UCSF low board exam pass rate

[Confused321]

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knowing that UCSF is ranked first by US News, this is surprising for me.
what was the criteria that was used to rank it as that?

I originally thought because of success after graduation or board exam pass rates
but I saw this recently:

http://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/publications/0415_0915_stats.pdf

UCSF actually has the lowest california board pass rate with 10.5% of the class failing JPE exam
even Touro and Cal Northstate has higher pass rates.

they say ranking is important to land a residency, is this really true?
how can a school with lower pass rates be more competitive for residency?

earlier last year UCSF was even put on probation, if my goal is to be a clinical pharmacist or work in industry would it matter if I go to UCSF or Touro?

 

[Myohmy2010]

knowing that UCSF is ranked first by US News, this is surprising for me.
what was the criteria that was used to rank it as that?

I originally thought because of success after graduation or board exam pass rates
but I saw this recently:

http://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/publications/0415_0915_stats.pdf

UCSF actually has the lowest california board pass rate with 10.5% of the class failing JPE exam
even Touro and Cal Northstate has higher pass rates.

they say ranking is important to land a residency, is this really true?
how can a school with lower pass rates be more competitive for residency?

earlier last year UCSF was even put on probation, if my goal is to be a clinical pharmacist or work in industry would it matter if I go to UCSF or Touro?

Just so you know, there is no "real" ranking system for pharmacy schools that is based on concrete facts. US News' pharmacy school rankings are based on a "survey of academics at peer institutions." This comes straight from their website. What actual deans from "top ranked" pharmacy schools have told me is that they receive a survey from US News and they have to rank their own pharmacy school based on how great they think their school is in different areas, then they send it back to US News. So, the schools who are more arrogant and think more highly of themselves are the ones that will be on top of that list. You shouldn't take the rankings TOO seriously. Maybe focus more on your school's reputation at the places you want to match for residency, board scores, what kind of pharmacists the school produces, and look at what kind of places the graduates actually match to for residencies and fellowships.

 

[Confused321]

thats very interesting ....... i had no idea thank you

i guess its best to focus on school location and areas that are less saturated

 

[jokersmiles]

"Respondents rated the academic quality of programs on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). They were instructed to select "don't know" if they did not have enough knowledge to rate a program. Only fully accredited programs in good standing during the survey period are ranked. Those schools with the highest average scores appear in the rankings."

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/health-schools-methodology

As you can see, USNEWS ranking is based on a survey that holds no realistic value.

 

[Confused321]

thank you all for the responses!

 

[DrDrugs2012]

Rankings 100% matter - especially for residencies. Dont let anyone fool you. It is no coincidence that students from top ranked schools place at "prestigious" residencies and have a higher match percentage/number.

Do I think that is how things should be? Of course not. But don't delude yourself into thinking the name of the school means nothing.

Also, NAPLEX and law pass rates are meaningless unless it's pathetically low (e.g. 70%). Why? Because some curricula teach to the test. Some dont. Some schools give NAPLEX coaching. Some do not. But not having those advantages for the test just means you need to study a little more between graduation and sitting for the exam. It's not a big deal. Go to the school which will be most likely to get you to your end goal - whatever that goal may be.