Answering ALL Questions Related to Rutgers Pharmacy

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rutgers University
21

<p>I really enjoy everyone's input into this thread!!! </p>

<p>I'm going into rutger's pharm prog fall 2009. Right now I'm a senior taking ap chem, ap calc, ap gov, ap macro, ap eng... but i heard that you can ap out for "one class of each subject" .... this 2yrpharm student said that i can probably ap out of macroeconomics... and ap psych (took it my junior yr) </p>

<p>So does this mean that the aps i am taking is a waste?!?!? mann i even took ap euro and worked so hard to get a 5... and it won't ap me out for anything? =( ouch. </p>

<p>Please reply to above comments and this question: Can I ap out of rugtger's bio if i take the ap bio exam and get 4 or more (BUT WITHOUT TAKING THE AP CLASS IN MY HIGH SCHOOL???)</p>

22

<p>Hey! I got into the Pharmacy school and i would like to know if the program is ver rigorous? do you find that you have as much free time as other students in other majors? i want to excel and all, but all work and no play does not make us very happy people!</p>

23

<p>@novembersenior
AP credits are AP credits. Towards the end of the school year or summer, Rutgers will send you a letter by snail mail detailing all the AP exams that you took and the ones that you can skip (got 4+ in). All you need to do is write down the courses you want to use as credit (up to 8) and they will do your scheduling for freshman year. So yes, I think you would be able to skip out of General Biology I and II since you got a 4 on your AP Exam. </p>

<p>And yah, it is a shame that you can't use more AP Credits. I took eight AP classes in high school and I ended up using biology to fulfill my eight credits (best decision of my life, you will never regret it)</p>

<p>In place of biology, you will be placed into general psychology, which is significantly easier. You can also be requested to place into another humanities course, but I would just stick with psychology, since its a required elective anyways.</p>

24

<p>@ru_ready4me</p>

<p>I can't answer that question for you, but I'll post based on my own experiences. The first year hasn't been too rigorous, but you can definitely tell the difference between say pharmacy and sas. We have to take 18-19 credits/semester whereas some of my friends are taking the minimum 14 credits. Depending on how efficient you are at working, whether you took the classes previously in high school, and how intelligent you are, it can range from easy to extremely difficult. </p>

<p>I know people in pharmacy that party and hang out everyday of the week (dont study) and get 3.5's but also people that study night and day and are also puling 3.5's. But as we get further into the pharmacy curriculum, its does get more and more rigorous, and you'll probably find yourself studying more.</p>

25

<p>debating on whether or not to major in pharmacy or journalism..........
my only problem with pharmacy is that it sounds ridiculously tedious and boring [but its a stable job unlike journalism............]</p>

<p>your thoughts?</p>

26

<p>After graduating from the pharmacy school with a decent GPA, you have a lot of career options opened up for you. Pharmacy entails a lot more than just pill counting, and I'll give a brief overview of what you can do with a PharmD degree. </p>

<p>Retail: This is by far the most common job setting that graduates go to. Retail Pharmacists are the 'typical pharmacist' that you imagine; the kind that work at CVS or Walgreens and fill your prescriptions for you. Generally they work 40 hrs spread throughout the week; it isn't necessarily a 9-5 job, and you aren't always guaranteed the best times. With that said, in the past, there has always been a lot of overtime available and the pay is very good. With sign on bonus, expecting a salary of $125,000/yr right after graduation is not unheard of. However, your salary growth is limited and there are horror stories of retail though, with disgruntled patients, robberies, whatever. It all depends. </p>

<p>Hospital: This typically requires that you complete a fellowship of some sort or have significant hospital internship experience through rotations or otherwise. These are the guys that fill IV bags and manage hospital pharmacy. I have a friend who's doing this as an intern and he loves it. Expect to make a little less (from what I've heard 90-110,000) but a better lifestyle. Again, salary growth is limited unless you become DOP</p>

<p>Industry: You would work on either the business or research side of Big Pharma. Big Pharma includes companies like Pfizer, Merck, Johnson and Johnson. You can go into marketing, sales, etc on the business side or do clinical stuff on the research side. Industry typically requires a 1-2 year fellowship on top of a PharmD especially for marketing and research. Expect to make less in the beginning, but have infinite growth ahead of you in terms of salary, position, etc. </p>

<p>Academia: Professorship, I imagine would require experience practicing and a fellowship at the very least. I have not looked into this very much.</p>

<p>Military Pharmacy: Again, not something I've looked into, but you would be part of the Army I believe, and gain all the great benefits that go along with a government employee. </p>

<p>On the other hand, you mentioned that you wanted to double major in political science and journalism. The political science and journalism departments at Rutgers aren't known for being particularly strong, but if you have a passion for both and are committed and intelligent, there is no reason for you to not succeed. I have a friend who is majoring in both; she keeps a 4.0 GPA; and has interned at FOX News and CNN in NYC during the school year. Its probably really stressful for her, but it is definitely possible to succeed and do well.</p>

27

<p>Really appreciate all that info Lurker, as I did not know ALL the job opportunities for pharmacists. Thanks.</p>

28

<p>thanks Lurker =] that helped a lot</p>

29

<p>I'm very interested in PharmD... I'm a Junior in HS... very good GPA and SATs ... and I also run Cross Country and Track which I would like to do in College... I certainly know the course work is very challenging .... Would doing a sport be at all possible??? School comes first, but I do love to run.... I'm ranked in the top 30 USA for long distances...Any possible athletic scholarships?? Your thoughts??</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I'm very interested in PharmD... I'm a Junior in HS... very good GPA and SATs ... and I also run Cross Country and Track which I would like to do in College... I certainly know the course work is very challenging .... Would doing a sport be at all possible??? School comes first, but I do love to run.... I'm ranked in the top 30 USA for long distances...Any possible athletic scholarships?? Your thoughts??

[/quote]
</p>

<ol>
<li> Are you a girl or a boy?<br></li>
<li> Are you being recruited? (Just making sure)</li>
<li> What AP classes are you currently taking? How did you do in them?</li>
</ol>

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<ol>
<li>Girl</li>
<li>Dialoguing with coaches in several schools... though I've never specifically asked about scholarships, yet ... too early in the process I think</li>
<li>AP: Bio, Chem, Calc, English, Spanish .... 3.8/4.0 unweighted... SATs 1910</li>
</ol>

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<p>Don't expect too much money; Rutgers is going through a lot of budget cuts right now, but it is a good thing that you're a girl. You have a better shot at getting some money. I have a few friends that are doing track, but I'm not entire sure how good they are. With that said, its possible to do pharmacy and a sport, but its extremely difficult. Since you've taken most of the freshman year courses already, I'm sure you'll be ok the first year. </p>

<p>After that, I think you'll have to give up pharmacy or track. Its doable, but definitely extremely difficult to do pharmacy and a sport. I would do it first year, and if you have any difficulty at all, drop track, because freshman year is easy compared to the four years after that.</p>

33

<p>thanks! hmm… so should i even take ap gov, ap macro, ap chem, and ap eng and ap calc bc…? I am doing well in class but why waste money taking aps if rutgers won’t take them…? should i or should i not take tests???</p>

34

<p>It depends on what you want to skip using the 8 credits you’re given. I would suggest these choices depending on where your strengths lie. </p>

<ol>
<li> Skipping General Biology I & II (8 Credits) <– AP biology</li>
<li> Skipping General Chemistry I & II (8 Credits) <– AP Chemistry</li>
<li> Skipping Expository Writing and Calculus I (8 Credits) <– AP Calc / AP English</li>
</ol>

<p>I would stick to choosing 1 or 2 because they will be your most difficult / time consuming classes. If you’re taking AP English and AP Calculus, then the classes at Rutgers should not be too difficult for you. General Chemistry, on the other hand, is pretty challenging (I took AP Chem junior yr and got a 4). General Bio is also time consuming and, from what i hear, difficult as well.</p>

35

<p>-Unweighted GPA: 3.4 (hope to bring it up to 3.55 by end of Senior year) at a very competitive private college-prep school
-School doesn’t rank but probably in top one-third.
-SAT: 1940
-5 APs (expect to score 4 or more)
-Good EC’s</p>

36

<p>

</p>

<p>This was taken directly from the Rutgers Ernest Mario website. Clearly they look favorably on difficult classes and how well you do in them. I can tell you the following things: </p>

<ul>
<li>Letters of recommendation aren’t weighted heavily</li>
<li>Extracurricular Activities aren’t weighted heavily</li>
<li>Your SATs, course load, GPA are the most important</li>
<li>Senior Year grades are not important (since you can submit your app as early as September and they never even asked for a midyear report)</li>
<li>Essays are not important, since they are optional.<br></li>
</ul>

<p>I] got in, and these were my stats:
GPA: 3.2-3.4 UW
SAT: 2230 SAT II: 1530 (Chemistry, Math)
Course Load: ~15 Honors, ~8 AP Classes (Learned heavily towards sciences)</p>

<p>You can come to your own conclusions based on that.</p>

37

<p>Wait, Lurker… We can’t skip out of Expository Writing.</p>

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<p>I think we can, but we would just have to take a higher level course which can be easier than expository. Its certainly the case for calculus … </p>

<p>

</code></pre>

<p>So nevermind, I guess option three isn’t a great idea. Stick with skipping biology :D</p>

39

<p>No, I went to the Pharmacy Town Hall meeting a few months ago, and they said that everyone must take Expos. There’s no getting out of it. :(</p>

<p>But I agree; skip out of Biology! It will save you from a lot of stress.</p>

40

<p>I stand corrected, wish I could edit posts. Ah well …</p>