<p>I'm a senior ( high school) that lives in Michigan, I was looking forward to going to college,I'm overwhelmed with mail and choices I finally narrowed my choices down due to my major, I have been accepted to a few contingent schools but they are out of state, but my biggest problem is I have little saved up and my Dad has been unemployed like a ton of people for over ayear he didn't want to take a chance in moving for instate tuition and a blind grandparent they take care of. My mom went back full time and makes only $ 11 and hour , my dad who has a 4-year degree has taken odd jobs and part-time temporary jobs, and they are falling behind. They got an EFC about $ 600. And I got some merit scholarships here in MIchigan but can't use them out state, I hate to go to chance a Michigan school without having a accepted contingency. But Michigan schools don't give much anyways. One school in Ohio, I will receive
$ 7,500 in merit scholarships and I guess I 'd get a Pell Grant of about $3,500.
That's great and appreciate it but that still leaves $15,000 in student loans per year. I have a feeling my Dad is thinking of selling our house that I lived in most my life to send me to school and still have another sibling that will be college bound in 3years. Any suggestions.</p>
<p>Could you list your stats and your intended major?</p>
<p>3.879 Class Rank 14 out of 448 AP/Honors CALC I , CHEMII, EURO,AMHIST,NG/LANGARTS NHS, Lots of ECs, 4-YearVarsity Letter XC,Track, School Board Top 10 Award past 6years
Not the greatest ACT 29, Intended Major PharmD Some schools give you direct admit into College of Pharmacy with certain min requirements contingent upon 3.5 maintained etc. I have been accepted to 3 colleges thisway but none in Michigan. The others you go through 2 or 3 years pre pharm then 4 years professional pharm but no guaranted seat . Obviously I limited myself with Pharmacy as there are less than a 100 accredited colleges
and I would prefer to go to one that has other programs and partake the college experience rather than an independent pharm school. Thanks for any help.</p>
<p>Have you looked to see if there are any colleges with contingent programs that give a high % of demonstrated need? If not, start down the list of schools with such programs, look them up at USN&WR to see what % of need they fulfill. With a low EFC, such a school will cost very little. Otherwise, if you do not wish to put yourself and family into debt at a vulnerable time, you might choose a Michigan school and apply to pharmacy school after your pre pharm. From what I can see, there are not all that many students who get that 3.5 in a science type program like the pre pharm, and if you can get that kind of an average, you are very likely to get into a pharm school. With the type of pressures currently on your family, I would not want to have them take on more debt and stress. Also, how is financial aid for Pharm school? Is it like other professional schools, where you need to take out loans if you cannot pay for it, or does it give stipends as the doctoral programs tend to do? The debt can be staggering if you borrow for all of those years, and though pharmacists make a good living, their incomes are not like those of doctors, and paying off this kind of money can be ornerous.</p>
<p>I will check into that USN&WR to see if if I can find that info on % aid.
Yeah, Pharmacy is a lil different. You're right the money is decent right out of graduating ( 75-90k and doesn't escalate much more down the road) the money is not like a medical doctor or dentist but that's not why I wanted to go into it. I really like the curriculum and the options and flexibility once you get into it. And I love chemistry and like helping others but don't like dealing with blood and stuff that much ( although I not that squeemish ).
And you're on the right track about the finance your degree part. The first two years of pre pharmacy is like any other 4-year college major, even for those schools that give you direct admit, but the first 2-years (3&4)of the professional program the school merits and grants seem to be better and the last two years in the professional program(5&6) you may get stipends and
later fellowships and many pharmacy chains will acually give you summer internships and pay for your last two-years of schooling provided you work for them (2-4years ) after, like the army. But if you want to go the hospital
pharm route, only a small percentage might give you some assistance in your last year or two.
I think you're right about that I have to look at other schools that don't have contigent or direct admit, I was being reassured by a couple of pharm
advisors that if you carry that GPA and follow the route of performance that I should get in, but they don't guarantee it. It my dad was working the past year I probably would nt freak as much. Locally I am looking at Ferris State (in MI) about $ 17,500 per year, which is not my first choice ( pretty much a get you in and out to be a retail pharmacist which may be what I end up in anyway which is ok ) but they will guarantee admit if you are in the Honors Program and maintain a 3.5. But they say that you still have an excellent chance if you still do well. I have been accepted to the prepharmacy and won't know on the honors college untill end of Feb. and what their aid package will be but told it would be about 2,500 merit 3,400 pell maybe 600 SEMOG and the rest plus loans
Michigan does have ok instate tuitions 7-10K per year about 6-9K fees, but don't have good merit scholarships ( I have a $1,500 for 2 years only ). Ohio on the otherhand has good merit scholarsips and some colleges actually give instate tuition to MIch residents but none with pharm d or pre-pharm. I guess my saftey net is picking the lowest priced college in MI with prepharm and perhaps commute. But I will check into the USNWR and contact a few more colleges. I know I'm running outof time for deadlines etc. most are Dec 1, 15 or Jan1 for for scholarship. Again thanks for understanding my parents situation they have done so much to help me get to this point and would of been on track if job situation didn't happpen. I'm lucky that he is able to keep his chin up and ours, its not easy seeing him take part time $ 8.00- 10.00 labor jobs here and there after working as a regional manager with a 4-year marketing degree and still can help me with Calculus( but not Chem) and still keeps up with his volunteer obligations. That's why although they never pushed me into anything he probably was relieved that I wanted to go into something that was licensed, just kidding he just wants us to happy and passionate about what ever we go into.</p>
<p>I'm sorry I can't help much. I don't know anything about pharmacy. I did a search on College Board and under "Prepharmacy" for 4 year schools only these came up:
Adrian College
Calvin College
Ferris State University
Grand Valley State University
Hillsdale College
Madonna University
Northern Michigan University
Siena Heights University</p>
<p>None came up under "Pharmacology."</p>
<p>I don't understand why the big universities didn't come up. I must not have been doing the search right.</p>
<p>I presume you've applied to Ohio Northern?</p>
<p>You do have good stats and should be able to do well with merit money (as well as need based money) at private universities. Remember, it is not the list price of the school that counts, it is your net cost.</p>
<p>Have you considered looking farther away? A school like Northeastern (Boston) with a 6 year pharm-d program including multiple paid co-ops (helps offset costs), might be a consideration. They do have merit money as well as need money. I've also seen postings about scholarships just for co-op type schools on this site somewhere.</p>
<p>With a $600 EFC, your family clearly is below the level where home equity is looked at for a contribution, so I would hope your parents realize that selling the house to pay for college is not a good idea. Having the cash from the sale just raises your EFC.</p>
<p>I can relate to your family's situation. We left Michigan almost 7 years ago when I was laid off and had to move again 4 years ago when I was laid off again. Paying to move just to get a job is not easy, but sometimes necessary. Staying in a state just to get in-state tuition seems strange, if he has employment opportunities elsewhere, though it sounds like he has your best interest at heart.</p>
<p>I wish you well, Evet. You sound like a great person, and your parents must be so proud of you. Your post really warmed my heart. With the outlook and attitude you have, I am confident that whatever path you take will be successful. You understand your situation, and are flexible as to the options and do not whine or blame. Please let us know how things turn out.</p>
<p>Pharmacy...Duquesne in Pittsburgh. U of Rhode Island.</p>
<p>Duquesne - Great suggestion.</p>
<p>Both Pitt and Duquesne have programs, I believe, but the cut off for the full scholarship is high for Pitt and only 12 kids get it. Duquesne's program is very, very competitive, and because it is so oversubscribed with top applicants, it is difficult to get any merit money for it, and they are not so great with fin aid anyways. Pitt is not at all generous in aid to out of staters-they gotta get merit money. Don't know about U of RI, but I know that UConn gives out little money for out of staters in the pharm program. Know some kids there. Most state schools will not give full aid to OOS kids unless it is merit based, and the pharm programs tend to attract some top flight kids, so getting merit money in that field is tough. I have a friend whose daughter is in the UWV program, and she indicated that there are awards available there, but again it is an OOS for the OP.</p>
<p>If you are interested in looking south, check out these sites from the University of New Mexico:
<a href="http://www.unm.edu/%7Eartsci/advise/prepharmacy.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.unm.edu/~artsci/advise/prepharmacy.html</a>
<a href="http://www.unm.edu/%7Eschol/freshmen/amigo.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.unm.edu/~schol/freshmen/amigo.html</a></p>
<p>I don't know how much URI costs, but I do know that many students from CT go there, and the costs are not excessively higher than UConn. URI pharmacy has a relationship with a national chain (I think Rite Aid). ALL grads of their pharmacy school are offered jobs there. I'm not sure how this came to be but I've heard this from a number of sources.</p>
<p>I do not know what the criteria for Duquesne pharmacy students merit aid is, but my son got a Presidential Scholarship to the school (in addition to a music merit award). At the time, the cost of attendance with those awards would have made Duquesne less than UConn. Their pharmacy school, however, as mentioned is very competitive.</p>
<p>I would never ever ever ever go to URI over UConn.....It makes no sense!</p>
<p>I am from CT...Students go to URI because they did not get into UConn Storrs.</p>
<p>Omniscient1, I'm sure there are some students who attend URI because they didn't get accepted elsewhere...but the reality is that the URI Pharmacy program is a very highly regarded program...and that is what we are discussing here. AND I happen to know some students who attend URI who wouldn't want to attend UConn. Different schools appeal to different students. Just because it's not the school for you doesn't mean it's not a good school for other students.</p>
<p>I have never heard anyone ever refer to URI as a good school, and I am from New England.</p>
<p>I know some kids who go to URI and I think they could have go to UConn just as easily. They love it at their school. URI is a smaller school than UConn which puts it on our son's list whereas UConn is just too big. The other thing that is attractive about URI is that it does have a larger OOS population than many state schools. A problem with the SUNYs is that they are nearly all NYers there. When you are such a tiny minority, it can make you feel left out, and that is a drawback at many OOS schools. I don't think there is much more than a 10% differential in selectivity between UConn and URI. The big difference is that UConn is much better known because of its athletic prowress, something low on our list of things.</p>
<p>Arguing over URI and UConn is not even worth my time....if you want to argue UConn and Rutgers or UConn and Penn State, then I might be interested...</p>
<p>Thanks for suggestions, Yes Ohio northern got there late for scholarships, by 2 days Dec 1 cut-off, will not make any eceptions but they esytinated I would of got about 10,000 to 14,000 in aid/grants the rest in loans but their tuition/room/b/fees are about 35K.</p>