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I need advice on the 6 six pharmacy program in MCPHS Boston. Any pros/ cons? Would greatly appreciate any input on the program, school, faculty.....
Please advice on MCPHS Boston
- Thread starter Coffeebreak
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Any current or alumini of MCPHS Boston, pl give your input on the school....
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Hey guys, is it really that bad that no one wants to comment. I am getting worried. Please give ur input
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It's a business first. A school...fourth or fifth-ish. There will be people who care about you as a student. They will not be the ones with power.
One of the few true advantages of the school is that it is very small. If you actively seek out and/or create opportunities for yourself (extracurriculars/research/etc) there will be less competition. Also, the location is pretty nice (inasmuch as you can live near boston - not that the actual place the school is located is nice or has parking or anything).
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Thanks zelman. Appreciate your response. How is the faculty?
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Hey there. So this is probably a bit late and I'm not sure if you're still looking for advice but I thought I'd share my experience for any others looking in the future. I am currently a freshman in my second semester at MCPHS Boston.
Basically, only certain types of people will enjoy their experience here. If you're the type of student who is willing to forgo the whole fun aspect of the 'college experience' in order to get your degree as fast as possible, then this is the school for you. If you don't mind working hard through the hours of the night for evaluations that come up every week, and having basically no social life, then you'll be okay at MCPHS. Sure, you'll have friends in your residence and in classes, but the extremely heavy course-load will make it very difficult to spend time with each other.
Not to mention the fact that this course-load is not even a great learning experience. The first year chemistry course that everyone in pre-med and pharmacy must take is taught by a psychology major, not a chemistry major! He makes his exams only 20 questions long, so if you get 3 questions wrong you're already in the 80s. And then because he is a psychology major, this teacher tends to make his questions VERY wordy and confusing in order to make you think. I seriously know SO many people who are taking the first semester chemistry course again because it just that easy to fail, no joke. Just to mention, our last chemistry test's average was 69% and our teacher called that good
So pretty much you should know that you'll have to work very hard for your academics when the education is not even that great.
Next, social life? Nonexistent. Well I guess not literally nonexistent, but very limited. If you're looking for a lot of parties every weekend and the whole 'getting drunk' thing, I mean it'll happen every so often, but the parties are so scarce here. MCPHS is a dry campus so you cannot drink in dorms whatsoever and if you come back to your dorm drunk and the security guards catch you, you will be charged with a violation of the college code, resulting in a hearing and punishments. Even if police bust a party anywhere in Boston and not close to MCPHS, they notify your school and you get charged by our school, resulting in an infraction on your 'student conduct file' here. So you have to be careful with all of that.
All parties that do occur at our school are hosted by upperclassmen in their apartments in Mission Hill, the sketchy neighbourhood that all upperclassmen pretty much live in. At the beginning of freshman year, if you don't know any upperclassmen or have any friends with connections, you will likely not go to parties for a good while until you start to make friends with older kids - that is, IF you manage to make friends with upperclassmen. People at this school also tend to be very, very cliquey. It seriously feels like a high school because every day you see the same people around this small school, and everyone knows who the 'popular' kids are and the 'nerds' and the 'weird' kids, if you get what I mean. So eventually as you go through freshmen year you'll be divided in your groups and those will be your friends for the rest of your college life here.
Also, the parties tend to be very small and can be awkward because its mostly older kids who all know each other so if you don't really know them it won't be too fun for you. And they also get busted by police A LOT because they know thats the area for parties, so be careful with that. Your best bet at the party aspect would be to go to other schools if you have any friends or connections there. But still, its not the same when its not your own school.
Now going back to the high school feel and types of people here. Most of your classes will be in the one main building, and you may occasionally have classes in the other building down the street. This small building really feels so small and like a high school because you see the same people every day and have the same classes with everyone. The types of people that exist here are divided into certain groups:
1) International students from Saudi Arabia - all stick together in their group and speak their own language
2) International students from Korea - again, all stick together in their group and speak their own language
3) Indians (mostly Patels) - all very Americanized but generally stick together in tight groups, have their own "Indian drinking parties", and consider themselves the "Indian crew"
4) Rest of the students - mostly white kids (although there are other races mixed in some times), who all seem the same.
If you're looking to meet a bunch of different kinds of people like in any other college, this is not the school for you! You are entering a bigger and older version of high school! Some people may enjoy this though, it depends on what type of person you are.
Now lets look at facilities. Everything is generally pretty decent, but most does not actually belong to MCPHS! We basically just use everything of the other schools. The 2 cafeterias available to us are Wentworth's and Massart's, and although they are decently-sized, the food is average and greatly lacking in choice. Try going to BU's cafeteria with a friend and you'll seriously see the difference - how sad our options are in comparison. Also, the gym available to us is Wentworth's, and let me tell you: IT IS TINY. It is just one large room lined with a few different types of machines, and filled with weights. Unless you go very early in the morning, it is usually always full and its very difficult to find a machine to use. We even share residences - Tudbury Hall with Wentworth (which is known as the worst residence, by the way) and Massart Residence. The other 2 residences are not bad actually, but they are directly attached to the school's mainly building, which can have advantages and disadvantages. You are so close to go to school and can wake up really late if you want to, but some people never even see daylight because they never have to leave the building! Also, residences are only available to first years, so as I said earlier, pretty much everyone ends up living in Mission Hill the next years of their life because you have to find some other place to live. I feel that as second years we are too young to be already looking for our own apartments, but hey, some people enjoy that!
Extracurriculars are also very limited. There are literally NO sports teams, hence there is no school spirit at nonexistent school games. There are hardly any college events to go and cheer your school on, because what are you cheering for if we have no sports competitions or anything? There are clubs, but most are very small and are pre-professional clubs, so they are very strict and down to business. Also we lack a variation of clubs because of the lack of variation of people here.
If you're big on Greek Life, this is definitely not the place for you. There are 4 fraternities - 2 for boys and 2 for girls. They are all professional fraternities; there are no social groups. Sure, these people have fun, but it is also greatly focused on the professional aspect. There is no formal rush, and rush starts the beginning of second semester, which I think wastes a lot of time for you to enjoy your time in the fraternity. None have chapter houses; you basically just live with any of your friends in Mission Hill and these sisters and brothers don't have a specific meeting place for their fraternities. Also, because this school is so small, you always see these people when they're representing their fraternities in your faces around school, and they act as if they're like the 'popular kids' of the school. Again, so high school-ish.
This school feels like a school only for graduate students - lacking a lot of student activities and fun because those students are there to get through their degree and start working right away. If you're mostly focused on that then this is good for you. One upside is that it is at least in Boston, so there is a lot to see in the city if you take advantage of that. We are in an area where it is mostly medical and industrial buildings, so its nothing exciting here but if you get out of the area things are very beautiful.
Thats basically all I have to say about my opinion on the school. If you're mostly focused on getting your degree and getting a job right away, without getting a college experience and making your lifelong friends like everyone at other schools, then you might enjoy it!
**I read a lot of reviews last year telling me not to go here but I went with the attitude that 'life is what you make of it'. Little did I know how much truth was in those reviews and that even though I tried so hard, I am still missing out on so much that a lot of my friends at other schools are getting out of their experiences. I know so many people here that transferred out of MCPHS after the first semester or that are transferring out after this year. INCLUDING ME! Can't wait to get out of here and enjoy life while also doing well in school next year at a real campus. I really can't wait to transfer. Literally counting down the days.
And with that, I end this review. Sorry for the lengthy answer but I hope it helped, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask!
Basically, only certain types of people will enjoy their experience here. If you're the type of student who is willing to forgo the whole fun aspect of the 'college experience' in order to get your degree as fast as possible, then this is the school for you. If you don't mind working hard through the hours of the night for evaluations that come up every week, and having basically no social life, then you'll be okay at MCPHS. Sure, you'll have friends in your residence and in classes, but the extremely heavy course-load will make it very difficult to spend time with each other.
Not to mention the fact that this course-load is not even a great learning experience. The first year chemistry course that everyone in pre-med and pharmacy must take is taught by a psychology major, not a chemistry major! He makes his exams only 20 questions long, so if you get 3 questions wrong you're already in the 80s. And then because he is a psychology major, this teacher tends to make his questions VERY wordy and confusing in order to make you think. I seriously know SO many people who are taking the first semester chemistry course again because it just that easy to fail, no joke. Just to mention, our last chemistry test's average was 69% and our teacher called that good
So pretty much you should know that you'll have to work very hard for your academics when the education is not even that great.
Next, social life? Nonexistent. Well I guess not literally nonexistent, but very limited. If you're looking for a lot of parties every weekend and the whole 'getting drunk' thing, I mean it'll happen every so often, but the parties are so scarce here. MCPHS is a dry campus so you cannot drink in dorms whatsoever and if you come back to your dorm drunk and the security guards catch you, you will be charged with a violation of the college code, resulting in a hearing and punishments. Even if police bust a party anywhere in Boston and not close to MCPHS, they notify your school and you get charged by our school, resulting in an infraction on your 'student conduct file' here. So you have to be careful with all of that.
All parties that do occur at our school are hosted by upperclassmen in their apartments in Mission Hill, the sketchy neighbourhood that all upperclassmen pretty much live in. At the beginning of freshman year, if you don't know any upperclassmen or have any friends with connections, you will likely not go to parties for a good while until you start to make friends with older kids - that is, IF you manage to make friends with upperclassmen. People at this school also tend to be very, very cliquey. It seriously feels like a high school because every day you see the same people around this small school, and everyone knows who the 'popular' kids are and the 'nerds' and the 'weird' kids, if you get what I mean. So eventually as you go through freshmen year you'll be divided in your groups and those will be your friends for the rest of your college life here.
Also, the parties tend to be very small and can be awkward because its mostly older kids who all know each other so if you don't really know them it won't be too fun for you. And they also get busted by police A LOT because they know thats the area for parties, so be careful with that. Your best bet at the party aspect would be to go to other schools if you have any friends or connections there. But still, its not the same when its not your own school.
Now going back to the high school feel and types of people here. Most of your classes will be in the one main building, and you may occasionally have classes in the other building down the street. This small building really feels so small and like a high school because you see the same people every day and have the same classes with everyone. The types of people that exist here are divided into certain groups:
1) International students from Saudi Arabia - all stick together in their group and speak their own language
2) International students from Korea - again, all stick together in their group and speak their own language
3) Indians (mostly Patels) - all very Americanized but generally stick together in tight groups, have their own "Indian drinking parties", and consider themselves the "Indian crew"
4) Rest of the students - mostly white kids (although there are other races mixed in some times), who all seem the same.
If you're looking to meet a bunch of different kinds of people like in any other college, this is not the school for you! You are entering a bigger and older version of high school! Some people may enjoy this though, it depends on what type of person you are.
Now lets look at facilities. Everything is generally pretty decent, but most does not actually belong to MCPHS! We basically just use everything of the other schools. The 2 cafeterias available to us are Wentworth's and Massart's, and although they are decently-sized, the food is average and greatly lacking in choice. Try going to BU's cafeteria with a friend and you'll seriously see the difference - how sad our options are in comparison. Also, the gym available to us is Wentworth's, and let me tell you: IT IS TINY. It is just one large room lined with a few different types of machines, and filled with weights. Unless you go very early in the morning, it is usually always full and its very difficult to find a machine to use. We even share residences - Tudbury Hall with Wentworth (which is known as the worst residence, by the way) and Massart Residence. The other 2 residences are not bad actually, but they are directly attached to the school's mainly building, which can have advantages and disadvantages. You are so close to go to school and can wake up really late if you want to, but some people never even see daylight because they never have to leave the building! Also, residences are only available to first years, so as I said earlier, pretty much everyone ends up living in Mission Hill the next years of their life because you have to find some other place to live. I feel that as second years we are too young to be already looking for our own apartments, but hey, some people enjoy that!
Extracurriculars are also very limited. There are literally NO sports teams, hence there is no school spirit at nonexistent school games. There are hardly any college events to go and cheer your school on, because what are you cheering for if we have no sports competitions or anything? There are clubs, but most are very small and are pre-professional clubs, so they are very strict and down to business. Also we lack a variation of clubs because of the lack of variation of people here.
If you're big on Greek Life, this is definitely not the place for you. There are 4 fraternities - 2 for boys and 2 for girls. They are all professional fraternities; there are no social groups. Sure, these people have fun, but it is also greatly focused on the professional aspect. There is no formal rush, and rush starts the beginning of second semester, which I think wastes a lot of time for you to enjoy your time in the fraternity. None have chapter houses; you basically just live with any of your friends in Mission Hill and these sisters and brothers don't have a specific meeting place for their fraternities. Also, because this school is so small, you always see these people when they're representing their fraternities in your faces around school, and they act as if they're like the 'popular kids' of the school. Again, so high school-ish.
This school feels like a school only for graduate students - lacking a lot of student activities and fun because those students are there to get through their degree and start working right away. If you're mostly focused on that then this is good for you. One upside is that it is at least in Boston, so there is a lot to see in the city if you take advantage of that. We are in an area where it is mostly medical and industrial buildings, so its nothing exciting here but if you get out of the area things are very beautiful.
Thats basically all I have to say about my opinion on the school. If you're mostly focused on getting your degree and getting a job right away, without getting a college experience and making your lifelong friends like everyone at other schools, then you might enjoy it!
**I read a lot of reviews last year telling me not to go here but I went with the attitude that 'life is what you make of it'. Little did I know how much truth was in those reviews and that even though I tried so hard, I am still missing out on so much that a lot of my friends at other schools are getting out of their experiences. I know so many people here that transferred out of MCPHS after the first semester or that are transferring out after this year. INCLUDING ME! Can't wait to get out of here and enjoy life while also doing well in school next year at a real campus. I really can't wait to transfer. Literally counting down the days.
And with that, I end this review. Sorry for the lengthy answer but I hope it helped, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask!
mryem
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Hi I wonder if you ended up going to MCPHS Boston . I am in the same dilemma in 2022! Please share your honest experience many thanks ☺️
