UOP is confusing me

[Her0Her0]

I have been doing a lot of research on UOP's 2+3 pre-pharm PharmD program. I am currently a sophomore in highschool and my goal after highschool is to become a pharmacist. I saw that UOP would make it possible for me to start working by the time I am 23.
1.)So first of all am I on a good track towards getting into the program? 2.)What is a normal day at UOP hours wise?
3.)Do you get summer/breaks?
4.)What can I do to improve my chances?
5.)How much will tuition,books, ect cost in total after the 5 years?
6.)What classes would should I take to prepare me for things?
7.)Last of all is there any other programs at other colleges I should plan on applying for?

Stats so far:
Freshman year
Algebra 2 Honors, PE, Spanish I, Biology Honors, English I Honors, and Freshman Seminar.
No clubs or sports or extra curriculars
Average GPA for the year: 3.8
Sophmore year
Trig/Pre-Calc, JV Tennis, Spanish II Academy, AP European History, English II, and Chemisty Honors.
Extra curriculars for Sophmore year
Tennis: Planning to stay in tennis till the end of highschool
Health acadamy: A program in highschool that helps you towards getting a health career after highschool, which includes; licencing in CPR, academy class during senior year which you learn medical terms and such first semester and get to intern at Kaiser Permanente second semester.
PAC Club: Pacific Islander/ Asian Club
Random clubs: I quit after I felt that I didn't like them much.


Sorry for so much reading, but I'm trying to get a plan started of what I am going to do during highschool like my counciler advised me to.

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[eightonesix]

When I was in high school I was leaning towards UOP's accelerated program because you could be done in five years. They will have a bunch of information about tuition and cost and all that on their website, but in terms of experiences, I actually got to stay overnight with a pre-pharmacy student in their 2+3 program. She told me they had no summer breaks and it was continual schooling year round. She was taking two sciences and math at the same time too. (ouch) After sitting through a welcome presentation with the pharmacy department, they had subtly stated that even though you get accepted to the 2+3 program, it is not GUARANTEED you get into the gradschool portion of it since you must be interviewed and do a writing sample etc. (they said 95% get in, but it would suck to be that 5% that doesn't). Also, not to detest you or anything, but some people get burnt out after having to take all those courses in such an accelerated manner. One of my friends dropped out of the 5 year program simply because it was too much for her.

I am not trying to discourage you from applying because I mos def think you should, but I am just telling you things that I found out only when I spent an entire day there, finding out things they dont normally broadcast to applicants. If you can, I recommend you do their nightover stay where you get to stay with an actual UOP student (try and get a pharmacy student i possible) so you can experience and ask questions yourself.

Try and strengthen your application as much as you can if you really want to go to UOP, I know they say the minimum for the 5 year program gpa is like 3.6 or something... but so many people hit the ceiling with 4.0's and EC's and volunteer work. They also seem to look at SAT II's math/science or SAT's a lot.

If anything, there's nothing wrong with doing 2 years pre pharm at a CC/CSU/UC and then transferring thereafter. In the case you decide you don't want to do pharmacy, at least there are multitudes of options and flexibility in terms of transferring or changing majors.

 

[aznkukuboi]

Sounds like you came from my high school. Arcadia High had this health academy thing. However, you have to be taking AP's to look more competitive. Honors this and that doesn't seem much like a competition when you compare it to my stats. I was in the 2+3 program at UOP and currently a first year pharmacy student.

1. Getting into 2+3 is ridiculously getting harder and harder these years. My brother applied and got into the 4+3 even with similar stats to me. 3+3, on the other hand, is a bit easier to get into.
2. Undergrad: Wake up, eat breakfast, go to class, eat lunch, take nap, mess around or go to lab when you have it, and then maybe study if you want to.
Grad: Wake up, eat, go to class from 9-1, nap, study, study, study, and more study.
3. No summer breaks in grad school. This is an accelerated program. That's why summers are on. There is like a 1 week in between the semesters though.
4. Take more AP's(I came in with 8 I think), get 700+ on all SAT I and II portions, extracurriculars, and volunteer.
5. Books cost like 200-300 a year undergrad, and 500 a year grad. Tuition is like 40k a year undergrad, and 60 grad. But most people get some sort of scholarship or financial aid.
6. High school level courses are a joke. They won't prepare much at all for college lvl classes. AP's/IB's are the closest I can think of, or community college classes. That would be even better since you can get college credit at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone.
7. USC has a similar program, but I'm not too sure about how it works. Then there are a bunch of other 0-6 programs out there, but not in California.

__________________
Also, DO NOT aim me. Some other guy on this forum (hopefully it's not you) has asked me like 500000 other GENERAL questions about college that can easily be answered by someone else. I don't have 3 hours a day to explain what it's like to live in college when your cousin can do the same... sorry I just had to rant .. haha he'll probably see this post and get mad at me. I'm on this forum to help, not be a big brother. Whatever, I'm in pharm school and he's still in hs.

If it is you, then just ask on the forums and not through aim.

 

[TheTruth32]

I advise you not to go to UoP. You should look into other schools such as USC, USD, UNC, University of Houston(i think has a 5 year program,)University of Southern Nevada (5 year program also), USF, Touro University. etc, also there are other 5 year programs out there..

My friend back in highschool had a 4.4 gpa, very smart, and had good time management, had bunch of ec's, soccer, track, 500+ community service, straight A student, was top of his class, had a 2300+ sat, 8+ ap classes was accepted to UCLA, stanford, Berkerly, but decided to go to UoP for the 2+3 program, but during the 2nd year of the grad, he couldn't take it anymore, and dropped out. He was stressed, and had no time to do anything else, but study every minute, and only had like 5-6 hours a sleep every night. I mean this guy is really smart and has time management, but couldn't handle it. Plus the tuition was too much for him also, and now he attends Berkerly going into the engineer program, or something like that.

I'm not trying to discourage you also, but its the truth. Also it is not how fast you graduate from pharmacy school, it's the knowledge and experience you gain that counts.

I am currently attending USC for the program, and trust me, it's the best decision I ever made. 1 more year then i graduate! It's not stressful also; I have time to party every friday night, and hang out with friends or go catch a movie. I study usually 2-3 hours a day, and get like 8 hours a sleep. You should come here. USC TROJANS GOOGOGOGOO!!!!

Take my advice, do not go to UOP.

 

[aznkukuboi]

In response to TheTruth, he knows what he's talking about. I have seen many who come into the school thinking they could handle the stress, but totally bomb it. And if you are in the accelerated program, if you fail out of pharm school, there's no turning back. You can't fall back on anything without having a degree first.

I'm stressing out quite a bit too right now. It's pretty difficult.

 

[TheTruth32]

Your other choice is to get a degree in bio or biochem, and then apply for pharm school, so you can have something to fall back upon if you drop out.

Come to USC, best pharm school in the world!!!!