Let's Get Real - Paying for Pharmacy School

[africanpharmd14]

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For those applying for Fall 2014 admission....How are you all thinking about funding your education?

Personally....I'm staying FAR FAR away from loans...and looking under every rock for scholarships of any amount....

 

[Sugoi Travis]

Although I'm not applying for the 2014 cycle (applied in 2013), I'm going to be taking loans out. During my 4 years, I'll be working part time on weekends and full time during the summer in order to drop as much of the principle as possible before I leave school.

 

[Skrumpy]

For those applying for Fall 2014 admission....How are you all thinking about funding your education?

Personally....I'm staying FAR FAR away from loans...and looking under every rock for scholarships of any amount....

Scholarships
Paid extracurricular activities (one at my school pays $3000/semester)
Working every other weekend
Not taking out max loans
Going into school with a plan to repay ASAP (I'm planning to be aggressive and pay off in 3-4 years)
Not spend frivolously
Putting any extra $$ I get towards my loans to pay off accrued interest so it doesn't compound

 

[dancingallday]

I'm working every other weekend and full time in the summer, received a scholarship, never take the max loans, and don't spend money frivolously at all, and I will still be in 100,000+ of debt when I get done. Sure would be nice if I could stay far, far away from loans...

 

[68quebec]

GI bill. it pays 100% in certain criteria 😉. thank you uncle sam

 

[Skrumpy]

I'm working every other weekend and full time in the summer, received a scholarship, never take the max loans, and don't spend money frivolously at all, and I will still be in 100,000+ of debt when I get done. Sure would be nice if I could stay far, far away from loans...

Well it takes money to make money. Think of it as an investment. There really isn't much you can do aside from the above or having the cash already on hand. If you pinch pennies, work during school and get plenty of hours during the summer you can pull off $20k/year for the first 2-3 years (depending on your financial situation at home) pretty easy. Put all of that in and you're looking at a relatively small loan amount remaining in the scheme of things.

 

[PharmLife4Me]

I'll just write a check for $250,000 my first semester and get it over with.

 

[africanpharmd14]

I'll just write a check for $250,000 my first semester and get it over with.

 

[Jibby321]

I'll just write a check for $250,000 my first semester and get it over with.

.

 

[nyc76]

I'll be in a pickle because I own a condo and own a car I have to drive here in florida. I have to live somewhere so I might as well pay my condo with loan money instead of renting and paying the same amount. Even still I'm looking into possibly refinancing to lower my monthly and if possible maybe take in a roomate to cut down costs. Assuming I get accepted to a local school and have to drive, I plan on getting one of those full warranties on my car that covers anything that happens to it so that I don't get hit with a major repair in pharm school.

I don't plan on taking max loans out. I'll probably work sparingly part time during the semester and try to make some money in the summer. Live frivolously and just pinch pennies so that I don't use up all the loan money. It'll be a rough four years but time goes by pretty quick and hopefully once its done it'll be worth it.

Other than that maybe begging on the street will be an option.

 

[Notecard]

It's not that hard.

1. Go to a school that costs ~100k total or less.
2. Work 30-40 hours a week.
3. Graduate with less than 50k in loans.

 

[nyc76]

Question...how can you work 30-40 hours a week, which is pretty much full time, and still go to pharm school and have time to study?

 

[714]

Time management. There will always be people who can work those hours and goto pharmacy school.

 

[isanders]

or have a spouse bringing in the dough haha my wife will be a RN in two years...

 

[africanpharmd14]

It's not that hard.

1. Go to a school that costs ~100k total or less.
2. Work 30-40 hours a week.
3. Graduate with less than 50k in loans.

Don't forget about..
4. Be in debt half your life...

 

[Jibby321]

Don't forget about..
4. Be in debt half your life...

10 years is half your life? Most payment plans are ten years.

It helps if you do NOT go to a private school because tuition will be even more crazy.

 

[UoCfin]

For those applying for Fall 2014 admission....How are you all thinking about funding your education?

Personally....I'm staying FAR FAR away from loans...and looking under every rock for scholarships of any amount....

BUMP:////
I know lots of people on here are probably young as in out of college (4yrs) or doing 6yrs from high school, but do some people start their own small businesses before pharmschool? (as for the management question, well...you find the right people and administrate).
I am kind of in this boat (i want to do so before i start---already have something in mind)...but would love to hear if anyone has done so and how it paned out over the 4years or so of professional school.

Thanks.

 

[YoAyDri]

Do any schools allow you to maybe do teaching assistance programs or RA? That could help.

 

[Tonyg89]

I made a excellent investment last summer that payed off quite handsomely and I should be debt free when I'm done. Unless they add another year on to the PharmD program 🙁

 

[pharmerjohn]

I made a excellent investment last summer that payed off quite handsomely and I should be debt free when I'm done. Unless they add another year on to the PharmD program 🙁

You made an "excellent investment last summer" that would earn returns to pay for your entire pharmacy school program? Okay, you either you have really deep pockets to begin with or you're embellishing your returns quite a bit. I've invested for several years with the goal of minimizing my loan burden when I finish my education, but there is no way I can make any investment decisions just one year ago that will provide a return to fully pay for pharmacy school. The only way that could happen is if I start out with several hundred thousand dollars dedicated to making investments alone or have the ability to see the future. Maybe you have both! 😀 More power to ya!

 

[Tonyg89]

Actually my pockets weren't really deep. Maybe for a 22 year old at the time (currently 24), but not for the average worker making 50k+ a year. Worked from age 17 to 21 while going to a CC for a degree in computer science. Saved up to buy the car I've always wanted since it came out which was a 350z. Bought the car and had the it for a year. I then changed my mind on my career and went away to school to do my prerequisites and start my current path onto pharmacy and sold the car for about 2k more than i paid for it (paid $10k cash for it sold it for $11800).

I then bought ARNA stock with that $12k at a average price of 1.60/share and sold it when it's drug got approved at a price range between $12-$13.50 per share netting me around 97k which I kept $10000 from that to continue to invest with and saved the rest in a CD account. I am around 175k with accrued interest from the CD and investments I have continued to make and I am still working ~25hr/wk during school and 35-40/hrs in the summer.

I don't know your age but my thoughts on investing is since I am still young, if I were to have lost that 12k i still had 50+ years to make it back and not have to worry. I do understand this may seem reckless and I don't recommend this to everyone, but if you can afford a loss the risk is worth it. I will of course tighten up (move to mutal funds,bonds,401ks etc.) as I get older and get a real career. If i stay with CVS i get a 15% discount on shares and they match the first 5% up to 15,000 of your salary that you put into your 401k.

 

[cubpanda]

Actually my pockets weren't really deep. Maybe for a 22 year old at the time (currently 24), but not for the average worker making 50k+ a year. Worked from age 17 to 21 while going to a CC for a degree in computer science. Saved up to buy the car I've always wanted since it came out which was a 350z. Bought the car and had the it for a year. I then changed my mind on my career and went away to school to do my prerequisites and start my current path onto pharmacy and sold the car for about 2k more than i paid for it (paid $10k cash for it sold it for $11800).

I then bought ARNA stock with that $12k at a average price of 1.60/share and sold it when it's drug got approved at a price range between $12-$13.50 per share netting me around 97k which I kept $10000 from that to continue to invest with and saved the rest in a CD account. I am around 175k with accrued interest from the CD and investments I have continued to make and I am still working ~25hr/wk during school and 35-40/hrs in the summer.

I don't know your age but my thoughts on investing is since I am still young, if I were to have lost that 12k i still had 50+ years to make it back and not have to worry. I do understand this may seem reckless and I don't recommend this to everyone, but if you can afford a loss the risk is worth it. I will of course tighten up (move to mutal funds,bonds,401ks etc.) as I get older and get a real career. If i stay with CVS i get a 15% discount on shares and they match the first 5% up to 15,000 of your salary that you put into your 401k.

Wow, impressive.

Great job on such a feat at such a young age!

 

[pharmerjohn]

Actually my pockets weren't really deep. Maybe for a 22 year old at the time (currently 24), but not for the average worker making 50k+ a year. Worked from age 17 to 21 while going to a CC for a degree in computer science. Saved up to buy the car I've always wanted since it came out which was a 350z. Bought the car and had the it for a year. I then changed my mind on my career and went away to school to do my prerequisites and start my current path onto pharmacy and sold the car for about 2k more than i paid for it (paid $10k cash for it sold it for $11800).

I then bought ARNA stock with that $12k at a average price of 1.60/share and sold it when it's drug got approved at a price range between $12-$13.50 per share netting me around 97k which I kept $10000 from that to continue to invest with and saved the rest in a CD account. I am around 175k with accrued interest from the CD and investments I have continued to make and I am still working ~25hr/wk during school and 35-40/hrs in the summer.

This sounds a bit too good to be true, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and congratulate you on your ability to time the market just right for Arena Pharmaceuticals, although ARNA never peaked above $11.20/share. However, what baffles me is why anyone with the ability to see the market would put money in a CD that’s being beaten by inflation at the going rate of at least 4%!

I’m going to be honest with you, I’ve only ever met one gentleman in real life who can do what you just said you did, and he’s in his late 40’s to early 50’s. I know he was able to do it because when he picked up his medications, he dropped the elusive “Black Card” to pay for it. My jaw literally dropped when I saw it. I asked him how he did it, and he told me, “With a ton of brutal experience.” He’s able to time the market very well and he watches it every hour of the day like a full-time job – He knows the opened/closed price of each stock he invests in going back several months, as well as the style of management of each company. And you know what? I believed him, as he got the American Express Black Card to prove it. What’s my point in this anecdote? Be careful out there… It’s risky business!

I don't know your age but my thoughts on investing is since I am still young, if I were to have lost that 12k i still had 50+ years to make it back and not have to worry. I do understand this may seem reckless and I don't recommend this to everyone, but if you can afford a loss the risk is worth it. I will of course tighten up (move to mutal funds,bonds,401ks etc.) as I get older and get a real career. If i stay with CVS i get a 15% discount on shares and they match the first 5% up to 15,000 of your salary that you put into your 401k.

I’m roughly your age, but I don’t believe in making reckless investment decisions. I work 50 hours a week for a pharmaceutical company that puts in a nice contribution for my 401k, but I don’t invest in 401k, as I believe I have more control when I purchase my own investments. Working while going to school and prepping for pharmacy school taught me the value of money, so I never take risks based on the assumption of potential future earnings. That doesn’t mean I don’t do small caps – it just means I don’t put a huge amount of my investments in it (a` la your 12k drop). Last before I go, mutual funds and bonds markets aren’t looking so hot, so I’m not sure why you would want to jump in there. But then again, I don’t have any special abilities to predict the market, so maybe you see something I don’t. 🙂

Please see above.

 

[Tonyg89]

Arna was at the time was more of a crap shoot than a reading the market play. It got rejected once before this and no diet pill has been approved in over 12 years since fen-phen got pulled. Only thing I saw was odds in favor for it the second time around because of longer and larger trial pool for it and the FDA had loosened up on itsbapprovals. When you look at the charts online you only see closing day price not the intra day. It reached around 13.70s before it came back down to 12s then closed in the 11s that day. I remember it exactly because I didnt sleep the night before and night after lol. I dont invest in bonds now those are for closer to to retirement. And I am in CDs now cause I don't have the time like I used to trade and it would just be more added stress I dont need now. And mutal funds are doing well you just have to be in the right ones and adjust with the market. When I traded on a regular bases I never foresaw the market, I just adjusted to how it was trading and based my trades on that.

 

[pharmerjohn]

A 12k crapshoot is one gutsy move on a stock that has the volatility to induce vomit. But if that's what you did, then your gamble paid off handsomely. No prescription diet medication was approved, but if I recall correctly, OTC diet medications have been approved by FDA between Fen-Phen's fallout and Belviq's FDA approval (Alli is one that I can think of off the top of my head). I figured you would say that it was intraday pricing. Considering that the stock closed quite a bit lower, that's even more precise timing on your part if you got it at that price. I can never time my buy and sell quite that well, as I always end up missing the peak or trough by a bit. Anyway, unless it's 2005 all over again, I'm staying away from the CD market and its meager returns on investments. The lock in is even more of a turnoff with the political climate the way it is. There are plenty of things to go long on that will beat inflation and CD's embarrassing returns. Like you, I don't have time to watch the market closely at the moment, so I'm going long for a while until I'm done with school.

 

[68quebec]

future/current students need to realize how much student debt they are going to owe after graduation. no offense to some specific school students but why in the freaking world are any of you all going to the most expensive pharmacy schools in the united states to get PharmD? for example, USC costs around 45k / year of tuition plus expensive cost of living (and it is very very popular school!) students from south dakota graduate with less than 20k loan or little more if they love to spend but getting same exactly degree. before any of you all apply to pharmacy school, think twice about all those factors which can be your life sucker forever.

pharmacy jobs are not in golden age anymore. if new graduate has no network or connection, finding a job may be as hard as the new JD (lawyer) out there. with +$300k of debt? your annual interest is going to be at least 15k.. so plan very carefully on student debt!!

good luck to all of us, in god we trust 👍👍

 

[YoAyDri]

future/current students need to realize how much student debt they are going to owe after graduation. no offense to some specific school students but why in the freaking world are any of you all going to the most expensive pharmacy schools in the united states to get PharmD? for example, USC costs around 45k / year of tuition plus expensive cost of living (and it is very very popular school!) students from south dakota graduate with less than 20k loan or little more if they love to spend but getting same exactly degree. before any of you all apply to pharmacy school, think twice about all those factors which can be your life sucker forever.

pharmacy jobs are not in golden age anymore. if new graduate has no network or connection, finding a job may be as hard as the new JD (lawyer) out there. with +$300k of debt? your annual interest is going to be at least 15k.. so plan very carefully on student debt!!

good luck to all of us, in god we trust 👍👍

I agree, I just want to point out that going to USC for example may be expensive, but you are going to a top school where your chances of building a network and finding a job right after are much higher than if you went to a smaller less prestigious school.

 

[Jibby321]

If I were going to have 300k plus I would

 

[owlbright]

North Dakota State Univ costs 37k for out-of-state residents.
South Dakota takes a little less but is more competitive, with annual enrollment of 80 only, nationwide. It's not that we had much of a choice.
Try some luck on Montana or Wyoming first.

future/current students need to realize how much student debt they are going to owe after graduation. no offense to some specific school students but why in the freaking world are any of you all going to the most expensive pharmacy schools in the united states to get PharmD? for example, USC costs around 45k / year of tuition plus expensive cost of living (and it is very very popular school!) students from south dakota graduate with less than 20k loan or little more if they love to spend but getting same exactly degree. before any of you all apply to pharmacy school, think twice about all those factors which can be your life sucker forever.

pharmacy jobs are not in golden age anymore. if new graduate has no network or connection, finding a job may be as hard as the new JD (lawyer) out there. with +$300k of debt? your annual interest is going to be at least 15k.. so plan very carefully on student debt!!

good luck to all of us, in god we trust 👍👍

 

[68quebec]

North Dakota State Univ costs 37k for out-of-state residents.
South Dakota takes a little less but is more competitive, with annual enrollment of 80 only, nationwide. It's not that we had much of a choice.
Try some luck on Montana or Wyoming first.

well, I just pulled one 'very cheap school' example..and first school that came up on my mind was SDSU. my point was to find 'cheaper out of state schools'.. but thx for adding anyways

 

[Balph Eubank]

GI bill. it pays 100% in certain criteria 😉. thank you uncle sam

no, thank YOU sir.

 

[Rx Cat]

Realistically just go to the school with the lowest tuition. LECOM in Lake Erie, PA is 25k per year and its a 3 year program. I will be living with a relative there and working on the weekends at CVS so I will graduate with approximately 80k in debt if even, more like 65-70k. This is very manageable and should be easy to pay off in a year or two. Seriously if you get accepted to a "prestigious" school that has nearly double the tuition of a "lower" school that also accepted you, choose the cheaper option. Only thing that matters in the pharmacy field is your pharmD, you will basically always be able to get a job in retail at 110k starting salary once you are finished.

 

[BMBiology]

you will basically always be able to get a job in retail at 110k starting salary once you are finished.

Have you been to the pharmacy student forum lately?

What you are saying is true.....in 2006

Look at this forum. Many with a 2.6 GPA are getting accepted by the bus load. If pharmacy is a lucrative field as you think it is, the admission standards wouldn't have dropped so much.

 

[Rx Cat]

People need to lower their standards. Sure it might be tough to get a hospital job but their is always room in retail just not in the nicest areas (think ghetto). I might suggest the reason for the lower state being accepted is the applicants English and people skills. There is a huge amount of applicants with great stats but terrible English and communication skills, thus they get passed over for people with lower stats but who can effectively hold a clear and informative conversation with a patient

 

[desklamp]

Realistically just go to the school with the lowest tuition. LECOM in Lake Erie, PA is 25k per year and its a 3 year program. I will be living with a relative there and working on the weekends at CVS so I will graduate with approximately 80k in debt if even, more like 65-70k. This is very manageable and should be easy to pay off in a year or two. Seriously if you get accepted to a "prestigious" school that has nearly double the tuition of a "lower" school that also accepted you, choose the cheaper option. Only thing that matters in the pharmacy field is your pharmD, you will basically always be able to get a job in retail at 110k starting salary once you are finished.

I...don't think every single person going into pharm school wants to do retail. Especially thsoe considering school prestige. In which case what pharmacy school you choose dose matter, because the curricula and focus of each school is different.

And no, the reason for lower acceptance standards is due to the amount of **** schools being opened across the nation for the very reason of conning people who want 100k jobs verifying scripts all day. Trust me I was on adcom. It is beyond frustrating knowing you have to fill 100 seats in a class with a bunch of craptastic applicants because the pool is spread so thin (obviously doesn't apply to the top tier schools in GOOD locations.)

 

[Rx Cat]

The market is saturated because the cushy jobs that are 9-5 with weekends off are taken. If you are seriously considering school prestige than you really do not belong in pharmacy and would find yourself in better company with pretentious pre-meds. There is nothing wrong with retail as it pays more than hospital jobs but is more stressful. If you are young and just finished pharmacy school you have no excuse to not go into retail and get an excellent start at paying back your loans. Give it 5 or 6 years and then you can move on to what it is you prefer. Sure there are other interests in other fields but retail is the most practical starting position.

 

[Rx Cat]

Yes I know what you mean with the new **** schools. Seriously getting in with a 30 pcat and 2.8 GPa??? I really hope some kind of limit gets imposed because the saturation that everyone is talking about now will become actual reality in the next 10-15 years.

 

[Jibby321]

Yes I know what you mean with the new **** schools. Seriously getting in with a 30 pcat and 2.8 GPa??? I really hope some kind of limit gets imposed because the saturation that everyone is talking about now will become actual reality in the next 10-15 years.

30 PCAT and 2.8 gpa sounds like LECOMs average admission stats. That's roughly what it was when I interviewed there and literally said to myself "is this a joke?" Simply because of the pathetic stats they had on the screen for the average of their previous year.

 

[desklamp]

The market is saturated because the cushy jobs that are 9-5 with weekends off are taken. If you are seriously considering school prestige than you really do not belong in pharmacy and would find yourself in better company with pretentious pre-meds. There is nothing wrong with retail as it pays more than hospital jobs but is more stressful. If you are young and just finished pharmacy school you have no excuse to not go into retail and get an excellent start at paying back your loans. Give it 5 or 6 years and then you can move on to what it is you prefer. Sure there are other interests in other fields but retail is the most practical starting position.

There is plenty "wrong" with retail (or clinical specialties) depending on what you are looking for in a career.

Just because you have lower standards doesn't mean the rest of us want the same thing, and I don't feel that it's beneficial to push this outlook on new pharm students.

Nothing wrong with looking for more challenging careers or prestige.