Pharmacy school decision HELP!!!

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baseball16

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Mercer University, GA vs. Pacific University, OR

Pacific University offers 3-year accelerated program, but it's relatively a small and new school.
Mercer University offers 4-year program, and it's a big and traditional school.

I don't really know about the job market in OR.
Any opinion/thought would be appreciated it!

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I don't know anything about Mercer University or Georgia, but I may be able to provide some insight about Pacific and Oregon from what I've heard from other pharmacists.

Pacific is a relatively new school and not very well regarded because of the speed of the program and how they test students. I know two preceptors in Oregon and they say that the Pacific students don't know their stuff like Oregon State pharmacy students do.

Because the program is accelerated, it's trying to cram more info in in a shorter amount of time, so it sounds like that doesn't necessarily work. Additionally, the grading system is essentially exceed/pass/fail, passing being ~80% or higher. This seems like it's nice for the student, but that makes it lower-stakes for trying to do well. Why learn more when you only need 80%?

They try to market the program as a good financial investment because it's shorter, justifying the higher cost, but the opinions of the preceptors suggests it's to the detriment of the student.

The school also isn't in a terribley desireable place to live in Oregon. Yes, it's near Portland, but Hillsboro is somewhat rundown and you'll probably find yourself traveling a lot to find things to do.

As for the job market in Oregon, my understanding that it's ~okay~ outside of the Portland area. I've seen a fair number of job openings in rural locations and Eugene. The only ones I see in the Portland area are hospitals which want residencies or 3+ years of clinical experience.

I hope that helps you.

As an Oregon resident, I never even considered Pacific because of its poor reputation from pharmacists I know.
 
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Thank you for your sincere comment. Hearing comment from an Oregon resident like yourself really helps in decision making for a pharm school!
 
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