Workload in Pharmacy School

[YaBoyNewton]

Hello
I am new to this forum and I apologize if I make any mistake regarding the rules and regulations of this forum. I also apologize for any grammatical mistakes that may happen in my query as english is not my first language. I happen to stumble on this forum as I was curious about the difficulty level of the pharmacy school. I am currently in grade 12 thinking about going in this field. My family (mostly my brother) is telling me to not pursue the field simply because of the workload of it. So I was curious as to whether his statement should really put a stop to my urge for pursuing pharmacy. I have, however, applied to the Pre-pharmacy program that lengthens about 2 years. My brother is convincing me to cancel the application and I am succumbing to it as I have no idea if I am going to be able to do good in pharmacy school. My grades are all As so far in every academic subject. Another MAJOR obstacle for me is the commute to the pharmacy school. The university that has the pharmacy program in my area is 2 hours away from my home if I take a bus. So, my brother is certain that I will drop out of the pharmacy school because of this problem in addition to the workload of the program. So my question is: Will I have a fighting chance in completing pharmacy school despite the difficulty of commute?
P.S: I can't live inside the university due to financial reason.
I will be truly thankful if anyone choses to respond to my query.

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[Mao263]

It's hard to suggest and also hard to say why your brother think that way (I hope he is not bullying you). But I give you examples strictly from my and my friend experience.
1) if you still want to stay in the healthcare field but not sure where exactly, don't apply for 2 year program. It's intensive more expensive and basically only prerequisites. Sounds like awesome choice to save 2 years.
2) regarding 2 hours trip it's a lot, and besides it's annoying, you will see it's gonna steal time you need for studying. I remember 1 hour trip for me became exhausting, I thought that I could study in the bus, but I couldn't and me sleepy and even more tired. So you might wanna move closer to school and look for a roomate
3) to to regular undergraduate program and start taking classes. Many prerequisites classes overlap each other in the first couple years. It's gonna be enough time to think what you want. You might change your mind and go to research, so getting batchelor will be the best options. Also you will see how educational is going on for you

For example one of might friend went to PA program and after year of studying gave up and returned to college back to take extra couple prerequisite to go to nursing. I know it's not a pharmacy example, but if you don't limit yourself with 2 year program, you will get flexibility and time to look what you want in case of medical field is attractwd to you

 

[pms_testosterone]

Hello @YaBoyNewton
It sounds like your brother is wrong. If you can get As in every subject in high school, then pharmacy will not be too difficult for you.
However, the two hour commute sounds like a problem. Is there any way for you to get a student loan or bank loan to pay for rent? You could live with other pharmacy students to save money.

 

[Nguyen2017]

How far away is your community college?
Take 2 years of chemistry (inorganic and organic chem) plus bio, microbio, physiology, anatomy there first (and other general education courses)
Then you can decide from there.
You may find out the answer just after your first two semesters.

 

[loli_Pharmd]

Anythings possible if you try your best! I got denied to the early acceptance PharmD program in high school from my home university. It bummed me out but it was the best situation for me because I actually got into better schools than that. I know lots of people who commuted to school for multiple hours and it's do able, they also worked. It's all about learning your limits and if it's worth it for you in the long run.

I didn't get perfect grades in high school I think I ended up with a 3.81 in high school and got a 3.52 in college. I ended up getting into every school I wanted or waitlisted on my top one. So give it a try if you're doing well in school. And always remember people may look out for your best interests but no one knows your dreams and your abilities better than yourself, so invest in you and see how it plays out!

 

[PharmtoCS]

You absolutely need to work in a pharmacy before you enroll in pharmacy school. What the job really entails (~70% of them being in retail) is not what pharmacy schools, professors, and organizations make it out to be. In reality, you work a lot harder and deal with a lot more BS than you think. You need to make sure that pharmacy is absolutely for you before you sign away $200k+ in loans to go into a profession that is saturated and getting worse each year as more pharmacy schools graduate their first class.

There are other professions, i.e. computer programming, finance, accounting, engineering, the trades, etc. that offer better job prospects and do not require you to take out $200k+ in loans and spend an additional 2-4 years in school. Based on your financial situation I would look at going to a trade school, going to a coding bootcamp, or taking classes at your community college in computer science / programming.

 

[aar44]

You absolutely need to work in a pharmacy before you enroll in pharmacy school. What the job really entails (~70% of them being in retail) is not what pharmacy schools, professors, and organizations make it out to be. In reality, you work a lot harder and deal with a lot more BS than you think. You need to make sure that pharmacy is absolutely for you before you sign away $200k+ in loans to go into a profession that is saturated and getting worse each year as more pharmacy schools graduate their first class.

There are other professions, i.e. computer programming, finance, accounting, engineering, the trades, etc. that offer better job prospects and do not require you to take out $200k+ in loans and spend an additional 2-4 years in school. Based on your financial situation I would look at going to a trade school, going to a coding bootcamp, or taking classes at your community college in computer science / programming.

You can say that about any job out there. For example, an chemist who has an Masters degree deals with such bs (long hours, projects thrown at them last minute by their supervisor, etc) and they have to deal with it because they love what they do. A lot of professions out there deal with things that suck but sometimes you need to suck it up, you can complain all you want or do something about it. It really depends on an person goals. Pharmacy is NOT easy without hard work. I think that goes with any career out there. You won't get anywhere without hard work. It is going to be blood and tears but it will be worth it.

Computer programming, finance, accounting, engineering, trades(uhm really?) do not offer better job prospects. If its anything you will be in school with an Masters degree and have to work in the field for an while to get an good salary. I know A LOT of people with Masters degree in Finance, Engineering that are making 50,000 which is not enough with an graduate degree and they have loans, not as much as an pharmacy degree. The loans will be lower if you went straight from high school to pharmacy school more scholarships available during your undergraduate degree but I would not even suggest to anyone to go into trading school unless you have decided college really isn't for you then do it. Not everyone will take out 200,000 but with the interest on the loans it will feel like 200,000...You have to do your research and look up the interest rates on the loans and see how much the school is giving you. Based on your circumstance, I would suggest renting an room in an house since an two hour commute is an killer.[It might be cheaper than dorming]. Since I do not know your circumstance, I do have an bad one myself. I have worked for two years just to save money so I can understand if you did that while you are in college. I have done it for work and that is such an different circumstance. Based on the program you are in, you will need to study a lot especially every week has an exam and you have to think about that. And I would not listen to your brother, I am sure he is worried about you and heard all the bad things about pharmacy. Shadow an pharmacist and see if it is an career you want to pursue...if not, then you know your answer. And since you are in 12th grade, there are programs that are 6 years in which you should totally apply to and look into them. Do not shut pharmacy down because your brother is telling you.