UOP vs. UCSD for Pharmacy

[john le]

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Hi everyone, I have been reading some of the posts on this forum, but it feels like the majority of these posts are from people who are well into their college experience. I am a high school senior who wants to be a pharmacist, and I hope you guys could help clear up some things for me. First off, I have been accepted to UOP's pre-pharm accelerated 3+2 program, as well as UCSD for pharmacology.

I would like to know if UOP's pharmacy program is better than UCSD's skaggs school of pharmacy, and whether or not it is worth going to UOP just for the accelerated aspect of the program.

And if I was to choose UCSD, would it be better to go to UCSD for my first two years and then apply to the pharmacy school that is right on campus, or could i just go to my local community college to save money and still have the same chance of getting in?

One last route that I have thought about was just going to UC Berkeley(which i also got accepted to) then eventually apply to UCSF, UOP, UCSD, and USC, because by then, I would have a firmer grasp on which school is right for me.

I have already talked to my counselor and she tells me that getting into the aforementioned pharmacy schools is very competitive and that i should just stick with UOP right out of high school because then i would not have to worry about getting into a pharmacy school later. I agree with this, but I am still concerned that UOP will not provide me with the best options later when I am out in the job field.

I have a little less than a month left to making a pivotal decision for my future and I hope you can give me the knowledge to make the right decision. Thank you everyone for your time even if you do not have any advice to offer.

 

[Jack555]

If you know you want to go into pharmacy and have the money for UOP then I would go there. Pharmacy school is getting more and more competitive to get into. In 2 years (if not now) it is likely that you would need a bachelors degree to get into many california pharmacy schools. In fact I think UCSD has a near 100 percent rate of accepting only students with a b.s.

If you don't go into the program you may end up spending 6-9 years instead of 5. I'm on a 9 year program😀


However one thing to keep in mind is getting a b.s. may help you. If you ever decide not to be a pharmacist you have a backup. Alot of the material also directly relates to pharmacy if you choose a good major.




One last thing to consider is that if you go to UOP and after 2 years decide not to be a pharmacist; you have been working towards medical pre-reqs, not just pharmacy pre-reqs, and could leave UOP. However then you would have wasted a lot of money.




Hope that helped somewhat, I'd go to UOP if you can handle the workload and are sure you want to be a pharmacist.

 

[sdn1977]

John,

If you were accepted at both UCSD & UCB, you are a very smart young man! I know because my daughter graduated from UCSD & those two along with UCLA are considered tier 1 schools with very difficult acceptance criteria.

I say that because I wonder you might be considering a "safe" track rather than a broad track which may or may not lead you to pharmacy....it could also lead you to many other places.

Jack brought up many good points, but you're young and there are many other things to do career-wise besides pharmacy. I can appreciate your position since I also wanted to be a pharmacist very young. But, I chose to go to an undergraduate program to solidify my decision. I very seriously considered other possibilities - medicine, a graduate degree in chemistry, etc...ultimately, I chose pharmacy & never looked back.

Likewise, my daughter just knew she wanted NOTHING to do with the medical field at all. Her dad is a dentist & I'm, obviously, a pharmacist. She has seen the worst of medicine & knew she wanted no part of it. But, during her years at UCSD, she looked into obtaining a PhD in her field & actually did work in an on-campus lab as well as took an internship at Scripps. But, she finally decided on medicine & is now an MSIII.

My point? 18 is very, very young to make a lifetime decision. UOP is a fine school of pharmacy. But, are you very sure pharmacy is what you want? UOP is also a fine place for academic science, but honestly, it doesn't hold a candle to UCB or UCSD for BS degrees in many of the sciences. Likewise, Stockton is too far away from anything to get an internship if you did want to work in molecular genetics, pharmacology, pharmaceutics, molecular biology or many other possibilities which tend to locate around major university research centers.

My advice....sit down & talk this over with your parents. Ask what their feelings are about choosing careers, life experience lessons, the possibility of changing majors &/or pursuing other graduate programs. School advisors & those of us on sdn will skew you toward what worked for us.

But....just be sure of what is going to work for you. You may not be old enough yet to know what that is, but I can tell without knowing anything more about you, you are capable of many, many things. If you choose pharmacy - then welcome! If not, you have a bright future ahead!

Good luck!

 

[UofPacific2009]

I go to UOP, and I came in as a 2+3. A lot of visiting high school students have asked me if it's the right choice. I can honestly tell you that UOP was the best decision FOR ME. However, "FOR ME" are the key words. I knew I wanted to be a pharmacist coming straight out of high school so I was very sure of my decision to attend Pacific.

However, if you're not sure, then I would go to a UC school. UOP is a great school and I really truly believe our professors here are trying to make us the best pharmacists that we can be.

So my advice is: If you're unsure one little bit, don't come to Pacific. But if pharmacy is what you really want to do, then I would go to Pacific.

But I do have to warn you, UOP's curriculum is fast and intense. Even the two years leading to pharmacy school were very intense for me. However, I do agree with someone that getting into a pharmacy school is getting very competitive. As difficult as my two years in undergrad were, I'm sure it was nothing compared to the 4-5 hard years that many people had to go through just to attend the same pharmacy school as me.

I hope this helps! If you have any more questions about UOP, feel free to PM me.

 

[senzabee]

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[john le]

thanks everyone for your great advice. I've given it a great deal of thought and know that I really want a job somewhere in the pharmaceutical business. For me, it's kind of a step back from being a doctor, because I want to do something where I can help people, but with doctors, there is a lot of interaction with people, whereas a pharmacist, you are usually independent with your work, but not necessarily a recluse considering you do have co-workers and possibly customers. When I think about pharmacy, I do not only picture the local pharmacist that takes my prescription, and comes back in 5 minutes with my medicine. I also see possible research or maybe even developing new medicine.

Maybe I am looking at the wrong approach to what I want to do with my life, but I truly do feel strongly about it and will probably not venture too far away from what I have described. The only thing left to figure out is which is the best path to take me to where I want to be.

Again, thank you for such great input, it really got me thinking this whole thing over.

 

[davyjone96431]

wow

I feel like I am talking to a younger version of myself. When I was your age, I got into UCSD and UCB as well and I choose to go to UCB, which is the worst decision of my life. If you get chance to or if you have not already, go visit UCSD, U of P, and UCB and ask questions and see for yourself which school is better. Do not rely too much on comments of the students that go there because they are heavily biased. Go see the campus and especially the environment and research the crime rates in the area.

And i agree with the previous posters. Work at a pharmacy first before you really commit yourself to that path. Working at a pharmacy was probably the main highlight of my undergrad career. Don't let that be your only highlight.