Help me select a Pharmacy School? (UOP vs Northeastern University)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello! Feel free to relocate this thread if it does not pertain to this forum.
It can get long, so feel free to skip the numbered stuff! :O</p>

<p>I have been accepted to all the pharmacy schools(6-year accelerated programs) that I have applied to, but I have a hard time choosing which one I should attend...
1. Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences - 10,000$ Per year, renewable academic scholarship (Total tuition is around 25k), but my cousin, who works for a huge pharmaceutical company said that this school is really bad.
2. Northeastern University - 14,000$ Per year, renewable academic scholarship(With financial aid/grants/loans, I have to pay 5k per year), Honors program
3. University of the Pacific (10,000$ per year academic scholarship, financial aid information not available yet), Honors program
4. Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences ($60,000 Regents scholarship, for 6 years)
5. St. John's University (10,000$, but I would have to pay 24,000 per year.. this school is out!), Honors program</p>

<p>Other schools :
-UCI
-UCR - Regents Scholarship, Honors program</p>

<p>Waiting for :
- UCLA
- USC</p>

<p>Anyways, I came down to two schools...
I live in So-Cal, so I was thinking that UOP might be a good pick since it's way closer to my house than all the other schools(still 6 hours away :< ).. However, I have visited Stockton, and it's a very miserable city indeed. It was early afternoon and there were people sleeping in the streets... and the city didn't look fun. I have a couple of friends attending UOP, and they said that outside of the school might be dangerous, so they stay inside the dorms.. which means I need a car. I've also heard that Pharm-D degrees from UOP are laughed upon by employers? And also, only 30% of pharm-D hopefuls actually make it to pharmacy school... I don't know how true that is, though. On the bright side, however, I have heard that there are lots of cute guys there! (T_T jkjk.) The campus is really pretty! Apparently it's the 5th prettiest campus in the US, and there's even a river/stream in the campus. The weather is really nice, since it's California. </p>

<p>Then, there's Northeastern University. I've heard that people who graduate from NU get really good jobs, and I've heard enough about Boston! It's a really lively, fun city, with lots of people(and I love the city atmosphere)! I also got the most amount of financial aid from this school, and a week or two after I was accepted, a professor who is in charge of the pharmacy program personally called me to congratulate me(I was so touched T<em>T)!! Also, since there's a subway right near school, I wouldn't need to have a car! The only down side of Northeastern is the super cold weather (60 degree is cold for me.... .</em>_.), and how it's.. literally on the opposite side of the country(around 3000 miles away)... I also don't know their dropout rates for pharmacy school.. I hope it's not high!</p>

<p>Since I'm more concerned about my future, I'm more leaning towards NU.. what do you guys think?</p>

2

<p>UCLA has pharmacy school? That’s news to me. UOP is not laughable. Some of my relatives graduated from UOP, I think it’s more like they are laughing to the bank.</p>

3

<p>Oh, I don’t think so. UC’s were just the schools I applied to for the heck of it… xD and Hmm idk… I wonder why other people were saying UOP PharmD is… a joke. :/.</p>

4

<p>I don’t think this field cares about the quality of the school. Experience doesn’t count either. Everybody makes the same salary, IIRC.</p>

5

<p>Hmm, I don’t know if I could agree with that… Pharmacists from MCPHS don’t fare as well as the ones in NEU… meaning, NEU graduates get hired by top companies, and MCPHS ones might not even be hired by a local pharmacy. My cousin works for the biggest pharmaceutical company in the US and she says that my best bet was NEU, since its rankings keep on getting better each year… but then again, UOP is closest to home…</p>

6

<p>How important is being close to home? People often say that once you’re a plane ride away from home, it doesn’t really matter how far you go. Northeastern is a very good school, and Boston is a great city, with lots of college students from all of the various schools. Northeastern also has the co-op program which would be good for getting relevant experience, though I’m not sure if the 6 year pharm program there includes co-ops. If you can bear to be a bit far from home (and in a bit of a colder climate), I’d go with Northeastern for sure.</p>

7

<p>Still sort of unsure… I was leaning more towards NEU, and then I thought about the weather, how far I’ll be from my family, and the good food that UOP has, and etc… :frowning: Sigh. I wish there was a college that was UOP+NEU 5 minutes away from my house… That would make life so much easier! :(</p>

8

<p>Oh and the cheaper plane tickets… and my parents could visit me at least once a month T_T Sigh… why are there such a lack of… accelerated programs? :(</p>

9

<p>Post #5, I don’t have experience or knowledge for top companies, only local pharmacy. Do you need a Phd for that kind of job. UoP is in Stockton right, not a good area eitehr. What about USC?</p>

10

<p>USC doesn’t have an accelerated program. However, if I do get in, I might seriously consider going… their pharmacy program ranks at 10th place, after all… :confused: Man, I really don’t wanna be apart from my family… Sigh. I’m not even sure if I’ll make lots of friends in NEU…</p>

11

<p>And nope, for the accelerated program, you don’t need to have a phD or take the PCAT.</p>