UA vs. Midwestern

[jamboo54]

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Hey everyone. I'm having the most difficult time deciding between Midwestern (glendale) and the University of Arizona. If anyone can offer some insight that would be really helpful. I sent my acceptance to UA already but i have about a week before i need to send my deposit to midwestern.

Here's what my breakdown is:
UA:
Large, public university
Cheaper tuition (however its 4 years so you miss the opportunity cost)
Part of a University Medical Center
High ranked (4th in country) - plus not sure how rankings work
Lots of residency opportunities

Midwestern:
Private, friendly environment
Closer to my home (i'd live in apartment either way but its nice to be close to home)
Expensive tuition (27,000 about)
But its a three year program which is really cool
Its a newer school so not as established nationally

Any insight would be appreciated!

 

[dpogosov]

😕
1) Second in NIH Funding
2) Almost $20,000 cheaper
3) Overall ranking of 4th in the country

Need I say more...?!

I know where I would be next fall (especially because UA has been my #1 choice for two years now)!

 

[nikkai]

Go where you'll enjoy life.

All the funding and top ranking means diddly (sp?) squat if you hate it there.

I've seen it way too often from people getting into UCSF.

It kinda depends on what field you're thinking about going into too...

 

[kellia]

i think a 3yr program is always a plus! but it depends on your needs. you said it would be nice to be close to home... who is "home"? spouse? children? if yes to one of those, that would be another benefit of MW.

 

[jamboo54]

Thanks for everyone's response... 🙂

By home I mean my parents...I still have no idea what to do. 🙁

Blah

 

[pharmaz88]

This is coming from a MWU student, so I'm admittedly biased...

UA is more of a research-oriented program, so professors will be devoting a substantial amount of time to their own projects, and you'll likely have classes just being taught by TA's.

MWU is totally education-focused; the students are the faculty's #1 concern. ...as opposed to making publishing quotas to keep their tenure.

...and regarding being #4 ranked, ask yourself exactly how much of that translates into the quality of education you receive. #2 in NIH funding? ...that's not going to help you pass the Naplex or get a better residency.

...just some random thoughts from someone operating on 3 hrs sleep at the moment.

 

[torius71]

Go where you'll enjoy life. All the funding and top ranking means diddly (sp?) squat if you hate it there.

😱

I strongly disagree. It means alot of squat if your one of those 7-10% students from Midwestern who fails the state board exam every year. It means more squat if your one of those odd students out who can't get that residency they want. And most importantly, it means the most squat when you can't get that job in the pharmaceutical industry or managerial hospital postion.

i think a 3yr program is always a plus!

Once again, I disagree. It can be a plus if you have a family or personal issues, and are in a rush to get out. However, if not, you should be going into pharmacy because you enjoy it, want to learn, and want to be there. Not because you want to get out as soon as possible. 🙁

One thing I do agree with the others with is go where what's best for you. By the way, Midwestern and UA are still close to home. I will be going thousands of miles away from home next year to attend the better university.

 

[nikkai]

The school you go to factors indirectly to residency. It's more your ranking, your performance on the boards and where your rotations where (ie: who you met).

And with regards to those 7-10% (I'm just basing that on what you say, I don't know the numbers for sure) that fail the boards, can you really equate that to a poor teaching curriculum if you still have 90+% passing? Granted, it may be easier numerically to get into MDW and thus you may not have students that are as dilligent as those attending of UA, but an education is an education. It's the student's role to learn all the information, profs are just there to present information and answer questions regarding things you don't understand. Obviously, the better the prof, the easier (theoretically) it will be for one to learn the material. And as it's been said, with the heavy emphasis on research with UA, you may indeed have profs that are more interested in their own research than teaching. I went to UC San Diego, then worked Biotech for 3 years, so I'm not talking out of my butt here. =)

I am also now teaching at a community college, and let me just say, that some of the professors that they have here do a much better job than some of the hugely famous profs we have at UC San Diego (some of whom have won a nobel prize).

And education is what you make of it. There are always circumstances that are going to be out of our control - just make do and push on. 👍

 

[Jeddevil]

Granted, it may be easier numerically to get into MDW

I just had to pipe in here. Last year MWU had over 1600 applicants for 130 spots, over 10-1. UA had their most applicants ever at right around 400 for 75-80 spots, about 5-1. It was easier to get in UA.

I got in both, chose MWU for several reasons which have been mentioned above: family, 3yr, faculty focus. One that hasn't been mentioned yet, if you go to UA you have to live in Tucson, which is comparable to South Phoenix or scenic parts of Maryvale. But I have my obvious biases. Do what feels right for you. You will get a good education from both.

 

[gablet]

Going to down to UofA will give you an opportunity to see something different and give you a chance to be more on your own. There are many valuable life lessons to be learned and experienced by being on your own - new freedoms and maturity. I disagree with being too close to your parents - too easy to keep depending on them for everything.

Besides, you would have close to no student loans to be paid off at the end! Yes, I realize that you would have that extra year to pay off MWPG, but who likes having debt when you don't have to?

 

[jamboo54]

This is for all the people currently attending Midwestern Glendale...

Do you feel that the accelerated curriculum is stressful? For me, the summers and winters are a nice relaxation time to relieve all the stress accumulated during the school year. How is the transition going from a traditional school year to a year round calendar?

 

[njac]

mmI'd pick UofA but I did most of my undergrad there.

but I had no idea there were so few applicants! I was always very intimidated by their program (from what I heard you really needed a 3.6+ gpa to be competitive) - UNM had 1300 applicants this year?! For a school that traditionally doesn't take many out of state students...

 

[Glycerin]

but I had no idea there were so few applicants!...UNM had 1300 applicants this year?! For a school that traditionally doesn't take many out of state students...

I would guess that the main reason there were more applicants at UNM than at UA is UNM goes through PharmCAS and UA doesn't. The PharmCAS schools generally have extremely high amounts of applicants, since most main application process is electronic.

 

[Roxicet]

😱

I strongly disagree. It means alot of squat if your one of those 7-10% students from Midwestern who fails the state board exam every year.

Are you talking about the state or national board exam? I don't know where you got the 7-10% stats from, but if you meant NAPLEX, I'd like to set the record straight and say that I spoke directly to one of my professors this morning, and he said that last year, out of ~130 students, only 3 failed. That's 2%. He said that some people in the past who failed waited 18 months to take the exam, and others were just poor students throughout the entire program. He also said that in recent years, with a more selective admissions process and a higher caliber of students, really nobody should fail. I'll have to ask about the state stats next time. The state exam is irrelevant if someone is not planning on staying in AZ anyway; 50% of our class is from out of state, which is maybe why there's a higher failure rate on the state exam, if that's what you were referring to. I'm from TX, I don't know jack about AZ law.