<p>Please help me decide!</p>
<p>I live in MA.</p>
<p>Uarizona-26k
+4th ranked(does rank even matter?)</p>
<p>Uconn-20k
+can count as instate tuition if i get into the pharm program
-must maintain 3.5(is that tough for a B honors high school student) during prepharm to get into pharm program</p>
<p>NEU-15.5k
+live near home
+GUARANTEED 6yr pharmD program
+coOp
-NOT even ranked for pharmacy?!?!?(or very low)
-ranked lower than UMASS(extremely easy to get into party school..) in USNEWs overall...</p>
<p>so basically my problem is that
~the rank of NEU scares me off
~the rank and non GUARANTEED of UCONN scares me off
~the unknown(why ranked so high?!) and price about Uarizona scares me off</p>
<p>thank you!</p>
<p>I don't think rank matters at all in terms of getting a job, a pharmacy degree is the same everywhere. However, a school with a good rank might have a better program. Okay, I'm probably going to Northeastern's pharmacy program and I had no idea it wasn't even ranked. That scares me too.. I'm visiting this Friday and I'll see what they tell me. I heard UCONN's pharmacy was extremely competitive, but not exactly sure. Good luck.</p>
<p>Rankings Smankings!</p>
<p>You should take the rankings with a grain of salt because they do not provide an accurate picture of what is good school. Here's why:</p>
<p>The U.S. News methodology is flawed because it assumes that all colleges are following a traditional academic curriculum (i.e. comparing apples to apples). But Northeastern does things quite differently. It is one of only a handful of schools to have a fully integrated co-op program (i.e. it is an orange). For example, the way the current methodology works, the rankings make it appear as if Northeastern has a high student/faculty ratio. But this is only because U.S. News assumes that all students are on campus taking classes at the same time. This is far from the case; nearly half of the upper-class students are off campus interning at companies (unlike most schools, Northeastern students follow rotations where they alternate semesters of academics with semester long internships related to their major). Anyone who knows Northeastern knows that class sizes are actually on the small side (esp. upperclass courses). The amount of money spent per student and faculty resources rank also seem low in comparison to other schools in the top 60, but again this is only because U.S. News assumes that all students are on campus at the same time using resources. Students who are on co-op should be excluded because they do not pay tuition while theyre interning. Northeastern really has more money to spend on the students who are on campus taking classes. Again, anyone who has visited Northeastern recently knows that the school has plenty of money. All the facilities are new and the professors, administrators, etc. are earning top dollar. </p>
<p>Another flaw in the U.S. News rankings methodology is the use of a six year graduation retention rate. Again, U.S. News assumes that all schools are following a traditional four year academic model. But again, Northeastern does things differently. A very large number of NEU students choose the five year co-op program (a four year program is available but for some reason it is less popular). Northeastern also offers a six year PharmD program. Obviously, Northeastern's graduation stats would be significantly higher if U.S. News factored this into the rankings. But they don't.</p>
<p>Northeastern's rating, although still top tier (under the new ranking system), simply does not add up. Still, even with its nontraditional curriculum, Northeastern has been climbing in the rankings. This is primarily because the university has made significant gains in selectivity. Northeastern should continue to rise as it becomes more nationally known. This year, the university received 6500 EA apps out of a total of 27,000 apps which is a new record. The university is also in the process of hiring 100 new star faculty. The new faculty will significantly lower the university's student/faculty ratio (this should make up for the shortfall in the rankings).</p>
<p>As a side note, the university administration has been lobbying U.S. News to make some changes to their rankings methodology so that it takes into account the universitys nontraditional academic curriculum. So who knows, Northeastern may finally get the credit that it deserves.</p>
<p>**As another side note, external research funding to Northeastern increased by a whopping 45% this year. The increase can be attributed to the ambitious faculty hiring plan. All these new star profs that the university has been hiring are bringing their research grants with them.</p>
<p>I understand your whole thing about the flawed rankings methodology, but would that still apply to the pharmacy program? All pharm. students graduate in 6 years, so the retention rate shouldn't be a problem. And since NU pharmacy students should be following the same schedule, the whole student-teacher ratio shouldn't be a problem. Even if the flawed rankings system affects NU, shouldn't it not affect individual programs like pharmacy?</p>
<p>Rankings for pharmacy are ridiculous period. Do you give a flying **** about where "your" pharmacist went to school? I highly doubt it. Gimme the pills!!!!!! Thats pretty much all there is to it. LOL.</p>
<p>The point of my post was to explain why UMass is ranked above Northeastern (despite the fact that NEU is way more selective and has better facilities and academics). But to answer your question, the individual program rankings are partially derived from the overall university score. It should also be noted that U.S. News only surveys certain programs once every few years. So some of the speciality rankings are derived from surveys that are several years old. </p>
<p>In the last couple of years. Northeastern has spent big money beefing up its health sciences programs, including building a new state of the art facility and hiring several new star faculty. This would not be reflected in the individual program rankings if the survey is based on old information.</p>
<p>"Rankings for pharmacy are ridiculous period. Do you give a flying **** about where "your" pharmacist went to school? I highly doubt it. Gimme the pills!!!!!! Thats pretty much all there is to it. LOL."</p>
<p>I agree.</p>
<p>I agree too, but I still need to pass the PCAT to become a pharmacist and if the program sucks, you won't be able to pass it. Does anyone have any pharmacy statistics for Northeastern, PCAT pass rates, etc.?</p>
<p>You could probably get it from the school. By the way, I wanted to mention that not all pharmacists are regulated to filling prescriptions.</p>
<p>Yeah, I can't find it on the website, I'll ask when I visit. Thanks.</p>
<p>By the way, I wanted to mention that not all pharmacists are relegated to filling prescriptions. Pharmacists are also involved in research and drug discovery. Northeastern's pharmacy co-op progam places students in major drug companies where they get to work on actual drug research projects.</p>
<p>Somagreen,</p>
<p>Please let us know how your visit went.</p>
<p>Maxiumus, thanks for that post, you really know your stuff. I try to view the rankings with a cautious eye, but it's hard to ignore them. All I care about is how Northeastern is viewed upon by employers and I'm sure their co-op can help with one's resume and experience. </p>
<p>Back to the OP's question, I'd choose Northeastern, but of course, as a likely future student, I'm biased. I think a city like Boston boasts the best quality of life. Storr, Conn. has a great basketball team (men & women), but it's not really the most exciting place. I heard UArizona has a good campus life and their sports programs are very good, but in my opinion, there are just so many resources, so much history in a cosmopolitan place like Boston. Then again, if you want to go far from home, UArizona is a good choice.</p>
<p>anyone kno anything bout uconns program? any accepted uconn ppl or graduates?</p>
<p>Okay, so I am a parent who is a UCONN graduate and whose family lives in Storrs. I actually lived in Storrs for many many years. The pharmacy program, even years ago when the basketball team sucked...and yes, it used to suck...has always been competitive. It will not be easy. Maintaining that 3.5 is hard. There is not a lot to do in Storrs. It doesn't compare in any way to being in the city like NU. If you want to be in a rural area where the only thing around is the campus, go to UConn. To give you a clue there are only about 5000 residents of Storrs when you don't count UConn students and grad students. Also, don't forget that a lot of the basketball games are played in Hartford, which is 45 minutes away. So if you are picturing yourself going to a bunch of games in Storrs and all that, it might not happen. If you want to be in the city, go to NU. If you want to be in a rural area and want to really dig in and just have your friends on campus, go to UConn. I don't know about rankings. Just know that I have spent some time in both places...
I also know that in many drugstores in the East, clerks or machines fill prescriptions, the pharmacists just check them. It is fairly easy to get a job as a pharmacist, they are always in demand. My sis is a manager for a large drugstore chain. I also know that the same chain is one of the top co-ops that NU students can do. A good point was made earlier on this forum re: other jobs for pharmacists too.
I'm sorry I don't know anything abnout UArizona. If you have other questions you can post or PM me.....</p>
<p>thanks for all the info
ebee, do you kno how the academic aspects of NE and Uconn compare?</p>
<p>Hmm.I don't. I do know that like NE UConn has been bringing in money, renovating campus, bring in better talent, etc. I would check out their stats on collegeboard.com or also on US News stuff keeping in mind that the ranking are not 100%. Truthfully they are such different atmospheres if it were me I would go visit both and really think about where I want to be. The academics,grad school, what you do after college will work itself out. trust me on that one...I'm a lot older than you.</p>
<p>We visited NEU in August and went through Health Sciences tour, and went into the specifically pharmacy section for the discussion. The pharmacy admissions rep told our group that 100% of the NEU PharmD graduates passed the national licensing exam in 2005 on their first try and that all except one passed (who, by the way, as a transfer from another pharmacy program), in 2004. </p>
<p>If passing the national exam is considered the bar for measuring a good pharmacy school, then it seems that NEU passes with flying colors.</p>
<p>According to the NEU catalog, you must maintain a 2.7 in the pre-pharm program to continue into the 3rd professional year, and then a 2.0 after that to stay in the program. Work experience and passing the licensing exam at the end seems to be the most important part of getting a job at the end.</p>
<p>Unlike law schools where the bigger the name the better the start, we've been told that there is such a shortage of pharmacists, that it doesn't really matter where you went to school as long as you pass the licensing exam.</p>