USC vs UCSD vs UCSF

[sparklehkisses]

Imagine back in the day when you had to make a decision on choosing a pharmacy school...if you were accepted to all three which would be your #1 choice and why? Pros and cons would be appreciated!!

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[TrojanAnteater]

Imagine back in the day when you had to make a decision on choosing a pharmacy school...if you were accepted to all three which would be your #1 choice and why? Pros and cons would be appreciated!!

USC
-Hottest undergrads
-best athletics (well any school's athletics are better than ucsd and ucsf)

 

[bananaface]

Moving to pre-pharmacy, as this is a school admissions/choice topic.

 

[marrymenatalie]

USC
-Hottest undergrads
-best athletics (well any school's athletics are better than ucsd and ucsf)

However, you don't really see any of the undergrads on the Health Professional campuses, and seriously, is there any time to party with coeds as an USC pharm student I mean...I went to the interview and I wasn't impressed...I thought the female interviewees were hotter then the female Pharm students.

Nevertheless, USC is probably better if you want more focused experience in the clinical field. Plus, just the name--USC--will get you alot of job opportunities and make you stand out when competing for jobs in socal. Go with USC if you can afford it, and if you can't afford it, go with USC still

 

[TrojanAnteater]

However, you don't really see any of the undergrads on the Health Professional campuses, and seriously, is there any time to party with coeds as an USC pharm student I mean...I went to the interview and I wasn't impressed...I thought the female interviewees were hotter then the female Pharm students.

Nevertheless, USC is probably better if you want more focused experience in the clinical field. Plus, just the name--USC--will get you alot of job opportunities and make you stand out when competing for jobs in socal. Go with USC if you can afford it, and if you can't afford it, go with USC still

One can go to the main campus any time they wish, it's only 6 miles away.

And there is plenty time to party however you want. In fact, if you don't, you'll be missing out on a lot.

And that is great news about the interviewees!!!!

 

[thaliagoo]

Gee, wouldn't I love to be making that decision... I have a feeling that someone else will be making that decision for me

And the answer is: it depends ta-da!

It depends on what you're looking for. If you want to work in a community pharmacy, USC is a fine school. They have awesome networks and you can pretty much choose where you want to work after you graduate. If you plan on doing a residency, UCSF and UCSD (maybe, since its a stronger research school) is probably going to make you more competitive. From my visits, it seems like UCSD students are more academically focused which probably means their classes are harder (but the good news is their classes are pass/fail). UCSF is more laid back.

Then there are other issues like location, cost, ect. These are all things to take into consideration and find out what works best for you. Good luck!

 

[thaliagoo]

USC
-Hottest undergrads
-best athletics (well any school's athletics are better than ucsd and ucsf)

Best athletics? Hee hee... Because that's exactly what I look into when applying to schools: how good their students are at butting heads. Woo-hoo.

Oh yeah, and going to the main campus to party with 18-yr old freshmen frat boys? That's kinda sad.

These are the main reasons I'm so happy to leave college now (I go to a top-ranked party school, lol)

 

[sdn1977]

USC
-Hottest undergrads
-best athletics (well any school's athletics are better than ucsd and ucsf)

Hahahaha! When I went to UCSF in the 70's...there was an ad that actually ran on TV - the camera panned the school (it's on a beautiful hill in SF) and the voice over was.."50 years and still no football". We loved it in our small, crazy minds! Well...not only was there no football, there was no track & field, water polo, basketweaving - no athletics of any kind....oh - and no undergrads at all. There was no pharmacy school at UCSD either. Altho lots more pharmacy schools now - UCSF still has no athletics or undergrads.

Seriously though...all those schools are great. I've worked with graduates of all of them, seen some from each go on to become big names and actually classmates of mine were some of the beginning faculty at UCSD (so its gotta be a great place . But...if you want to play football & go to pharmacy school - USC is it - UCSD doesn't have a football team either

 

[TrojanAnteater]

Best athletics? Hee hee... Because that's exactly what I look into when applying to schools: how good their students are at butting heads. Woo-hoo.

Oh yeah, and going to the main campus to party with 18-yr old freshmen frat boys? That's kinda sad.

These are the main reasons I'm so happy to leave college now (I go to a top-ranked party school, lol)

You also implied though that the only good reason to go to USC would be if you wanted to work in a community pharmacy......

And I never said you go to the main campus to party with 18 year olds or any other undergrads for that matter. I simply was saying you can go down there whenever you want to enjoy the atmosphere....study.... work at the on campus pharmacy if you get a job or externship there.... etc.

In fact as far as I can tell, 99.9% of the health science grad students fill their social time going out with eachother or their old friends. We have plenty of parties and other social events that are put on by the med/pharm/dental school in case people want to go to those.

But hey, my post was in jest, as I hope you could tell. There are PLENTY posts in the archives that can tell you the PROS of USC, so I'll pass on that for now, but if someone is really intrested you can PM me.

 

[dreaminpharmd]

You also implied though that the only good reason to go to USC would be if you wanted to work in a community pharmacy......

I found it funny that people have this misconception about USC. When I went there for an interview, I was amazed with the diversity that the school offered. I have never heard of going abroad to do my clinical rotations until my interviewers told me the various opportunities offered by the school.

I would LOVE to go to USC if they accepted me....Sigh.....

I'm sure USC and UCSF are both great pharmacy schools. (Sorry don't know much about UCSD)...I would look closely at both programs and determine which one is suitable to you (residencies, research opportunities) and your future and what you hope to get out from the school.....

 

[Bluhappy102]

This is my take on it...and keep in mind I'm a lil biased ( I went to undergrad at UCSD and am currently at UCSF) but from what I've heard....

UCSD-Housing is moderately expensive relative to the other 2, Weather is the best, party life is the worst...but if you love the beach and clean air then it shouldn't matter, New program=kinks that still need to be worked out, they're 1st class is graduating this year so after this year we can see what their passing rate on the boards and how successful pharmacists from there turn out...which I'm sure they will be great.

USC-Expensive tuition, cheap housing, LA traffic, pollution, great parties, and great sports, a ton of prereqs but hands-on experience your 1st year, great program for community pharmacy, also good in clinical but UCSF has the upperhand, most California pharmacists are USC graduates so networking is great (althought USC graduates twice as many pharmacists per year than any other CA school) academically more competitive than UCSF (some classes are curved, must maintain a 2.5 or else you're dropped from the program and if you fail a class they hold you back an entire you just to retake that 1 class)

UCSF-Expensive housing, great public transportation, minimum prereqs, bad weather, great parties, too much emphasis on basic sciences your first year, involved and accomplished faculty, 99.9% graduation rate...we dont like to leave anybody behind, If you fail a class they let you retake the final to pass it or they let you take that 1 class over again with the next year's class, 2.0 is the minimum gpa to stay in. Prepares you well for clinical pharmacy..not so well for community, Laid back atmostphere, you can do anything here...we have a student doing HIV research in Uganda, you can do internships or rotations internationally, if you have an idea you can make it happen,.I can write a book about why I think UCSF is great so msg me if you want more info.

In the end it is where you want to be for the next 3-4 years of your life...the types of people you want to hang out with and where you feel the most comfortable.

 

[TrojanAnteater]

and for the prospective students, the minimum GPA to graduate from USC is a 3.0.

 

[gimpsd]

This is my take on it...and keep in mind I'm a lil biased ( I went to undergrad at UCSD and am currently at UCSF) but from what I've heard....

UCSD-Housing is moderately expensive relative to the other 2, Weather is the best, party life is the worst...but if you love the beach and clean air then it shouldn't matter, New program=kinks that still need to be worked out, they're 1st class is graduating this year so after this year we can see what their passing rate on the boards and how successful pharmacists from there turn out...which I'm sure they will be great.

USC-Expensive tuition, cheap housing, LA traffic, pollution, great parties, and great sports, a ton of prereqs but hands-on experience your 1st year, great program for community pharmacy, also good in clinical but UCSF has the upperhand, most California pharmacists are USC graduates so networking is great (althought USC graduates twice as many pharmacists per year than any other CA school) academically more competitive than UCSF (some classes are curved, must maintain a 2.5 or else you're dropped from the program and if you fail a class they hold you back an entire you just to retake that 1 class)

UCSF-Expensive housing, great public transportation, minimum prereqs, bad weather, great parties, too much emphasis on basic sciences your first year, involved and accomplished faculty, 99.9% graduation rate...we dont like to leave anybody behind, If you fail a class they let you retake the final to pass it or they let you take that 1 class over again with the next year's class, 2.0 is the minimum gpa to stay in. Prepares you well for clinical pharmacy..not so well for community, Laid back atmostphere, you can do anything here...we have a student doing HIV research in Uganda, you can do internships or rotations internationally, if you have an idea you can make it happen,.I can write a book about why I think UCSF is great so msg me if you want more info.

In the end it is where you want to be for the next 3-4 years of your life...the types of people you want to hang out with and where you feel the most comfortable.

Excellent post.

 

[Trojan]

and for the prospective students, the minimum GPA to graduate from USC is a 3.0.

what is the minimum GPA needed to be accepted to USC school of Pharmacy?

statistics would be greatly appreciated.

 

[RyanRyan]

Well the stats are little old, but I took this from a sticky thread on this forum


http://www.aacp.org/Docs/MainNavigation/InstitutionalData/6863_Tab8PSAR.pdf


And here's the admissions GPA requirement to apply (taken from USC website)

" A minimum of 90 semester or 135 quarter units must be completed prior to entrance, with a 3.0 cumulative GPA. These requirements may be completed at any accredited two-year and four-year college or university. All courses must be completed with grades of C- or higher. Grades of Pass/No Pass will not be accepted (unless a course is offered only on a Pass/No Pass basis). "

 

[sparklehkisses]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to write back to me with your pro's and con's of each school. I know that USC has a 3.0 min GPA to graduate, while UCSF has only a 2.0 min GPA....this kind of does not make sense to me...is the #1 school easier to graduate from? and why is UCSD pass/no pass while the other two is on a A,B,C,D grading scale? which is a better option in terms of wanting to finish school in the usual 4 yrs and not being afraid of falling behind a year....

 

[dreaminpharmd]

In terms of grading, I would have a tough choice between UCSD and UCSF. However, I wonder what is the percentile cutoff to P/F unless it varies per class. I've heard at UCD medical school, sometimes p/f cutoff is at 65% for some classes and 75% in others.

Also, if I am right, there is a major exam that tests your knowledge either at the end of your second or third year before you go off to rotations. I think they do this at UCSF and now USC. Surprisingly, there are some other pharmacy schools who don't do this. As they say, just pass all your classes with a minimum of 2.0, and you'll be able to go onto rotations.

 

[RiceApple]

Imagine back in the day when you had to make a decision on choosing a pharmacy school...if you were accepted to all three which would be your #1 choice and why? Pros and cons would be appreciated!!

this question is good, I pick University of Southern California becuese they have most Vietnamese students out of UCSF and UCSD and they are the most smart and all white men think we want to marry them but we marry out own kind

 

[TrojanAnteater]

this question is good, I pick University of Southern California becuese they have most Vietnamese students out of UCSF and UCSD and they are the most smart and all white men think we want to marry them but we marry out own kind

LOL!

 

[marrymenatalie]

this question is good, I pick University of Southern California becuese they have most Vietnamese students out of UCSF and UCSD and they are the most smart and all white men think we want to marry them but we marry out own kind

LMAO!...Are you being serious Is this really the reason why you're picking USC...it seems like you have something else on your mind when you were answering the question

 

[neonam11]

Errr, some of the UCSF P1's might be a little bit naive when they say that UCSF is laid back. Yes, we seem relaxed when you come for your interviews, but don't let that deceive you. And, yes, your first year is quite manageable--you can be involved in a lot of activities, clubs, pharmacy organizations and still perform well academically. After your first year, however, it all goes downhill, because you will be planting your butt in the library studying pharm chem, pharmacology, and the big bear of them all, therapeutics. Hahaha, the second floor of the library is filled with P3's, especially the week before midterms. You'll be studying till 2-4 am in the morning and hoping you learned enough for a decent grade. As a third year, I would definitely say that UCSF is not easy. Each quarter I tell myself that I have never studied so hard in my life and I'm no longer surprised when I repeat those same words the following quarter. Do I have any regrets for attending UCSF? Nope, not one ounce. You'll get an awesome education, focused heavily on clinical pharmacy, and make some good friends that hopefully will last a lifetime. Good luck to everyone, wherever they should find themselves.

 

[sparklehkisses]

Errr, some of the UCSF P1's might be a little bit naive when they say that UCSF is laid back. Yes, we seem relaxed when you come for your interviews, but don't let that deceive you. And, yes, your first year is quite manageable--you can be involved in a lot of activities, clubs, pharmacy organizations and still perform well academically. After your first year, however, it all goes downhill, because you will be planting your butt in the library studying pharm chem, pharmacology, and the big bear of them all, therapeutics. Hahaha, the second floor of the library is filled with P3's, especially the week before midterms. You'll be studying till 2-4 am in the morning and hoping you learned enough for a decent grade. As a third year, I would definitely say that UCSF is not easy. Each quarter I tell myself that I have never studied so hard in my life and I'm no longer surprised when I repeat those same words the following quarter. Do I have any regrets for attending UCSF? Nope, not one ounce. You'll get an awesome education, focused heavily on clinical pharmacy, and make some good friends that hopefully will last a lifetime. Good luck to everyone, wherever they should find themselves.

thnx for the honest input... good luck to you as well!!

 

[sparklehkisses]

LOL!

so tell me more about USC pharmacy school...how have you liked it so far?

 

[TrojanAnteater]

so tell me more about USC pharmacy school...how have you liked it so far?

I love it ..... feel free to PM me if any specific questions.

 

[thaliagoo]

Errr, some of the UCSF P1's might be a little bit naive when they say that UCSF is laid back. Yes, we seem relaxed when you come for your interviews, but don't let that deceive you. And, yes, your first year is quite manageable--you can be involved in a lot of activities, clubs, pharmacy organizations and still perform well academically. After your first year, however, it all goes downhill, because you will be planting your butt in the library studying pharm chem, pharmacology, and the big bear of them all, therapeutics. Hahaha, the second floor of the library is filled with P3's, especially the week before midterms. You'll be studying till 2-4 am in the morning and hoping you learned enough for a decent grade. As a third year, I would definitely say that UCSF is not easy. Each quarter I tell myself that I have never studied so hard in my life and I'm no longer surprised when I repeat those same words the following quarter. Do I have any regrets for attending UCSF? Nope, not one ounce. You'll get an awesome education, focused heavily on clinical pharmacy, and make some good friends that hopefully will last a lifetime. Good luck to everyone, wherever they should find themselves.

Oh, my bad. I spoke to a UCSF student and she said the academics was easy (hard for me to believe, too). She said she got all A's this semester and she's never done that in undergrad. Well, it seems UCSF is probably just as hard as UCSD. At the interview, the UCSD students studied their notecards every 3 min of break they got, so they seem pretty hard-core...

As for my misconception of USC being a primarily community pharmacy school, that could be because the student who spoke to us said UCSF is only better than USC if you wanna do residency and he said he wanted to be a pharmacy owner someday so he didn't need residency so USC is a better school. I am aware, however, that USC offers a lot of joint degrees so maybe a lot of students do residencies too?? Again, I'm not a student in any of these schools so these are just my impresssions from visiting them.

Thanks for clarifying!

 

[ilovepharmacy]

USC, in my opinion, is very diverse in terms of the fields that their PharmD grads go into. Like you said, we offer a lot of joint degree programs here. So, yeah you see quite a few people go down that road and then you also see a lot of people go into residencies. Its not like everyone goes and owns a pharmacy or works in retail here.

 

[neonam11]

Oh, my bad. I spoke to a UCSF student and she said the academics was easy (hard for me to believe, too). She said she got all A's this semester and she's never done that in undergrad. Well, it seems UCSF is probably just as hard as UCSD. At the interview, the UCSD students studied their notecards every 3 min of break they got, so they seem pretty hard-core...

As for my misconception of USC being a primarily community pharmacy school, that could be because the student who spoke to us said UCSF is only better than USC if you wanna do residency and he said he wanted to be a pharmacy owner someday so he didn't need residency so USC is a better school. I am aware, however, that USC offers a lot of joint degrees so maybe a lot of students do residencies too?? Again, I'm not a student in any of these schools so these are just my impresssions from visiting them.

Thanks for clarifying!

As for the person you spoke to, there might be a lot of factors why she did well. First, she might be a total braniac. We have students from hardcore schools like Berkeley, Caltech, and MIT whose undergrad major was chemical engineering, engineering, etc. During the first year where there are more "quantitative courses", like physical chemistry, these guys excel in it. But then there is third year and Therapeutics where it seems everyone finds it challengin. For our midterm, although it was not as difficult as last years--people were coming out the exam crying and cussing--some did not do very well. So yea, the person you spoke to might just be super smart. But if you are like me and just average in terms of IQ, you'll be studying hard.

 

[shellie263]

what about UOP? anyone know anything about them?
I am deciding between UCSF and UOP.
I am really impressed with UCSF emphasis on the hard core science basics. That is the main reason I want to go there. I think it will best prepare me for the future. I would like to do a residency.
But when I visited UOP I really liked all the students I met. Very friendly and laid back and they seemed like they really liked it there. I felt more comfortable there.
Any advice?

 

[ucsdbrighty]

Being a pharmacy student at USC I should give u guys a heads up on the GPA requirment to gradurate from USC pharm school it's 3.0 if don't already know that . Compared to UCSF 2.0, UCSD 2.0 western 2.75, UOP 2.00, USC Med Pass/Fail, and USC Dental 2.0. And theres a test to get into 4th year. Ask these questions at the interview and don't forget to ask how the grades are distributed. I feel these are the most important questions you should ask to your $$$ worth. I might be talking a bit negative about USC, thats only because I learned the hard way.