schools y and z. Prestigious schools are definitely worth the money, but if you are going for something like retail pharmacy and don't require a school with a reputation and $$$$$$$ requirement, maybe instate works well.

 

[Monalyce]

Hello, right now im having a bit of a predicament in choosing which college I should attend. It is that time of the year where I have to decide which college im going to send my deposit to but there are so many choices that its hard to choose. I have between 3 options

-Attend an in-state college

-Attend a prestigous university

-Attend a Community College

What I am very concerned about are loans. I mean, im planning on being a pharmacist and I feel like accumulating loans (mostly from board and room, personal expenses, all that crap) during undergrad years will be bad when I get my bachelors degree and than have to figure out how to pay for Pharm school! In your eyes, are taking out loans That bad? After calculating my finaid packages, I would say I would have to take out 8000 bucks in loans for an in-state college or prestigous college. Regarding the community college, it would be virtually free... I know what you may be thinking.. Go with the community college!! But, there are also things that universities offer that community colleges don't.. And im sure that some people would agree on that (or disagree.)Hehe.. Im sure you could see my frustration in all of this, but I just wanted the honest thoughts of some of the members on sdn as to what route I should take. Thank you.

If you can financially manage to forgo community college I would. It's not just classes you are paying for when you attend a university...it's access to impressive professors, lots of areas to get involved, diverse class offerings, etc. Just be sure to USE those amazing opportunities and you won't regret spending the money. As a side note, several deans of COPs have told me that they see overall higher PCAT scores from students who attended a university as compared to community college...obviously this is not always true, but the course rigor and general competition within the types of programs pre-pharms are involved in at a university are a good thing.

 

[Passion4Sci]

A quick question.

Is your financial situation such that you wouldn't qualify for much "free money" from the university/prestigious university?

Additionally you may want to consider the new "health sciences loan forgiveness" program that's buried in the HRB. Kmoogs posted the entire thing in some thread, it has probably fallen down to the 2nd or 3rd page by now but has very interesting content... long and short of it is, we may be able to graduate almost-or-entirely loan free courtesy of the U.S. government.

Something to look into for sure.

And finally, since I can't remember you, are you going to get a B.S.?

If so, split the difference... go to a CC for the lower division stuff and then transfer up to the university level afterward for the best of both worlds.

As far as anecdote from AdComs about higher PCAT from university student vs. CC students: Without a study and a formal sample size, such information is basically completely useless.

If I was an AdCom who just didn't like CCs for whatever reason, I could say whatever I felt like saying about whoever's PCAT I felt like saying it about.. you know?

And as always, look at the top 5 or 6 P.Schools you're interested in most, and e-mail (or better yet, call them) 'em and see if they're OK with CC pre-requisites. That way, you'll know for sure.

 

[PharmEXP]

And finally, since I can't remember you, are you going to get a B.S.?

If so, split the difference... go to a CC for the lower division stuff and then transfer up to the university level afterward for the best of both worlds.

I agree.

 

[gilgamesh]

I'd say in-state. Tuition is fair, courses are considered "university-level" and you get the real college experience.

 

[Project2015]

I'd say in-state. Tuition is fair, courses are considered "university-level" and you get the real college experience.

If you're happy with your in-state or prestigious options, then by all means take that route, though it would be better if you could be more specific. College is not just about the academics.

To be honest, $8000/yr in loan isn't really all that big of a deal especially if it is subsidized. Compared to a $150-200k PharmD, that ~$30K isn't all that much.

 

[gilgamesh]

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[Zera]

I'm in the same situation as you bro. The admissions office at the CC I'm looking into says they have about 5-10 people get into pharmacy school each year after getting their AS. I'm probably going to give up the opportunity to go to UB and save the money. UB does have the EA program but I haven't recieved enough financial aid to want to go through with it. Hopefully I'll be at Fisher in two years.

 

[bamabcs]

UPDATE:

oh geez now I found out from the prestigous U that I would have to take remedial type courses as a requirement.. I don't want to waste time so I think I might just go with the state U and transfer when I need to apply to the Pharmacy program, what do you all think?

 

[rxlea]

UPDATE:

oh geez now I found out from the prestigous U that I would have to take remedial type courses as a requirement.. I don't want to waste time so I think I might just go with the state U and transfer when I need to apply to the Pharmacy program, what do you all think?

Good choice!

 

[eekOMG]

Are there no prestigious colleges that are in state? :/

Those do exist you know.