BiOGoly said:
For me personally this would be a major impediment for attending USN. Private loans will most likely hit 10%+ in the next couple years. So on a 10 year plan (assuming a $120k loan) you will pay back $25k more than if you had stafford loans, or $97k more on a 30 year repayment period. Plus the terms for private loans are nowhere near as favorable as federal loans.
Which begs the question; why choose USN? For anyone currently a USN student or is planning to attend USN, I'm not knocking your school, but I am curious as to why someone would take a greater finacial risk when they could attend a similar program, with federal funding, for the same tuition or less. Sure, it's a 3 year program and that offsets some of the costs, but there are several other 3 year programs that offer federal loans.
So, why USN? (because that's where you got accepted is a perfectly good answer)
1. 3-year block system(Midwestern-Glendale is the the only other 3-year school that I would consider, but it is not on the block system.)
2. USN students get placed in a pharmacy setting early in their P1 year.
3. I also really liked the campus setting as I am an older student and don't really care much about the university setting. I prefer the smaller/ friendlier ambiance that USN offers.
4. I toured many pharmacy schools and felt the most comfortable with the faculty members, current students and staff at USN.
5. Personal reasons such as proximity to California and the fact that I have family members/ support network in the Vegas area.
6. My husband's commute out of Vegas to Oakland is a cinch due to the frequency of the flights offered. Southwest may make it a pilot base as well, so he would have no commute at all then
🙂 .
7. I don't mind the heat....I think......
, but it would be the same climate as Glendale and I can tolerate it for 3 years.
8. The people I know from SDN and some of my personal friends that are graduates from USN really enjoyed their learning experience at USN and say wonderful things about the program and faculty members. I seem to hear more negative than positive things regarding the other programs that I considered.
9. USN offers a PharmD/ MBA dual program
10. The admissions staff has been by far the most helpful and kind during this very stressful admissions/ interview process. They seem on top of things over there IMO.
11. Nevada has no state income tax, which will mean that we will be saving a lot of money for the 3-years that we will be living there.
These are the things that come to mind off the top of my head. The private loan issue concerns me a bit, but hopefully they will get approved for federal loans next year. The rates are prime +1 or 2 % from what I can remember from my sheet (my husband took it with him on his trip, so it is not in front of me.) We have money saved so I am not even sure if we will be taking out loans this year.
👍
Hope this helps a bit.
🙂
USN had 1400 applicants, interviewed 400 and accepted 190. I am not sure what the average GPA was this year, but my friend who had a 3.8 GPA (pre-req) and 3.4 GPA overall just received a rejection letter without even getting an interview.
😱
