Which school should I choose? UMN or UC anschutz

[STRESSEDX2000]

Hello
This is my first time here and please before everyone comes in and tries to "persuade" me away from pharmacy, I would just like some input between these two schools. I was accepted into 3 pharmacy courses in U of Minnesota twin cities, U of Colorado, and UIC. After much research, I realized that Chicago city really isn't for me because it can get a bit iffy at night and can be insanely expensive there. I am now left with UMN and UCanschutz

UMN: 3rd in Pharmacy on Usnews
Still waiting for scholarship roll out
Located in Minneapolis, a big city that potentially has more opportunity
Many places for internship and rotation sites
2019 Naplex pass rate ( couldn't find 2020): 92.94%

UCanschutz: 20th in Pharmacy on Usnews
Eligible for in-state tuition after 1 year
Good living condition and lower tax
Have good hospitals nearby and is steadily rising the rank in term of quality
2019 Naplex pass rate: 93.08%

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[mentos]

Best option: Anything but pharmacy

2nd option: Whatever's cheapest. Calculate how long it will take you to pay off $100,000-250,000 in loans. Assume you'll make 70k per year if you're lucky, but more likely to be unemployed. Remember you only take home about 49k of that after taxes, 401k, insurance etc. Also take into account living expenses, food, car, utilities, etc.

 

[rxkrafted]

You are going to consider changing your name to STRESSEDX3000 after you graduate. FYI, going to higher ranked pharmacy schools doesn't put you above other candidates if they already have job experience or have existing connections.

 

[BC_89]

Hello
This is my first time here and please before everyone comes in and tries to "persuade" me away from pharmacy, I would just like some input between these two schools. I was accepted into 3 pharmacy courses in U of Minnesota twin cities, U of Colorado, and UIC. After much research, I realized that Chicago city really isn't for me because it can get a bit iffy at night and can be insanely expensive there. I am now left with UMN and UCanschutz

UMN: 3rd in Pharmacy on Usnews
Still waiting for scholarship roll out
Located in Minneapolis, a big city that potentially has more opportunity
Many places for internship and rotation sites
2019 Naplex pass rate ( couldn't find 2020): 92.94%

UCanschutz: 20th in Pharmacy on Usnews
Eligible for in-state tuition after 1 year
Good living condition and lower tax
Have good hospitals nearby and is steadily rising the rank in term of quality
2019 Naplex pass rate: 93.08%

You're correct in looking at the following:

1) Regional Accreditation (Check)
2) NAPLEX pass rate (Check)
3) Total Cost

If we really need to look at ranking and "terms of quality", the top 20 would already set itself apart from all 140+ schools in the country plus any pre-candidate status programs. That said, it really does come down to cost. It seems unlikely (could be wrong) that any scholarship pay-out would supersede in-state tuition cost after 1 year of schooling (depending on the differential between in-state and out of state tuition cost). I'd look at cost of living on top of the current debt for housing + schooling + miscellaneous costs coupled with inflation over the next 4 years.

It's strongly encouraged to take advantage of the networking opportunity each program has. you'll need to be networking to the same level as studying through your future introductory / therapeutic courses regardless of the program (making it once again coming down to cost).

TLDR: Cheapest School, Network Hard.

**Edit** - I realized this wasn't in the school-specific forum. Moving thread so as to get more insight from current students attending each program.

 

[Timbo]

Lots of people here are telling you to go to the cheapest school but I'd like to offer you a different point of view. Since it seems that you are aware of the saturation, terrible job market, declining salaries, etc. then I am assuming that you don't care much about money. I'm assuming that you are so passionate about pharmacy that you would still want to be a pharmacist even if you were making minimum wage. If this is the case then just go to the best school, with the best education, and make sure you get the most valuable experience you can out of pharmacy school regardless of cost. If my assumptions are wrong and that you do care about money, buying a home, retirement, raising a family, etc. then obviously pharmacy is a bad choice no matter which school you go to.

 

[STRESSEDX2000]

Lots of people here are telling you to go to the cheapest school but I'd like to offer you a different point of view. Since it seems that you are aware of the saturation, terrible job market, declining salaries, etc. then I am assuming that you don't care much about money. I'm assuming that you are so passionate about pharmacy that you would still want to be a pharmacist even if you were making minimum wage. If this is the case then just go to the best school, with the best education, and make sure you get the most valuable experience you can out of pharmacy school regardless of cost. If my assumptions are wrong and that you do care about money, buying a home, retirement, raising a family, etc. then obviously pharmacy is a bad choice no matter which school you go to.

I do hope that I have that passion in me as well. I have wanted to become a pharmacist for so long that I feel like there are no other paths for me right now. I understand that it will be hard to find a job later but I don't feel like I wanted to give up on it just yet. My biggest concern right now is choosing one that will best cater to me. UIC now offers in-state tuition and both UIC and UMN have great programs. Cost is something to think about so I am torn between UMN and UIC. UIC is the best offer in terms of cost and program but because it is in Chicago, there will be lots of competition. There are like 8 other pharmacy schools there while UMN is "monopolizing" the state of Minnesota. There might be better offers once I graduate from UMN but I don't want to give up the opportunity to lower my education cost. Do you have any idea of what I should do?

 

[Timbo]

I do hope that I have that passion in me as well. I have wanted to become a pharmacist for so long that I feel like there are no other paths for me right now. I understand that it will be hard to find a job later but I don't feel like I wanted to give up on it just yet. My biggest concern right now is choosing one that will best cater to me. UIC now offers in-state tuition and both UIC and UMN have great programs. Cost is something to think about so I am torn between UMN and UIC. UIC is the best offer in terms of cost and program but because it is in Chicago, there will be lots of competition. There are like 8 other pharmacy schools there while UMN is "monopolizing" the state of Minnesota. There might be better offers once I graduate from UMN but I don't want to give up the opportunity to lower my education cost. Do you have any idea of what I should do?

It sounds like you don't have passion currently and you are only hoping that you will be passionate about being a pharmacist after spending 4 years of your life and $200,000 on a PharmD education. I think this is a bad idea. Why not just work as a pharmacy tech for a year to see how you like it?

You say there is no other path right now. What makes you feel that way? Pharmacy school pre-reqs are similar to many other healthcare professional schools. They also overlap if you want to continue a career into the sciences such as biology or chemistry.

You keep bringing up "education costs" as if you are concerned about your financial future. However if you're concerned about your financial future why are you choosing the only healthcare profession with negative growth according to BLS? Pharmacists also recently ranked dead last in US News best healthcare professions list. If you're worried about not being able to afford tuition at this time just take out max student loans.

 

[ValeRx]

Hope that passion pays the student loans once you go into repayment six months after graduation and no job.