How to select the pharmacy school that is best for you?

[ChippyChad]

Hello guys, I think I still having hard time about choosing the pharmacy that I wanted to go.

I live in Florida, so... there are LECOM, Nova, Palm beach, FAMU, UF and USF total of 6. LECOM, Nova and Palm beach are private schools that have high tuition, I don't think I will be interested on them. USF just started their pharmacy program this year, and they have some weird prerequisite for their program, I don't think I will be able to finish them all b4 next fall. UF has great pharmacy program and I am almost done with all the prerequisite. However, I am not a good test taker, I sucks at PCAT.... so, I guess my chance of getting in UF is pretty low as well.

In this case, FAMU CoP becomes my only hope, it doesnt require PCAT, and its tuition is pretty cheap. Moreover, although my PCAT score is usually low, I got pretty strong GPA (3.63) and bunch of other activities (working in pharmacy, PTCB certified, extracurricular, ect) I think I got a decent chance to get in, but you never know.

I also picked few out of state schools, like Mercer and MCPHS. but I still feel little bit unsecured about the choice I made. For those out of state schools, I just dont know how to start and what to look for.

So... I just wondering how did u guys choose your pharmacy school? by its tuition? popularity? or by how close it is from home?

Thank you so much for your time!

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[quimicosoy]

Hey there.
I am in the same boat as you are. I do live in south florida, and I have been scratching my head all this time about where should I go to. I do not want to leave south florida because is awesome, plus my family lives here ( I am male but family attached). However, I am 27 years old, and I feel like I have to make a serious move to ensure my future. Initially, I was considering chemistry as a career, (chemistry major), but I like to help people and the good pay as well, and pharmacy pays good. Then, I might go for a Ph.D. My gpa is not as great as yours (3.2), and my last june pcat score composite was 65. highest scores bio 85 and chemistry 83...Math killed me (38)

I would love to go to UF (research stuff), but no chance at all with my stats. So I applied to Nova which is close where I live so I won't have to move. And lecom because I have a chance with my stats... However, I feel like I am kind of obligated to look for outstate schools if I am planning to have a chance for next august. I am about to graduate with a chemistry degree next spring.

Something that bothers me about outstate tuition is the double price that one must pay for being outstate student... any one has experience with this?-

Also, I did not know about the usf school.

So as you can see, you are not alone, let's hear the opinions:

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

I live in South Florida too.
These are the school I plan to apply next year sincve I have about a year and half of Pre-reqs to go.
My choices are (in order):
NSU expensive but I think its worth it
UF I plan on finishing my Pre-reqs at Sante fe
Midwestern- family lives up in Chicago area and from what I heard it is a good school
UIC- same are above
USF-I'm gonna apply here even though I'm iffy about it being still pre-candidate

Haven't thought about FAMU and I forgot LECOM had a campus here.
One of my friends applied to FAMU CoP said they were kind of biased when selecting their students, preferring minorities but I think he was Bs'ing since his gpa was 2.7 with a 67 PCAT.

 

[Passion4Sci]

Obviously, you need to find a school that will offer you the best parking for your R8.

 

[mandydp6]

Obviously, you need to find a school that will offer you the best parking for your R8.

Clearly!!!!!

 

[MJayHart]

Pre-reqs, location, size of school, campus environment (urban, suburban, etc.) tuition, program curriculum... Not necessarily in that order.

 

[nervoushabits]

I picked my school based on how I felt when I visited the actual campus, how the faculty were, etc. Remember you will be making a lot of $$$ when you graduate (hopefully, anyway) and that was a main concern of mine AT FIRST, since I come from a lower/middle class family with 2 out of 3 kids in college. I asked a lot of the pharmacists that I work with about how they ended up paying their loans, and a lot of them who went to private schools (and graduated recently) said they did the 5 year plan and still had some extra $$ to spend. In my opinion, I would go to which ever school you felt the most comfortable/at home at. Remember, you'll be there for the next 3-4 years, and the people you will be in class with will become more like your family than in undergrad. I don't regret my choice at all, and I wish you luck with your decisions!

 

[Tinkerbell22]

Wow there's a lot more Miami/south Florida people on here than last year it seems!

Anyway... before I read your whole post I was going to suggest you apply to Mercer (not that I'm biased or anything) but out of state options are always beneficial, plus its a good school and every student pays the same tuition since it's private. As far as the private schools in Florida, Mercer is essentially the same price, but you'd be going to a 'ranked' school (although that doesn't really mean much apparently) and there is a really strong presence with the student organizations, and a lot of ways to get involved in Atlanta (state capitol, CDC, 6 million metro area population, rural areas close by, etc).

I applied to UF, PBA, and Mercer, but after I was accepted to Mercer I didn't go to the other 2 interviews. I would definitely not rule out UF, NSU (although I have my reasons I didn't apply there), LECOM, FAMU, or PBA however. I personally wouldn't apply to a pre-candidate school (USF), but that's just personal preference. I'd rather wait another year and re-apply if that was the only school I was accepted to.

 

[rxstudent13]

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[Ava999]

Hello guys, I think I still having hard time about choosing the pharmacy that I wanted to go.

I live in Florida, so... there are LECOM, Nova, Palm beach, FAMU, UF and USF total of 6. LECOM, Nova and Palm beach are private schools that have high tuition, I don't think I will be interested on them. USF just started their pharmacy program this year, and they have some weird prerequisite for their program, I don't think I will be able to finish them all b4 next fall. UF has great pharmacy program and I am almost done with all the prerequisite. However, I am not a good test taker, I sucks at PCAT.... so, I guess my chance of getting in UF is pretty low as well.

In this case, FAMU CoP becomes my only hope, it doesnt require PCAT, and its tuition is pretty cheap. Moreover, although my PCAT score is usually low, I got pretty strong GPA (3.63) and bunch of other activities (working in pharmacy, PTCB certified, extracurricular, ect) I think I got a decent chance to get in, but you never know.

I also picked few out of state schools, like Mercer and MCPHS. but I still feel little bit unsecured about the choice I made. For those out of state schools, I just dont know how to start and what to look for.

So... I just wondering how did u guys choose your pharmacy school? by its tuition? popularity? or by how close it is from home?

Thank you so much for your time!

Personally i think you should apply to all the pharmacy schools in Florida (private, public) just in case. right now I attend FAMU, and although it wasn't my first choice, it made me fell more at ease when I heard about how good their pharmacy school is, and how low their tuition is (4,000 and something-ish). Its not close to home tho :cry:

The reason why I'd advise you to apply to all is because I think that you'll get in to at least one. I mean take me for example: I applied to UF, FAMU, and FSU (app got denied cause I applied too late), and I half way applied to PBA (didn't even finished the online app ) and yet I still get letters from PBA asking me to come to their school, even after I told them no.

so like i said you'll most likely get in to at least one. I think PBA might accept you. But their tuition is ALOT. So I'd say to try and get scholarships, my cousin goes there and i think she got scholarships and grants.

So maybe you could apply to these schools and ask if they could give you scholarships or grants (like I said my cousin got alot of them, and the requiter said that they reduced her tuition to 5000 and something-ish a year due to scholarships.) So it shouldn't be so bad if you talk to the school.
But like i said your bound to get to at least one. We have 6 pharmacy schools here. And I guess its better than paying out of state tuition. ???