St. John's Pharmacy

[nygmatt]

I'm a high school senior applying to 0-6 programs.

I have noticed that most of the school's I am applying to have been talked about on here.

USIP
MCPHS - Boston

I also applied to St. John's PharmD program, but there is very little information about St. John's on this site. Why is that?

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[aamna929]

I haven't heard good things about St. John's program.. someone actually told me it's on probation 😕

 

[futurepharm.d.?]

I'm a high school senior applying to 0-6 programs.

I have noticed that most of the school's I am applying to have been talked about on here.

USIP
MCPHS - Boston

I also applied to St. John's PharmD program, but there is very little information about St. John's on this site. Why is that?

I don't recall if anyone discussed about St.John's PharmD..The name sound strange to me and this is the first time I saw a thread about this....NOT very familiar with....Anyone knows more about this??

 

[nypharm]

When I called to apply to St. John's for fall 2006 transfer admission they said all the spaces were filled with direct entry from HS students and would have no spaces available for transfers. I'm not sure if that's changed, or if it would be different for next year, but that would probably be why not too many people are talking about it. I didn't hear anything about probation, from what I've heard it's supposed to be a very good school.

 

[nerdystar]

St. John's is a 0-6 pharmacy program. It's near impossible to get in as a transfer. I think the deadline for entering the fall (from high school as a freshman) has already passed. If you really want to know about the admissions process, you should call the school and talk to them. I haven't heard anything about them being on probation though.

 

[nygmatt]

St. John's is a 0-6 pharmacy program. It's near impossible to get in as a transfer. I think the deadline for entering the fall (from high school as a freshman) has already passed. If you really want to know about the admissions process, you should call the school and talk to them. I haven't heard anything about them being on probation though.

I have already applied to the St. John's program, I just found it strange that it was never even mentioned on this site. But I guess most people on this site are not interested in the 0-6 programs.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[kingchan123]

I cannot decide over st john's or rutgers! St John's offer more scholarship and Rutgers is out of state for me! Please, any advise will be appreciated!

 

[Gilmore2B]

A pharmacist I use to work with graduated from St. Johns a few years ago. She was always encouraging me to apply there. She said the campus was absolutely beatiful and the students and staff were really nice. She loved the city and always talked about how people on the bus would offer to hold her books for her. She's certainly one of the best pharmacists I have every worked with, so I think that reflects well on the program.

 

[darkangel77]

The pharmacy program at St. John's isn't on probation...I'm actually graduating from St. John's in May (not their pharm school, though). The campus is a bit small, but definitely very pretty. As far as I know they don't take any transfers...I've tried to transfer, but was told that they only take incoming freshmen. I know several people who are in the pharmacy program right now, and they just say that although it's a lot of work, they're very happy with the program.

 

[Khushi]

The pharmacy program at St. John's does not accept transfers AT ALL. I study there, but I went directly in after high school. It's pretty much the least competitive pharmacy school in the New York/New Jersey area.

Its actually a gorgeous campus, pretty spacious.. I like everything there (except for the tuition is pretty high). I'm in my 2nd year.

 

[ravuu]

I'm a P1 studying for the PharmD at St. John's University right now. As to my knowledge, the College of Pharmacy does not accept transfer students at this time. This is because there are alot of students applying to get into the program straight from high school. I also think that it is a very competitive program to get into. During freshman orientation, they told us that there were a total of about 1200 applicants for the PharmD and they accepted only 360 students. Right now, my class is down to 280 students. 🙁

The campus looks very pleasant and has a very diverse student population. You get to meet alot of people from different parts of the world.

The program itself is very well structured in my opinion. They start out with a shadowing experience in the first year, to give you a taste of what the profession is like. Basically, its a 1 credit pass/fail course where you go to three assigned locations where you shadow under a pharmacist. Alot of people realized after the shadowing experience that they don't want to become a pharmacist anymore, for whatever reason. I think SJU does a great job in trying to filter out those who think Pharmacy is an easy 6 years and all you do is count pills for $50/hour. 😀
The program gets very intense starting from your 3rd year (which is where i am now 🙁 ), and they expect alot from you. It's a hard program but hey, we're studying for a doctorate. A doctorate is the highest academic degree. I wouldn't expect anyless.

Anyway, there are periodic tours of the campus. I suggest you register for one and see for yourself. Hope this helps.

 

[Blee88]

@ravuu

I'm going to be in the Pharmacy Program at St.John's as well, and I'd like to ask a few "head start" questions 😀

Are any professors more helpful or lenient than others? Which ones *really* know their stuff, or are involved in research and have positions open for assistants? I'd like to know for registration time, as it could really make or break me. Also, did you find it hard to adjust your freshman year, any nervous breakdowns or problems coping with the workload?

 

[Khushi]

@ravuu

I'm going to be in the Pharmacy Program at St.John's as well, and I'd like to ask a few "head start" questions 😀

Are any professors more helpful or lenient than others? Which ones *really* know their stuff, or are involved in research and have positions open for assistants? I'd like to know for registration time, as it could really make or break me. Also, did you find it hard to adjust your freshman year, any nervous breakdowns or problems coping with the workload?

Heh, there are a few professors who are pretty lenient.. but I'm not too sure if it'll help you when you register.

We have something called block schedules where they give us sets of different schedules (A1, A2, B1, B2.. etc.) and we rank them from 1 to whatever on which we like the most, and then they pick the schedule for us. I'm not too sure about incoming freshmen's now.. but I know my first year, I was able to register freely, but come 2nd year, none of that anymore.

As for involvement in research and assistant positions, well, I'm not too sure about that.. sorry. =)

For the workload.. well, I had my moments of panic (first year.. very first day of lab, I ended up collapsing in class).. but just stay calm and stress-free and you'll be fine. The first two years are not too bad, because you don't have the rigorous pharmacy courses... you get calculus/statistics, theology, philosophy, a freshman class on NY, english comp, global lit. You might encounter one of those "oh God, why do I have to take this?" moments, but trust me.. do good in those other classes, and it'll raise your GPA.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

I am also a P1 at St. Johns University studying with Ravuu. I agree with Ravuu on most points except that i believe we are down to 256 students from the original class.

Our school is not on probation. It recently got reaccrediated for another 6 years. It is one of the two pharmacy schools in New York City (the other being Long Island University). Most of the pharmacists in NYC and New York are from St Johns and LIU.

The program is great. We have our shares of teachers who can barely speak english to teachers who are amazing. What I love most about the program is that it emphasizes a lot on the future of the profession. They are always warning us that we don't get paid 50 an hour to count pills and reminding us of the harsh realities out there. The medical profession after all is one of canabilism. As one professor quotes, "A nice deep voice can only take you so far before people know you are bull****ting and jump on you"
Another thing that I love is how they introduce us to the materials and some of our job responsibilities early in the program so that we know what we got to do once we get into rotations and onto the field. All in all, the main point is that they make sure we know what we are doing and who we are. That way when someone ask us what does a pharmacist do?, we can give them a realistic belivable answer other than counting pills or counseling patients.

Our program is quite quiet though and not as famous as some of the other programs out there. That can be a good or a bad thing but it is recognized.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

@ravuu

I'm going to be in the Pharmacy Program at St.John's as well, and I'd like to ask a few "head start" questions 😀

Are any professors more helpful or lenient than others? Which ones *really* know their stuff, or are involved in research and have positions open for assistants? I'd like to know for registration time, as it could really make or break me. Also, did you find it hard to adjust your freshman year, any nervous breakdowns or problems coping with the workload?

There are a lot of great professors and some are going to be more lenient than others. Some of my favorite professors are Dr. Sarah, Dr. Balbi, Dr. Schramn, O'Brien, Wurpel, and Dr. Batuary. Dr. Batuary will probably be the most famous professor you have ever heard of. She's been teaching at St Johns forever and is a nice harmless lady.

Research and positions open for assistants are really hard to get. That is the least you will be worrying about if any at all. Registration time for freshman and sophomore year is based on a priority number that you get. The earlier you register, the better it is for you as you can pick out the favorite professors and schedule of your liking. I think Sophomore year or Junior year, your schedule will be blocked meaning you dont get to pick the times or teachers but you can try to get an allotted schedule that they pick out for you.

Freshman and Sophomore year should be easy for you. You really dont get any pharmacy classes besides a one credit cpp class. The cpp class is an easy A and is a way of the school introducing you into the profession by telling you what a pharmacist is, your duties. They also send you to three sites, ambulatory, nursing home, or hospital so you can see how it is like. For my hospital site, I get to see a pharmacist preparing a chemotherapy IV so that was pretty cool. For freshman year, you will probably be concentrating on your Inorganic Chemisty and intro to Organic chemistry class. Both are easy. In addition to your theology, philosphy, statistics or calulus, and english class, you should have a straight 4.0 average. Its crucial you do good in your first two years as most people struggle in their 3rd or 4th year. Dont believe any rumors in that once you get pass the first two years, you are through.

Most of the professors are nuts in theology, philosphy, and math classes. You can easily cheat and it disgusts me. In my English class, people were using laptops to look up answers for their final taking advantage of my old english professor in that she is computer illiterate. She was so kind that she even went. . whoever has a scholarship gpa minium to keep, please write that on the bottom of the final. Seriously. . easy As. Freshman and Sophomore years are the easiest ever. I miss it.

DO EXPECT A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN ON YOUR THIRD OR FORTH YEAR. I REALLY DONT WANT TO SCARE YOU BUT ITS TRUE.

 

[ravuu]

@ravuu

I'm going to be in the Pharmacy Program at St.John's as well, and I'd like to ask a few "head start" questions 😀

Are any professors more helpful or lenient than others? Which ones *really* know their stuff, or are involved in research and have positions open for assistants? I'd like to know for registration time, as it could really make or break me. Also, did you find it hard to adjust your freshman year, any nervous breakdowns or problems coping with the workload?

During the first two years, most of your professors that teach your classes will be outside of the College of Pharmacy. The classes you're taking are just core university classes like English, Theology and Math. You will be studying those classes with other majors across campus as they're not Pharmacy specific. For those classes, all I have to say is Do Your Best. They are easy and you should take advantage of them to boost your GPA in preperation for your professional years (P1 - P4).

Those professors that Aznfarmerboi mentioned are really good. You will be learning alot of material from these professors and they each have their own style. They are there to help you learn with the exception of Dr. Baturay.... ::shudders:: 😕 I don't know about Aznfarmerboi but I never learned anything in her class. I hope aznfarmerboi is just kidding. She teaches Public Health/Epidimiology and I think she might be only one of two professors that teach that course, so you might get stuck with her. 😛

Research positions are not really open to the PharmD program as they are mostly for PhD and graduate students. There are many labs on campus and alot of the professors that teach pharmacy related courses all have their own labs. I think you should worry less about research now and wait until you finish your clincal rotations.

Freshman year.... Hmm....bring back memories. For me freshman year I think was really easy in terms of workload and material. The only thing that I was a little streesed out over was the general chemistry. If you do well in that class then the other classes are no problem.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

Batuary was awesome. I had her for public health and Clinical immunology. For clinical immunology, the class had her midterm before hand so the test average was 90ish. She tried to get back at us by making the final incredibly hard. We figured she was going to do that so we didnt even bother studying for it. Even if we did study, we would have fail. Since nobody passed the final, she gave up and gave us all b+ and Aa's. Best professor ever

 

[Khushi]

Batuary was awesome. I had her for public health and Clinical immunology. For clinical immunology, 90 percent of the class had her midterm test before hand so the class average was 90ish. She tried to get back at us by making the final incredibly hard. We figured she was going to do that and didnt even bother studying for it. Even if we did study, we would probably have fail. Since nobody passed the final, she just gave up and gave us all b+ and Aa's. Best professor ever

LOL.. are you kidding? I have her now for Public Health.. my goodness, that woman seems so confused. 😵 Her midterm was the same. And I remember one specific sentence she mentioned in a slide: "When using people as controls, dead controls are better to work with because they are more likely to smoke and drink than living controls." 😕

 

[Tyrius]

What campus is the college of pharmacy? Queens? I'm contemplating applying/visiting St. Johns but not sure what campus to go to. Will pharmacy experience help me get in with my lackluster gpa (3.2ish but its increasing, had a bad freshman year). I'm taking SATs this upcoming saturday. What kind of score will i need to get in? How are the living conditions at St. Johns?

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

What campus is the college of pharmacy? Queens? I'm contemplating applying/visiting St. Johns but not sure what campus to go to. Will pharmacy experience help me get in with my lackluster gpa (3.2ish but its increasing, had a bad freshman year). I'm taking SATs this upcoming saturday. What kind of score will i need to get in? How are the living conditions at St. Johns?

I dont think St Johns accept transfer. =T We are in the Queens campus though

 

[Darvocet]

I dont think St Johns accept transfer. =T We are in the Queens campus though

what makes you think he is a transfer? he might be a high school student.

 

[luckyPharmD.stu]

He's a high school student, all right; he's going to take the SAT's soon. Having a pharmacy experience is a huge plus, btw. Most people that I know who are in the 6 year program doesn't have any related experience on pharmacy...they basically chose because of salary and job stability. Your SAT scores doesn't have to be too stellar (although it would be nice to ace it). St. John's 6 year pharmacy program is very tough to get into, but not impossible.

 

[Tyrius]

Yea i'm a high school student. Is my GPA not good enough to get in?

 

[Blee88]

Just wanted to thank you guys for all that, but now i'm getting nervous. Should I bone up on my Chemistry XD?

I'd really like to get to know the other Pharm.D students, I know it might be easy to do that 3rd year on, when we'll be taking the same classes, but is it easy to find Pharm.D students in the crowd years 1 and 2? and tell me about dorms, is there a seperate dorm for Pharmacy students? (If there isn't, i'd probably freak)

 

[kingchan123]

Can someone please tell me something about the social life of pharmacy's student? What meal plan is good? Does the library has enough material?

Thanks in advance!

 

[nygmatt]

I got into to the program, but i have a question regarding scholarships.

I got a scholarhip and the letter says "In recognition of your fine academic record the scholarhsip committee is honored to present you with an annual scholastic excellence scholarhip in the amount of $10500"

My question is, is the scholarship awarded annually for each of the six years, or is it only good for four years (as i was told by someone in the admissions office)?

 

[kingchan123]

Should be 4 years only!

 

[Khushi]

He's a high school student, all right; he's going to take the SAT's soon. Having a pharmacy experience is a huge plus, btw. Most people that I know who are in the 6 year program doesn't have any related experience on pharmacy...they basically chose because of salary and job stability. Your SAT scores doesn't have to be too stellar (although it would be nice to ace it). St. John's 6 year pharmacy program is very tough to get into, but not impossible.

Its not all that tough, seriously. I know people with much lower SAT scores than me and they were in.. and I had an 1190/1600. 🙂

 

[Khushi]

Just wanted to thank you guys for all that, but now i'm getting nervous. Should I bone up on my Chemistry XD?

I'd really like to get to know the other Pharm.D students, I know it might be easy to do that 3rd year on, when we'll be taking the same classes, but is it easy to find Pharm.D students in the crowd years 1 and 2? and tell me about dorms, is there a seperate dorm for Pharmacy students? (If there isn't, i'd probably freak)

You definitely have to know chemistry.. especially organic chem. Orgo will appear hard.. but its honestly easier to go through that biochemistry.. now THAT is a killer.

 

[luckyPharmD.stu]

I thought it was hard to get in there...general chemistry isn't too bad, btw. Just study hard; group studying helps a lot. I dunno about how hard organic chemistry is; I'm going to take it this fall.

 

[Darvocet]

i thought st. john's had over 1,000 applicants to their pharmacy program last year. seems pretty competitive to me. 🙁

 

[nygmatt]

I was told they had 2600 applicants this year.

 

[Darvocet]

I was told they had 2600 applicants this year.

damn thats a lot of aplicants! 😱
is that just for the pharmacy program or the entire school in general?

 

[Blee88]

Wait, so, is there a structured core curriculum? What classes am I going to be taking the first term of my freshman year? (Just a few more months!! O.O!!)

 

[ravuu]

Just wanted to thank you guys for all that, but now i'm getting nervous. Should I bone up on my Chemistry XD?

I'd really like to get to know the other Pharm.D students, I know it might be easy to do that 3rd year on, when we'll be taking the same classes, but is it easy to find Pharm.D students in the crowd years 1 and 2? and tell me about dorms, is there a seperate dorm for Pharmacy students? (If there isn't, i'd probably freak)

No problem. Glad to help potential future colleagues. 😀

I really think its a good idea to have a solid foundation with chemistry now than later. Alot of us (at least my class), are having a difficult time with our Pharmacology and Medicinal chem. because our general and organic chem. isn't at the level where we should be. 🙁 You will know what I'm talking about when you take Biochemistry in the 2nd year. Everything that we learn will come back and bite us in the ass later on. It's not a learn it now and never deal with it again thing.

Finding PharmD students is really easy! When you walk by the library and see people banging their heads on tables, saying gibberish scientific terms like "sympathoadrenal innervation" and look like they haven't slept in years, those are PharmD students. 😀

Dorms are not seperated by major. However, you can pick who you can dorm with. The dorms are really nice as they are just recently built, they're less than 5 years old. Actually, the whole residence village is relatively new. St. John's never had dorms until about 8-10 years ago.

 

[ravuu]

Can someone please tell me something about the social life of pharmacy's student? What meal plan is good? Does the library has enough material?

Thanks in advance!

PharmD students have no social life. Sorry.

Just kidding. Actually, it really depends how well you manage your time. For me personally, I just feel like I'm taking exam after exam after exam. There isn't really much time for socialize. But I'm in third year right now. However, the first two years are MUCH MUCH less stressful.

I'm not sure which meal plan is good. I don't dorm anymore. I dormed first year and I chose the one where you get 18 meals a week and 300 points? I forget the actual numbers. Depends how much you eat I guess.

Library...Yeah. You will probably spend your time there alot. The library has four floors with South and North wings. I think its pretty big. There's plenty of material around if you need it. Most professors use the Professor's Drive anyway. All the material required for their course is all uploaded there.

 

[ravuu]

I got into to the program, but i have a question regarding scholarships.

I got a scholarhip and the letter says "In recognition of your fine academic record the scholarhsip committee is honored to present you with an annual scholastic excellence scholarhip in the amount of $10500"

My question is, is the scholarship awarded annually for each of the six years, or is it only good for four years (as i was told by someone in the admissions office)?

Four. The last two years have to be paid in full. No financial aid. Unless you have outside scholarships that pay for you.

 

[ravuu]

Wait, so, is there a structured core curriculum? What classes am I going to be taking the first term of my freshman year? (Just a few more months!! O.O!!)

There is a core curriculum that has to be completed the first two years. For PharmD the core curriculum is basically Theology, Calculus, Statistics, Eng Comp. , General Chem, General Chem. Lab and General Chem Resitation. I think thats all the classes for freshman year first term...... I don't remember. I'm in zombie-mode right now. I have exams, lab reports, quizzes.....too much on my mind at the moment. Sorry. I might remember later. =p

Edit: Oh yeah and DNY. Discover New York. Its an easy class. You go on trips to Broadway shows and stuff. Everything is paid by the University. Including the bus round-trip. It's a great experience for people who don't live in NY. It was boring for me because I grew up in the city. But the free Broadway shows made me happy.

 

[Khushi]

There is a core curriculum that has to be completed the first two years. For PharmD the core curriculum is basically Theology, Calculus, Statistics, Eng Comp. , General Chem, General Chem. Lab and General Chem Resitation. I think thats all the classes for freshman year first term...... I don't remember. I'm in zombie-mode right now. I have exams, lab reports, quizzes.....too much on my mind at the moment. Sorry. I might remember later. =p

Edit: Oh yeah and DNY. Discover New York. Its an easy class. You go on trips to Broadway shows and stuff. Everything is paid by the University. Including the bus round-trip. It's a great experience for people who don't live in NY. It was boring for me because I grew up in the city. But the free Broadway shows made me happy.

Also, either Intro to Philosophy or Speech.

I never bothered going to any Broadway show.. I LOATHED that class, mainly because the professor would give us kindergarten work in class.. it was on music, so she'd bring some little musical toys they use in elementary school music classes and we had to create music. 🙄 And then the workload she gave us was so tedious... 4 pages on a question that can be bull****ted with just one paragraph.

 

[kingchan123]

Thanks for the informations from all St Johns seniors! How about the scholarship, I heard it easy to get screw up! 😳

 

[Khushi]

Thanks for the informations from all St Johns seniors! How about the scholarship, I heard it easy to get screw up! 😳

Depending on what kind of scholarship, you have to maintain a certain average GPA for it and you'll be fine. If it goes below, they give you one more chance to bring it back over the limit and recover your scholarship.. if not, then you lost it for good.

 

[kingchan123]

Helloooo! Anybody will go to the 4/2 orientation! 🙂

 

[Blee88]

I was a little rattled by what you said when you were talking about how to tell a pharmacy student out from the crowd. Are Pharmacy students the nerds of St. Johns? St. Johns isn't that competitive for the other majors and since I have been considering dorming, I don't want to be kept up or disturbed by other kids who have looser schedules and lighter workloads. Is there a way I can get a floor or a suite full of Pharm.D students when selecting my dorm?

 

[rexbexter]

Yea i'm a high school student. Is my GPA not good enough to get in?

Im a high school senior. I have been accepted two three Pharmacy programs. Ironically, the one i didnt get into was supposedly my "safety" The closer you get to making the big decision, the more you realize you never know what the school is looking for. Just try to stand out, be yourself. Schools like dedication.

 

[ravuu]

I was a little rattled by what you said when you were talking about how to tell a pharmacy student out from the crowd. Are Pharmacy students the nerds of St. Johns? St. Johns isn't that competitive for the other majors and since I have been considering dorming, I don't want to be kept up or disturbed by other kids who have looser schedules and lighter workloads. Is there a way I can get a floor or a suite full of Pharm.D students when selecting my dorm?

You can definitely get a suite full of PharmD. as long as you all want to link with each other. Basically, everyone has to know each other and willingly link with each other to get the same suite. Otherwise, its all random. I don't think you can get an entire floor of PharmD though.

 

[Tyrius]

Im a high school senior. I have been accepted two three Pharmacy programs. Ironically, the one i didnt get into was supposedly my "safety" The closer you get to making the big decision, the more you realize you never know what the school is looking for. Just try to stand out, be yourself. Schools like dedication.

When i go to college campuses, should i try and talk to a pharmD teacher or what should i do to make myself stick out in that situation? Any other suggestions?

 

[rexbexter]

When i go to college campuses, should i try and talk to a pharmD teacher or what should i do to make myself stick out in that situation? Any other suggestions?

Talking with Pharm-D teachers anywhere does help. For those who are reading your application, being able to match a face is often helpful. I would recommmend having a recommendation from a science teacher so they know how you work in that setting. I even went back to my sophomore chemistry teacher because it was in her class that i decided i loved chem.
Being in a club or unique organization consistently makes you stand out as a "well-rounded student". They aren't just looking for the highest grades or highest gpa. They are looking for students who will add to the community and succeed.
If you have anymore questions, feel free to contact me!

 

[Blee88]

I'm scared about losing my scholarship. I only took 1 AP class in my 4 years at highschool and I'm only getting mid 80s. I'm not sure how that translates on the 4.0 scale, but i'm sure it isn't enough to secure my scholarship...And i'll have more than one class so it will be like 8 AP classes. Can someone do some 100-4.0 translations for me? And is it easy to get above 3.5 every year?

 

[xiaoxun37]

i'm a high school senior,and get accepted to albany college of pharmacy (6-year doctor of pharmacy)
and suny buffalo....

if i go to buffalo. after 2 years
pre-pharmacy, i need to reapply their four years doctor of pharmacy program, which is highly competetive, and it's really hard to get in (at least 3.5 GPA)..what if i can't get to their PHD program??

anybody tell me which one should i go to????

bty, i was rejected by St.john..

 

[JYim]

does anybody know if i can go to a 0-6 school a year after graduating from high school? using a high school transcript, saying that i've rested a year. yes? no? because it's too late to apply now eh?