What Would SDNers Do?

[SarahLorraine]

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So I have been accepted to Mercer and UGA. I have seats at both schools. As you can see by my avatar I have been leaning heavily towards UGA. But I've been nervous to give up my seat at Mercer because I just don't feel 100% certain.

Now I have a new (possible) opportunity to work at a children's hospital in the pharmacy full time this summer and then every other weekend during school and on breaks. Pediatric pharmacy is my interest at this point. In my opinion, this would be a great career move to get four years of work experience in a pediatric pharmacy. Hopefully when I graduate there will be a position there for me.

Although this would be do-able from Athens (2 hour drive), it would be much easier for me from Mercer. And so now I'm a little thrown off...

Athens seems like an awesome, fun experience. Something new and exciting that I've never done. Mercer seems like the safer, don't go too far from my friends and family and work during school option. But it's also about $60-70k more in tuition.

But I also feel like there's a possibility that working at this hospital, assuming it's where I enjoy working and where I want a career, that I *might* avoid doing a residency. Or if I still need one, I would have a better chance at being chosen for the one at that hospital.

I'm just not really convinced that coming home from Athens every other weekend to work is do-able for me. I have a tendency to get sick when I do too many things.

Assuming this job opportunity comes through...
Suggestions? Comments? Thoughts?

 

[rxlea]

As someone who drives 2 hours and stays in another city every weekend to work at a hospital, do the drive + job. Work experience will be invaluable. I will write more later but I have class right now.

 

[owlegrad]

Do what seems right for you. Frankly, living closer to home and your job seems like the better plan, but only you can deceide that. I think Mercer is considered an excellent school on top of all that. I guess the questions is, exactly how much do you want to go to Athens? From what you have described, Mercer sounds like the better choice.

 

[KARM12]

Take the job and go to the school you want...

Both schools are good, so either way you can't go wrong. I used to commute an 1hr and 30mn each way, 5 days a week for my job. It wasn't fun, but it was doable. Since the job is still a "possibility" and not an actuality, I would go to the school I want.

 

[SarahLorraine]

Take the job and go to the school you want...

Both schools are good, so either way you can't go wrong. I used to commute an 1hr and 30mn each way, 5 days a week for my job. It wasn't fun, but it was doable. Since the job is still a "possibility" and not an actuality, I would go to the school I want.

I will most likely know about the job before I have to make the choice.

Thanks you guys for the advice. Keep it coming. 🙂

 

[mustang sally]

I would consider:
A) gut feeling/ intuition
B) cost

Both are important. Maybe I'm speaking from too much of my own personal experience here, but pharm school goes by fast and you will be on the hook for those loans before you know it. 60 to 70k is a good chunk of money, so don't underestimate the value of objective information when you make your decision.

 

[rxlea]

OK- I am back. Both are great schools, but here is the thing... You need to consider opportunity cost here. If you are going to be working at the hospital every weekend, think about the level of experience you will have by the time you graduate. You have already heard the "doom and gloom" on the forum about the future of pharmacy. I have to say, despite the overall negativity of many of our posters, there is truth to how important work experience will be in finding your ideal job/residency post graduation. Just this past weekend at APhA, I talked to a number of preceptors and residency directors about what makes an applicant competitive. Every single one, and I MEAN EVERY SINGLE ONE, began their list with "work experience". No bull**** here, OK. Additionally, I can tell you from first hand experience what an advantage you will have working in a hospital for many reasons, particularly by seeing the meds and seeing dosing, indications, and how they are prepared. Not to sound cocky (not my intention) but my knowledge base far surpasses that of many of my classmates solely because of my extensive work experience. You will gain great skills working on a pharmacy team as well; how to communicate, convey information effectively, adapt, and see all the different situations that may come up for you during IPPE and rotations. I cannot adequately express to you how much of a "pro" your work experience will be... And if there is a possibility of a job post graduation, even better. The drive will be ****ty at first but you get used to it. Your days may be long and you will be tired but if you have the mental and physical fortitude to make it work, I think you should do it. It will not only give you experience in putting your knowledge from pharm school into practice, but it will show your ability to adapt, your strong work ethic, and your dedication to the field. The cheaper price tag of UGA (and presumably lower cost of living in Athens?) is a bonus. I know how it feels, though, to make such a difficult (and heartbreaking!) choice, but in the end, if you are going to be happy at either school, I strongly recommend the cheaper school + job, despite the commute. And remember! You will get LORs from your employer which will be important if you want a residency. Ok, *steps off soapbox*

 

[SarahLorraine]

OK- I am back. Both are great schools, but here is the thing... You need to consider opportunity cost here. If you are going to be working at the hospital every weekend, think about the level of experience you will have by the time you graduate. You have already heard the "doom and gloom" on the forum about the future of pharmacy. I have to say, despite the overall negativity of many of our posters, there is truth to how important work experience will be in finding your ideal job/residency post graduation. Just this past weekend at APhA, I talked to a number of preceptors and residency directors about what makes an applicant competitive. Every single one, and I MEAN EVERY SINGLE ONE, began their list with "work experience". No bull**** here, OK. Additionally, I can tell you from first hand experience what an advantage you will have working in a hospital for many reasons, particularly by seeing the meds and seeing dosing, indications, and how they are prepared. Not to sound cocky (not my intention) but my knowledge base far surpasses that of many of my classmates solely because of my extensive work experience. You will gain great skills working on a pharmacy team as well; how to communicate, convey information effectively, adapt, and see all the different situations that may come up for you during IPPE and rotations. I cannot adequately express to you how much of a "pro" your work experience will be... And if there is a possibility of a job post graduation, even better. The drive will be ****ty at first but you get used to it. Your days may be long and you will be tired but if you have the mental and physical fortitude to make it work, I think you should do it. It will not only give you experience in putting your knowledge from pharm school into practice, but it will show your ability to adapt, your strong work ethic, and your dedication to the field. The cheaper price tag of UGA (and presumably lower cost of living in Athens?) is a bonus. I know how it feels, though, to make such a difficult (and heartbreaking!) choice, but in the end, if you are going to be happy at either school, I strongly recommend the cheaper school + job, despite the commute. And remember! You will get LORs from your employer which will be important if you want a residency. Ok, *steps off soapbox*

Thank you! This is very, very helpful. I 100% want this job. There is NO question that I will snatch that job in a heartbeat if offered to me. I guess the conflict is Athens or Atlanta. You are definitely right...if I can make this work for 3-4 years it will pay off substantially down the road. It definitely sounds hopeful the way you put it. The most convenient option is the most expensive. Maybe I can have the best of both worlds if I'm ready to work very hard for it.

 

[KARM12]

OK- I am back. Both are great schools, but here is the thing... You need to consider opportunity cost here. If you are going to be working at the hospital every weekend, think about the level of experience you will have by the time you graduate. You have already heard the "doom and gloom" on the forum about the future of pharmacy. I have to say, despite the overall negativity of many of our posters, there is truth to how important work experience will be in finding your ideal job/residency post graduation. Just this past weekend at APhA, I talked to a number of preceptors and residency directors about what makes an applicant competitive. Every single one, and I MEAN EVERY SINGLE ONE, began their list with "work experience". No bull**** here, OK. Additionally, I can tell you from first hand experience what an advantage you will have working in a hospital for many reasons, particularly by seeing the meds and seeing dosing, indications, and how they are prepared. Not to sound cocky (not my intention) but my knowledge base far surpasses that of many of my classmates solely because of my extensive work experience. You will gain great skills working on a pharmacy team as well; how to communicate, convey information effectively, adapt, and see all the different situations that may come up for you during IPPE and rotations. I cannot adequately express to you how much of a "pro" your work experience will be... And if there is a possibility of a job post graduation, even better. The drive will be ****ty at first but you get used to it. Your days may be long and you will be tired but if you have the mental and physical fortitude to make it work, I think you should do it. It will not only give you experience in putting your knowledge from pharm school into practice, but it will show your ability to adapt, your strong work ethic, and your dedication to the field. The cheaper price tag of UGA (and presumably lower cost of living in Athens?) is a bonus. I know how it feels, though, to make such a difficult (and heartbreaking!) choice, but in the end, if you are going to be happy at either school, I strongly recommend the cheaper school + job, despite the commute. And remember! You will get LORs from your employer which will be important if you want a residency. Ok, *steps off soapbox*

I am always amazed the amount of perspective you have for a lowly P1! 🙂

 

[Argentium]

I am always amazed the amount of perspective you have for a lowly P1! 🙂

Cheaper school 👍

 

[p-rog]

Thank you! This is very, very helpful. I 100% want this job. There is NO question that I will snatch that job in a heartbeat if offered to me. I guess the conflict is Athens or Atlanta. You are definitely right...if I can make this work for 3-4 years it will pay off substantially down the road. It definitely sounds hopeful the way you put it. The most convenient option is the most expensive. Maybe I can have the best of both worlds if I'm ready to work very hard for it.

UGA P4 student here. I agree with most of what people here said, especially rxlea's comments about work experience (it's huge). That said, the extra tuition for mercer is more like $100 grand from what I recall. I got acceptance from both mercer and uga and although I Loved everything about mercer, the cost just didn't justify it, especially when Uga probably has a slightly stronger reputation/alumni base. For me, I knew I wasn't going to stop right after my pharmd and get a job... I was always planning on doing a residency, fellowship, or PhD afterwards, so cost was a huge factor. With the HOPE scholarship in GA, I was able to get my entire PharmD from UGA for less than $20K! Again, I do agree that the job is a big factor and if you can't swing the 2 hr drive to the hospital(CHOA?), then you have some serious thinking to do. Good luck!

 

[rxlea]

I am always amazed the amount of perspective you have for a lowly P1! 🙂

Thanks for the compliment- it does mean a lot. I just hope that some of my perspective resonates with and influences some incoming pharm students positively. I just think there is much more to pharmacy than what you learn in class/textbooks.

 

[p-rog]

Nice avatar btw 🙂

 

[owlegrad]

The Truth

What she said.

My vote is still slightly in favor of Mercer though, only because as someone who commutes to work, I hate it. I don't mean to contradict Lea, but I haven't gotten used to it at all. All that time on the road is time I could be spending doing anything else, even sleeping. The job is great (no one is arguing against it!) but I would favor the closer school, even with the difference in price. 4 hours of time per week and however many miles of gas/wear and tear on your car each week will add up over 4 years. Not to mention being closer to home has it's perks as well.

Are there any other factors you are looking at?

 

[SarahLorraine]

Mostly it's the commute, time, and money. Much further down the list is "the boy" and my friends and family. But they will (probably) be there either way and I need to do what's best for me.

I guess the big thing is the money and my health. There have been a couple different times in my life where my schedule got over crowded and too stressful and my body was like ::whatever, I'm out!:: And I just got sick...so that is a concern of mine. But I suppose working every other weekend is going to have a similar effect in either case.

 

[R2pharmD2]

What she said.

My vote is still slightly in favor of Mercer though, only because as someone who commutes to work, I hate it. I don't mean to contradict Lea, but I haven't gotten used to it at all. All that time on the road is time I could be spending doing anything else, even sleeping. The job is great (no one is arguing against it!) but I would favor the closer school, even with the difference in price. 4 hours of time per week and however many miles of gas/wear and tear on your car each week will add up over 4 years. Not to mention being closer to home has it's perks as well.

Are there any other factors you are looking at?

If you were to go to Mercer, would you be able to live at home? If so, that would help to offset much of the expense associated with Mercer, no?

 

[SarahLorraine]

If you were to go to Mercer, would you be able to live at home? If so, that would help to offset much of the expense associated with Mercer, no?

I would be able to live at home...but then the commute to school would be kind of brutal. I'd say it would average about an hour or more in traffic...

It would really only be more convenient if I lived near campus.

So I guess commuting every other weekend would be less commuting than every day if I lived at home...something to consider as well.

 

[spacecowgirl]

Commuting and paying back monster student loans are two of my least favorite activities. I would look for a job closer to Athens and go to the cheaper school.

Other people have obviously made this work for them so it's really going to be what is ultimately most important to you. I would at least think about comparing loan repayment tables to see how much that 60-70K really costs you in the end.

 

[p-rog]

Yeah if you look for a job early you can probably find one at a hospital in/around Athens, but it won't be a peds hospital

 

[R2pharmD2]

I would be able to live at home...but then the commute to school would be kind of brutal. I'd say it would average about an hour or more in traffic...

It would really only be more convenient if I lived near campus.

So I guess commuting every other weekend would be less commuting than every day if I lived at home...something to consider as well.

Well scratch living at home then. Living at home sucks anyway

You can always go with UGA and if the commute gets to be too much for you, quit the job. Honestly, every other weekend doesn't sound that bad though. Maybe you could stay with a friend/family member in the area Saturday nights to cut down on your driving a bit?

 

[SarahLorraine]

Well scratch living at home then. Living at home sucks anyway

You can always go with UGA and if the commute gets to be too much for you, quit the job. Honestly, every other weekend doesn't sound that bad though. Maybe you could stay with a friend/family member in the area Saturday nights to cut down on your driving a bit?

Yeah I think I am going to give it a try.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Couple of random thoughts in no particular order:

Don't assume that working at that hospital during school will allow you to get a job there without residency. At least in my area, the peds hospitals are the ONLY places that it is known that you absolutely need residency to work there. For other hospitals in this region a residency is a plus but not required.

Don't assume that working at that hospital will help you get a residency there. There are some hospitals/health systems who actually don't prefer their own employees for residency positions. They want you to go out and see what else is out there and how things are done at other facilities. I decided not to rank my longtime employer #1 on my residency match list for exactly this reason. I thought it would benefit me to diversify myself. I'm not ruling out working there in the future, but residency is going to be a new learning experience for me.

It's hard to know now what you'll actually want to do four years from now, so don't lock yourself into something or make huge decisions based on what you think you want at this point. Many things can change in four years. Keep your options open and be flexible. Don't get your heart set on ONE goal and become so singleminded that you fail to notice all the other opportunities around you.

Work experience is VERY important (as others have said) and this might be the right opportunity for you. If you think it is, I encourage you to take it as long as it works with the rest of your life.

Commuting sucks. I did it for two years and never got used to it. Hated every moment of it. I have some chronic health issues and it made them WAY worse. There have been times during school that I haven't been able to work at all because of health stuff (had to focus my limited resources on school and studying) so I definitely would not want to be locked into an every other weekend gig with a required drive. But that's just me. You know what you are capable of.

Just some things to think about.

 

[MrsAppleseed]

As a fellow Atlantan, I don't mind commuting, it is a part of what happens when you live here and honestly, I find that most non-Atlantans hate commuting, but the rest of us don't really notice it just because it is part of the lifestyle of living in this town. That being said, I would almost think that being at Mercer would provide you with more visibility while working at CHOA/SR (presumably), just because it's all right there, which could help in the long run if it is what you really prefer and end up choosing.

They are both good schools, but trust your gut in terms of which school you really like because the job will be there as long as you can hack it.

 

[rph3664]

What about living halfway between the two cities, or closer to Athens since you would just be working in Atlanta on the weekends?

 

[jnmnh]

Every other weekend doesn't seem that bad to me for driving 2 hours. I mean... it's 2 hours on a Friday afternoon, and on a Sunday afternoon. It's 2 cd's.

Or you could work in the hospital during this summer and future summers, and that experience might position you for a job in Athens during the semesters, which would broaden your experience base and contacts.

And UGA is substantially cheaper, and sounds like it excites you more.

Why not go to UGA and get experience outside the childrens hospital, and still get to work in it each summer? Seems like you can "have it all" that way. Good luck!

 

[PharmaTope]

whatever ends up being the least expensive solution to be honest. what school is cheaper, what have the tuition increases looked like in the past?

 

[spacecowgirl]

I don't know what either school costs, but let's say UGA is 60K for 4 years (15K/year) which is probably a really generous underestimate. And it looks like loan rates are going down, but I chose 5% and 20 year repayment

Loan Balance: $60,000.00
Loan Interest Rate: 5.00%
Loan Term: 20 years
Monthly Loan Payment: $395.97
Number of Payments: 241

Cumulative Payments: $95,034.22
Total Interest Paid: $35,034.22

If Mercer is 70K more you're looking at:
Loan Balance: $130,000.00
Loan Interest Rate: 5.00%
Loan Term: 20 years
Monthly Loan Payment: $857.94
Number of Payments: 241
Cumulative Payments: $205,906.62
Total Interest Paid: $75,906.62

that's a lot of dough.

 

[janeno]

Couple of random thoughts in no particular order:

Don't assume that working at that hospital during school will allow you to get a job there without residency. At least in my area, the peds hospitals are the ONLY places that it is known that you absolutely need residency to work there. For other hospitals in this region a residency is a plus but not required.

Don't assume that working at that hospital will help you get a residency there. There are some hospitals/health systems who actually don't prefer their own employees for residency positions. They want you to go out and see what else is out there and how things are done at other facilities. I decided not to rank my longtime employer #1 on my residency match list for exactly this reason. I thought it would benefit me to diversify myself. I'm not ruling out working there in the future, but residency is going to be a new learning experience for me.

It's hard to know now what you'll actually want to do four years from now, so don't lock yourself into something or make huge decisions based on what you think you want at this point. Many things can change in four years. Keep your options open and be flexible. Don't get your heart set on ONE goal and become so singleminded that you fail to notice all the other opportunities around you.

Work experience is VERY important (as others have said) and this might be the right opportunity for you. If you think it is, I encourage you to take it as long as it works with the rest of your life.

Commuting sucks. I did it for two years and never got used to it. Hated every moment of it. I have some chronic health issues and it made them WAY worse. There have been times during school that I haven't been able to work at all because of health stuff (had to focus my limited resources on school and studying) so I definitely would not want to be locked into an every other weekend gig with a required drive. But that's just me. You know what you are capable of.

Just some things to think about.

I could not agree more with this post. If you want to be a pediatric pharmacist, you will have to complete residency unless you want to have more distributive role in inpatient pharmacy. Don't think that working at a hospital = residency spot or a job. Many of my classmates who worked as hospital interns did not get residencies at those institutions. At the end of the day, you have to pick what makes you happy. If I were you, I would pick a cheaper state school and try finding a job near that school. If you feel passionate about working at that hospital, commuting might be an option.

 

[SarahLorraine]

Thanks for all that insight. A friend of mine kind of said a lot of what you just said about residency and a lot can happen in 4 years... But I didn't really listen. Lol hearing it twice helped actually.

 

[PharmDstudent]

If you're serious about commuting any lengthy about of time on a regular basis, you need to get a first generation Honda Insight. We just bought one for $5k out of Houston, and it gets 50+mpg in the city and 70-100mpg on the interstate. I used to worry about gas reaching $5 a gallon, but not anymore!

 

[owlegrad]

If you're serious about commuting any lengthy about of time on a regular basis, you need to get a first generation Honda Insight. We just bought one for $5k out of Houston, and it gets 50+mpg in the city and 70-100mpg on the interstate. I used to worry about gas reaching $5 a gallon, but not anymore!

Wow, that seems like an awesome deal. Do you mind if I ask for details? Did you get it at a dealership?