Does a poor PCAT score matter...

[mjmjoa]

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... for schools that don't require PCAT? I've heard they still see your PCAT score, but lets say I get a 60%ile, that's pretty low, do you think some pharmacy schools that don't require PCAT (such as MCPHS) will see it and will still sort of use it to make a decision?

 

[kies89]

if they do not require pcat, it does not matter

 

[YF786]

... for schools that don't require PCAT? I've heard they still see your PCAT score, but lets say I get a 60%ile, that's pretty low, do you think some pharmacy schools that don't require PCAT (such as MCPHS) will see it and will still sort of use it to make a decision?

Schools that don't require PCAT never look at your PCAT score. I feel like you have been given wrong information.

 

[mjmjoa]

Schools that don't require PCAT never look at your PCAT score. I feel like you have been given wrong information.

But isn't it on my application? I'm sure they look at it..

 

[Jbrl]

If the school doesn't require the PCAT, the Adcom probably won't consider it to avoid biases for or against you (from what I know). If you want to be absolutely sure, just give them a call. Easier and clearer way to alleviate your concern.

 

[SClENCE]

Or you can get a good PCAT score and apply to a quality school.

 

[MyRealNameIs]

Or you can get a good PCAT score and apply to a quality school.

Because USC, UCSD, UCSF are terrible schools. The horror that anyone should attend those trash schools.

 

[SClENCE]

Because USC, UCSD, UCSF are terrible schools. The horror that anyone should attend those trash schools.

If you're stupid enough to take out 80k a year in loans to go to USC you don't deserve to go anywhere else.

 

[MyRealNameIs]

If you are stupid enough to pay full tuition lol. They offer a lot of scholarship opportunity. Could go there for around the same price as other OOS schools. And my point still stands lol. UCSD and UCSF are great schools even if you disagree with USC

 

[Jbrl]

If you are stupid enough to pay full tuition lol. They offer a lot of scholarship opportunity. Could go there for around the same price as other OOS schools. And my point still stands lol. UCSD and UCSF are great schools even if you disagree with USC

If you can get a scholarship at USC you can probably get one at other schools too. It's unfortunate that UCSF (only school I'd personally recommend to others) gets lumped in with all the other CA schools, but pharmacy school tuition in that state is out of control. ROI just not there, relatively speaking. USC has the highest COA in the entire country and won't offer better opportunities than, say, Minnesota, Maryland or Michigan, especially with the flooded CA market and 4 more schools opening up. After a year of living OOS you can apply for residency and in-state tuition if you prepared properly.

 

[MyRealNameIs]

As someone from california I agree. Tuition cost is ridiculous and I am not planning to go to a school in California. I just didn't agree with the above comment that you can't go to a good school without taking PCAT. For some people, money is not an issue.

USC offers more scholarship money, especially for those students without much money compared to other schools. That is just what I heard from friends that attend those schools. That is how they justify their outrageous cost. Students whose parents are rich will pay full tuition. Others will reap the benefits by paying a lot less. So no, you will not get the same scholarship opportunities from other schools.

Benefit of USC is networking, especially if you want to work at Kaiser in California. California job market is over-saturated, which is more reason to go to a good school that is respected in California with a lot of connections. Also, probably the best school for PharmD/MBA in the country. It is not a school I would go to but calling someone stupid for going to that school seems a bit much. I just didn't like his condescending attitude.

 

[Jbrl]

As someone from california I agree. Tuition cost is ridiculous and I am not planning to go to California schools. I just didn't agree with the above comment that you can't go to a good school without taking PCAT. For some people, money is not an issue.

USC offers more scholarship money, especially for those students without much money a lot more than other public schools. That is just what I heard from friends that attend those schools. That is how they justify their outrageous cost. Students whose parents are rich will pay full tuition. Others will reap the benefits by paying a lot less. So no, you will not get the same scholarship opportunities from other schools.

Also the benefit of their school is the networking. Probably the best school for PharmD/MBA. It is not a school I would go to but calling someone stupid for going to that school seems a bit much. I just didn't like his condescending attitude.

Honestly, I'd sooner ask my parents to pool whatever money they would spend at USC for my sake and give me the difference at graduation from another school 🙂 I guess it depends on what qualifies as a good school. Besides CA and a smattering of NE schools (URI, Rutgers, MCPHS), I believe all the major pharmacy schools require PCAT as part of their admissions criteria.

I'm unaware of the scholarships offered at USC - e.g. what % of pharmacy students are awarded 1/3 tuition scholarships or more every year in comparison to other schools - so unsure. UNC is best in terms of ranking for Pharm.D. and MBA, I believe. The networking seems nice, but I don't know how much of an advantage being at USC would give for Kaiser opportunities. Mortgaging the future on that premise seems questionable.

The comment was a bit much, yeah. I think we all agree the cost of attending most of the CA schools is hard to justify.

 

[SClENCE]

I just found out today that my tuition is only going to be 12k with merit based scholarships that I didn't even realize were offered! I'm pretty excited haha

 

[radio frequency]

I just found out today that my tuition is only going to be 12k with merit based scholarships that I didn't even realize were offered! I'm pretty excited haha

Nice work! That is super sweet!

 

[tnva92]

My friend got in Washington State University for early decision with 60% last year. They won't require PCAT score this coming year though.