Western or USC

Started by Surfer17
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I got accepted to both schools but can't decide which school is best for me. Any advice?

I think hands down, USC will give you a lot more opportunities than Western. USC is a really great school, I mean Western is proud of having professors FROM USC but its definitely not the other way other.

Also USC will give you a huger network for jobs. The current students say they are placed on rotations during their first year and get to be in contact with possible future employers constantly.

Another plus is that USC has a hospital and Western doesnt. I would say if you can go to USC, definitely do it! 🙂
 
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I work in a Kaiser pharmacy and work with the interns. It depends on what you want. USC is a larger class size and some of the interns said it's not enough of a personalized learning atmosphere because you have 180 kids vs 120 kids at Western.

Western also starts IPPE rotations the first semester in school, so I don't know what that other person is talking about.

Networking wise, we have an equivalent amount of Western and USC kids at kaiser pharm right now. However, USC does have a very good network, but that's not enough to land you a job. (3 of our interns graduated with no job opportunities from USC but worked at Kaiser 3 years... just putting it into perspective), but that's also because of the bad economy. As for employment opportunities, speaking with people a lot, they say it's about the amount of experience you accumulate while in school, not necessarily the school itself.

For example, if they were to have three candidates 1 from UCSD, 1 from Loma Linda, 1 from UCSF. 90% of the time, if the student from Loma Linda has more work experience they will land the job (This actually happened, I was part of the interview selection). So, would you say that school matters in the general scheme of things? Sometimes, but most often no. You can be a great student, and a terrible pharmacist.

I would pick a school you feel at home at, where you think you can excel. It's really up to you what you make of your education, no school can compensate for you! So pick a school where you think you'll be happy 🙂
 
Thanks everyone for there advice. I'm now leaning towards USC. It looks like I'll be going there. Go Trojans! Thanks again 🙂 🙂