UOP vs. USC

You have nothing to lose. Take a trip down to socal for fun!

 

It depends on you, location, and whether or not you want to graduate in 3 or 4 years.

I personally rather choose USC mainly because I grew up in SoCaL. However, both programs are top notch.

 

I had the same dilemma. I got accepted to UOP a week before my interview for USC but I decided to go to the interview anyways. It is better to leave your options open...just incase you change your mind. They are really nice and welcoming at USC...and I think I did well because I was relaxed. I ended up getting accepted to USC but declined because I didn't want to move to LA. Hope that helped!

 

I also want to add, you should always look into what student organizations are on campus, what type of curriculum they follow, what the faculty is like, and what is the student body like. Each school is different, and it can mean the difference between a great pharmacy school experience and a crappy one.

If you get accepted at both, you will have more time later in the year to make a more informed decision.

 

Well, start with some of the concrete factors.

- UOP gets you out in 3 years, USC gets you out in 4
- UOP is located in Stockton, USC is located in LA
- USC is the most expensive pharm school experience in CA, UOP isn't cheap but it is significantly cheaper due to less living expenses/one less year

As for the student bodies and what they're like, you'd only really know by visiting. I say roll the dice and go visit. It's not going to hurt you and you might really like it. If the whole extra year + extra debt thing is a huge turnoff to you then you can go ahead and just decline, but I'd go interview, at the very least to see what the school is like.

For what it's worth I liked the students I've met at both schools. USC's seem a little more active or maybe they just have more groups/activities.

 

From what i hear, UOP primarily caters towards retail pharmacists, while USC (and UCSF) encourage their students to do more clinical work and explore residencies. An upside to UOP is that it is a faster program and you save one year (which could be beneficial if you are looking into some quick money in case you are supporting a family). However, I personally feel that USC is a better choice for me because I prefer taking 4 years (instead of 3) and explore other areas of pharmacy more throughly.

Since USC offers a prestigious MBA along with the PharmD, I would definetely choose USC over UOP.

It's up to you really. Whatever floats your boat.

 

Los Angeles is a great city. I don't understand people who criticize it if they've never lived here. Traffic is fine (if you avoid peak hours), security is fine (if you don't walk on skid row at 10PM), and food is tasty and cheap.

you can't just say, "i dont wanna go there because of the city". if that's the case, why did you apply to usc in the first place? That's like saying... i prefer eclairs over cannolis because italian bakeries look like crap (when everyone knows cannolis are infinitely superior).

vs.

yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

UOP has a PharmD/MBA program as well, but it is not as prestigious as USC.

Also, UOP ranks #2 in the nation for producing the most students going into residency. UCSF is #1 and USC is #3.

But, I would choose USC over UOP.

 

where did you get these rankings? just out of curiosity. it would be pretty amazing if the top 3 schools in the country in terms of residency came from Californian schools.

 

I went to an AMCP event and the lecturer talked about various career paths (residency was one of them).

I only remember the top-3...since they were CA schools. I think Texas and Florida are somewhere in the top-10.

 

This ranking is extremely subjective. Most CA students want to do residency from the get go. This comes from my own experience. Few, if any, pre-pharm students at my school had any intention of actively pursuing retail or traditional in-patient pharmacy.

Also, USC makes complete sense that it would rank lower than the aforementioned schools. Most students I talked to end up in retail not purely by choice, but because they have a huge debt to deal with and making less money after graduating was not very supportive in their decision. Vying for residency spots was not an option after pharmacy school. I don't think you should choose based on that ranking at all except that all those schools are COMPETENT in making you competitive for residency and thus are equal in that respect.

As for catering to retail pharmacy, almost all schools will do that. I have heard of that of USC. The only schools in CA I know of that are known to not cater to it are the UCs.

 

IMO, dude choose USC
LA > Stockton
Stockton is boring man.
And you get to enjoy your summers.

 

haha I find it ironic how you say to choose USC when your account name is uop4pharm.


__

Visit both places before you decide.

 

trying to open a seat at UOP. sneaky sneaky. j/k

 

USC! i wish i applied there...i regret it so much and the only reason why is because there prereq req me to take more classes during the summer after i get my BA, but im traveling in asia. i just like the atmosphere at USC, i know it cost more, but i think they have amazing ALUMNI programs. great people always give back to USC and their program to continue. and LA is so much more fun! idk i would choose USC if i was in ur shoes. but uop 3 year program sounds great too. it would be so hard to choose! but usc for me for sureeee

 

I've been accepted to both schools and I was very close to choosing UOP because of its 3-year program, but my pharmacist (who's a USC alumni) convinced me to go to USC. USC has a huge aumni network which opens a lot of doors later for job opportunities. The pharmacist also told me that even though the loans are high, USC can pull a lot of strings for you. All of her loans consolidated with a 1.9% interest rate when she graduated in 2004 while her friend at Western got a 4.5% rate! Overall she says that USC really takes care of its students. I would just go to the interview to have the option of choosing between both of these great schools.

 

Easy,

USC Football > UOP Football

And we thank UOP for giving us Pete Carroll!

 

Hey FinestDrug, if you end up having to choose, go with the school where you think you'd be happier =) because in the end what matters is you. Ask yourself what you want from a pharmacy school (class size, location, clubs). Do you want to be close to home? All that good stuff...you've got some time to think about it. This is like picking where you wanted to go to college. You've done that before =)

 

+1 for UOP, especially if you are going to residency, I would choose UOP. In the same amount of time as USC, you get it done. I think that may be a big reason.

As for that comment about USC students consolidating at a lower rate than Western, it has nothing to do with "connections", it had to do with which consolidating company they went with and who gave a better deal. Anybody from any school could go with any of the companies back then. I know someone that went to UOP and consolidated at 1.2% back in 05', it wasn't connections, it was because they found about a better consolidator but a big moot point for us since now the rates are locked in and we get to pay 6.8% regardless of interest rates dropping to all time lows. Thanks ex-President Bush.

 

Are there any places close(as is walking distance) to UOP to live? Is there on-campus housing available?

 

I took the PCAT at USC and I really liked it. I didn't visit the health campus(i guess thats what its called), but I really liked the main campus and the atmosphere. I didn't like the area around it to much though. If it wasn't so much, I would apply to USC. I haven't visited UOP, so I can't make an unbiased decision. Basically, I am of no help to you lol. I asked about housing to maybe see if that played a role in it for you...

 

Have you seen the latest CPJE passage rate:

http://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/publications/0408_0908_stats.pdf

Pass rate: 97.2% for USC, 86.9% for UOP.

 

This is the most relevant post for me. I would take particulars with a grain of salt as far as the percentages. I would just compare gross differences. 10+% class fail is pretty indicative of the program. Having said that, you can succeed at any school from the data.

I've been thinking of interviewing with UOP, but I have less and less enthusiasm to do so. I haven't even booked a flight. If someone can defend its rotational choice system, maybe I would consider it more seriously.

 

K, my predicament is very similar to uhh what's his name, but then I believe i have more incentives to attend UoP.

UoP: Going to Stockton this monday to get interviewed for Powell Scholars Program. I'm a semifinalist, I'm sure there are like 30-40 of them, for the 15,000/yr scholarship taht would also provide me with leadership opportunities and other little benefits. However, I wanna know: Does campus life matter that much?

USC: My dad works on UCLA campus, so i've visited there hundreds of times and I've visited USC. Very nice campus, but kinda ghetto neighborhoods. Very pricey..

hmmm 40k v 55k a year.... Problem: Powell Scholars Program requires taht you do all four undergrad yrs, so if i got into the 5 yr program at UoP, I would ahve even more to decide on.

No news from USC yet besides their mail telling me I was chosen to be considered for their scholarships.

 

This really caught my eye; I remembered it being closer in the recent past so I googled..
(http://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/about/pass_rates.shtml The board's page with all the PDFs.. for some reason this was difficult for me to find so here you go)

What BMB posted: 4/08-9/08 (http://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/publications/0408_0908_stats.pdf)
97.2% for USC (173 students), 86.9% for UOP (126 students)

The period prior.. 9/07-3/08 (http://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/publications/0907_0308_stats.pdf)
77.8% for USC (21 students), 87.3% for UOP (55 students)

And before that.. 4/07-8/07 (http://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/publications/0407_0807_stats.pdf)
95.1% for USC (154 students), 94.5% for UOP (137 students)

10/06-3/07 (http://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/publications/06_07_stats.pdf)
75.7% for USC (28 students), 90% for UOP (27 students)

So.. average for 10/06 to 9/08 (averaging the averages; it's cheating, but whatev)
86.45% for USC (376 students total), 89.67% for UOP (345 students total)

Much closer if you look at a couple of years instead of one six month period..

I think both schools are very excellent and have been putting out quality students for a long time. Easy choice for me; my parents are getting older and having more health problems, so I want to be closer to home in Northern California. The student hosts and the faculty interviewers I met at USC last year and UOP this year were all enthusiastic about their program and seemed to offer lots of ways to get involved. You really can't go wrong with either one..

 

True, true. It was selective sampling but the latest data is always more important. In addition, USC did a major overhaul of its program a few years ago so I think the passage rate also reflects those changes. I am sure UOP is also a good school. Whether you are successful or not depends more on you than the school you attend.

 

Wow, I wish I would have logged onto SDN sooner to help ppl who are in this "predicament" out. My apologies, I haven't logged onto SDN since pharmacy school started.

I was in this situation 7 months ago having been accepted to USC and UOP and having to choose between the two.

I chose UOP and ended up where I am today, Stockton, CA. I did it almost solely because of cost and practical economics.
1. Tuition fee is lower (although it just increased by $1000/semester this year and i'm certain it will continue next year, dont they ever stop?)
2. Fees, parking, etc. Example: parking is $75 per yr at Uop, USC is $600/yr i believe.
3. Lower costs of living in Stockton. 2bd apt in stockton is around $850, or you can rent out a 3-4bd room home for about 1300-1500. There is school during summer so you wont have to forfeit rent like you would at USC during summers to hold your spot.
4. 3-yr program = 1 yr opportunity cost in favor of UOP, could cost $120K!
5. There are rotation sites in Socal where I live (granted it really depends on luck of the draw) so I can stay in Stockton for only 2 yrs exact and hopefully do my rotations at home.

Those were basically the reasons why I chose UOP and I think they've held up.

Now, if you want to talk about the experience and quality of education between the two, thats another story. Hands down, you WILL get a better education at USC. I think UOP's curriculum is subpar, although they are revamping the curriculum for next yr's incoming class (lucky them). I probably shouldnt discuss too much detail here, but if you want more information, feel free to PM me.
The student body of your class at UOP is going to be made up of : half transfer just like you and the other half are from the pre-pharmacy advantage program. It is a very clicky school. More details if you PM me.

In summary, it depends on what you want.
Better experience and better education = USC
Economically = UOP
In the end, a PharmD will be a PharmD, so that why I made the decision I made.

A whole other story: if the interest rate for loans was 2-3% like they almost have always been, I might not have worried too much about cost, since its inflation rate anyway. Funny how 8 yrs have changed that and its a staggering fixed 6.8% now and 8% for grad plus loans. Who do we blame for that

Feel free to PM if you have further questions.

 

pharmdeez,
I was put on hold. Do you think I have a chance to get in? On hold is like rejection right?

 

Pharmdeez has by far the best answer AND it comes from a UOP student.

 

If you had an interview and then were put on hold, you still have a decent chance.

 

Glad I can give back to SDN!