Does the school matter?

[myska]

I'm trying to decide which pharmacy school to accept admission at, and I'm wondering how important the school's name is. For example, will it matter to employers or residency admissions where I graduate from, as long as the school is accredited?

As current pharmacy students, what kinds of trends do you see? And what constitutes a "good" school? As far as I can tell the rankings are kind of wishy-washy....

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[crazybob]

I'm trying to decide which pharmacy school to accept admission at, and I'm wondering how important the school's name is. For example, will it matter to employers or residency admissions where I graduate from, as long as the school is accredited?

As current pharmacy students, what kinds of trends do you see? And what constitutes a "good" school? As far as I can tell the rankings are kind of wishy-washy....

People at my school and pharmacists at my school say that the school does not matter. All that matters is that you're a licensed pharmacist and you kept a good GPA, and you were also involved while in school.

Well, I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for, but if you go to a school where you think you'll gain a lot by going there, then it would be a good school for you.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

If the school is more than 10 years old, it probably doesn't really matter on a national scale. If you want to focus on getting a job regionally, I'd try to get a degree from a school in that region. Up in Pittsburgh, the dumb Yinzers are convinced Pitt has the greatest pharmacy school in the history of existence. They take Pitt grads over anyone. It's just how they are. Suffice it to say, if you wanted to live and work there, getting a Pitt or Duquesne degree might behoove you.

 

[KARM12]

I'm trying to decide which pharmacy school to accept admission at, and I'm wondering how important the school's name is. For example, will it matter to employers or residency admissions where I graduate from, as long as the school is accredited?

As current pharmacy students, what kinds of trends do you see? And what constitutes a "good" school? As far as I can tell the rankings are kind of wishy-washy....

I would say any of the schools in your sig are "good schools." SIUE is the newest, but it has a pretty good reputation so far.

 

[Sparda29]

Not really the name of the school but I've heard the reputation of the graduates affects the reputation of the school. For example, my uncle works at the VA Hospital in Northeast PA and he's like the Dr. Cuddy of that hospital. He said there is pretty much a blanket ban at his VA Hospital on hiring pharmacists from the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy at Wilkes University unless they are really, really superb.

 

[charfdorn]

Not really the name of the school but I've heard the reputation of the graduates affects the reputation of the school. For example, my uncle works at the VA Hospital in Northeast PA and he's like the Dr. Cuddy of that hospital. He said there is pretty much a blanket ban at his VA Hospital on hiring pharmacists from the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy at Wilkes University unless they are really, really superb.

There's some truth to that. If graduates from your school are making the school look bad, it can kill you. How you figure out if this is going on before you apply, I don't know.

 

[Carboxide]

I kind of went with this theory: accept the lowest priced best school. E.g, immediately rule out all candidate and pre-candidate once you get accepted to an accredited school. From there, look at price and location. Schools from your list that stand out to me are UIC, Madison, Kentucky and Purdue. They're all excellent schools in other areas, and that helps with its reputation, I think. I mean..even if the University of Michigan's pharmacy school WASN'T a great school, its excellence in other areas means it is perceived as such by many people.

I'd also take a look at their focus. Some of the schools I was accepted to have less of a clinical basis than other schools, and since that's what I want to do, I want to pick a school with a solid clinical education. Where are their rotation sites? Did they mention several hospitals or just one? What kind of hospital is it - big or small?

Basically, I just thought about what I want to do and combined it into a price scheme to find the best one. It was easy for me, though, since I only applied to one 'top' school.

 

[SHC1984]

Pick the cheapest school.

 

[Praziquantel86]

<p>

Pick the cheapest school.

Because the quality of education at Husson is the same as University of Kentucky. There are people who actually care about their education and have aspirations beyond mail order. Sorry to burst your bubble.

To the OP: It may not seem to make a difference now, but it will definitely make a difference eventually. If you get an acceptance to a well-known school that consistently produces quality graduates, go there. Don't fall into a situation where your education might hinder your progress.

 

[SHC1984]

<p>

Because the quality of education at Husson is the same as University of Kentucky. There are people who actually care about their education and have aspirations beyond mail order. Sorry to burst your bubble.

To the OP: It may not seem to make a difference now, but it will definitely make a difference eventually. If you get an acceptance to a well-known school that consistently produces quality graduates, go there. Don't fall into a situation where your education might hinder your progress.

1) public universities and higher ranking schools are usually CHEAPER and have better education. So picking the cheaper school is usually, NOT always, but usually picking the cheaper school. UNC is only 14K a year, if you look at the school rankings you will see that MOST of the top ten schools are PUBLIC!

2) So you think people from lower ranking schools can't get any jobs besides retail and they are inferior? I use to attend an Ivy league school, so I guess I can see where your thoughts come from...but its not alway true. People that do NOT go to UCSF and UNC still have a chance at residencies...they might need to rank higher in their class, but just b/c they don't go to a top 10 school doesn't mean they are left with nothing but retail.

3) It is SMART to go to the cheapest school. Why would you pay an additional 100K to 200K for a PharmD degree just b/c the name of the school sounds better?

 

[Farmtastic]

Reputation may matter but I would recommend you also very strongly consider the foci of your school.

Some schools focus heavily on research, others on retail pharmacy, others on clinical pharmacy, etc. I know of one school where ~40% of the class goes into a residency, and I know of another school close to that where the number is closer to 5%. Different schools emphasize different things based on their mission, goals, etc. so just remember to also think about that!

 

[rxforlife2004]

school does not matter!!! Just jump in the school where you can grad the soonest before all the jobs are filled!!!! i am serious. What's the point of graduating from the most prestigious school and you have no job openning?

 

[confettiflyer]

Doesn't directly matter.

Rock your rotations and build relationships, that's where it'll matter. An "established" school will give you more opportunities to do so, but I feel like I haven't been disadvantaged so far.

Then again, my school swiped faculty from established programs & the old-as-dirt medical school and scored IPPE sites/rotations at institutions the other schools send their students to, so it doesn't feel like a "new" institution (aside from the lack of upperclassmen).

 

[rxforlife2004]

school does not matter!!! Just jump in the school where you can grad the soonest before all the jobs are filled!!!! i am serious. What's the point of graduating from the most prestigious school and you have no job openning?

True story: One of the guy that i have known for many years, graduating same time with me in 2007, did 2 years residency...and now he is done and been looking for a job since August.

 

[gotdrugs]

At current state in the 2009 (soon to be 2010 market) from what I've dealt with personally and from contacts in both chain retail and health systems:

The answer is depends on where you apply currently.
Chains - no it doesn't matter
Independents - dunno
Industry - dunno
Health-systems - for most, it doesn't matter. This has been changing over the last couple of years though
Residencies - same as health systems.

Where I currently work at, it does matter to some degree as we've had bad experiences (both from pharmacists and residents) with graduates of certain schools (not to stereotype here, but..........it's been the newer schools that some will place under the 'diploma mill' category) and due to this, any graduate of those schools will need to show something extra to be considered (and this has been extrapolated to other "new" schools)

In the future it's anyone's guess so here's mine:
For most positions it will matter if that employer that you are applying for has had poor experiences with previous graduates of that school. And, whether it's fair or not, most of the schools that have popped up in the last 5-8 years are going scrutinzed more by people who graduated from the "established" schools.

 

[myska]

But how do you find out this stuff? For example, how can I find out if MWU-CCP grads are well respected when compared to larger schools?

Looks like I have some more research once finals are over, haha. Thanks you to everyone that's already responded!

 

[PharmboyinNC]

My opinion: It depends.

Going to an older, more prestigious school will also get you into the networks and connections from former graduates. This is a big plus, especially when starting out and pursuing a non-traditional path.

Also, smaller and newer schools may not have the same magnitude of electives, unique rotations, extraciricular activities that residencies/fellowship covet.

On the other hand, if you go to a bigname school and don't anything to show, it may be a red flag, because the interviewer will raise the question why they didn't have anything to show for when there are many options. I raised this question during last weeks PPS in Midyear (Viva Las Vegas!) and last year in Orlando.

In the end, a PharmD at any accredited school allows you to take the boards. That should be your primary focus. Next, your finance, location, ambitions and drive should determine where you go. No reason being miserable for 4 years, because your TA won't give a crap.

 

[Quiksilver]

Don't kid yourself, while school for the most part may not matter career-wise, consider where you will be getting your education. There is a difference in the quality of graduates from one school versus another. Some schools teach better then others, while that may/may not effect your career, it may certainly affect your patients and the care you provide.

In short, pick the best school you got accepted to.

 

[evilolive]

Our profession is going the way of law school. I just hope it just doesn't end up dying by the same proportions.

 

[MrMeowphers]

school does not matter!!! Just jump in the school where you can grad the soonest before all the jobs are filled!!!! i am serious. What's the point of graduating from the most prestigious school and you have no job openning?

True story: One of the guy that i have known for many years, graduating same time with me in 2007, did 2 years residency...and now he is done and been looking for a job since August.

Wow, you just listed one guy out of the masses.

To the poster:

Choose the absolute best school you can get into (even if it turns out to be 10K more in the end then some other program in terms of tuition).

If you do decide to go into the research field down the line, or decide to get into residencies, the school you come from does matter. I have experienced times when I was simply hired because of the schools I came from. Even if your qualifications are the same as someone else (e.g. just a fresh graduate), the head-nod will always go to the one with the more reputable school.

 

[Quiksilver]

Wow, you just listed one guy out of the masses.

To the poster:

Choose the absolute best school you can get into (even if it turns out to be 10K more in the end then some other program in terms of tuition).

If you do decide to go into the research field down the line, or decide to get into residencies, the school you come from does matter. I have experienced times when I was simply hired because of the schools I came from. Even if your qualifications are the same as someone else (e.g. just a fresh graduate), the head-nod will always go to the one with the more reputable school.

wow you got quite the list of degrees there. Why did you decide pharmacy? Don't mean to be nosy or anything.

 

[MrMeowphers]

wow you got quite the list of degrees there. Why did you decide pharmacy? Don't mean to be nosy or anything.

It's not a problem!

I really want to have the opportunity to work in different fields.

What I greatly miss is communicating/working with the general public. Pharmacy (whether it be retail or clinical) allows you some interaction daily.

MD/PhD's usually choose doing either clinical work or research only. However, a few MD/PhD's that happened to be my professors/mentors do enjoy doing clinical work 2-3 days a week, and focusing on running a laboratory the other few days. I hope to enjoy this opportunity in the future.

Good luck to you

 

[Dancer123]

I'm trying to decide which pharmacy school to accept admission at, and I'm wondering how important the school's name is. For example, will it matter to employers or residency admissions where I graduate from, as long as the school is accredited?

As current pharmacy students, what kinds of trends do you see? And what constitutes a "good" school? As far as I can tell the rankings are kind of wishy-washy....

A family member of mine is a Pharmacy director who oversees 2 hospital pharmacies... he has told me that when he does hiring he could care less what school a person came from.

 

[pharmwannebe2]

I'm trying to decide which pharmacy school to accept admission at, and I'm wondering how important the school's name is. For example, will it matter to employers or residency admissions where I graduate from, as long as the school is accredited?

As current pharmacy students, what kinds of trends do you see? And what constitutes a "good" school? As far as I can tell the rankings are kind of wishy-washy....

all i know is that if you are interested in nuclear pharmacy, go to purdue. I think (don't quote me) they have a nuclear certification program

 

[njac]

all i know is that if you are interested in nuclear pharmacy, go to purdue. I think (don't quote me) they have a nuclear certification program

University of New Mexico and University of Arkansas (I think!) have the oldest nuclear programs.

Having gone to UNM, I can tell you that you can do the certification during school but it isn't part of the curriculum. I think most people do it over the summer.

Most nuclear pharmacies will pay for you to do the certification after you're hired anyway - but Spiriva would have more answers for that.

 

[SmKN808]

1) public universities and higher ranking schools are usually CHEAPER and have better education. So picking the cheaper school is usually, NOT always, but usually picking the cheaper school. UNC is only 14K a year, if you look at the school rankings you will see that MOST of the top ten schools are PUBLIC!

2) So you think people from lower ranking schools can't get any jobs besides retail and they are inferior? I use to attend an Ivy league school, so I guess I can see where your thoughts come from...but its not alway true. People that do NOT go to UCSF and UNC still have a chance at residencies...they might need to rank higher in their class, but just b/c they don't go to a top 10 school doesn't mean they are left with nothing but retail.

3) It is SMART to go to the cheapest school. Why would you pay an additional 100K to 200K for a PharmD degree just b/c the name of the school sounds better?

YOUR quote said it best for me