Is pharmacy school worth it?

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Pharmgrad2017

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As a recent 2017 pharmacy grad I just thought I would come on here and share my experience because I wish I would have seen a post like this before I started. If you are thinking about pharmacy school, I would highly suggest that you do your research and reconsider. The job market is currently saturated because pharmacy schools are pumping out way too many students. My graduating class has more than 14,000 new graduates coming out which is much higher than the demand. Companies like Walgreens and CVS are starting to implement wage/hiring freezes and jobs are becoming extremely difficult to come by. I can't even imagine what it will be like in 4 years, you'll never be able to find a job. I myself am also considering going back to school. Also, don't let the admissions people fool you by telling you that the job market is supposed to increase, those projected numbers were based off of a study called the Pharmacy Workforce Project, which they have since realized have made a huge mistake and EXTREMELY overestimated the number of pharmacists that are going to be needed. The Bureau of Labor Statistics only projects a 3% increase which is way below average. Also, if retail isn't your thing and you want to do hospital pharmacy or research, research is almost impossible to get a job and hospital residencies are becoming EXTREMELY competitive and very difficult to get. Pharmacy no longer has the prestige that it did years ago. Just look at what it takes to get into pharmacy school now, basically anyone can get in. Pharmacy has also become much more political and money driven, you don't really get the opportunity to help patients like you used to. If you want to help patients, you will be able to do this MUCH MORE if you become a physician or PA/NP. Nursing would even be a better idea. These are all things that you should consider when looking into pharmacy school and do not let the admissions people fool you because they just want your money. PICK A DIFFERENT PROFESSION.

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As a recent 2017 pharmacy grad I just thought I would come on here and share my experience because I wish I would have seen a post like this before I started. If you are thinking about pharmacy school, I would highly suggest that you do your research and reconsider. The job market is currently saturated because pharmacy schools are pumping out way too many students. My graduating class has more than 14,000 new graduates coming out which is much higher than the demand. Companies like Walgreens and CVS are starting to implement wage/hiring freezes and jobs are becoming extremely difficult to come by. I can't even imagine what it will be like in 4 years, you'll never be able to find a job. I myself am also considering going back to school. Also, don't let the admissions people fool you by telling you that the job market is supposed to increase, those projected numbers were based off of a study called the Pharmacy Workforce Project, which they have since realized have made a huge mistake and EXTREMELY overestimated the number of pharmacists that are going to be needed. The Bureau of Labor Statistics only projects a 3% increase which is way below average. Also, if retail isn't your thing and you want to do hospital pharmacy or research, research is almost impossible to get a job and hospital residencies are becoming EXTREMELY competitive and very difficult to get. Pharmacy no longer has the prestige that it did years ago. Just look at what it takes to get into pharmacy school now, basically anyone can get in. Pharmacy has also become much more political and money driven, you don't really get the opportunity to help patients like you used to. If you want to help patients, you will be able to do this MUCH MORE if you become a physician or PA/NP. Nursing would even be a better idea. These are all things that you should consider when looking into pharmacy school and do not let the admissions people fool you because they just want your money. PICK A DIFFERENT PROFESSION.
Oh come on pharmacy isn't that bad. Sure I know a few pharmacists living at home not working and a few more working 1-2 days a week. But i also have a ton more friends that did engineering/business/biology/law that are also sitting at home not working or maybe working part time. Yes admissions has gotten looser. I know of a school that accepted a convicted heroin dealer/user (since reformed). The amount of people applying to pharm schools is way down so schools have to lower admissions to get the same amount of students = easy Fed money. It just means that instead of being hard to get into pharmacy school now it will be hard to get a job post graduation. I'm mainly doing pharmacy for fun and to learn new stuff so i'm not really worried about working. I can always work at Walmart for 10 bucks an hour and use the PAYE pay as you earn repayment plan. Sorry if you went into pharmacy like a conquistador searching for a city of gold or some kind of easy guaranteed gravy job.

My school only promised me a degree if i work hard. They never promised me a job.
 
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Oh come on pharmacy isn't that bad. Sure I know a few pharmacists living at home not working and a few more working 1-2 days a week. But i also have a ton more friends that did engineering/business/biology/law that are also sitting at home not working or maybe working part time. Yes admissions has gotten looser. I know of a school that accepted a convicted heroin dealer/user (since reformed). The amount of people applying to pharm schools is way down so schools have to lower admissions to get the same amount of students = easy Fed money. It just means that instead of being hard to get into pharmacy school now it will be hard to get a job post graduation. I'm mainly doing pharmacy for fun and to learn new stuff so i'm not really worried about working. I can always work at Walmart for 10 bucks an hour and use the PAYE pay as you earn repayment plan. Sorry if you went into pharmacy like a conquistador searching for a city of gold or some kind of easy guaranteed gravy job.

My school only promised me a degree if i work hard. They never promised me a job.
Haha, what good is a degree without a job? Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
 
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