Oh come on...don't say "sorry". It shows u're weak. You don't wanna be weak, especially in the pharmacy profession. Imagine yourself in a situation where another pharmacist filled a wrong prescription, the pt comes back and gets mad....and it isn't even your fault...You can't just say "sorry". That guy would be all over you. Or even in the hospital, the nurse will swallow you up if you can't show u're firm enough.
Anyway, USN isn't on the top pharmacy school nor on the list because USN is still a very new school. That has something to do with reputation, funding, "popular" professors, naplex scores, and research, etc... Apparently, since USN is so new (7 yrs around, just got fully accreditation in 2004!!!)....it's already hard to make the name known, whereas UCSF, USC, etc..have been known for 100 yrs!!!!.
Now, the reason why i picked on you because of the way you asked your question. "How good is USN compared to other private institutions and also other state schools. I am purely taking academics into consideration here". Nobody will know...unless there is someone who was a USN student at year 1,2 ; then transfers to another pharmacy school in Hawaii or another state, then he/she can compare and answer you. Or might as well u ask a pharmacy director who happened to interview 2 candidates: One from USN, and another from school B(for exampl) and he hired one of them after a bloody interview...just purely asking academic questions (like what is the molecular weigh of Heparin....or what is the stereochemistry difference between Xopenex vs. Proventil)....then u maybe, just may be able to compare them. But again, also...maybe he just interviewed a not very bright student from school B....or a very smart guy from USN (like me...ahahaha j.k). So u have to take some standards into consideration also.
Here's the fact: if you're willing to learn and willing to adapt the changes (just like water), then you'll be fine...doesn't matter where you come from. And if you come from a popular school with fully advantages, well-equipped, but u don't know how to ultilize it....then it's such a waste. Think like this:
School will provide you materials, ink, equipments for you to pain a picture. But whether or not you can master the skills and willing to work hard to pain a masterpeice of artwork or just a plain ugly picture is up to you.
Anyway, end of discussion....good luck with USN.
