USC Pharmacy Class of 2019

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Has anyone gotten news to attend the interview on January 16th?
I haven't heard back yet from USC, but I hear they typically contact you two weeks before the interview date. I'm in the same boat.

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Anh: Who said I'm not part of the class board or the meetings we had directly with the coordinators last year? I have done more than most of the class. (I don't find it fun putting my hands up in class either like I'm some kind of criminal when I didn't do anything wrong.) Nothing that gets done benefits our class and based on class of 2018, the changes haven't benefitted them either. I'm not arguing. I'm stating facts. Show me where I'm wrong. Show me some of your positives.

Our residency match rate sucks. Most of first and second year is a waste of money and extremely disorganized. We have less rotations than people who go to Western who get 2 years of rotations. UCs are more cost-effective and give you a better chance at fellowships.

On the PhD side, if you try to open your own start-up company while in school, part of your future profits belong to USC forever. It's unethical for the school to take away your creative potential because you learned a few things from Mackay.

Someone asked be about frats in PM. "Professional" frats are not at all professional.

I'm glad some people have PMed me to ask questions. If you have any and don't feel comfortable posting on the message board, feel free. :)


YGPM

Just got my acceptance email :)

Congrats! If this is your first choice then welcome to the Trojan Family.

accepted!!
how many people tend to get accepted after each interview?

The last time I looked, it was around 50%, so the chances are high if you had the first interview block since #1 it's rolling admissions, and #2 people in the first block "have the grades", just need to do well on the interview

Must be nice...I got active consideration :(

Don't worry, I was on active consideration till the end of June.
 
Hey all, I need advice. So I was put on active consideration for USC, and I know they want academic updates (in some cases, this will put you up the waitlist list). However, I got 2 B's, B+, and an A. Should I still do an academic update? Or wait until February, so that maybe I will find out about my position after the January 16th interview?

Do you think this will hurt me or help me (my fall grades)? I'm really scared. Please, advice?

Do the academic update. I knew someone that didn't do theirs and was on active consideration till the first week of school (when they decided to call)
 
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Do the academic update. I knew someone that didn't do theirs and was on active consideration till the first week of school (when they decided to call)
Thanks for your response. When you updated your grades, were they good? or average?
 
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Just got an email today saying that my application has been processed.
 
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I haven't received anything from USC yet.. I submitted mine around the end of October.
 
I haven't received anything from USC yet.. I submitted mine around the end of October.
Same here. I'm guessing we won't get the January date since it's less than a week away. But I think I'm okay with that, it would be hard to prepare well on such short notice. Also, I'm wondering if maybe the Jan 16 date was already filled with people who submitted their apps earlier than we did.
 
Same here. I'm guessing we won't get the January date since it's less than a week away. But I think I'm okay with that, it would be hard to prepare well on such short notice. Also, I'm wondering if maybe the Jan 16 date was already filled with people who submitted their apps earlier than we did.

Not sure how they decide but I went to the November interview and I submitted around the end of October as well
 
Not sure how they decide but I went to the November interview and I submitted around the end of October as well
Interesting. It doesn't seem like there is a predictable order of interviewing.
 
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Hey guys, I currently go to USC and I have a friend in TAP who spoke to the TAP advisor with regards to pharmacy admission. She had the October interview and was put and is still on active consideration. The TAP advisor, Donna, told her that right now USC Pharmacy is accepting people with the highest GPAs (3.7ish and up) who did well on the interview.

Also, they have only accepted around 20 of the ~85 students from each past interview. They have not rejected anybody yet, but will start to do so after the third interview. Furthermore, they will start accepting a greater number of people from the third, fourth, and fifth interview as well as pulling more people from the waitlist.

I submitted my USC supplemental application in October and got the November interview. I was put on active consideration, which didn't surprise me since I didn't have a 3.7+ GPA. However, don't let an AC status get you down, since last year USC accepted 311 of the 428 total students they interviewed.
 
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Hey guys, I currently go to USC and I have a friend in TAP who spoke to the TAP advisor with regards to pharmacy admission. She had the October interview and was put and is still on active consideration. The TAP advisor, Donna, told her that right now USC Pharmacy is accepting people with the highest GPAs (3.7ish and up) who did well on the interview.

Also, they have only accepted around 20 of the ~85 students from each past interview. They have not rejected anybody yet, but will start to do so after the third interview. Furthermore, they will start accepting a greater number of people from the third, fourth, and fifth interview as well as pulling more people from the waitlist.

I submitted my USC supplemental application in October and got the November interview. I was put on active consideration, which didn't surprise me since I didn't have a 3.7+ GPA. However, don't let an AC status get you down, since last year USC accepted 311 of the 428 total students they interviewed.

I def had less than a 3.7 gpa and was accepted from the Nov interview. Meaning they dont just look at gpa, but your whole package (LORs, interview, etc). Be positive and confident and kill the interview and writing sample, its the only thing you can control at this point. You guys got this, good luck!
 
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I def had less than a 3.7 gpa and was accepted from the Nov interview. Meaning they dont just look at gpa, but your whole package (LORs, interview, etc). Be positive and confident and kill the interview and writing sample, its the only thing you can control at this point. You guys got this, good luck!

I have my interview on January 16 and was wondering if you can tell me what kind of questions did they ask you. Any difficult questions that was asked during your interview? Was the writing topic easy to write?
 
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I def had less than a 3.7 gpa and was accepted from the Nov interview. Meaning they dont just look at gpa, but your whole package (LORs, interview, etc). Be positive and confident and kill the interview and writing sample, its the only thing you can control at this point. You guys got this, good luck!

People who have the first round have the strongest GPA/LOR's etc. All they need to do is pass the interview-

I have my interview on January 16 and was wondering if you can tell me what kind of questions did they ask you. Any difficult questions that was asked during your interview? Was the writing topic easy to write?

The interview questions vary depending on the interviewer, but they must cover 4 main subjects- I forget what they were but i'll find out this Friday.

I can tell you that I ask questions based off your resume and personal statement- i.e. If you had research experience, pharmacy experience etc.- be prepared to talk about it.

I personally had a hard time with the essay part when I applied. It was the most difficult one I had- compared to all other schools i applied to. Other underclassmen said similar too.

See you Friday and good luck!
 
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I don't know though, I got interviews from higher-ranked/more selective schools before USC even sent me the "we've received your application" email. sorry, I know it sounds like a humblebrag, but I don't mean it that way. I'm sincerely just confused. anyone else?
 
I don't know though, I got interviews from higher-ranked/more selective schools before USC even sent me the "we've received your application" email. sorry, I know it sounds like a humblebrag, but I don't mean it that way. I'm sincerely just confused. anyone else?
I think the reason is because Usc is rolling admission whereas most of the top selective schools are not.
 
I don't know though, I got interviews from higher-ranked/more selective schools before USC even sent me the "we've received your application" email. sorry, I know it sounds like a humblebrag, but I don't mean it that way. I'm sincerely just confused. anyone else?


USC is also fairly slow in their admissions process as well!
 
Has anyone heard back from the January 16th interview?
 
Has anyone heard back from the January 16th interview?

I just got an email today around 1pm stating that I was placed on "Active Consideration." I was pretty depressed that I didn't get accepted and it took me a long time to get out of the funk.

A couple of my friends received an email yesterday evening saying they were accepted. (Pretty sure they had high GPA's.)

I'm praying for the best...
 
I just got an email today around 1pm stating that I was placed on "Active Consideration." I was pretty depressed that I didn't get accepted and it took me a long time to get out of the funk.

A couple of my friends received an email yesterday evening saying they were accepted. (Pretty sure they had high GPA's.)

I'm praying for the best...
I was placed on active consideration as well. I don't know what to take of it as I've been placed on hold for three different schools. I'm actually numb towards the decision.
 
I was placed on active consideration as well. I don't know what to take of it as I've been placed on hold for three different schools. I'm actually numb towards the decision.

I'm feeling your pain... I was hoping USC would accept me first time around but I guess we'll have to wait and see. My friend in last years class told me they were placing more students on AC this year. Mostly because they accepted too many students so early in last years cycle.

Two more interviews and I guess we'll have to play the waiting game again.
 
Hi all! congrats on those that got accepted and to those that got put on AC, don't lose hope! Any news about the February or March interviews? Been looking through this thread and totally understand its all about waiting to hear from USC :)
 
Hi all! congrats on those that got accepted and to those that got put on AC, don't lose hope! Any news about the February or March interviews? Been looking through this thread and totally understand its all about waiting to hear from USC :)
I got the email invite on Jan 22 to interview this Friday, Feb 20
 
Good luck to those who have interviews today! Hope to meet some of my future classmates :D
 
Good luck today! If you don't mind sharing, what are you stats? And maybe you can tell us a little about your day there
GPA: 3.7 (science and cumulative, from a top 20 university out of state)
2 summers of service living in community with homeless
leadership roles: RA, retreat director, class commissioner, etc
1 year as a pharm tech

the interview experience was definitely on the more formal side. they start with lunch, then we broke up into 5 groups that rotate between interviews, essay, Q&A session and tour. plus 2 more snack breaks somewhere in there (you will not go hungry at USC).

the interview itself was strange for me. the student interviewer really seemed to like me, but the professor seemed like he wasn't paying attention at all. his follow-up questions either completely contradicted the things I said, or had nothing to do with what I said. At one point he accused me of "not understanding what clinical pharmacy is" (!) but it turns out he was basing that on something he had misunderstood in one of my earlier answers. he was pretty busy sending 2 or 3 texts while I was answering, so it makes sense that he would be confused. don't text and drive, folks. my previous 3 interviews were extremely positive and my answers today weren't any different, so I don't think his weirdness is a reflection on me. maybe he was trying to trip me up, I don't know. okay, done with my little rant haha.

tl;dr: be confident in your answers, you were invited to interview for a reason. and come with an appetite :)
 
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GPA: 3.7 (science and cumulative, from a top 20 university out of state)
2 summers of service living in community with homeless
leadership roles: RA, retreat director, class commissioner, etc
1 year as a pharm tech

the interview experience was definitely on the more formal side. they start with lunch, then we broke up into 5 groups that rotate between interviews, essay, Q&A session and tour. plus 2 more snack breaks somewhere in there (you will not go hungry at USC).

the interview itself was strange for me. the student interviewer really seemed to like me, but the professor seemed like he wasn't paying attention at all. his follow-up questions either completely contradicted the things I said, or had nothing to do with what I said. At one point he accused me of "not understanding what clinical pharmacy is" (!) but it turns out he was basing that on something he had misunderstood in one of my earlier answers. he was pretty busy sending 2 or 3 texts while I was answering, so it makes sense that he would be confused. don't text and drive, folks. my previous 3 interviews were extremely positive and my answers today weren't any different, so I don't think his weirdness is a reflection on me. maybe he was trying to trip me up, I don't know. okay, done with my little rant haha.

tl;dr: be confident in your answers, you were invited to interview for a reason. and come with an appetite :)

YGPM
 
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Thank you for the updates everyone and for sharing! Hoping for that March interview now~:)
 
Thank you for the updates everyone and for sharing! Hoping for that March interview now~:)

The March Interview will be held on a Saturday this time around- instead of Friday's. From what I heard from the admissions committee- this day will have the most applicants (double~ 150) = will be very competitive
 
The March Interview will be held on a Saturday this time around- instead of Friday's. From what I heard from the admissions committee- this day will have the most applicants (double~ 150) = will be very competitive

Do you happen to know if they sent out notifications for the March interview already? I had no idea that the last interview date would have the most. Once again, thank you for the information!
 
Do you happen to know if they sent out notifications for the March interview already? I had no idea that the last interview date would have the most. Once again, thank you for the information!

Hello! I received an interview invite yesterday (Tuesday, 2/24) at 2:42 pm. Hopefully you'll get one soon too!
 
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Do you happen to know if they sent out notifications for the March interview already? I had no idea that the last interview date would have the most. Once again, thank you for the information!

Sorry for the late reply- TheCourageWithin answered your question!


I've created a FaceBook group for the class of 2019- I'll be part of your class during P3 and will be able to answer any questions regarding school life, housing, or any other general questions you have.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/432433190266708/

Once you've added the group, please message me and let me know you're USC!
 
For those accepted, does USC notify by mail or just email?
 
I just received an email placing me on active consideration from the Feb 20 interview. Does USC send out rejection emails at this time too? Or is it either acceptance or active consideration? And how long until active consideration becomes acceptance/rejection/wait-list?

I'm bummed.
 
I just received an email placing me on active consideration from the Feb 20 interview. Does USC send out rejection emails at this time too? Or is it either acceptance or active consideration? And how long until active consideration becomes acceptance/rejection/wait-list?

I'm bummed.
I was AC'ed from the Feb 20th interview as well and have the same question.
 
I just got accepted!!! I was from the January 16th interview
 
Has USC denied anyone yet for this application cycle?
 
Are you guys seriously thinking about going to a school that charges $50 k in tuition and mandatory fee? How about living cost?

You are lucky if you come out with just $300 k + 7 % interest rate. That is $21 k in interest alone per year. How are you going to pay that off on a pharmacist salary?

Your only hope is a public or non profit job so you can qualify for PSLF. Everyone will be gunning for those jobs and the government is already talking about changing the rules and capping forgiveness at 57.5 k.

Your other options? IBR or PAYE but you have to pay income tax on any amount that is forgiven after 20-25 years.

You don't want to be like this lady: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/12/1...borrowers-a-tax-time-bomb.html?referrer=&_r=0
 
Are you guys seriously thinking about going to a school that charges $50 k in tuition and mandatory fee? How about living cost?

You are lucky if you come out with just $300 k + 7 % interest rate. That is $21 k in interest alone per year. How are you going to pay that off on a pharmacist salary?

Your only hope is a public or non profit job so you can qualify for PSLF. Everyone will be gunning for those jobs and the government is already talking about changing the rules and capping forgiveness at 57.5 k.

Your other options? IBR or PAYE but you have to pay income tax on any amount that is forgiven after 20-25 years.

You don't want to be like this lady: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/12/1...borrowers-a-tax-time-bomb.html?referrer=&_r=0
They all have trust funds from mommy and daddy. That's why they're applying to USC.
 
Got to love unfounded generalizations.
If you were truly poor like I am, you would know how financially unwise it is to attend USC for pharmacy school.

Not only is the field super saturated, you're going to be more than a quarter MILLION in loans.

If you stay in California, don't forget our crazy taxes which will bring your six figure salary down to around 70K. Don't forget interest.

And that thing you called your personal life? Forget about it. You'll be spending your late twenties and thirties paying off your loans. You could've gotten a PharmD at any other school for a fraction of the price.

So forgive me for my over generalization. Either your family has money or you're just bad at making critical life decisions and you'll stay poor.
 
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