UNC or NCSU?

[CorrieNC]

I have been accepted into NC State and I'll hear back from UNC in January. I am just curious about which would be a better undergrad study if I intend to go into pharmacy. UNC obviously has the pharmacy school but NCSU is one of the best science schools.

So what do you guys think? Which would give me a better chance of getting into pharmacy school? Which would better prepare me?

Thanks!

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[uncbiograd]

I will remain unbiased in my post 🙂

I was out-of-state at UNC-Chapel Hill and majored in biology. This is a great school and, as you probably know, is one of the more prestigious public undergrad schools in the country. The campus is beautiful and it really is a great college experience. NC State is an average to good public undergrad and also is a nice play to go to school.

So with that out of the way, I would say it partially depends on what you plan on majoring in. UNC has a highly ranked chemistry department, but in general, science classes will be harder at UNC. Non-science majors have some serious grade-inflation going on which is kind of a big deal right now. For pharmacy schools I feel (not sure if others can verify) the undergrad name doesn't matter as much as the pre-req GPA.

Really you should go where you see yourself being happiest, though. I give the edge to UNC in student-life and name-recognition while at NC State it is probably easier to make As. If you do know what you want to major in, read up about those specific departments at each school, because I am almost positive UNC has the better chem department between the two schools.


Edit:

Which do I think will prepare you better? They will prepare you equally well as long as you put in the work (pre-reqs should be about the same)
Which gives you a better chance? Given your grades will be the same at both schools, UNC.

 

[tahi193]

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[CorrieNC]

Thanks this is great to hear! I am in-state so I know about each school but little about them acedimacally. I don't even know if I'll get into UNC, I'll hear back in January.

From the sound of it I should be okay at either school. Mainly I need a school that will prepare me well for the PCAT and help me to keep my gpa up.

Another question, if I went to NCSU I am sure I would major in Biochemistry but UNC only offers Biology OR Chemistry. Does it matter which major I choose as long as I get all of the pre-req's?

 

[chemguy79]

Hey Corrie,

Congrats on your acceptance letters thus far! I was a former Chemistry TA at NC State and I work with a former Chemistry TA at UNC, refugees from PhD programs at our respective schools and currently pharmacy school applicants.

Honestly, I don't think that you could go wrong at either school. As for PCAT preparation, I think that it's easier at NC State to escape "tough" teachers in most classes. There are TA's at NC State who I graded for in the Chemistry department and you could get through the material with minimal effort and minimal knowledge. However, there were other professors from whom you could learn the material quite well.

One thing that you would want to keep in mind is how the courses are set up at NC State in the Chemistry department. At State, you take General Chemistry 1 (without ANY math involved), Organic 1, followed by Organic 2 and General Chemistry 2 (which is ALL math). In my opinion, as someone who took the traditional curriculum at Purdue where you take a year of General Chemistry followed by a year of Organic Chemistry, I prefer the alternative that you would take at UNC because I think that it would prepare you better for the PCAT. I never understood the process at NC State and I know of quite a few of my former students who had such a tough time getting back into the groove of General Chemistry from having a year or Orgo. It was painful teaching students in Orgo how to calculate limiting reagents since you don't even touch it until AFTER Organic Chemistry.

Personally, I would consider UNC a better choice only because they have the pharmacy school. However, your college academic career is what you make of it. Good luck!

 

[PharmboyinNC]

If you are planning to apply for an in state p-school, then focus on your GPA. That matters most.

Since so many NSCU and UNC grads apply, neither school really stands out. Try to get some academic external experience, like as a pharmacy tech or research position to bolster your resume. Doesn't look good to go into the interview and you have no written record why you chose p-school, other than wanting a near~6~digit salary.

If you get into UNC, I'd go there since it holds a higher undergrad rank. If you want to major in engineering, then NCSU is the way to go.

Don't forget that there is Campbell and Wingate School of pharmacy, both private schools in this state

Good luck and enjoy your undergrad. HAve fun where ever you go.

 

[tahi193]

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[SHC1984]

UNC is better.

 

[PharmacyDreams]

I am a UNC undergraduate. My suggestion is to keep your backup plans in mind whenever you are choosing a school. Obviously, you must be interested in scientific fields. But if you shadow someone and suddenly decide that pharmacy is not all you thought it would be or you just can't stand to be in school for an extra four years, you want to make sure that you will be able to do something you love for a living.

If you think your backup plan is leaning more towards some type of medical or health-related field, Carolina's a great place. If you think that you are more interested in the engineering side of sciene, State may be a better option.

Also, you really don't even have to finish a degree to go to pharmacy school. Make sure you take that into consideration in planning your courses. You may find yourself wanting to escape undergrad sooner than you expected.

(And for the record, I have asked transfer students about chemistry here vs. chemistry at State. They confirm the suspicions that it is more difficult to get an A here.) If you are dedicated and you can learn well on your own, it is completely doable here. Be warned: Science classes here are no joke.

 

[uncbiograd]

I am a UNC undergraduate. My suggestion is to keep your backup plans in mind whenever you are choosing a school. Obviously, you must be interested in scientific fields. But if you shadow someone and suddenly decide that pharmacy is not all you thought it would be or you just can't stand to be in school for an extra four years, you want to make sure that you will be able to do something you love for a living.

If you think your backup plan is leaning more towards some type of medical or health-related field, Carolina's a great place. If you think that you are more interested in the engineering side of sciene, State may be a better option.

Also, you really don't even have to finish a degree to go to pharmacy school. Make sure you take that into consideration in planning your courses. You may find yourself wanting to escape undergrad sooner than you expected.

(And for the record, I have asked transfer students about chemistry here vs. chemistry at State. They confirm the suspicions that it is more difficult to get an A here.) If you are dedicated and you can learn well on your own, it is completely doable here. Be warned: Science classes here are no joke.

you can say that again!

class average in orgo 2 was somewhere around a 50% with my prof (i think he was new) its pretty weird not knowing half the **** on a test, feeling like you failed, and pulling a B

 

[CorrieNC]

Thanks again for all the comments it helps a lot. I think I am capable of most work loads as long as it is taught reasonably well or I can work with other students to get through it. I've taken through general chem II and general Bio II at my local community college (I have a 4.0 at the CC though obviously those are easier than university classes) so I feel that I can do them again and make good grades. I have been homeschooled all my life so "on-my-own-learning" is no big deal.

Campbell is another school on my list, I've been accepted with a good scholarship but the location and size makes it lower down on my list as an undergrad school.

Thanks for pointing that out Tahi I don't know how I missed it...

What is it exactly that is difficult about the science classes? Is it the material or the teachers? Even if you don't get an A do feel like you've learned more out of the class?

I guess my fear is that I may have good grades coming out of undergrad but have a poor pcat score or do poorly in pharmacy school because I didn't learn the information due to poor teaching and grade inflation.



I *almost* hope I don't get into UNC so I won't have to make a choice, lol. *frantically-knocks-on-wood*


Oh, and Iplan to minor in Spanish, would that be a plus to Pharmacy schools? I would think it would be a plus to future employers at least....

 

[uncbiograd]

My science GPA is pretty low, but I definitely learned a lot. I scored very high on the PCAT. Not sure how good of an example I am, though. Maybe my fellow tarheels can shed a bit more light on the grading situation. The obvious side of things is that an average grade is what it is, average. I made fun of my friends in other majors where 80+% of the class gets an A. The average grade in the bio dept. and I think all natural sciences is definitely in the 70s. All this means is you really have to work hard and outshine the other 200 students in the core science courses 🙂 It should help a lot that you have already taken those courses at CC. Make sure to use pickaprof or whatever it is nowadays to pick the profs that give the most As 😛

 

[ebi568]

i'd say keep in mind GPA isn't everything. if your GPA is high, but ur PCAT ends up being low because you never quite grasped everything, that's not gonna be any good. personally, as a UNC undergrad, my GPA isn't so impressive, but my PCAT scores were great, and i got an interview with the UNCSOP (obviously im still waiting to see if im accepted or not, so take that with a grain of salt).

 

[tahi193]

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[CorrieNC]

Would be completely masochistic and/or impossible to consider a double major at UNC? Like microbiology or something that has many classes overlapping?

 

[tahi193]

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[PharmacyDreams]

Would be completely masochistic and/or impossible to consider a double major at UNC? Like microbiology or something that has many classes overlapping?

Hmm...I don't know any less blunt way of stating this. Yes, and I know of no microbio undergrad degree at this institution. I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure if one existed, I would be pursuing it. 😀

 

[uncbiograd]

I would say... decide for yourself after your first year. You can take a few electives in your potential 2nd major freshman year and see how the course load is for you. It'd be very difficult, especially if you are looking for a BS, but it's possible. I double-minored 😛, not that that means much since a chem minor comes automatically (with 2.0 GPA) with the BS bio degree.. And I had very little room for electives outside of that. And say goodbye to studying abroad while your at it 🙂

 

[uncbiograd]

Wow, we really have quite the committee here. Do you think UNC should be paying us?

How are exams going for you guys? Best part about taking a year off before applying is I don't have to worry about exams... worst part is being a year older when i graduate...

I'm actually around campus right now so I've seen all the cramming going on!

 

[CorrieNC]

Oh, well NCSU does offer microbiology as an undergrad major. Actually there is only about 7 classes difference between that and Biochemistry. I wonder if I could fill in the free electives with some of the MB classes and then take one or two classes each summer (I live close enough to commute during the summer.)

More than likely though I'll get into school and realize that the double major would be impossible. But I like to think it would work, lol.

Can you tell I'm an over-achiever? lol I just am really excited for college. 😀

 

[tahi193]

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[CorrieNC]

hmm, I might just aim for a minor in Micro since it would be only two extra classes, I would probably take medical micro and immunology.

By next fall I'll have my class schedule planned out for the next 4 years, lol. -Sigh- Now I just need to know where I'm going.

 

[uncbiograd]

Yes, it's about time UNC gives me some money. 🙄

This is my last semester so I'm 2 exams away from being finished with undergrad. Hooray! Taking a year off sounds great to me. Are you hoping to get back to Chapel Hill for pharmacy school?

It would definitely be tempting. Chapel Hill is awesome. I like that after a year I could pay in-state tuition (Finally!) It's a longshot to get in though.

 

[tahi193]

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[PharmacyDreams]

Oh, UNC does have immunology for undergrads. I took that class as well. It's normally taught by the same awesome professor who teaches the microbiology for pre-health. I highly recommend both of those.



Cramer is a goddess. 👍

--And despite my scholarships, UNC is still going to bleed me dry financially. Junior status has me praying that my pharmacy school interview went well. I think Carolina undergrad and I are slightly tired of each other. It was nice knowing it, but there comes a time to say goodbye...and I think I hit that brick wall three semesters ago.

 

[chemguy79]

One quick thing to mention about the NCSU Biology department ... Yes, you can "major" in Microbiology, Genetics, etc. However, you do take the same classes, for the most part, as someone who majors in Zoology, i.e. everyone is in the same Genetics, Physiology, etc. under a course prefix in their respective major.

From what I've heard, I think that the final 2 or 3 courses that you take determines your "major" at NCSU. Feel free to correct if I'm mistaken, however, this is all indirect experience having tutored 10 of my Organic Chemistry students who were taking the same classes, but majoring in different areas of Biology.

 

[CorrieNC]

Update:

Well, I have been accepted to both schools. Now I really have to make a decision. Though I will admit that I am leaning towards UNC.... 😉

 

[280918]

UNC is the best!! 🙂 but of course I'm biased... 😛
well, I think since UNC has a lot more pre pharmacy folks than NC State, you'll be able to seek out more opportunities easier (lots of pre pharm clubs/organizations, which is good for networking and learning about how to prepare for the application process and stuff, and finding other people with similar interests as you!)

plus you can go and tour / walk around the pharmacy school while you're on campus here... it's awesome. ^^

good luck! and congrats!! 🙂

 

[Callahan]

I don't know if this post is still relevant but I feel like State needs a few good words 🙂

I moved to NC in 2007 and had to decide where to go to finish my undergrad (NCSU or UNC). I came here with no bias because I knew nothing of either school. I knew my interest was in science (biology specifically) and this was all I knew! My ultimate decision was NCSU because it is a science and math school. It's known for science and math and I knew I would get a great understanding of those subjects here. UNC is still a great school, however it's a liberal arts college. You honestly can't go wrong with either school is the bottom line. I wouldn't take back my decision, I love NC State, I had wonderful professors who were caring and actually knew who I was. It wasn't easy, but I put a lot of effort in and did well. There were also tons of people that were pre-pharmacy at State. Everyone I knew at State was pre something, dental, medical, pharmacy, PA, etc.
Also someone said something about the chemistry courses. I took General Chemistry at another college, but right when I enrolled at State I took Quantitative Chem (Second semester of general chem) right away. I didn't have to take organic chemistry first, this is just an OPTION. You are able to take general chem 1 and then take organic 1 or just continue with quantitative. They may have changed that, but when I took these it was 2008 and I know it was an option even before I enrolled at State.