Notoriously "hard" pharmacy schools to get in to

[mdr8]

I was wondering, what are some of the hardest pharmacy programs to gain admission to?

On the Pharmcas site, the average gpa's are all roughly in the same ball park, ranging from about 3.2-3.6.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Snipy]

It depends on how you define "hard". Some schools emphasize on gpa and PCAT score , while other schools emphasize on work experience in a pharmacy. Also, another type of "hard" school is a school that requires a lot of prereqs to be fulfilled.

 

[joh0472]

I was wondering, what are some of the hardest pharmacy programs to gain admission to?

On the Pharmcas site, the average gpa's are all roughly in the same ball park, ranging from about 3.2-3.6.

This is a tricky question because some schools make you jump through a lot of hoops to get into even if you have an high GPA. I am sure UCSF is one, University of Utah is difficult, Rutgers, University of Washington, Wisconsin, Arizona, and a lot of other state schools are difficult because of the competition of students applying there and the limited number of seats. GPA is not the only issue schools deal with.

 

[Snipy]

I would to also like to add that state schools are generally more competitive because of the lower tuition cost :].

 

[mdr8]

I was just wondering what schools have a hard reputation with all factors considered..... gpa, pcat, experience, shadowing etc. I'm not looking for a ranking of top schools based on any one factor. I was curious what were the schools that people generally refer to on these boards as the most competitive so I can perhaps keep from applying to those.

 

[KMIMSM]

all the schools in California are hard. they don't require PCAT, they have their number of applicants in the thousands, and schools like UCSD only has like 70 seats and 1500 applicants with a gpa average of 3.67.
USC won't look at your application if your gpa is below 3.0 or 3.2.

 

[apteryx]

Pretty much any state school will be tough to get into because of lower tuition, as the other poster said. Then there's the issue of transferring into schools with 0-6 programs. Schools like Wilkes give preference to their own pre-pharm students, leaving a grand total of 1-2 seats for transfers. Albany College of Pharmacy is tough to transfer into, as well. I talked to an admissions guy there last year, and he told me they only look at GPA. If you're not bringing a 3.9-4.0, don't waste your money. Tough school supposedly, too.

 

[PharmacyNut]

a friend of mine is a kansas resident who had a 3.75 gpa and 85 PCAT with lots of pharmacy experience. he applied twice to Univ of Kansas and was rejected twice 😱. he said his interviews went well too and prepared by mock interview each time. anyway, i was appalled because he's one of the smartest people i know. however, he got in somewhere else and is a p1 (or 2?) now.

so on my notoriously "hard" list KU School of Pharmacy is up there. Cali schools are next (excluding private schools - although Touro is a tough in for people with lower GPAs).

 

[capricia]

My friend is in a 0-6 program and they only accept transfers if someone drops out, which usually means only 2 spots max for 1/2 year transfers so even if you apply and don't check first it may be pointless.

 

[AZbball35]

state schools are also more difficult to get in to because they usually give preference to those who have done their undergrad/pre-reqs at their school and they give preference to those who are residents of their state

for example, Arizona's class stats for 2012 are 84 out of 97 students are AZ residents, and 63/97 completed their pre-reqs at UofA

 

[busyizzy]

state schools are also more difficult to get in to because they usually give preference to those who have done their undergrad/pre-reqs at their school and they give preference to those who are residents of their state

for example, Arizona's class stats for 2012 are 84 out of 97 students are AZ residents, and 63/97 completed their pre-reqs at UofA

That doesn't mean state schools always give preference to in-state students....

Just because the incoming class is made mostly of students from that state, it doesn't mean they have a preference. It could be that the majority of the students who apply are already from the state, and there are fewer out-of-state applicants.

Example, UCSF and Maryland does not give preference to their state of residency. And yet, the majority of their students are from their respective states.

Though, yes, some states do give preference, ie. UNC.

Just wanted to throw that out there...

 

[docss26]

That doesn't mean state schools always give preference to in-state students....

Just because the incoming class is made mostly of students from that state, it doesn't mean they have a preference. It could be that the majority of the students who apply are already from the state, and there are fewer out-of-state applicants.

Example, UCSF and Maryland does not give preference to their state of residency. And yet, the majority of their students are from their respective states.

Though, yes, some states do give preference, ie. UNC.

Just wanted to throw that out there...

Don't state schools get some sort of extra funding or incentive from the government if they enroll students from the state? I'm not sure about this thats why I am asking.

 

[desklamp]

I was wondering, what are some of the hardest pharmacy programs to gain admission to?

On the Pharmcas site, the average gpa's are all roughly in the same ball park, ranging from about 3.2-3.6.

I would imagine most if not all schools in California will be more competitive since they do not require PCATS, so everyone too lazy to take one standardized test will be applying there.

State schools if you're not a resident of that state would probably also be difficult.

 

[UES Girl]

I would imagine most if not all schools in California will be more competitive since they do not require PCATS, so everyone too lazy to take one standardized test will be applying there.

State schools if you're not a resident of that state would probably also be difficult.

That's a harsh and unintelligent statement to make. People apply to CA school for a number of reasons not just because they were too lazy to take the PCAT. CA schools have other factors to weed out applicants - supplemental applications for example. A lot of people in my class at my CA school myself included took PCAT. I'd take PCAT 5 times over if I had to, instead of filling out one UC supp. PCAT is simple and straightforward - you study, you do well. Supps are mooshey washey because you have no idea what they are looking for and if you essays are up to a bar they set.

Plus everyone applies to CA because it's CA for Christ's sake. No offense but people that were usually brought up in CA like to stay in CA. For UT for example, I couldn't imagine myself going there because every time when I called admissions office, I couldn't even decipher what they were saying because the staff had such harsh strong accents. People usually apply close to home or somewhere reminiscent to home.

 

[297point1]

Don't state schools get some sort of extra funding or incentive from the government if they enroll students from the state? I'm not sure about this thats why I am asking.

It's a tricky dance; state schools actually receive more money when they enroll out-of-state students (in the form of higher out-of-state tuition).

While it would be appealing for a state school to admit more out-of-state students as a way to increase operating revenue, it is counterproductive in two ways: first, it defeats the mission of the school to educate residents of the state, and secondly (and much more importantly), when a competitive program like medicine or pharmacy admits too high proportion of out-of-state students, qualified in-state students who didn't get in begin to complain. While SDN is a great place to complain, it is usually more productive to complain to a state representative, who might be able to use political pressure to increase the number of in-state students a program accepts. How do they do this? Easy...usually with a threat of reduced state funding for higher education. (The logic goes "Why should residents of state X subsidize the education of a student from state Y? State X money should be used to educate students of state X.") Nevermind that in-state students are generally no more qualified than out-of-state students. There are external forces that help keep the ratio as it is.

In almost every circumstance, it will be easier for a qualified student to get into the pharmacy program at a state school as a resident applicant rather than a non-resident applicant.

 

[docss26]

It's a tricky dance; state schools actually receive more money when they enroll out-of-state students (in the form of higher out-of-state tuition).

While it would be appealing for a state school to admit more out-of-state students as a way to increase operating revenue, it is counterproductive in two ways: first, it defeats the mission of the school to educate residents of the state, and secondly (and much more importantly), when a competitive program like medicine or pharmacy admits too high proportion of out-of-state students, qualified in-state students who didn't get in begin to complain. While SDN is a great place to complain, it is usually more productive to complain to a state representative, who might be able to use political pressure to increase the number of in-state students a program accepts. How do they do this? Easy...usually with a threat of reduced state funding for higher education. (The logic goes "Why should residents of state X subsidize the education of a student from state Y? State X money should be used to educate students of state X.") Nevermind that in-state students are generally no more qualified than out-of-state students. There are external forces that help keep the ratio as it is.

In almost every circumstance, it will be easier for a qualified student to get into the pharmacy program at a state school as a resident applicant rather than a non-resident applicant.

Good info! Thanks for the clarification.

 

[docss26]

That's a harsh and unintelligent statement to make. People apply to CA school for a number of reasons not just because they were too lazy to take the PCAT. CA schools have other factors to weed out applicants - supplemental applications for example. A lot of people in my class at my CA school myself included took PCAT. I'd take PCAT 5 times over if I had to, instead of filling out one UC supp. PCAT is simple and straightforward - you study, you do well. Supps are mooshey washey because you have no idea what they are looking for and if you essays are up to a bar they set.

Plus everyone applies to CA because it's CA for Christ's sake. No offense but people that were usually brought up in CA like to stay in CA. For UT for example, I couldn't imagine myself going there because every time when I called admissions office, I couldn't even decipher what they were saying because the staff had such harsh strong accents. People usually apply close to home or somewhere reminiscent to home.

Of course not all students apply because theyre lazy to take the PCAT. In my experiences though, I have met a TON of people that choose to apply to CA schools solely for the fact that they do not require a PCAT.

 

[Tinkerbell22]

That doesn't mean state schools always give preference to in-state students....

Just because the incoming class is made mostly of students from that state, it doesn't mean they have a preference. It could be that the majority of the students who apply are already from the state, and there are fewer out-of-state applicants.

Example, UCSF and Maryland does not give preference to their state of residency. And yet, the majority of their students are from their respective states.

Though, yes, some states do give preference, ie. UNC.

Just wanted to throw that out there...

UF does this too indirectly because they have different "competitive" stats for in-state vs out of state. On their site they suggest a higher GPA and PCAT, but I'm sure it varies on an individual basis.

 

[atticus27]

all the schools in California are hard..

There are new schools in Cali that are not nearly as competitive as the other long-standing schools.

I would imagine most if not all schools in California will be more competitive since they do not require PCATS, so everyone too lazy to take one standardized test will be applying there.

That is a negative sir. Although Cali schools don't require the PCAT most require B.S/B.A degrees and the tuition is relatively high. Many Cali residents apply OOS.

 

[PharmOl]

It's a tricky dance; state schools actually receive more money when they enroll out-of-state students (in the form of higher out-of-state tuition).

While it would be appealing for a state school to admit more out-of-state students as a way to increase operating revenue, it is counterproductive in two ways: first, it defeats the mission of the school to educate residents of the state, and secondly (and much more importantly), when a competitive program like medicine or pharmacy admits too high proportion of out-of-state students, qualified in-state students who didn't get in begin to complain. While SDN is a great place to complain, it is usually more productive to complain to a state representative, who might be able to use political pressure to increase the number of in-state students a program accepts. How do they do this? Easy...usually with a threat of reduced state funding for higher education. (The logic goes "Why should residents of state X subsidize the education of a student from state Y? State X money should be used to educate students of state X.") Nevermind that in-state students are generally no more qualified than out-of-state students. There are external forces that help keep the ratio as it is.

In almost every circumstance, it will be easier for a qualified student to get into the pharmacy program at a state school as a resident applicant rather than a non-resident applicant.

Actually, in some states, per General Administration, public universities must admit a certain percentage (usually in the 80's %).. of in- state students. That would explain why they are given higher priority very legitimately.

 

[SHC1984]

UNC, UCSF, UCSD, and any other very cheap public pharmacy school. Anything with tuition below 15K a year will be very competitive and therefore very hard to get into.

 

[mdr8]

UNC, UCSF, UCSD, and any other very cheap public pharmacy school. Anything with tuition below 15K a year will be very competitive and therefore very hard to get into.

What schools have tuition under 15k a year?

 

[crazybob]

What schools have tuition under 15k a year?

In-state publics schools

 

[UES Girl]

In-state publics schools

Not mine 😎

 

[mdr8]

Not mine 😎

Yeah, por ejemplo:

Arizona - 16K
Buffalo Suny - 18K
Colorado - 18k
Florida - 15.5k
Illinois - 20.2k
Maryland - 16.6k
Washington - 16.2k

I have not heard of any schools under 15k but I have also not looked up the prices of in-state tuition for all schools, so if anyone knows of which ones are cheaper than these, do share! I would like to look into them.

 

[crazybob]

Yeah, por ejemplo:

Arizona - 16K
Buffalo Suny - 18K
Colorado - 18k
Florida - 15.5k
Illinois - 20.2k
Maryland - 16.6k
Washington - 16.2k

I have not heard of any schools under 15k but I have also not looked up the prices of in-state tuition for all schools, so if anyone knows of which ones are cheaper than these, do share! I would like to look into them.

Wow. In Arkansas, I pay about $10,500 per year to go to school here as an in-state resident. That's only for school payments. I'm not counting other costs like food, gas, insurance, books, etc. because that money doesn't go to my school.

 

[mdr8]

Wow. In Arkansas, I pay about $10,500 per year to go to school here as an in-state resident. That's only for school payments. I'm not counting other costs like food, gas, insurance, books, etc. because that money doesn't go to my school.

Wow! You'll be paying back your student loans in no time. Good for you haha. Unfortunately in New Hampshire the only pharmacy school is MCPHS-manchester, a 3 year program 20 minutes from my house. It is private, expensive and I definitely won't be applying there.

 

[rycetrix]

UNC, UCSF, UCSD, and any other very cheap public pharmacy school. Anything with tuition below 15K a year will be very competitive and therefore very hard to get into.

Where did you get this 15k figure?...

Just FYI, UCSF's tuition for in-state students for the next several years:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=680672&highlight=UC+tuition+fee

😱

Not mine 😎

Yep... And obviously we're avoiding studying for CP...lol.

 

[mdr8]

Where did you get this 15k figure?...

Just FYI, UCSF's tuition for in-state students for the next several years:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=680672&highlight=UC+tuition+fee

😱



Yep... And obviously we're avoiding studying for CP...lol.

By the time we have kids, if they plan on going into the field of health professionals, they'll probably be paying 80k a year. Absurd.

 

[PharmacyNut]

Wow! You'll be paying back your student loans in no time. Good for you haha. Unfortunately in New Hampshire the only pharmacy school is MCPHS-manchester, a 3 year program 20 minutes from my house. It is private, expensive and I definitely won't be applying there.

compared to other private schools, MCPHS isn't very expensive. I've found that LECOM is the least expensive among private schools though (correct me if im wrong).

 

[SHC1984]

What schools have tuition under 15k a year?

UNC-14k a year UGA-9K a year. I think there is one in TX and maybe Buffalo too? Not sure I didn't look into all of them...
Thats IN-state tuition.

And you are right not all in state schools have below 15K a year...but the ones that do are very diffcult to get into. Hence the title of this thread!

If you don't mind harsh cold weather I would also look into Lecom at Erie PA. Their tuition is only 22k a year, but thats a three year program...so you are only 66K in debt. Not bad if you ask me. LOL...Erie is the cheapest private school I believe...my friend graduate with less than 90K in debt total for her PharmD degree.

 

[onychophagia]

Yeah, por ejemplo:

Arizona - 16K
Buffalo Suny - 18K
Colorado - 18k
Florida - 15.5k
Illinois - 20.2k
Maryland - 16.6k
Washington - 16.2k

I have not heard of any schools under 15k but I have also not looked up the prices of in-state tuition for all schools, so if anyone knows of which ones are cheaper than these, do share! I would like to look into them.

Howard University in Washington, DC is about $13,500 a year.

 

[capricia]

Ohio State is just below 16k a year

 

[Tinkerbell22]

Yeah LECOM Bradenton is a great deal for out of state students too because you can go to pharmacy school in Florida but pay similar prices to what Florida residents would pay at a state school like UF. I live in Florida but I am still applying to LECOM also. I don't think the Florida school is accelerated though so you will be there 4 years.

 

[homeslice]

The pharmacy schools in North and South Dakota are something ridiculous like 5k per year if you're in state.

 

[desklamp]

That's a harsh and unintelligent statement to make. People apply to CA school for a number of reasons not just because they were too lazy to take the PCAT. CA schools have other factors to weed out applicants - supplemental applications for example. A lot of people in my class at my CA school myself included took PCAT. I'd take PCAT 5 times over if I had to, instead of filling out one UC supp. PCAT is simple and straightforward - you study, you do well. Supps are mooshey washey because you have no idea what they are looking for and if you essays are up to a bar they set.

Plus everyone applies to CA because it's CA for Christ's sake. No offense but people that were usually brought up in CA like to stay in CA. For UT for example, I couldn't imagine myself going there because every time when I called admissions office, I couldn't even decipher what they were saying because the staff had such harsh strong accents. People usually apply close to home or somewhere reminiscent to home.

it's not really harsh, nor unintelligent. if you reread my statement, i'm not indicating that ALL applicants to CA schools apply because of the lack of PCATs. However, after reading post after post of people asking which schools don't require PCATS because they don't want to take ONE standardized test, i think it's safe to assume that people who are too lazy to take the test will be applying to Cali schools (or other west coast schools).

It sounds to me like you've been offended because you applied to CA schools and you don't want to be considered as "lazy". I realize a lot of people apply to cali schools for various reasons, myself included (although i did take the PCATS heh) so let's just all be friends.

 

[Filler]

Howard University in Washington, DC is about $13,500 a year.

I'm pretty sure thats $13,500 per semester, about $27,000 per year..I could be wrong though.

 

[UES Girl]

it's not really harsh, nor unintelligent. if you reread my statement, i'm not indicating that ALL applicants to CA schools apply because of the lack of PCATs. However, after reading post after post of people asking which schools don't require PCATS because they don't want to take ONE standardized test, i think it's safe to assume that people who are too lazy to take the test will be applying to Cali schools (or other west coast schools).

It sounds to me like you've been offended because you applied to CA schools and you don't want to be considered as "lazy". I realize a lot of people apply to cali schools for various reasons, myself included (although i did take the PCATS heh) so let's just all be friends.

Personally, I'm not offended. I'm simply encouraging you to stop making overly generalized statements because it doesn't come off well.

People may not want to take the PCAT for various reasons. Examples include:
- Pcat is an expensive test to take, so a lot of people don't want to take it for financial reasons. It cost me over 2 k in the end to take the PCAT ( Kaplan + test itself + flying out of state to take the exam because local testing locations were closed).
-It's time consuming, it takes time to study for it, even though material itself is not hard, you need a chunk of time to review.

In the end, the outcomes of one's acceptance lie in their own hands , meaning the amount of time/effort/money someone invested in their application process will determine what kind of education they will be getting.

 

[desklamp]

Personally, I'm not offended. I'm simply encouraging you to stop making overly generalized statements because it doesn't come off well.

People may not want to take the PCAT for various reasons. Examples include:
- Pcat is an expensive test to take, so a lot of people don't want to take it for financial reasons. It cost me over 2 k in the end to take the PCAT ( Kaplan + test itself + flying out of state to take the exam because local testing locations were closed).
-It's time consuming, it takes time to study for it, even though material itself is not hard, you need a chunk of time to review.

In the end, the outcomes of one's acceptance lie in their own hands , meaning the amount of time/effort/money someone invested in their application process will determine what kind of education they will be getting.

So essentially you're saying people don't want to take the PCATs for 2 reasons.

1) Financial, in which your case of paying 2k to take the PCATS seems rare. It cost me 50$ in books, + the usual fee for registration + retaining information from classes.

or

2) You're lazy and/or have crappy time management.

High five.

Anyway, both seem like excuses to me, considering every doctorate program requires an entrance exam. I don't see why Pharmacy should be any different.

 

[UES Girl]

So essentially you're saying people don't want to take the PCATs for 2 reasons.

1) Financial, in which your case of paying 2k to take the PCATS seems rare. It cost me 40$ in books, + the usual fee for registration.

or

2) You're lazy and/or have crappy time management.

High five.

Btw it's just excuses, considering every doctorate program requires an entrance exam. I don't see why Pharmacy should be any different.

I'm not making excuses for people, I'm just old and trying to teach you to be less judgemental.

 

[Passion4Sci]

Hey Desklamp, here's $5 to buy a clue.

It's PCAT. Pharmacy College Admission Test.

Before you insult Cheb you might want to check yourself to make sure you're not a complete idiot.

The fact that California schools have never required PCAT and still produce excellent clinicians and the fact that attrition from pharmacy schools such as USC, UoP and UCSF is not very high seem to indicate that the PCAT is not the "end all, be all" exam that people seem to think it is.

 

[Bowler11]

Wisconsin's tuition for a Wisconsin resident is $6,962 a semester.

In response to other PCAT topics, every school should require it. It definitely is not the only determinate, however, it is a decent indication of how much someone retains. Besides, other professional schools require a standardized exam to gain entrance....issues such is this (plus so many new schools) is why some think that pharmacy is easy to get into.

 

[DocAcclamation]

It depends on how you define "hard". Some schools emphasize on gpa and PCAT score , while other schools emphasize on work experience in a pharmacy. Also, another type of "hard" school is a school that requires a lot of prereqs to be fulfilled.

Having well rounded stats will give you great chances of being accepted to any Pharm school and have some notable recommendations you should get a boost for consideration.

 

[onychophagia]

I'm pretty sure thats $13,500 per semester, about $27,000 per year..I could be wrong though.

Oops, you're right. Although the $13,500 also includes the one-time laptop fee of $2500, so it's more around $21-22k a year.

 

[Em023]

This is a little off topic from what you guys are talking about but it has to do with admissions and getting into school so I thought I would ask here...

How many acceptances do pharm school give out since not everyone accepts their offers? Any idea how many acceptances were given out at Midwestern (both chicago and arizona), UIC, and Iowa?

If this is on pharmcas or on a previous thread just let me know. I was taking a break from studying and this question popped into my head so if so I apologize and I'll look more into on my next study break 🙂

 

[desklamp]

Hey Desklamp, here's $5 to buy a clue.

It's PCAT. Pharmacy College Admission Test.

Before you insult Cheb you might want to check yourself to make sure you're not a complete idiot.

The fact that California schools have never required PCAT and still produce excellent clinicians and the fact that attrition from pharmacy schools such as USC, UoP and UCSF is not very high seem to indicate that the PCAT is not the "end all, be all" exam that people seem to think it is.

hahaha. i missed this post, but i feel like you deserve a response, since you enjoy flaming others on this forum so much. i'll bite.

the fact that you need to grasp at straws and pick at things in people's posts such as making a test exam name plural kind of hints at how you have nothing productive to say.

additionally, i'm pretty sure i never hinted that all people who do not take the PCATs are stupid. but is it so hard to take a standardized exam when all other doctorate programs require them? you took it. was it such a great burden to you? should GPAs be the end all then to determine how good someone's education was?

you often have a lot of crap to dole out, so i honestly find it weird that you'd freak out and play white knight when i haven't even directly insulted anyone. particularly when chebwhatever was the one who started it 😉 nah sayn.

love you.

 

[UES Girl]

you often have a lot of crap to dole out, so i honestly find it weird that you'd freak out and play white knight when i haven't even directly insulted anyone. particularly when chebwhatever was the one who started it 😉

I don't start things, I just don't let rude generalized assumptions slide. Don't write offensive things and then people would not comment on them. 🙂

Again, we don't need pcat, because we have other things to make up for it. You obviously haven't applied to many CA schools, have you ?

 

[aboveliquidice]

Any school located in an overly populated state. You will instantly receive 1500+ applications - regardless of how excellent the program.

 

[docss26]

Doesn't pharmcas or aacp have a data sheet with applicant to acceptance ratios? That could ultimately tell you the hardest schools to get into right?

http://www.aacp.org/resources/student/pharmacyforyou/admissions/Pages/PSAR.aspx

 

[Duc888]

Rutgers is notoriously hard to transfer into as they prefer their own undergrads, they even say on the website something to the effect that "you probably won't get in" and I think last year there were 700+ applicants for 20-40 spots