Hey everyone, so I just got my acceptance letter from MCPHS today. My first one, i was very excited! I already to go to college in Worcester, and will be graduating in the spring, so I already know the area fairly well. I have a 3.8 prereq. GPA and roughly a 3.73 science GPA. I am a little torn though because I have heard mixed reviews about the college, and wanted to make sure that I am picking the right school.
I am pretty stressed out because MCPHS needs to know my decision by next month, and I was waiting to hear back from UCONN. I just called the lady at UCONN (my top choice) about the status of my application, and she said that they likely do not do interviews until late february/march, so I have no clue what to do. I wish MCPHS wasn't rolling admission so badly 🙁.
Anyone have guidance for me on this situation? It would be gratly appreciated!
I just finished my first semester at MCPHS - Worcester and I am going to be brutally honest about how I feel about the program:
Before applying to this school, I read all the nasty things about it on theses forums (and other sites) and I honestly didn't believe them. I thought anyone saying nasty things about MCP must be bitter or lazy. I only applied to two pharmacy schools, MCPHS Worcester and UConn. I was accepted to MCPHS right away and conditionally accepted to UConn (they asked me to take biochemistry on their campus over the summer because they wouldn't accept my 3-credit UMass biochem). The ultimate reason I decided to attend MCPHS over UConn was because I wouldn't have to spend the summer retaking biochemistry. Another "pro" to MCPHS was it's only 20 minutes from my family's home, so I could commute and save tens of thousands of dollars in student loans. I regret my decision to attend MCPHS over UConn. I wish I hadn't been so lazy and cheap, and I wish I had believed the comments I read online about the program.
MCPHS Worcester will pretty much accept anyone into the accelerated pharmD program. Worcester is the dumping ground for all the undergrads from the Boston campus who were rejected from the Boston PharmD program. During orientation, I met a handful of students who were literally accepted that very day and HAD NOT COMPLETED ALL OF THE PREREQUISITE COURSES FOR THE PROGRAM. I am not over exaggerating in the slightest. As the semester progressed, more and more students became aware of this "bending of the rules" and those of us who actually took all of the required courses were PISSED. I completed by bachelor's at UMass Amherst, and getting into pre-health courses was nearly impossible and I had to take a couple 20+ credit semesters to make sure I completed everything on time. Years before I applied to MCPHS I talked with the admissions folks several times and they told me they could
absolutely not make exceptions to the prerequisites. Right off the bat, I felt betrayed by MCPHS, I felt scammed. And it only got worse.
Supposedly, you need a 1.5 cumulative GPA to progress from one semester to the next, and a 2.2 to graduate. However, as long as you did not fail and class and are not on financial aid, they will let you continue. All this school cares about is $$$$$$$$$. I do not know if this is the case at all pharmacy schools, but the more people I chat with about my dislike for MCPHS, the more I find out how scummy this program really is. Mass. College of Pharmacy USED to be considered a good school 15+ years ago but this had drastically changed.
As for the classes, the instructors are very hit-or-miss. In general, the "hard science" professors (PhDs) are significantly more professional, trustworthy, organized, pleasant, and knowledgable than the pharmacy practice professors (PharmDs). Some of the pharmacy practice professors literally graduated from MCPHS 2 years ago and are essentially useless. I was expecting a more well established pharmacy practice department considering MCPHS is the "second oldest pharmacy school in the country" (they will remind you of every day, as if it matters and should make you feel better about getting ripped-off). All of the professors at this school are very honest about how horrible the job market for pharmacists is becoming, and ironically MCPHS is contributing to this problem immensely.
I hope anyone who is considering MCPHS Worcester will believe me when I say DON'T GO HERE. Suck it up and take the couple of extra prerequisite courses required by the more reputable PharmD programs. I love pharmacy and I am pulling good grades here so I'm going to stick it out, but I sure do wish I hadn't sold myself short by deciding to attend MCPHS Worcester.
Good luck everyone!
