U of Colorado vs U of Michigan School of Pharmacy

[Deleted member 747898]

Hello,

I have recently been admitted to two amazing Pharmacy programs at Colorado and Michigan and I preferably want to make a decision before I put in the deposits. I was hoping to get some input from current students/graduates attending either of these two schools before I make my final decision.

Here is a basic list of pros between two schools that I came up with:

Colorado:
1) Much more affordable (in-state tuition after 1st year)
2) Much closer to California (this is especially relevant because I was invited to intern at the pharmacy I'm currently working at, so internship experience is more or less guaranteed)
3) Milder winters (considering I'm from California)
4) Quiet and scenic (absolutely beautiful there)
5) Two nationally-known hospitals right on campus grounds
6) Multiple research buildings + funding
7) Great study environment (not too much going on within Aurora)
8) One of my friend also attending (no need to worry about a roommate)
9) Relatively small class size compared to other schools (about 160)

Michigan:
1) Seems to offer a lot of scholarships
2) Small class size (about 85) + student to faculty ratio (11:1)
3) Several research opportunities and accessibility of faculty
4) 50% of students accepted into residency programs (about 26% for Colorado so about the same)
5) World-renown health systems + hospitals
6) Active and bustling
7) Great sports culture (not as important for me)
8) Amazingly friendly admissions staff
9) Regardless of its national rank (#7), U of Mich still has more name value

People at my work say "go wherever the tuition is more affordable," but I value more the opportunities and the education that I'll get from either of these schools (especially if I were to go into residency). I feel like money balances itself out in the long run and the distance is not a huge factor for myself personally.

I want to get input specifically on
1) how accessible opportunities are at either school,
2) what the class environment is like (competitive or collaborative),
3) how difficult the classes are (I struggled at UC Berkeley),
4) What was the deal-breaker that made you choose the school?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Sorry for long post.

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[samven582]

From the looks of it U of Mich

 

[Deleted member 747898]

From the looks of it U of Mich

Thank you for your input!

If you don't mind me asking, as a pharmacist what factor do you personally think is very important when it comes to choosing a school?

 

[neitzman]

i would also say U of Mich. It seems like you are more into their school more than CO. Money should be the last thing to consider with schools. Some of my friends went to Mich and CO but I heard nothing but great things about U of M. Didn't hear much from colorado except the cool sceneries and the friends who went to Mich all got into great residency programs and did a lot of research too.

 

[samven582]

Thank you for your input!

If you don't mind me asking, as a pharmacist what factor do you personally think is very important when it comes to choosing a school?

For me? Definitely rotation sites

 

[samuricool]

UC will not give you in state tuition if you are interning out of state.


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[PharFromNormal]

What made you choose pharmacy? Or asked another way, what is your vision of how you intend to practice pharmacy after graduation?

As specific as you are able to be at this time is as specific as someone can help you achieve your goals.

(And 160 is relatively small? Jeesh)

 

[Deleted member 747898]

i would also say U of Mich. It seems like you are more into their school more than CO. Money should be the last thing to consider with schools. Some of my friends went to Mich and CO but I heard nothing but great things about U of M. Didn't hear much from colorado except the cool sceneries and the friends who went to Mich all got into great residency programs and did a lot of research too.

I knew more about U of Mich because I got to talk a lot with a current student there. He was telling me all these awesome opportunities he's had at the school and how the small class size really makes a difference.

Still haven't gotten a chance to hear from a current student at Colorado, however, so I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing any important details before I made a crucial decision.

(You're actually the first one to say that money should be my last priority. Thanks for your input!)

 

[Deleted member 747898]

For me? Definitely rotation sites

So definitely go with the school that can provide a wide variety of rotation sites?

 

[Deleted member 747898]

UC will not give you in state tuition if you are interning out of state.


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Bummer =/ Did not know about that. That actually makes a pretty big difference then.

 

[Deleted member 747898]

What made you choose pharmacy? Or asked another way, what is your vision of how you intend to practice pharmacy after graduation?

As specific as you are able to be at this time is as specific as someone can help you achieve your goals.

(And 160 is relatively small? Jeesh)

I chose pharmacy after working at a compounding pharmacy, which was a perfect mix of the retail side and the clinical side of pharmacy. My mentor was a big part of my decision to pursue pharmacy because of his passion to help people and to constantly apply himself when coming up with new formulas. Seeing firsthand how he interacts with patients on a personal level and works with them to come up with an effective treatment was definitely something I envisioned myself doing several years from now (if not, right after school). Although the money wasn't always there, it was definitely fun working overtime to help him make compounded medications. (Is that super cheesy?)

Not that either school is really known for "compounding." Both Colorado and Michigan (and other schools) may have "compounding" as an elective but it's definitely not a major focus. So I guess I just want a school that can help me fully explore a wide variety of possibilities (a wide range of rotation sites) or a school that may be more known for research in pharmacogenomics.

(Hahaha I was speaking relative to California schools like USC and UOP. They have class sizes somewhere in the mid 200's)

 

[mjmjoa]

I've personally heard mixed things with U of M. One of the pharmacists I've worked with said they tried failing a student or something, she showed her exam answers compared to someone else and they retracted the failure. Sounds a little shady. This is just something I've heard from someone, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

If you're into research it might be the best option as they are known on focusing more on research than the other two fields, but if you want a blend of clinical, community and research than I would strongly consider Colorado.

How much does Michigan tuition cost? I know Colorado is around ~120k for 4 years if you apply for residency after year 1.

 

[Deleted member 747898]

I've personally heard mixed things with U of M. One of the pharmacists I've worked with said they tried failing a student or something, she showed her exam answers compared to someone else and they retracted the failure. Sounds a little shady. This is just something I've heard from someone, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

If you're into research it might be the best option as they are known on focusing more on research than the other two fields, but if you want a blend of clinical, community and research than I would strongly consider Colorado.

How much does Michigan tuition cost? I know Colorado is around ~120k for 4 years if you apply for residency after year 1.

Anything helps, good or bad! Our guide for the interview said that admissions will personally e-mail you if you are not doing well in classes, so hearing your story was a bit surprising.

Colorado has unique rural pharmacy and international pharmacy rotations so those were pretty attractive opportunities.

Michigan does not allow in-state tuition so it's around 160K for 4 years. 4th year tuition is 20K higher because there's an extra semester's worth of rotations.

 

[samuricool]

Bummer =/ Did not know about that. That actually makes a pretty big difference then.

That's if you disclose that information, of course.

I am a graduate from UC. I graduated in 2013 but if you have any questions feel free to PM me. I'm not on the site too often so I apologize in advance for not replying quickly.


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[Carboxide]

You are all wrong about the intern thing mattering with in-state tuition. You cannot get instate tuition no matter what at UM because you must have lived in the state for employment purposes WITHOUT going to school to qualify for in-state. So you will never, ever be able to get in-state tuition no matter what you do. Here is a link to prove that: http://ro.umich.edu/resreg.php

I know you say you do not care about money, but both schools are great and have good reputations. You might not care now but you will care when your loan payments are literally 1/2 your takehome pay. Unless you really hate Colorado, go there.

As far as difficulty of classes, I have heard that UM is pretty hard because they have switched to that new style of learning where you teach yourself at home and do activities in class. If you don't think that will work well for you, it is something to consider.

 

[Deleted member 747898]

You are all wrong about the intern thing mattering with in-state tuition. You cannot get instate tuition no matter what at UM because you must have lived in the state for employment purposes WITHOUT going to school to qualify for in-state. So you will never, ever be able to get in-state tuition no matter what you do. Here is a link to prove that: http://ro.umich.edu/resreg.php

I know you say you do not care about money, but both schools are great and have good reputations. You might not care now but you will care when your loan payments are literally 1/2 your takehome pay. Unless you really hate Colorado, go there.

As far as difficulty of classes, I have heard that UM is pretty hard because they have switched to that new style of learning where you teach yourself at home and do activities in class. If you don't think that will work well for you, it is something to consider.

Yes I am aware that you cannot get in-state tuition with UM after seeing all the conditions that have to be met for you to get in-state status. At least I don't have to deal with the DMV, right? lol.

With Colorado, I'll have severely less loan to pay off but I'm also worried about the job market in CO vs MI. Sure, no one knows what the job market will be like in the future, but I feel like if I move to MI I'll have more opportunities considering all the major states there are in the west coast. What do you think?

Sounds kinda vague, but I guess you're saying that there's not a whole lot of lecturing in classes and you basically have to self-teach yourself the material?

 

[Flymolo]

CU student here P2.
It's... been interesting. CU is super administration heavy and they really love that they have an integrated campus with other medical fields. They will take you as far as you want to go, and they push SUPER hard for clinical pharmacy. They run a tough program academically as much as I can compare, the exams in PT are tough. There is good support and great online tools, just make sure you play by their rules or you will find out how little they tolerate anything outside their world view of academia.

 

[Deleted member 747898]

CU student here P2.
It's... been interesting. CU is super administration heavy and they really love that they have an integrated campus with other medical fields. They will take you as far as you want to go, and they push SUPER hard for clinical pharmacy. They run a tough program academically as much as I can compare, the exams in PT are tough. There is good support and great online tools, just make sure you play by their rules or you will find out how little they tolerate anything outside their world view of academia.

I have heard from here and on forums that CU pushes hard for residency and they seem to be really proud of the interprofessional education (as if they copyrighted the term). However, I don't see how the school's academic philosophies affect the students. Can you expand on what you mean by "how little they tolerate anything outside their world view of academia?"

I also wanted to know more about how you've liked the program and the rotations thus far. Is the curriculum do-able or can it get pretty crazy? How accessible are the faculty in terms of trying to get opportunities?

 

[serendipity15]

Bumping this because I'm also considering UC! @nutellaglabella, did you decide on which school yet?