I will be applying to pharmacy schools to begin in the fall of 2012. I have done some searching for schools on the AACP website and found many that seem interesting, but I really don't know how to choose one school over another. As far as I have seen, no one ranks pharmacy schools.
I am fairly sure that I want to be working in hospitals or clinics and not in retail. I am also starting a little later than most so I may want to do a 3 year program. Are they as good as 4 year schools?
What schools would you suggest I look at?
PS if this is a duplicate question, could someone link me to the other thread?
I have a few tips on how to find your school:
1) Don't be a ranking slave. You get no where with that because its basically throwing darts in a hurricane. they can land anywhere and where it lands can be seen different from anyone and you may just hate the outcomes.
2) Know your situation. This if your younger really needs to be looked at. Can you handle living far? How tied down are you to the house/rent/car/bills/child support etc...? Can you still handle relationships and/or a job in pharmacy school or in certain ones? Just know how are you living now and can the school i choose hurt or help my current situation
3)Pre-Reqs. Too many applicants find towards application season that not all schools are the same in terms as what passes for sufficent "base of knowledge". I know with Texas Tech that killed me. So know what classes you've taken, what classes actually count, which ones are still valid, which ones you still need to take and if you still can, and when they expect all your pre-reqs to be done by.
4)Cirriculum/rep/student services. In terms of cirriculum it helps to know it but for most schools it will be your typical semester calander a few however dont follow this anymore. Reputation is important (different from ranking!) in areas of accreditation history and boards passing rates other than that your determination really is what decides how valuable a school's "rank" is to you. Lastly you may want to look into how rotations work, what they offer, do they focus on something in particular, are residencies abundant, job placement services to your liking etc
5) Location. Of course whats studying if you hate where you end up going? Get to know the sorrounding area of the school and see if its your taste or a flavor you been wanting to experince. Its unlikely you will spend 100% of your time in the school and at home. I know for me I just couldn't bring myself to go apply to TSU or northeast schools. I had no desire to relive Boyz N da Hood and i can't stand weather colder than 50F.
This helped me pick majority of my schools (although a few were kinda foolish of me
) hopefully it can shed some light on your problem also in terms of 3 year school they are just as good if they weren't i doubt they'd be accredited.
