<p>Hey everyone, I'm a high school senior soon-to-be college freshman and I'm having a hard time trying to decide whether to go to UF or FAMU for pharmacy school. FAMU gave me their full tuition and room and board scholarship over 4 years and UF gave me their presidential scholarship which is $8,000 over 4 years. I can afford either school because I have bright futures and florida prepaid and I feel more comfortable with the atmosphere @ UF but with FAMU I'm pretty much guaranteed acceptance into their PharmD program; however, college is 20% academic, 80% social and after visiting both campuses multiple times, I just seem to like everything about UF better than FAMU in terms of life outside the classroom (the only thing I like about FAMU is the pharmacy school). At UF I have to achieve a high PCAT and GPA and compete with many qualified and competitive applicants for a chance at a spot in their pharmacy school while at FAMU I'm in if I have at least a 2.75 GPA at the end of my first two years and do well on my interview because they do not require PCAT. The great thing about UF, however, is that there is so much more to do if I woke up one morning and said I don't want to be a pharmacist anymore. I wouldn't have even applied to FAMU if they didn't have the 0-6 pharmacy program which accepts you right out of high school based on GPA and SAT/ACT scores. Also, I am not 100% sure I want to be a pharmacist. I'm about 75-80% but that's only from talking to pharmacists and not actually shadowing one. But then again, I do not want to go to UF and realize that pharmacy is my true passion and not be able to get into their college of pharmacy while I could have been in at FAMU all along. I've always wanted to be a Gator, as you can tell by the screen name, but FAMU's pharmacy program is tempting. I appreciate any and all feedback.</p>
<p>If you can afford both, then definitely UF. Even though it’s harder to get in to the UF COP it’s worth it. They prefer their own undergraduates so as long as you’re GPA and PCAT are above average you have a chance. And like you said, if for some reason you ever wanted to change from pharmacy, you’d rather be at UF than stuck at FAMU.</p>
<p>Well it’s been a year since my decision and I am extremely happy to report that I ended up choosing FAMU and I absolutely love it! The professors are amazing and I made straight A’s this past semester after making 5 A’s and 1 B in my first semester. My current cumulative GPA is 3.88 and I am applying to the professional pharmacy program (real pharmacy school) this Fall to begin in Fall 2012 because I only have 30 pre-pharmacy credits left to complete!!! There is no better place to pursue a career in pharmacy than FAMU, I now have no doubt in my mind that I want to be a pharmacist, and I strongly urge anyone interested in the field to seriously consider FAMU. Trust me, my friends that went to UF are not doing so well and it’s not because FAMU is by any means easier than UF because I can assure you that it is not and I know this for a fact because my friends that went to UF would call me asking for help with chemistry and I honestly knew so much more than they did. I think a huge advantage is that our class sizes are relatively no larger than 100 students, with most having a maximum capacity of anywhere between 30-50 students, unlike my Gator friends who literally had up to 1,000 students in some of their classes. This allows our professors to get to know each of their students and work with them to overcome their certain individual weak areas. Also, because I’m on full scholarship I get first preference with enrollment so I’m never void of a class that I need to stay on track with the pre-pharmacy curriculum. Life outside of class is also very fun but pharmacy is no joke and the courses that we’re taking are very rigorous and challenging so you must remain focused at all times if you want to get that Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 6 years! By the way, can anyone tell me how to change my username? lol</p>
<p>I am also currently doing a summer internship at a pharmacy owned by a FAMU grad which is furthering my knowledge of pharmaceuticals and expanding my interest and passion for the career as a whole. Additionally, there seems to be more FAMU pharmacy alums than UF ones in South Florida (I actually went to 5 different CVS’s/Walgreens’ in my area one day after school toward the end of my senior year of high school and I found a FAMU grad at nearly all of them and didn’t find a UF one until I got to the 4th pharmacy and this pharmacist told me, interestingly enough, that it took 8 years to complete her studies, which was a huge red flag and made my decision even more clear).</p>
<p>Note: Please always remember that rankings are just numbers that don’t mean everything…they really don’t mean anything because although FAMU may not be ranked as high as UF in these relatively meaningless numerical rankings that are biased anyway, FAMU’s pharmacy school is still one of the most highly regarded in the nation.</p>
<p>Note: Grads from both schools and all accredited colleges of pharmacy for that matter get the same jobs, opportunities, and salaries based on their abilities and not from the name of the school that’s on their degrees.</p>
<p>Hey Gator2014, I will be applying to FAMU school of pharmacy for the fall of next yr. Do you still enjoy FAMU? I can’t wait to apply!!</p>
<p>Gator2014, glad you chose FAMU and are happy. My friend’s son just graduated from FAMU Pharm this past Spring and is working for a major company making major $$$ already, with more to come when he passes his boards soon. Their Pharmacy program is equal to, or better than any in the state, even country. There are many detractors of FAMU and many have preconceived notions for various reasons. I guess that can be said of any school. But having gone through the college experience many years ago (not FAMU), I know that you get out of it what you put into it. Good luck to you in your future!
P.S. My daughter is considering FAMU for Fall 2012. (Not Pharm)</p>
<p>Thats awesome tropicgran!! I can’t wait to apply this fall to their pharmacy program.</p>
<p>Hey Gator2014
I’ll be applying to colleges next year and I went to FAMU for a tour and I love the atmosphere! But I was wondering if it was hard to focus? I’ve talked to many pharmacist over here at Tripler and they said pharmacy is no joke. Was it hard getting used to the campus life and keeping steady grades? I’ve been looking at that school ever since I was in elementary and I really like it there, but now that I’m older I worry about the classes and how they’ll be.</p>
<p>Hello everyone, this is the user formerly known as Gator2014. I can’t believe it’s already been 2 years since I started this thread, and I am beyond pleased to report that I am now officially a Doctor of Pharmacy candidate at Florida A&M University’s College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences as I have just recently been accepted to their professional PharmD program to begin my studies this Fall! I ended up completing FAMU’s pre-pharmacy program with a 3.89 cumulative GPA, getting a total of 25 A’s and 2 B’s in all of my prerequisites; and of course, I never had to pay a dime for any of it because of my full scholarship which will also cover my first two years of pharmacy school! How many people do you know who are only 19 going on 20 and just graduated high school two years ago, yet they’re already about to start their first professional year of pharmacy school?!?! Again, the choice should be quite simple to those coming after me: FAMU for pharmacy all the way, because you too can become a Doctor of Pharmacy by the age of 23 going on 24!!!</p>
<p>Congratulations ! Did you enjoy the school better than you thought you would at UF ?</p>
<p>Thank you! And yes, FAMU and Tallahassee is a great place to be as a college student. It’s a lot of fun and there are plenty of opportunities to get involved, but you must always remember what you’re there for and stay focused in order to be successful, especially with a major as demanding and rigorous as pharmacy. Having excellent time management skills is the biggest element needed to be able to do well in your courses and also enjoy college life.</p>
<p>Oh okay because I’m from NC but I am a prospective student of FAMU so I’m trying to get as much info as possible.
What kind of social life is there ?</p>
<p>Hello, my daughter is considering FAMU in 2014. (hence the user name) RattleRx2016 I would love for her to talk to you about the scholarship opportunities and about the school would that be possible?</p>
<p>Hi RattleRx2016 . I was wondering if you would please contact me @ <a href="mailto:RikiaM123@gmail.com">RikiaM123@gmail.com</a> to answer a few quick questions?</p>
<p>Great thread! I hope you’re doing well RattleRx2016!! I also have a few questions if you could contact me. I have a potential student also and we so happen to be moving to Tallahassee in 2 months!!! Thank you so much! </p>
<p>I’m so glad I found this form! I’m planning on becoming a Pharmacist after I graduate I’m 2017. I was wondering about UF and Famu, and now I’m considering goingto FAMU. I was wwondering if you could tell me about their classes and give me tips for applying, and if you lived on campus or not. Thanks!!!</p>
Im So happy to see that you are enjoying famu! I recently was accepted into the new crestview branch (I’ll be class of 2019) and was beginning to have doubts that i had “settled” by applying here and no where else, but the cost, and no pcat requirements were all great, as well as the rankings, which yes aren’t wonderfully amazingly high, but still good. The crestview branch kept me close to family, which was important to me being they’re all I have, I didn’t want to be way off. I’m excited to start my journey, and seeing your post makes me even more excited and sure I made a good choice, because I know at the end of the day, we all graduate as pharmacist, and we all take the same tests, no matter what “fancy” school we go to, we all learn the same stuff! Good luck in your journey, I see this post was a while back and you’re close to graduating!
Are you almost done with pharmacy school?