I was accepted to USciences last week. Does anybody have any information on the school or any first hand experience?
Hmm, I don’t have any experience with it, but did you see that the last year, PharmD 6th year, costs $53,511 for just tuition? And the other years are also over $40,000? http://www.usciences.edu/controller/tuition.shtml
Did you also apply to Temple and Thomas Jefferson in Philadelphia? Temple might give you some merit depending on stats.
Yeah with an ACT of 32 and GPA 3.8 Temple would give you full tuition I think.
I did see the hefty costs. I’ve talked to two other people who told me that USciences is expensive. They gave me their top scholarship but it doesn’t really budge the sticker that much. Early on, I thought about Temple but the safety was a heavy factor. I know that USciences is in Philly too but being in University City next door to Penn makes me feel a little safer than if I was at the north end across the river.
And for Jefferson, I’m pretty sure they take people who have already been in college and have taken the PCAT so that wouldn’t apply for me.
Oh I didn’t know that Jefferson is a pharmacy school for the professional phase of the program only.
Did you check into Duquesne, Wilkes? They might give you merit also and cost less.
Duquesne didn’t seem very homeschool friendly. They have a blurb on their website that says “Submit a written verification from school district stating that the student has been excused from compulsory public education for home schooling.” It’s kind of difficult to explain since homeschooling isn’t a prevalent thing, but having the local school write a statement like that wouldn’t apply for me (e.g. I’ve been homeschooled my whole life, don’t have to be technically excused from the school in NJ but maybe it’s different for PA law.)
I’m not sure about Duquesne’s merit benchmarks because they’re not directly published. I just looked and it says their tuition is $35,047 for the first two years and $1,191 per credit for years 3-6…not really sure how that would translate out. Pittsburgh is very far from where I’m from and Wilkes is far north (like in the mountains of PA)
I got a lot of mail from Wilkes though. Unfortunately, their tuition is hefty too. (*P1-P4 (pharmacy) Tuition & Fees= $34,030.) Not counting living there. Overall, I’m aware that the tuition over 6 years in pharmacy school is going to be pricey. I’ll hopefully get outside scholarships and I’ll have to see if the FAFSA changes anything.
I honestly chose USciences because I was aware of it early on in my search, I know currently-working professionals who have gone there, and I liked that it was closer to home for me. I’m unsure of what I’ll accept/where I’ll go at the moment. I have a second acceptance to a local school for the regular admissions but I’m not sure if I got accepted to their accelerated program with a big name pharmacy school on the east coast. (Not going to mention because it’ll probably reveal too much personal information) I’m just waiting for all the letters to come back and go from there.
Thank you for being as helpful as you could though! 
Sure. I mean it wouldn’t hurt to apply to Duquesne and Wilkes and see what you get. My daughter said Duquesne told her their merit scholarships range from $10,000 to $20,000.
Here is a list of Wilkes scholarships http://www.wilkes.edu/admissions/financial-aid/undergraduate-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships-wilkes/index.aspx
Otherwise you might just do the 2 year prepharmacy at a school local to you that is more affordable and then go to pharmacy school.
I just did the math. So it would be ~31K for me to go to Wilkes with the scholarship.
I see now that they do rolling admissions. I’ll think about it. I think Duquesne’s fee waiver expired (They sent it to me around Christmas saying extended?) and I never got one from Wilkes but they kept inviting me to their Instant Decision Day.
It’s good to have options.
Duquesne still had spots in their pharmacy class in the early spring last year. If you got $10,000 minimum the price with R&B would be about $35,000 with $15,000 scholarship $30,000 and the top scholarship $25,000. And their scholarships are good for 5 out of the 6 years I believe. You could ask them if the fee waiver is still valid.
Were you going to commute to UScienes, how much is your tuition with the scholarship and how many years can you get the scholarship?
For federal aid the maximum Pell is $5,700 I think (with 0 EFC) and you can take a federal student loan for $5,500.
Did you run any net price calculators on the websites of the schools you are interested in? That might give you an idea on the aid you might qualify for. Some will list a merit scholarship estimate.
I just read your posts again, are you from NJ? Did you apply to Rutgers? Usually it is cheaper to go to your instate schools and you might qualify for a state grant in addition to federal aid.
There is no going around borrowing money for pharmacy school, at least in the last two professional years, but if you can keep loans to a minimum then that is the goal. If you get a substantial scholarship for 4 or 5 years that definitely helps.
I can get the scholarship over 4 years. It basically pays for room and board. I had plans to stay on campus. I don’t think it would be financially possible to rent in Philly or be feasible to commute from home (1 hour drive). So ~31-34K with the scholarship but tuition isn’t flat based on the professional years. The figure I just gave is based off of undergrad/pre-professional years.
I ran some NPC’s. They varied for each school but they ranged that I could get 14K in merit and up. Yes, I’m from NJ. Didn’t apply to Rutgers though. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t give me much merit (because their benchmarks are weird. 1950 SAT/29 ACT gets around 4K and 2300/35 is full ride. No in between.)
Ultimately, keeping the loans in undergrad to a minimum is my goal. I would like to get scholarships and I don’t want to put my parents through my debt either. I don’t expect them to pay but we never fully talked about it. My choice on where I go will have financial as a big factor.
Well you need to find a school that you can definitely afford. Merit opportunities are almost over at least for the schools I know and that are closer to you. And have a 2+4 or 6 yr pharmacy program. Temple, Wilkes and Duquesne might still be options at this time but time is running out and you won’t get financial aid award letters until FAFSA is processed and closer to spring.
I have been recently accepted to a local school that gave me almost a full ride (minus 5K). This is the same place where I said I don’t know if I’ve been accepted into their accelerated pharmacy program because the decision is released on a later date. I think I might take it if I get in, but if I don’t get in, I still might go there because it’s close, affordable, and has a great science/biochem program for me. It just really depends until all the offers come back and I visit the places again.
I’ll consider Wilkes and Duquesne. Ironically, they sent me some email this morning. Duquesne still has the fee waiver; Wilkes is still inviting me to the Instant Decision Day. If you could choose between two, who is better?
That is great if you have a good local option and such a generous scholarship.
I don’t have first hand knowledge of the two schools and their pharmacy program. We considered them because they were in PA and had good merit chance. Maybe you can tour them and ask questions once you are accepted and have the offers all in.
I didn’t know you had an affordable option, you might not need to apply to anymore schools, but since Duquesne app is free you could if you wanted to.
I would choose USP over Wilkes.
What is this “Instant Decision Day” at Wilkes ?
According to USciences, the 2014-15 tuition for pharmacy is as follows:
FY 2014-2015 Tuition and Fee Schedule:
Tuition
Semester
Year
Full-time
Undergraduate
$17,168 $34,336
Professional years
18,885 37,770
6th Year PharmD
— 53,511
http://www.usciences.edu/controller/tuition.shtml
I think year 1-5 are “acceptable” but the 6th year is kind of high. But if USP offers better quality, lower student faculty ratio (10:1), reputation (the first & finest college of pharmacy according to their website & other students quoting same), smaller class sizes, 3 blocks from Ivy League UPenn (?), and other factors etc, then I think it’s tolerable ($53,511, 6th yr) though I prefer a lower tuition in yr 6, something like $37,770.
Instant Decision Day is this day at Wilkes you register to attend. You then have to bring a copy of your transcript and your SAT/ACT scores (I’m pretty sure that’s it) and give them over at the beginning of the day. By the end of the day, after you’ve visited the campus and basically had an open house experience, the college tells you if you’re accepted or not.
@BigBear1 The tuition isn’t totally bad for years 1-5 but 6 is just a killer. I do think that USP may have that reputation and small size I would like though. I also like the fact that I wouldn’t have to do anything extra to go to a pharmacy program because I’m already in. (aka NO PCAT!)
Thanks for the “Instant Decision Day” insight !
My family also think year 6 is a killer at the beginning, but after deeper thought we treat it (expensive yr 6 tuition) as if we are “paying” for the reputation of USP (The first and finest college of pharmacy), and it may be worth paying for it considering USP is the first pharmacy school in the Western Hemisphere, ranks #43 out of 124 rated by US News in the pharmacy category (in fact there are 139 pharmacy school in the US as of 2014).
I understand USP is not Ivy League but I know for sure I will be in as long as I can maintain the requirements set by USP.
I think it’s more stressful to re apply to other pharmacy schools after 1.5 years (spring semester of 2nd yr), preparation for the PCAT, some schools require an 87 percentile on the PCAT. I rather spend time focusing on my studies instead of writing another exam.
Add:
I received $14,000 President’s scholarship from USP, that helps !
You’re welcome, @BigBear1! I understand that Instant Decision Days aren’t a prevalent thing. You might have to be invited to it either through email or actual mail.
My Presidential scholarship helps too but it still is a lot of money. It’ll be a tough decision to make because I do like USciences. It was one of my choices years ago (like in 9th-10th grade) plus it in in Philly. My main reason is I DON’T want to go through all that stress to try to get in a pharmacy school. I would like to have that accelerated/guaranteed option.
It’s a lot of money but it’s worth paying for that “expensive” 6th yr at USP based on the following reasons:
(1) I do know 2 people who went to local schools but now one of them eventually didn’t get into pharmacy school and now she’s a dietitian (not her goal), the other is now going to his 3rd year undergrad in California, not sure if he will get into pharmacy school or not in CA where students will need a bachelor degree (4 yrs) as a prerequisite (now he is saying he will go to another state to start the P1 if accepted, i.e. 4 yrs in CA, then 4 yrs pharmacy school). Even MCPHS states that transfer students will have to re take all the courses, not exemption (I recall, please verify oneself if in doubt).
(2) My take: There are 139 pharmacy schools in total, only 42 schools are higher ranking than USP (#43 according to US News). Rutgers, Northeastern are higher 0-6 rankings than USP (but not too much higher than USP though) and it’s very difficult to transfer (MY ASSUMPTION only b/c they already have their students right out of high school, so do USP, that’s why USP only accepts “very very very little” transfer students according to a P1 student at the “student (online) chat” I attended last week at USP).
Here’s my “expectation”:
If I were to go all the way to write PCAT, PharmCAS applications, stress, shoot for cGPA 3.6 to 3.75, I would like to get accepted to UCSF (won’t accept without a bachelor), Perdue, U Kentucky, USCLA (need a bachelor degree) … for argument sake.
Then someones have to go to pharmacy schools rank under 43 (USP at 43) for argument sake. If I remove Rutgers (cheaper than USP) & Northeastern (more expensive than USP), then there are only 40 schools rank higher than USP, and 96 rank below 43. What are the odds ?
It’s the chance one takes !