from cal state school to a uc pharm school

[dr1989]

if you get your undergrad from a cal state school (like i might go to cal state channel islands or northridge for my bs in bio)

and you want to go to a uc based pharmacy school (like ucsd or ucsf)

do you have a lower chance of gettin in since your comin from a cal state school as opposed to a private school? (because i know its kinda impossible to transfer to a uc school once your in a cal state school-its something that is kinda frowned upon)

i had plans of going to a private univ-but the tuition fees are insane, and i know pharm school will be expensive as it is, and since my income is little, i might have to go to a cal state school🙁

(im from socal btw)

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[UES Girl]

if you get your undergrad from a cal state school (like i might go to cal state channel islands or northridge for my bs in bio)

and you want to go to a uc based pharmacy school (like ucsd or ucsf)

do you have a lower chance of gettin in since your comin from a cal state school as opposed to a private school? (because i know its kinda impossible to transfer to a uc school once your in a cal state school-its something that is kinda frowned upon)

i had plans of going to a private univ-but the tuition fees are insane, and i know pharm school will be expensive as it is, and since my income is little, i might have to go to a cal state school🙁

(im from socal btw)

I think I'll pm you instead.

 

[eightonesix]

Hey... good question. I'd like to know if you'd like to share =) I've been wondering the same predicament and the leeway (if such a thing exists) with the "academic rigor" in comparison to dif applicants from dif schools to a top notch school like UCSF...

 

[stkyrice]

Hey... good question. I'd like to know if you'd like to share =) I've been wondering the same predicament and the leeway (if such a thing exists) with the "academic rigor" in comparison to dif applicants from dif schools to a top notch school like UCSF...

Not really--I think there are quite a few people from the CSU system who end up going at least to UCSF (I'm not sure about UCSD so I can't reply regaridng them). I remember that UCSF used to do a premed post-bac program with SFSU, and UCSF does have a joint DPT program with SFSU, so there shouldn't be any bias just b/c you went to a CSU.

When I did my post-bac, I took all my courses at community colleges around the Bay and that didn't affect my application at all.

 

[Lotus89]

I am wondering the same thing. I go to Cal Poly Pomona, and I am majoring in Microbiology. I was wondering if the the CA pharmacy schools will give preference to UC students instead of Calstate students. I mean I have only seen like 3 or 4 (including me) in the cal state system who is looking into pharmacy. I feel that I will get rejected because I go to a calstate rather than a UC.🙁
Anyone know anyone that went to a calstate that got into schools like USC, UCSD, UCSF, WesternU, UOP etc....?
thanks and good luck to you all!

 

[stkyrice]

I am wondering the same thing. I go to Cal Poly Pomona, and I am majoring in Microbiology. I was wondering if the the CA pharmacy schools will give preference to UC students instead of Calstate students. I mean I have only seen like 3 or 4 (including me) in the cal state system who is looking into pharmacy. I feel that I will get rejected because I go to a calstate rather than a UC.🙁
Anyone know anyone that went to a calstate that got into schools like USC, UCSD, UCSF, WesternU, UOP etc....?
thanks and good luck to you all!

It makes no difference whether you go to CSU or UC--though since UCSF is a California public school, they do give preference to California residents if you look at their stats, regardless of where you went to school.

In the facebook group for C/O 2013, there are quite a few people who are coming in from SFSU, Cal State East Bay, and other CSUs. If you look at the student profiles in UCSF's pharm website from the C/O 2009, there are people from SDSU and Cal State East Bay. When I interviewed back in February, there were quite a few people who were from SFSU who were interviewing.

 

[RXsocal]

if you get your undergrad from a cal state school (like i might go to cal state channel islands or northridge for my bs in bio)

and you want to go to a uc based pharmacy school (like ucsd or ucsf)

do you have a lower chance of gettin in since your comin from a cal state school as opposed to a private school? (because i know its kinda impossible to transfer to a uc school once your in a cal state school-its something that is kinda frowned upon)

i had plans of going to a private univ-but the tuition fees are insane, and i know pharm school will be expensive as it is, and since my income is little, i might have to go to a cal state school🙁

(im from socal btw)

No. I know many students from Cal State Long Beach and Fullerton that goes to UCLA and UCSD Medical school. I was told by a former California medical school admissions committee that cal state universities send more med students to them than the UC system does. That was pretty surprising to me since I thought the UC was far more prestigious than the Cal states. Ultimately, I believe UC pharmacy schools will prefer California students from any university; it's no surprise.

 

[FarscapeGirl]

I really don't think the fact that you go to a state school will affect your application much. They're good schools, and in fact, they have a reputation of having better teachers than the UCs. It's probably much more productive to worry about your grades, PCAT scores, and experience in pharmacy-like settings. However, if you're really worried, I'd check with the schools you're applying to.

A little food for thought: my husband attended a cal state school, both for undergrad and briefly in a master's program, and got into a University of Washington grad program. He had switched fields from his early college days but was able to demonstrate that he really wanted to be a biologist.

Funny story: I once TA'ed a biochemistry class at UW, and I had a student complain to me that UW wasn't like Harvard, where they curved the grades more and the students appeared to do better. How was he supposed to compete when he applied to whatever grad/prof program he was interested in? I told him I attended UC Davis, and I had no problem getting into several grad programs. His response? "Yeah, but you probably studied and stuff." Umm, well, yes, as I matter of fact, I did.

 

[Lotus89]

I sure hope so

 

[kirang]

I've been told the exact opposite. That we are not as competitive as UC grads etc. Its very frustrating because CSU system has been great to me. I loved going to my school, I was very active on campus and have done a great deal hopefully, way more than a UC student.

 

[FarscapeGirl]

I've been told the exact opposite. That we are not as competitive as UC grads etc. Its very frustrating because CSU system has been great to me. I loved going to my school, I was very active on campus and have done a great deal hopefully, way more than a UC student.

Out of curiosity, where have you heard this? From pharmacy schools? Have you applied, or are you going to apply to pharmacy school? If you have volunteer/work experience, good PCATs, good grades, and are able to explain why you want to be a pharmacist, I doubt you will have any problems getting into most schools.

I still stand by the whole it's-less-the-school-and-more-you about getting into any sort of professional school. Besides, it won't do much good worrying about it now. You are at the school you are at (or you already graduated from it), and it's pretty hard to transfer to different college campuses. It's better to concentrate on what you can do now to improve your chances.

I kind of understand these posts. People worry, and they want reassurance. But, seriously, if you are that worried about your situation, contact the school. Whatever experience we all have on this board, most of us are not on the application committees, especially for the school you most likely want to attend.

 

[kirang]

Sadly, I've heard it from the schools I'm applying to this June.

 

[FarscapeGirl]

Sadly, I've heard it from the schools I'm applying to this June.

I'm sorry about that. Maybe you should look at different schools? Those outside of California maybe aren't so stuck on the whole UC vs. CSU?

I enjoyed my time at UC Davis, but I went there in part because I was interested in research, and the research opportunities are better at UC schools. When you enter college, a lot of times you're still figuring out what you want to do. If you think you want to major in music, you'll most likely go to a school with a great music department. If you have a career change halfway through, your current school might no longer be the top in your field.

I've had friends that were music majors and switched to biology, and ones that were biology majors that switched to music. That's why I think a student shouldn't be judged for a decision they made on where to attend school at least three to four years ago, when most likely they were still considered a minor. What else is the PCAT but a way to help equalize the playing field?

 

[stkyrice]

I'm sorry about that. Maybe you should look at different schools? Those outside of California maybe aren't so stuck on the whole UC vs. CSU?

I enjoyed my time at UC Davis, but I went there in part because I was interested in research, and the research opportunities are better at UC schools. When you enter college, a lot of times you're still figuring out what you want to do. If you think you want to major in music, you'll most likely go to a school with a great music department. If you have a career change halfway through, your current school might no longer be the top in your field.

I've had friends that were music majors and switched to biology, and ones that were biology majors that switched to music. That's why I think a student shouldn't be judged for a decision they made on where to attend school at least three to four years ago, when most likely they were still considered a minor. What else is the PCAT but a way to help equalize the playing field?

The California schools don't look at the PCAT at all, so that's a moot point. Touro is considering it, but for this cycle, none of the schools require it.

When I did my postbac, I did at mostly community colleges and it made absolutely no difference. I still got into UCSF.

Kirang, if you really want to know definitively, talk to the admissions directors directly and they'll tell you the same thing. Don't rely on what your friends or other people are telling you--why would UCSF feature people who are CSU grads and then tell you that CSUs are considered less desirable?

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I am wondering the same thing. I go to Cal Poly Pomona, and I am majoring in Microbiology. I was wondering if the the CA pharmacy schools will give preference to UC students instead of Calstate students. I mean I have only seen like 3 or 4 (including me) in the cal state system who is looking into pharmacy. I feel that I will get rejected because I go to a calstate rather than a UC.🙁
Anyone know anyone that went to a calstate that got into schools like USC, UCSD, UCSF, WesternU, UOP etc....?
thanks and good luck to you all!

I was just about to create a thread about this topic. Personally, I think there is a little bias towards the UC students because they have significantly more applicants than the Calstate system. But, that does not mean that Calstate students are screwed. I am from a Calstate school and I got into some programs out of state and am still waiting for Western. At the interviews, I did feel intimidated because I was usually the only Calstate student or 1 of 2 or 1 of 3. I still think that the rest of your application will determine whether or not you get in, rather than what school you went to.

 

[UES Girl]

I pmed the author of the thread, but since so many people are still interested in the topic, I'll share my and my friend's application experience this year. We both are graduating from SFSU with a BS in biochemistry, I'm double majoring in physiology on top of that. Both have pharmacy, research and volunteer experiences and both had really successful application experiences this year. He applied to 7 schools, and got invited to all 7. I think he got 3-4 acceptances, definitely USC and MPCH and somewhere else I can't remember. I initially applied to 17 schools through pharmcas, but completed only 12 supplementals due to financial and time constraints. Out of 12, 8 schools invited me to interview. I declined all but UCSF and Oregon and got accepted to both.

Me and him will both be attending UCSF this fall. I'm a re-applicant and it's his first time applying. The point is it doesn't matter where you are going to school UC vs. CSU, if you are a strong applicant that stands out you will be accepted to a good school.

 

[Farmercyst]

There are a smaller percentage of students at USC from CSUs vs UCs, but bare in mind UCs are thought to be more competitive and the CSUs also have a different focus than UCs. I'd expect fewer applicants from CSUs due to that different focus (teaching/lib arts vs maths/sciences->pre-health/doctorate programs) I'm not sure if you did a comparison of where the apps came from vs who gets in how the percentages would work out. Having said that, my year had at least 15% from CSU/CalPoly schools. I was the only one from CSUSB, but we had like 6 from Cal Poly Pomona, and a few CSUNers.