Good luck to those having their MMI interviews coming up on May 12th
For those who may get both the UWaterloo and University of Toronto offers, and are seriously unsure of which program to choose, here's my insight to pre-1st year and 1st year in pharmacy:
Last year I got offers from both U of T and UWaterloo pharmacy programs. My cGPA was alright (definitely above the minimum, but not in the very high 3.0s). My PCAT composite was mid-80s, and I'm pretty sure I felt like I did well in most of the MMI stations. My UWaterloo written test was pretty good, but I felt like I screwed up the UWaterloo interview portion, because I finished the interview in 10 minutes, compared to a majority of the candidates who finished in 20-30 minutes. However, I still got an offer, so how long your interview lasted didn't influence your chances. (So for those who felt like they finished too early in the UW interview, don't fret too much! I had no props for the interview, but I had a really good speech about whatever topic I said I was passionate about.)
Initially I was leaning heavily towards accepting the UWaterloo offer, because I spent four years undergrad at U of T already, plus my brother (who graduated from UWaterloo engineering) lived near the campus. However, I realized that the pharmacy school was located in Kitchener (and not on the Waterloo campus itself), and my brother's residence was located in the opposite direction of the campus and pharmacy building, and would've taken me 1.5 hours to commute daily. Classes start very early there everyday, and I didn't want to travel for that long. In comparison, it takes me 20 minutes to commute via TTC subway from my home to U of T campus, at a relatively lower transportation cost. Also, I still would've had to contribute to monthly rent fees (among other fees) if I were to live in Waterloo. Co-op can only cover so much of the residence fees, in addition to the tuition. In my case, the co-op money earned would only cover the residence fees for the school year, and I would still have to get income elsewhere (either via OSAP, Line of Credit, etc.) to pay for the tuition itself. So cost played a major factor in my decision.
Reputation-wise, U of T is obviously more established with its pharmacy program, while UWaterloo had there first class graduate last year. So a lot of pharmacies (both retail and inpatient hospital) are not sure how well the UWaterloo graduates performed compared to UofT graduates. Based on what I've heard from various pharmacists, UWaterloo pharmacy students are essentially on par with UofT in how much knowledge and training they've got. Furthermore, UofT changed to a new curriculum in my year (class of 2015), which is partially based on UWaterloo's curriculum. So curriculum-wise, you can't go wrong with either programs, and if UofT is granted entry-level PharmD, it's very likely that UWaterloo's program will be upgraded shortly after.
In terms of the
pharmacy buildings and their locations, both look very nice. Although Leslie Dan pharmacy building is bigger, most of the space is for researchers (including those from pharmaceutical sciences and pharmacology). Our lab computers are surprisingly slow and outdated (it really lags... which is a problem during practical labs), especially compared to the ones at UWaterloo. However, our building is conveniently located beside a subway station, and there's tons of places to eat (in addition to being able to study at any of the student and library buildings on the St.George campus). I've heard from some UWaterloo friends that there's not as big of a selection at the pharmacy building in Kitchener. This is a matter of preference, and I really didn't care if I was eating at the same place everyday or not.
Opportunity-wise, both offer exposure to actual practice, albeit in different ways. UWaterloo's distinguishing advantage are the co-op semesters throughout the program, where you get *paid* working opportunities at pharmacies. Most opportunities will be in the community, although there are students who decide to apply to inpatient pharmacies in Toronto or other urban settings. U of T's new curriculum offers two EPE semesters (both in summer: one after Year 1 and the second after Year 2), plus SPEP (which will now be the ENTIRE 4th year, rather than just for one semester). However, SPEP is non-paid, and EPE is usually non-paid as well (it's up to the preceptor and the pharmacies). For U of T students, it's relatively easier to get inpatient hospital pharmacy opportunities due to reputation and location, but UWaterloo students can still get these same opportunities.
In regards to my 1st year experience, for anyone who did undergrad at U of T, you pretty much know what to expect. Some professors and courses are hit-or-miss, and I agree with what previous users have posted. I'm sure UWaterloo has their own share of good/bad professors (who either love to teach, or clearly would prefer focusing on their own research). The timetable for UWaterloo looks more "packed", but unlike U of T, my UWaterloo friends said they have awesome practical labs for Anatomy and Physiology where they get to dissect cadavers, etc. (in comparison, our course-equivalents were purely lecture-based, with physiology being an online series of video lectures). I'm pretty sure both programs are very intense (especially 2nd semester at U of T), and the workload is high.
In terms of the
student body, I felt like the U of T pharmacy class is very close-knit, despite being part of the massive St. George campus. Our class is pretty much a "bubble" that's separated from the other U of T students, and everyone helps each other out. Comparing the sense of community with the students in U of T pharmacy vs. U of T undergrad is like night and day. Being with the same classmates for the next 3 years probably helps
UWaterloo pharmacy students are probably in the same situation, since their pharmacy building is located away from the main campus.
That's all I have to say for now... Hopefully some of you will find this useful when deciding between the two programs. Each has their pros and cons, although they do share many common features hahah..
Again, good luck to all the applicants for the 2016 (1T6) class. I look forward to seeing most (if not all) of you at U of T pharmacy
I'll drop by the forum every now and then if anyone has any questions.
But do resist the temptation to talk further after you've already made your point (unless they give prompt questions).
