<p>I got accepted and am going to my top choice pharmacy school out of state. It is expensive though, 140-190k loan, so I intend to defer a year, move out and find a job there to establish residency for a lower tuition. But, I am running into a dilemma/disagreement with my parents. I did applied to an in-state, but they waitlisted me with a long line of others. I have already made up my mind that I will be going to the one out of state, also more highly ranked. However, my mom keeps urging me to reapply to the one that's in-state since it's cheaper and closer to home. Much to my dismay, I do not want to take the energy to reapply again and do not have the motivation to do so. I would have to find another person who could write me a letter of recommendation and I do not know who. I already have until this July to move out of state. I am just annoyed that my mother keeps insisting me to reapply. It's true that I've never been out on my own before and my parents are concerned about the distance which will prevent me from getting any support, but I can't be holding hands forever. I feel like they don't trust me being able to make it on my own. Sorry if I am ranting. Please tell me if I am wrong?</p>
<p>I don’t know how much lower your tuition will be if you establish in-state residency, but there is no way you will be able to take out 140,000 in loans by yourself. You will need your parents to co-sign those kinds of loans, which it sounds like they might not be willing to do. And be aware that it will take you years to pay back that kind of money- and with the surplus of pharmacists there is no guarantee that you will be making the kind of money you might be counting on. I know one retail chain is offering nearly 12,000 per year less to start than just a year ago and I’m afraid that could be the start of things to come. As far as rankings go, as long as the school has a good pass rate, it generally shouldn’t matter where the degree is from so don’t let that influence you too much. What you need to do is take a hard look at the situation- can you establish residency? Can you pay the tuition yourself? Run the numbers and see what is realistic and make a rational decision.</p>
<p>Unless you can afford it, getting accepted really means nothing. In general, I think student need to attend the school they wish to attend provided they can afford it. If parents are paying, they get some say. They are not obligated to invest that much in an education you could get much more cheaply somewhere else.</p>
<p>Here’s a gem for you… South Dakota State University - excellent pharmacy program and low cost. even if you are out of state.</p>
<p>As a parent, this is a tough one. Perhaps some students will post their perspective from the student’s view.</p>
<p>I can only suggest that you keep talking to your parents. Your posting was pretty calm and reasoned, but you have to continue to avoid any appearance of immaturity that could feed into your parents’ concern. </p>
<p>Rely on facts, not emotions. Do the budgets. You didn’t say if you’re going to a 0-6 program, or if you’re talking about an upper level pharmacy program. If you’re working, you might only get a week or two of vacation time to return to see your family. Are they able to travel to see you? Will you be using Skype to stay in touch? How will you find a place to live and support yourself until you have a job? Can you make it home for holidays? Assuming you have a car for transportation to your job, have you checked out the possible changes in car registration and insurance costs? </p>
<p>And listen to your parents. They might have some good reasons for what they’re telling you. Supporting yourself for a year to prove residency may be a lot more expensive than you think. Identify all of the requirements to prove residency. </p>
<p>It might be more financially sensible to use the deferral time to live at home, work to save the money to apply to the out-of-state differential of the first year, and then use the first year of school to qualify for in-state tuition for the second year. You could still reapply to your instate program and perhaps submit some more applications to additional schools in that cycle too. If you took the PCAT, you could study to try to raise your score to improve your chances of admission in a second cycle – plus the chance of getting scholarship money.</p>
<p>Living on your own for a year, paying rent, finding a job and paying taxes, registering a car, paying for rent and utilities, changing your voter registration etc. may not offset the tuition saving. </p>
<p>Obviously, parents know how burdensome debt can be and are worrying that you may not be realistic. It’s hard to judge whether you should use your deferral year to try applying somewhere cheaper without knowing what the bottom line looks like. </p>
<p>Where do you want to work? Now that pharmacy jobs are getting tougher to find, where a school is located can be a factor to consider. My kid is out-of-state at his school. His school’s strongest network is in-state. When there is a professional event, almost everyone is from that state. Many students find employment by networking, clinical rotations, or by working during pharmacy school. If you want to work in your home state eventually, any plan that can get you into that in-state school might have an edge. (If you wanted to move, perhaps the distant school will have the edge.)</p>
<p>Your parents won’t need to co-sign when you are in the PharmD upper level classes (based on experience with my PharmD and JD grad students). Yeah, you can borrow that much money but it’s unlikely to pay off and will handicap you. When others are buying their first homes, cars, sending their kids to summer camp, investing, etc., you will be making big student loan payments.</p>
<p>I wish you luck, and congratulations on your admission. </p>
<p>Thank you for your responses</p>
<p>What are your stats? If you really want to go oos you can. There are a few schools that offer generous scholarships to high achieving candidates. Eg. Upitt</p>