NYU vs 6 year pharmacy program?

[ScienceLover97]

What should I attend?

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[Jbrl]

Depends. Don't fall into the Gen Y trap of taking out loans that don't pay for themselves down the line. Debt limits flexibility, mobility, family, mortgage, investing, saving - everything that requires money - especially when cost of living in NYC is included.

6 yr Pharm.D. - In-state tuition? Cheap? Scholarships? Graduate with less than 75k of debt? If not, pass. My opinion is that the state of the profession is too uncertain to take on more debt than that. If it's a somewhat cheap 6 year school, working 20+ hr a week to get to this number as low as possible is doable.

Some people take out exorbitant loans to pay for pharmacy school, in excess of 200k, just to take a CVS job. What happens if you get burned out or tired of it? You're stuck. No flexibility because you're chained to your loans. I believe the average must be at least 130k by now.

NYU for pre-med - pass, unless you have substantial scholarship. Find a cheaper school. Terribly expensive, besides the departments there that have a good ROI; pre-med (usually biology or some variant) is not one. You will probably regret going to NYU for pre-med and accruing higher debt than your peers, and then going to med school to come out 300-400k in the hole. Even if your parents are paying, it's better to instead find some way to convince them to pool that money for you. It'll be less you have to pay for med school from your own pocket.

 

[ScienceLover97]

It seems like it comes down to what feels right for me

 

[ScienceLover97]

I have until tomorrow, per the deadline.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Finance/business are probably the best routes if you want a high paying career in NYC. Software engineering is also doing pretty well in that area, I heard. These careers pay very well and do not require you to take out $200k+ loans and they allow you to stay in NYC.

Pharmacy is extremely saturated in the area and will most definitely require you to move out of NYC, possibly to the middle of nowhere. Med/PA school would probably be your best options, but med will require you to take out astronomical amounts in loans.

 

[ohopenyoureyes]

OP what are your interests? I'm a rising junior on the pre-health track and I think you need to ask yourself some questions. Do you want to work with sick people every day? Or would you rather be working sort of not interacting as much with sick people as a pharmacist? Do you like surgeries? Would you rather be making drugs? Do you want to go to school for 10+ years for medicine or 6 for pharmacy? If not medicine, what else may you want to pursue at NYU?

Do you want to perhaps go to NYU, try different things and give it time to figure out if you want to do medicine or pharmacy? You can always apply to pharmacy school for graduate school. Just some options.

 

[ScienceLover97]

In terms of health careers, I would consider being either a pharmacist or a pediatrician.

 

[ohopenyoureyes]

I understand where you're coming from. I'm not sure where pharmacy is really at right now either to be honest:/ (hence confused pre-health sophomore/rising junior)
I hope someone else has an honest input.
Maybe call up the 6 year pharmacy school and see what they say but i wish you all the best! good luck!!

 

[fewaopi]

Which should I attend? At NYU I will do pre-health and possibly try med school. My fear for the 6 year pharmd program is mostly with job saturation. I do want to be a pharmacist, but I also want a job especially since I plan on staying in NYC. Your thoughts?

NYC pharmacy is already incredibly saturated. No one, hardly anyone can get a job there, too many people. Unless you want to work indy and do shady, illegal stuff like in those craigslist ads and possibly end up in jail.
NYC is so saturated even the dentists (a field with much more employment) have a hard time finding work.
Medicine would offer more opportunity to work in the NYC area but it would still be difficult to break in there.

As mentioned before, finance/business, and a growing tech are big industries in NYC. You might be better off going to NYU, see what you like, then go to their Stern Business School and learn how you can cheat people out of their retirement and savings. Much more lucrative and more jobs there. Since it seems your tuition at NYU is low, I'd go for that. If it was the full cost, then I'd say go to a different school outside NYC.

OP what are your interests? I'm a rising junior on the pre-health track and I think you need to ask yourself some questions. Do you want to work with sick people every day? Or would you rather be working sort of not interacting as much with sick people as a pharmacist? Do you like surgeries? Would you rather be making drugs? Do you want to go to school for 10+ years for medicine or 6 for pharmacy? If not medicine, what else may you want to pursue at NYU?

Do you want to perhaps go to NYU, try different things and give it time to figure out if you want to do medicine or pharmacy? You can always apply to pharmacy school for graduate school. Just some options.

Being a physician isn't just about surgery or blood. And pharmacists deal with sick people, more sick people/day than doctors based off the number of people. Not to mention pharmacies being just generally filthy and dirty from outside the store and dust. Doctor's offices are in general much more clean.

But I agree that NYU provides more options for you to explore. If you wanted to do pharmacy you could always just go apply for a pharmacy school after 2 years. Plus it's cheaper. Explore, find what you want, at a cheaper price, and build yourself to get into a better pharmacy school if you decide to go that route, as opposed to commit to pharmacy school, spend more money, and if you do decide to not do pharmacy, not know what else you want to do because you didn't explore.

To the OP, don't get the idea that you'll be guaranteed to work in NYC if you choose to be a pharmacist (or most jobs for that matter). In fact, I wouldn't even expect it. Your shot at working in NYC is likely to be more slim than it is now, simply because of the competition and desire to live in that area. Be ready for the fact that you most likely will have to relocate (unless you're finance or computer)

 

[Jbrl]

In terms of health careers, I would consider being either a pharmacist or a pediatrician; both of those careers are very appealing and rewarding in my eyes. The problem is mostly in the uncertainty of the future of pharmacy as a career, especially in a large city where I reside. I am a little fearful of whether or not I would succeed at NYU, and that's making me think I should just take the 6 year pharmacy program as a sort of safe route to a career I am interested in. For both paths, I would not take out any loans, if that makes a difference.

I would go with NYU. A 6 year pharmacy track is not so safe nowadays. Many people change their interests during that time and you won't be in a good spot when you graduate in 2021. I believe at least 1/3 of my pharmacy 0+6 class dropped pharmacy in the first couple years. If you haven't done any shadowing, it will give you time to explore and narrow down your options.

 

[ScienceLover97]

Thanks for your comments.

 

[ohopenyoureyes]

OP What did you decide on?