Living situation after graduation

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Chriskahn

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2013
Messages
258
Reaction score
171
I am a little bit concerned about my living situation after graduation. So after I graduate, I cant move back into my parents because my brother moved in with his family of 5 so the house is full. My wife's parents only have 1 room free but that's going to be tough since we have a crazy toddler.

I guess my question is, what was your living situation after graduating?

I know most people study for a month on average for the NAPLEX. And if for some reason I fail I'll have to wait 45 days to retake. Then it will take a while to find a job. I'm not sure I will have enough money left over from loans to rent a place for 6 months to a year. Most places require a year lease in my area.

How long was the whole graduation ->NAPLEX ->applying for a job -> start working process for you guys?

Members don't see this ad.
 
Had a job offer after graduation. Started working in August. Usually takes a month to get results after taking the exam. Sometimes you run into a QA period of the exam where results aren't released until a certain amount of people take the exam. Then you still need to wait couple of weeks for your state's BOP to issues you a license.
 
I am a little bit concerned about my living situation after graduation. So after I graduate, I cant move back into my parents because my brother moved in with his family of 5 so the house is full. My wife's parents only have 1 room free but that's going to be tough since we have a crazy toddler.

I guess my question is, what was your living situation after graduating?

I know most people study for a month on average for the NAPLEX. And if for some reason I fail I'll have to wait 45 days to retake. Then it will take a while to find a job. I'm not sure I will have enough money left over from loans to rent a place for 6 months to a year. Most places require a year lease in my area.

How long was the whole graduation ->NAPLEX ->applying for a job -> start working process for you guys?
Isn't it 90 days to retake the NAPLEX?

I was licensed and working 45 days after graduating (well, I was working the whole time, too).
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I worked about 20 hours/week as grad intern right after graduation. Didn't really have a break.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Why not get a job so this becomes a non-issue?

My thoughts exactly. You're an adult with a family to support, go get a job.

EDIT: To be clear, any job will do. I know you're waiting for pharmacist job, but in the interim you gotta do what you gotta do.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5 users
Where are you, your wife, and child living right now?

For me, I had a job offer before graduation. I took about a week of vacation after graduation and then started full time as a grad intern. Took boards a few weeks later, passed, and was upgraded to pharmacist.
I think the applying for a job part should be something you're doing right now.
 
I graduated in June, took the Naplex in July and started work in August. I was fortunate enough to have worked throughout school and saved a nest egg and had my parents for financial support if needed but luckily did not need their assistance.

I recommend just getting a job, start driving for Lyft or Uber right now, or delivering for Amazon Now deliveries, assuming this is in your city. Or get a job as graduate intern, are you not interning anywhere, do you have a job lined up?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
graduation (no job) -> NAPLEX (2 weeks) -> MPJE 1 (3 days) -> MPJE 2 (2 days) -> MPJE 3 (1 day) -> MPJE 4 (1 day) -> MPJE 5 (night before) -> finally got a job -> CPJE (3 days) -> next job

During this time I rented a room month-to-month.

Generally speaking, I recommend having a pharmacist job in hand before graduation.
 
I'm planning a bit ahead right now I just needed to see the time frame of how long it takes for people to land a job. Looks like most people get job offers during their 4th year rotations. I will be starting rotations in 4 months so I wont graduate until 2018

But I will definitely be searching for grad intern jobs or any job for that matter after graduation if I don't get any offers during 4th year

Hopefully I can just transition into being a pharmacist quickly like many of you here. Thanks for the responses.
 
Why would your parents let your brother's family of 5 move in with them. yiKes


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app
 
That was over one year. MPJE states MA > CT > NV > AZ > TX. I have said in the past it took me 11 months to get a FT job, then stayed on for 16 months before the next.

The time in parentheses is literally the amount of time I spent studying for exams. Passing is passing though FWIW I got above 86 on all MPJE. It's the same crap over and over...
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Members don't see this ad :)
This is just a general observation: if you are at all serious about studying and don't have a learning disability (and I don't consider passively reading material and rewriting crap word for word serious studying) you don't need weeks to pass NAPLEX or CPJE. I mean you spent 3-4 years in pharmacy school already!

Like 80% of people taking NAPLEX traditionally score below 100 (75 to pass), and the minimum score on CPJE is 75. Multiple choice exams do not require the critical thinking ability that is required to function effectively on the job either.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Not with the new revisions (from what I've heard).
It's hard to tell since pharmacy school admissions standards have been dropping while the NAPLEX has been "getting harder". Any decrease in passing rate can be equally explained by either.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Did you not work at all while in pharmacy school? If you don't graduate until 2018, I would not recommend waiting to get a grad intern job. I would highly recommend getting an intern job NOW in addition to being an exemplary student on rotations. Most people do not get job offers during their 4th year rotations, but a few do. You really have to set yourself apart, and if you did not work during pharmacy school, how are you going to compete for jobs against people who did?

I did the first year but then I had a kid and haven't interned since.

Why would your parents let your brother's family of 5 move in with them. yiKes

My mom lives in another state but has a house that my sister currently lives in with he bf, until my brother moved in. So now its a full house.
 
It's hard to tell since pharmacy school admissions standards have been dropping while the NAPLEX has been "getting harder". Any decrease in passing rate can be equally explained by either.

I'll let you know how it is in May, get some anecdotal evidence for ya.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I'll let you know how it is in May, get some anecdotal evidence for ya.

I hear its brutal in terms of test taking. A 6 hour test with only 1 break thats only 10 minutes. Content wise people say its more straight forward.
 
You get a grace period for your loans. You don't have to start paying them right away. I had some money saved up and rented my own place plus I started working as a grad intern.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
It's hard to tell since pharmacy school admissions standards have been dropping while the NAPLEX has been "getting harder". Any decrease in passing rate can be equally explained by either.

IT IS HARDER, make no mistake. I graduated in 2016, and failed the "old" NAPLEX. Honestly, I followed everyone's advice about "you only need to study for 1 week". I actually studied for a month solid....Comparing the old vs the new, I noticed from the old NAPLEX "adaptive nature", is that some people used to get a freaking easier test than others. How do I know? Students talk A LOT after the test. Info flies. I got the nasty one....I waited the 90 days and studied like a maniac for the new NAPLEX that I had it to take. +12hrs/day-7 days a week. I killed it big!...I noticed the info they throw you in the cases compared to the old one is a lot more! if you do not know where to look, you are "dead". Also, questions are more clinical. And the compounding is like WAY harder than the old exam. Math is somehow the same...you need to go auto pilot, doing math pretty much in your head because there is no time to write stuff down. Practicing fast with the numpad is a must...I thought the 6 hours (10 min break) was just whatever, but in reality your brain does feel it, especially when you have 1 hour left and they bombard you with math questions and random stuff. Remember you have less than 2 minutes per question.

Again, it is not the same test. IT IS harder. My 2c.
 
Live at home. Best decision I ever made. I'm also a spoiled brat, so it works out for me.
 
IT IS HARDER, make no mistake. I graduated in 2016, and failed the "old" NAPLEX. Honestly, I followed everyone's advice about "you only need to study for 1 week". I actually studied for a month solid....Comparing the old vs the new, I noticed from the old NAPLEX "adaptive nature", is that some people used to get a freaking easier test than others. How do I know? Students talk A LOT after the test. Info flies. I got the nasty one....I waited the 90 days and studied like a maniac for the new NAPLEX that I had it to take. +12hrs/day-7 days a week. I killed it big!...I noticed the info they throw you in the cases compared to the old one is a lot more! if you do not know where to look, you are "dead". Also, questions are more clinical. And the compounding is like WAY harder than the old exam. Math is somehow the same...you need to go auto pilot, doing math pretty much in your head because there is no time to write stuff down. Practicing fast with the numpad is a must...I thought the 6 hours (10 min break) was just whatever, but in reality your brain does feel it, especially when you have 1 hour left and they bombard you with math questions and random stuff. Remember you have less than 2 minutes per question.

Again, it is not the same test. IT IS harder. My 2c.

Sweet. Glad you killed it. Im kinda worried about the 6 hour test to be honest. I'm afraid I'll have to pee or something and it will ruin my concentration. I had to drop a deuce so bad during the PCAT that it messed me up a bit. Blew up the bathroom during my break and felt amazing after. If the same thing was to happen during the NAPLEX I might be screwed since I dont know if I can hold it that long and take care of it within the 10 minute break.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Sweet. Glad you killed it. Im kinda worried about the 6 hour test to be honest. I'm afraid I'll have to pee or something and it will ruin my concentration. I had to drop a deuce so bad during the PCAT that it messed me up a bit. Blew up the bathroom during my break and felt amazing after. If the same thing was to happen during the NAPLEX I might be screwed since I dont know if I can hold it that long and take care of it within the 10 minute break.

Lol reminds me of my PCAT where I got a nose bleed for no apparent reason and was trying to take the test with my head tilted up. Plus I couldn't sleep the night before so I already felt like crap.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
NABP says 45 days to retake naplex but California board says 90 days -- anyone know if California is just slow in updating its site?
 
It's hard to tell since pharmacy school admissions standards have been dropping while the NAPLEX has been "getting harder". Any decrease in passing rate can be equally explained by either.

No, new NAPLEX is not harder than the 2004 NAPLEX (but it is longer) than it was before having taking the new version as a calibration measure (cold turkey score for the new was 121 which was not significantly less than my original exam score which was in the 130s). What it does is throw out a bunch of the stupid trivia stuff (methyldopa and dantrolene questions) and refocuses on case matters which I could make a good bet that most of you could pass everything but the math cold turkey straight off a shift of chain pharmacy work. The math is as annoying (but still not hard) as the old exam where they throw in mEq/mOsm, aliquot, and other odd calculations that we never do anymore that you would need an hour or two with Ansel's to refresh. Compounding is restored to the exam (was missing from the 2008 version for a long while), but does more sterile than extemp.

I have seen old NABPLEX paper exams from the 1990s, it's around about that difficulty now with the extraneous information. My NAPLEX was certainly dumbed down from the paper exam (less bull$... in terms of extra, useless information), and the 2008 revision was even less difficult. Today's version still something that I feel that most "reasonable" pharmacists can pass straight from shift if you bother seeing what you're dispensing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Top