How important are school rankings/reputations?

[9119rick]

I am just wondering what everyone's opinions/experiences are regarding how the quality of education correlates to the ranking or reputation of a given school. I am having a hard time deciding between a couple of schools I have been accepted to that have drastic differences in their rankings. I know that there are several pros and cons to each school and I am having difficulty in determining what the key factors are in making this decision.

Basically, in my mind, this boils down to one question. Does the quality of education at large, prestigious schools suffer due to the emphasis on research and development among the faculty and if so, does that factor outweigh the greater prospects for residencies/employment that accompany the degree from the more highly ranked institution?

I know that at the end of the day a PharmD is a PharmD, but I am thinking that the networking opportunities may be better at the better schools, but also that the emphasis on teaching at some of the newer schools may be a great benefit to the student. Any thought on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

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[Passion4Sci]

Unfortunately, networking and alumni resources are not dependent on rank because the ranking system has nothing to do with the quality of the schools for pharmacy (unlike for law).

Case in point? UoP, ranked in the 50s, has a much bigger and more robust alumni network in northern California than UCSF does, yet they're "#1." Their grads are having a hard time securing hours to gain licensure, whereas UoP does not have that problem.

You absolutely cannot decide on a pharm school by rank. You have to engage the interviewer and grill them on residency match + intern site rotations when you get the chance. That'll be your best bet.

 

[297point1]

The two terms are not synonymous, and may not be congruent.

School reputation matters a great deal.

School ranking doesn't mean squat.

 

[rxlea]

This again?

 

[mangoo]

I agree with the big difference between a school's ranking and a school's reputation. But you mentioned that the rankings between the schools you are deciding between differ immensely, in which case I would evaluate the overall quality of the schools. A little difference between schools will not mean much, but if there is a great gap between a few then that may be saying something about the institution.

 

[Electrode]

This again?

Someone (probably confeti or so), had a thought on saving his posts in a word document & re-pasting them. I think I finally understand what he meant.

 

[owlegrad]

Someone (probably confeti or so), had a thought on saving his posts in a word document & re-pasting them. I think I finally understand what he meant.

I was saying that long before confeti, although I bet there was someone saying it long before me.

 

[Passion4Sci]

COnfettiflyer has been posting on here since like '07, so I doubt you said it before he did. 😀

He only recently stopped posting.

 

[owlegrad]

COnfettiflyer has been posting on here since like '07, so I doubt you said it before he did. 😀

He only recently stopped posting.

Now I am gonna have to track down when he first said it vs. when I first said it. Stay tuned.

Edit: Hah! Confetti first said it quite recently (01/25/11):

http://206.82.221.135/showthread.php?p=10517892

While I said it months before that (09/25/10):

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=10172292&highlight=copy+paste#post10172292


I think that makes 5007-2?

 

[Electrode]

Now I am gonna have to track down when I first said it vs. when he first said it. Stay tuned.

Thank goodness for pop corns..

 

[owlegrad]

Thank goodness for pop corns..

Worth the wait?

 

[Passion4Sci]

your no fun.

 

[owlegrad]

your no fun.

It's only fun when your right?

 

[Passion4Sci]

It's only fun when your right?

u no it.

 

[UES Girl]

Case in point? UoP, ranked in the 50s, has a much bigger and more robust alumni network in northern California than UCSF does, yet they're "#1." Their grads are having a hard time securing hours to gain licensure, whereas UoP does not have that problem.

Passion, I seen you mention this quite a few times and respectfully wanted to bring something up.

I don't think it's fair you neglect to mention that the reason UOP and CPNC along with Touro don't have problems securing sites for your licensure is because the schools specifically pay and have agreements with the sites to only hire their students for internships. While UC being a public schools sort of sends students on their own hoping the reputation alone is sufficient.

In the sense, this is like comparing apples and oranges, of course private school students won't have trouble getting hours - the schools payed to secure those spots. On the negative side, on average (not taking your 3 year program into account), private schools tend to be more expensive than UC, hence there is a cost benefit relationship to everything.

As far as the network it makes sense if you graduate 175*3 years vs. UC that graduates anywhere between 115-120 every 4 years that itself will create discrepencies in the number of alumni.