The Four CA Schools Opening up

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Desoxyn

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First, we have the biggest offender:

California Health Sciences University: http://chsu.org/
The school looks like it's next to a Rite-Aid, and it's one of those "pop out of nowhere pharmacy schools." In Clovis, Fresno. ACPE Pre-candidate ACCREDITED (wtf). Not WASC Accredited.

West Coast University: http://westcoastuniversity.edu/
The school is a for-profit institution that has been around for a while, but has questionable programs (from what I've heard, their nursing program sucks). I love the location (LA - Hollywood district), but I wish the school wasn't...itself. WASC Accredited. ACPE visit in spring.

Keck Graduate Institute: http://www.kgi.edu/
A graduate school; they've been around for a bit. They have some stellar Masters programs. But still. In Claremont. WASC Accredite. ACPE visit in spring.

Chapman University: http://www.chapman.edu/pharmacy/
Been around for a LONG time, in Orange, OC. Chapman is an actual undergraduate school with many majors, with a PT program, many Masters programs, a LAW school, etc. Their school will be in Irvine. They are probably the only ones with the finances to fund a great program. WASC Accredited. ACPE visit in spring.

--

Ugh, I am from CA, and this sucks. The order I listed these are from worst to best, in my opinion. There's nothing we can do; people will apply to these places, and blah blah. I really don't care about all the reports about the job market.

I will probably apply to Chapman when I finish my prereqs and stuff. But I am still aiming for the established schools. Le sigh.
 
You should definitely aim for established schools. Because more or less, your career is more likely to get screwed if you go to one of these newer schools. Honestly, as so many schools are popping up, I believe that name value of the school is going to get more and more important in the future.
 
That first school you posted looks like it is in an old furniture store building. Seeing the building makes me think they aren't too worried about sticking around for long if things get a little difficult.
 
KGI looks absolutely respectable. I'm impressed. They're part of the Claremont Colleges, which says a lot about the quality of a program they are likely putting together.
 
Irelia said:
You should definitely aim for established schools. Because more or less, your career is more likely to get screwed if you go to one of these newer schools. Honestly, as so many schools are popping up, I believe that name value of the school is going to get more and more important in the future.
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.
 
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I have heard CHSU is building a brand new campus near Millerton lake (~20 miles north from the current campus). It plans to open by 2017 and soon expands to nursing, PA, etc. But still, it's new so... I don't know if one should go.
 
Ironically our Assistant Dean left last year to help start up KGI (I think she is the Dean now, Dr. Kathy Webster) and our Dean(Dr. Nicholas Blanchard) just left to go to West Coast University after our program got accredited this past May.
 
Irelia said:
You should definitely aim for established schools. Because more or less, your career is more likely to get screwed if you go to one of these newer schools. Honestly, as so many schools are popping up, I believe that name value of the school is going to get more and more important in the future.
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They will all get accredited, Competitive and famous very soon,
A good example could be California North state school of pharmacy in Sacramento. They opened up in 2009 I believe and it is already very competitive getting into it.
 
moj101 said:
They will all get accredited, Competitive and famous very soon,
A good example could be California North state school of pharmacy in Sacramento. They opened up in 2009 I believe and it is already very competitive getting into it.
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Accredited? probably. Competitive? no.
 
shewantthepharmD said:
I agree, it might not be as competitive as established schools like UCSF, but it is still competitive. My friend interviewed at Northstate in January and was told there were about 50 seats filled so far (after three interview sessions, with about 70-80 interviewees at each interview)
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Yap, so don't worry too much , and apply to as many schools as you can, regardless of them being accredited or not.
 
shewantthepharmD said:
School name might play a factor in landing some residencies, but it is not a factor when working in retail stores such as Rite Aid or Walgreens. Connections and friendships with pharmacists and district managers are more important if retail is your goal
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School name does factor into landing residencies. Why do you think almost half of Michigan graduates go into residencies?
 
Participated in a PGY-1 residency interview in California. The Residency Director explained the process used to determine interviewees. There were 40 applicants for each residency spot. 20% of total applicants were offered an interview. He said that all the applications were impressive, and that 5+ yrs ago, even the 'bottom' applicant would have been a top match.

There was a GPA cut-off, and they gave points based on your school's ranking, if the school gave grades (or not), prior degrees (BS, MS, PhD, etc). If a candidate attended an unranked school that also issued no grades, they were not offered an interview.
 
Going to a pass/fail school is a disadvantage when applying for residency.
 
For residency, would it matter if your school is out of state?
 
rxlea said:
Established vs new school definitely matters for residency app.
Click to expand...

I disagree. My father works at WFUBMC and they have many pharm residents that graduated from a new school here in North Carolina.
 
Desoxyn said:
First, we have the biggest offender:

California Health Sciences University: http://chsu.org/
The school looks like it's next to a Rite-Aid, and it's one of those "pop out of nowhere pharmacy schools." In Clovis, Fresno. ACPE Pre-candidate ACCREDITED (wtf). Not WASC Accredited.

West Coast University: http://westcoastuniversity.edu/
The school is a for-profit institution that has been around for a while, but has questionable programs (from what I've heard, their nursing program sucks). I love the location (LA - Hollywood district), but I wish the school wasn't...itself. WASC Accredited. ACPE visit in spring.

Keck Graduate Institute: http://www.kgi.edu/
A graduate school; they've been around for a bit. They have some stellar Masters programs. But still. In Claremont. WASC Accredite. ACPE visit in spring.

Chapman University: http://www.chapman.edu/pharmacy/
Been around for a LONG time, in Orange, OC. Chapman is an actual undergraduate school with many majors, with a PT program, many Masters programs, a LAW school, etc. Their school will be in Irvine. They are probably the only ones with the finances to fund a great program. WASC Accredited. ACPE visit in spring.

--

Ugh, I am from CA, and this sucks. The order I listed these are from worst to best, in my opinion. There's nothing we can do; people will apply to these places, and blah blah. I really don't care about all the reports about the job market.

I will probably apply to Chapman when I finish my prereqs and stuff. But I am still aiming for the established schools. Le sigh.
Click to expand...
Has anybody got accepted to Chapman yet ?
 
moj101 said:
NOT anymore .
Click to expand...

I can only speak for two health systems I have worked for over the past 4 years. We do not take any students for internships from the newish pharmacy school in our state, nor do we interview them for residencies. Our clinical pharmacy team is made up of all pharmacists from established programs in state and out of state, some residency trained and others hired after years of experience. Same goes for my previous hospital as well.
 
Penguin Fan said:
I disagree. My father works at WFUBMC and they have many pharm residents that graduated from a new school here in North Carolina.
Click to expand...

Isn't that because, from what I know, those new schools in North Carolina have religious ties? (such as high pointe and Wingate) Also he is saying that established schools give advantage to students when finding residencies. It is just it will be harder for newer school students to find residencies spot in the future because residencies spots are limited but new schools are building up like crazy.
 
PumpkinSmasher said:
I can only speak for two health systems I have worked for over the past 4 years. We do not take any students for internships from the newish pharmacy school in our state, nor do we interview them for residencies. Our clinical pharmacy team is made up of all pharmacists from established programs in state and out of state, some residency trained and others hired after years of experience. Same goes for my previous hospital as well.
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good info !! 🙂
 
Religious ties have nothing to do with it. High point hasn't built their school yet, and Campbell is a religious school, not Wingate. Believe it or not, Wingate SOP has been around for over a decade now, and is well known in the Carolina region.
 
Penguin Fan said:
Religious ties have nothing to do with it. High point hasn't built their school yet, and Campbell is a religious school, not Wingate. Believe it or not, Wingate SOP has been around for over a decade now, and is well known in the Carolina region.
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Wooooo~ 10 years....long time XD
 
We have existing relationships with established schools and just don't have time/staff to deal with the institutional agreements that need to be brokered and additional student load that it would entail. There's the inherent disadvantage right there.

That said, I came from a new school with a disproportionately high match rate for its inaugural class.*

I also have to preface this with the fact that the affiliated university hospital is home to the first accredited pharmacy residency, ever. So, basically, the place where I did my training invented residencies. So what I say probably won't apply to your new school. So kids, do your homework.
 
Hello everyone- can you help me to choose KGI or West Coast pharmacy program for entering in Fall 2016? they both are candidate status and not sure which one to choose? thanks
 
You should pick neither. Anyways, WC is for-profit. If you had to pick one though, I would go with KGI because KGI is a private non-profit school.
 
Thanks- what about accreditation part- which one is more stable to get the accreditation? I know we would not know this answer but we might be able to guess and ask from the students that are already in the program-I don't know anyone particularity to ask. I just need more info about these two school to make my final decisions- its hard.
 
ShockingPurple said:
Ironically our Assistant Dean left last year to help start up KGI (I think she is the Dean now, Dr. Kathy Webster) and our Dean(Dr. Nicholas Blanchard) just left to go to West Coast University after our program got accredited this past May.
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Hello, so you think KGI and West Coast will get their full accreditation?
 
Hello everyone... I am stock choosing between KGI and West Coast pharmacy schools- please help me with some information if you have and know someone attending to these two schools- I really appreciate your help.
 
KGI will definitely get accredited in my belief. Nataly, I think you should to go to school website to see which program is best fit with your interest. Personally, I would prefer non profit school over profit school and also see if that school has the strong foundation in other programs or whether they associate or have any connection within the field or other school program.
 
futurepharmacist14 said:
KGI will definitely get accredited in my belief. Nataly, I think you should to go to school website to see which program is best fit with your interest. Personally, I would prefer non profit school over profit school and also see if that school has the strong foundation in other programs or whether they associate or have any connection within the field or other school program.
Click to expand...
Hi Futurepharmacist thanks for your reply- yes I have a good feeling about KGI too and I already sent my deposit, yayyyy 🙂
 
nataly said:
Hello everyone- can you help me to choose KGI or West Coast pharmacy program for entering in Fall 2016? they both are candidate status and not sure which one to choose? thanks
Click to expand...
Congrats on getting into KGI, when did you interview if you dont mind me asking?
 
nataly said:
Hello everyone... I am stock choosing between KGI and West Coast pharmacy schools- please help me with some information if you have and know someone attending to these two schools- I really appreciate your help.
Click to expand...

Do you not mean "stuck"?
 
pharm.sd said:
Congrats on getting into KGI, when did you interview if you dont mind me asking?
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Thanks a lot- my interview was on 10/02/15 , was not hard - staff are so kind and I love the school 🙂
 
nataly said:
Thanks a lot- my interview was on 10/02/15 , was not hard - staff are so kind and I love the school 🙂
Click to expand...
How long did it take for them to get back to you about being accepted? I interviewed on Oct 16, I really liked the school as well!
 
confettiflyer said:
KGI purely on the strength of their other graduate programs and affiliation with the Claremont Colleges.
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This 100%. KGI will probably hold its own, considering the partnership it has with top liberal arts institutions that will attract a lot of [top] recruiters
 
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General question to all: having baby before-during or after pharmacy school when you are on your 30's? thanks
pharm.sd said:
How long did it take for them to get back to you about being accepted? I interviewed on Oct 16, I really liked the school as well!
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My interview was on Friday I got an email on Wednesday then letter on mail later-Good luck
 
Hi nataly, I have an interview with KGI this friday. How is the interview process if you don't mind me asking? Is the question hard or it is predictable?
 
Hello futruepharmacist, congrats on your interview- the interview was great- the faculties are very kind explaining and talking about the program- they divide the students into groups- the process was a few sections -actual interview- writing an essay- Health assessment test (computer based)- critical thinking group activity and campus tour- my suggestion to you is just be relax and be yourself- as much as relax and calm you are the better it is, so you can answer the questions better- on group activity try to participate actively- I love the campus and overall the program- Good luck!!
 
This post makes me laugh and I hope people do their homework before listening to which school to attend.
CHSU is a WASC candidate ......since June 19, 2016
https://www.wascsenior.org/institutions/california-health-sciences-university

This post is from BEFORE their WASC accreditation. So please update your post.
They are also ACPE candidate status........
https://www.acpe-accredit.org/faq-item/california-health-sciences-university-college-of-pharmacy/

CHSU is on track to get accredited and will produce pharmacist in the only part of California that has ZERO competition.....Fresno, CA. Closest school is UOP but lets face it their are many hospitals that only have ONE local pharmacy program and are eager for residency programs. Oh yeah, they will not get accredited until their inaugural class graduates in 2018. Only draw back is that some graduate loans wont be available until 2018. In order to compensate CHSU offers lots of scholarships. Plus the donations from Walgreens...
http://www.drugstorenews.com/article/chsu-receives-donation-walgreens-pharmacy-lab

So pharmacy business is donating and oh yeah they are building a new campus along with adding more programs.
http://abc30.com/education/local-ph...oping-to-fill-void-in-central-valley/1473931/

Chapman & Keck are great choice but you will have to compete with all the pharmacy schools in southern California for residencies and jobs. (keep in mind their is no pharmacy shortage in Southern California).

West Coast University........I just do not know about. Their tuition is higher for NO REASON plus their location makes them compete with way too many schools for intern hours and rotations. I would not recommend West Coast University but then again if you do not get accepted to another program, then you do not have a choice unless you wish to wait another year.
 
Desoxyn said:
First, we have the biggest offender:

California Health Sciences University: http://chsu.org/
The school looks like it's next to a Rite-Aid, and it's one of those "pop out of nowhere pharmacy schools." In Clovis, Fresno. ACPE Pre-candidate ACCREDITED (wtf). Not WASC Accredited.

West Coast University: http://westcoastuniversity.edu/
The school is a for-profit institution that has been around for a while, but has questionable programs (from what I've heard, their nursing program sucks). I love the location (LA - Hollywood district), but I wish the school wasn't...itself. WASC Accredited. ACPE visit in spring.

Keck Graduate Institute: http://www.kgi.edu/
A graduate school; they've been around for a bit. They have some stellar Masters programs. But still. In Claremont. WASC Accredite. ACPE visit in spring.

Chapman University: http://www.chapman.edu/pharmacy/
Been around for a LONG time, in Orange, OC. Chapman is an actual undergraduate school with many majors, with a PT program, many Masters programs, a LAW school, etc. Their school will be in Irvine. They are probably the only ones with the finances to fund a great program. WASC Accredited. ACPE visit in spring.

--

Ugh, I am from CA, and this sucks. The order I listed these are from worst to best, in my opinion. There's nothing we can do; people will apply to these places, and blah blah. I really don't care about all the reports about the job market.

I will probably apply to Chapman when I finish my prereqs and stuff. But I am still aiming for the established schools. Le sigh.
Click to expand...

Chapman is way too expensive. You are competing with out of staters that got their Degree for 40% of what you will be paying.
 
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