Should i go into pharmacy school now

Started by brianphu
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
casprph said:
Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy doesn’t seem to require a PCAT based on this ad that ironically showed up on my SDN feed. I’ll leave this here in case you’re interested :laugh:
View attachment 316379
Click to expand...
They are slamming ads left and right. Of course, the school was named after the owner of a car dealership so maybe you can test drive a pharmacy career today!

I lived in area and they are doing billboards, newsprint, and anything else and I tell students to keep this as your plan B cause you will always be able to get in. Welcome to community college.
 
3 floaters in my district this week have 0-4 hours. Plus, they just added 3 more new grads about to be licensed in 2 weeks recently. You are pretty much guaranteed no hours whatsoever. The company goal is to pay 0 OTs. They will have no problem doing that at all. Good luck eating rice and beans with your 250k loans forever.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Momus said:
3 floaters in my district this week have 0-4 hours. Plus, they just added 3 more new grads about to be licensed in 2 weeks recently. You are pretty much guaranteed no hours whatsoever. The company goal is to pay 0 OTs. They will have no problem doing that at all. Good luck eating rice and beans with your 250k loans forever.
Click to expand...
Where are these new grads from? UCSD? Chapman? Other schools in LA?
 
Yes you should! Pharmacy is a great profession and there are LOT of opportunities out there currently and in the coming years with provider status and what not.

USC is such a great school that you probably will find a job right away after graduating

:troll:
 
I'm curious to know what OP decided on. Are you attending USC?

~243k for tuition alone. Be warn of the 300-350k debt realistically, this isn't even factoring in living yet. You're paying interest on 60k/year on day 1 of attendance, assuming it's still 5-6%. It will add up real fast!

To give you some perspective on what your situation would look like: my mortgage(s) together is just a little more than your top end and at 3% interest, I'm paying just under $900/month in interest alone! I hope you've done some number crunching before making your decision. Student debt is the worst kind to have. Only way to discharge it either to pay it off or die! I'm not even kidding about that.
 
Ladyg228 said:
I'm curious to know what OP decided on. Are you attending USC?

~243k for tuition alone. Be warn of the 300-350k debt realistically, this isn't even factoring in living yet. You're paying interest on 60k/year on day 1 of attendance, assuming it's still 5-6%. It will add up real fast!

To give you some perspective on what your situation would look like: my mortgage(s) together is just a little more than your top end and at 3% interest, I'm paying just under $900/month in interest alone! I hope you've done some number crunching before making your decision. Student debt is the worst kind to have. Only way to discharge it either to pay it off or die! I'm not even kidding about that.
Click to expand...

Other options include scamming the taxpayers with PSLF if it's still around or permanently fleeing the country.
 
VA77 said:
They are slamming ads left and right. Of course, the school was named after the owner of a car dealership so maybe you can test drive a pharmacy career today!

I lived in area and they are doing billboards, newsprint, and anything else and I tell students to keep this as your plan B cause you will always be able to get in. Welcome to community college.
Click to expand...

This is getting absurd. Totally devalues our profession and makes us look like we are a trade school profession with so much advertising. It’s honestly really sad and disappointing to see what the profession is becoming.
 
mentos said:
Other options include scamming the taxpayers with PSLF if it's still around or permanently fleeing the country.
Click to expand...

The pharmacist I used to work with attended USC COP, she was making over 130k/year at retail. She relocated back to HK to marry into a rich family and she is STILL paying these loans. Moral of the story: fleeing the country doesn't mean you get rid of them :lame:
 
Ladyg228 said:
The pharmacist I used to work with attended USC COP, she was making over 130k/year at retail. She relocated back to HK to marry into a rich family and she is STILL paying these loans. Moral of the story: fleeing the country doesn't mean you get rid of them :lame:
Click to expand...

If she doesn't plan on returning to the US, why does she need to pay them?
 
mentos said:
If she doesn't plan on returning to the US, why does she need to pay them?
Click to expand...
She does return to the US to visit family & friends. I never asked for specific reason, she happen to share that she was still paying the loans on her last visit. My best guess would be her parents probably had to co-sign since it's such a large amount?
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Ladyg228 said:
She does return to the US to visit family & friends. I never asked for specific reason, she happen to share that she was still paying the loans on her last visit. My best guess would be her parents probably had to co-sign since it's such a large amount?
Click to expand...

Oh that's different then.
 
VA77 said:
They are slamming ads left and right. Of course, the school was named after the owner of a car dealership so maybe you can test drive a pharmacy career today!

I lived in area and they are doing billboards, newsprint, and anything else and I tell students to keep this as your plan B cause you will always be able to get in. Welcome to community college.
Click to expand...
Sadly my school an established school is now posting ads on SDN. And no it is not Billy Gatton school of pharmacy. I really thought only Caribbean MD schools post ads on SDN

When will Trump start his own pharmacy school, lol
 
mentos said:
What is this 100k advantage? You graduate with 150k in loans and they give you 100k back??
Click to expand...
Nah, it's something about making $100k 1 year sooner than others. Too bad they don't realize that using their logic, you'd have a $400k advantage by doing CS (not including loans).
 
mentos said:
LoL new grad pharmacists don't even make 100k in 2020.
Click to expand...
A better business model would be for pharmacy schools to copy what the CS boot camps do - make tuition free but collect 30% of your grads' paycheck for the first 4 years of their working careers. Can't find a job? Then your school gets no money. Simple as that.
 
Marzapan said:
A better business model would be for pharmacy schools to copy what the CS boot camps do - make tuition free but collect 30% of your grads' paycheck for the first 4 years of their working careers. Can't find a job? Then your school gets no money. Simple as that.
Click to expand...

But then pharmacy schools would get no money.
 
WVUPharm2007 said:
Humans need conflict.

In retail, it's insurance companies, corporate, and the general public. You generally have each other's backs because you are in a trench getting bombarded.

In hospital pharmacy, conflict is found between each other. And the nurses. But they are a impenetrable unionized brick wall that you cannot win against, ever. So even more conflict is internalized in the department. You generally stab each other's backs.
Click to expand...

Well I've had my fill of conflict. I just want peace...both internally and externally.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
I love pharmacy so much that I am willing to:

Move to a town of 1000 because to help the local community

Stay in said town because they really need my help

Bus tables and wash dishes on the side to make enough money to pay for food and rent

Use my remaining time and money to start and volunteer at my MTM clinic. Hope I can get paid for my services but at least I can practice at the top of my license and help people
 
owlegrad said:
I seriously do not know how anyone could “love it”. Love your family not your job lol
Click to expand...
No joke, I had a professor who loved her job more than family... she would always complain that she didn't want to pick up her kids from school because it takes away from her being "in the zone" while working in her office. I always wondered why she even got married if she was going to be the career type.
 
Marzapan said:
No joke, I had a professor who loved her job more than family... she would always complain that she didn't want to pick up her kids from school because it takes away from her being "in the zone" while working in her office. I always wondered why she even got married if she was going to be the career type.
Click to expand...

Workaholics are outliers. Most people would rather chill than work.
 
PharmtoCS said:
I love pharmacy so much that I am willing to:

Move to a town of 1000 because to help the local community

Stay in said town because they really need my help

Bus tables and wash dishes on the side to make enough money to pay for food and rent

Use my remaining time and money to start and volunteer at my MTM clinic. Hope I can get paid for my services but at least I can practice at the top of my license and help people
Click to expand...
:nailbiting: everything about this post sounds horrifying, but more power to you
 
I know first hand how many out of job bachelor degree pharmacists are eager to go back to school and "upgrade" their education so they can be "competitive". Online pharmacy programs are having historical high application volume.
 
firework said:
I know first hand how many out of job bachelor degree pharmacists are eager to go back to school and "upgrade" their education so they can be "competitive". Online pharmacy programs are having historical high application volume.
Click to expand...
It is idiotic for BSPharms to go back and do a PharmD to be competitive. They're better off doing a master's degree in something else to be competitive because the PharmD means absolutely nothing.
 
firework said:
I know first hand how many out of job bachelor degree pharmacists are eager to go back to school and "upgrade" their education so they can be "competitive". Online pharmacy programs are having historical high application volume.
Click to expand...
I don't understand the people fighting to get back into pharmacy unless they are old and near retirement. If you have 20+ years left till retirement you should be trying to get into a more stable field or profession with brighter prospects. Things are only going to get worse for the next 5-10 years and maybe long after that too.
 
Marzapan said:
It is idiotic for BSPharms to go back and do a PharmD to be competitive. They're better off doing a master's degree in something else to be competitive because the PharmD means absolutely nothing.
Click to expand...
most BSPharms are probably close to retirement
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Ladyg228 said:
Based on the amount of debt and BLS the 0% job outlook, HIGHLY NOT recommend. Choose another career path and never look back unless you are truly passionate about patient care AND want to risk the possibility of no job with 250k-350k+ debt.
Click to expand...
I would like to update that the BLS is now -3%, which is worse than zero. I think pharmacy is still a good career if you don't mind having a low wage.
 
Marzapan said:
Just wondering if the supposed "home field advantage" is working... guess not.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about Chicago? There are 6 schools of pharmacy in Chicago, there is no home field advantage.

casprph said:
she should have filed for bankruptcy to get rid of the debt and then marry rich...you lose your license but at least no debt.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure that college loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy.

Gombrich12 said:
I don't understand the people fighting to get back into pharmacy unless they are old and near retirement. If you have 20+ years left till retirement you should be trying to get into a more stable field or profession with brighter prospects. Things are only going to get worse for the next 5-10 years and maybe long after that too.
Click to expand...

If anyone is old and near retirement, why would they want to invest in a PharmD? It's make more sense just to get a minimum wage job, instead of taking on tens of thousands of dollars debt.
 
TerryTerry said:
No, it`s not a good career.
There won`t be enough jobs even if you are willing to work low wage.
Click to expand...
There will ALWAYS be enough jobs for pharmacists if you are willing to work for a low enough wage. You may have to accept that working as a pharmacist will pay less than a city bus driver in the future.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Mr.Smile12
Article: TxA&M Pharmacy School to train pharmacy techs
Replies
0
Views
2K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
P
Pharmacist working at Oracle
Replies
7
Views
2K
baronzb
B
D
Should I leave CVS for an independent pharmacy?
Replies
9
Views
6K
Script1992
S
D
Why does anyone go to pharm school nowdays?
Replies
13
Views
4K
RXDOC1986
R
F
Breaking into Informatics ?
Replies
7
Views
4K
gwarm01
G