<p>I asked my Grandfather about URI pharm.. he said it was not as good of a program (at least 30 years ago) because they were having trouble allocating funds. He said if you are going to pay good money for Pharm school you want to go to a school that is worth the money.
I also forgot to mention Texas A&M, their pharm school is brand new, but since it is a research school their program is okay. BUT supposedly they are offering money for good students, plus their faclities are really close to the beach..
Another school my grandfather worked at is Georgia Tech, it is a nice school. Supposedly the aid is not amazing but the program is okay.
As far as a job after if you are wanting to work retail you have many options. I met a pharmacist who only worked as a temp, when other pharmacists were off, and he got paid like ridiculous amounts of money. Supposedly he worked half the time and made as much as a regular 9-5 pharmacist. Also texas has such a shortage I heard that they will fly you in for the week and then fly you back home on the weekend. And some places will pay for you travel.
But you have other oppurtunities too, another pharmacist I know works at one of the big drug companies and writes all the advertising stuff they have to say (may cause heart attack etc) and if you get a PharmD/JD you can work on patent law which could be fun.. Oh and try to get on in a school where you get to go somewhere fun for an internship. At the University of Illinois at Chicago they said one of the rotations you could go to an Indian reserve and help out. You can also do internships abroad, so although you might not be able to study abroad as much you can do internships abroad .. which can be fun.. and can be not so fun.
As another note, when you are doing research for a professor do well, of course, but be careful not to do too well. I have heard more than one story of people actually getting failed just so their professor can have them in the lab a few more years. Definately watch out for this.. it is basically slave labor.
Another track you can go is academia research.. bad idea at least from everyone I have ever spoken too. The professors make it sound all noble about how it is really for the research and not the money.. don't listen. My aunt said she had to spend 48 hours solid in a lab so she could take samples every four hours.. she was actually sleeping on lab tables.
If you want to do research go commericial. Your professors will think you are a sell out to money.. but at least you get paid. For professors you barely have enough to rub two pennies together. Plus those research jobs will help you pay off all those nice Pharm loans or PhD loans.
Another thing to consider if you are wanting to do research and you are thinking of just getting your degree in pharmacology that is fine.. a little short cut but you will not be able to test on humans without a PharmD.. so you will be hiring one to do it for you.. no fun.
The last thing I think you should know is as far as getting hired after, 1) it will definately happen 2) if you want a great job they look at the school to see your mental stamina. I was told if you go to a place like UT Austin anyone is going to hire you because if you can survive all that crap they put you through you can survive anything. So just keep that in mind! Best of luck!</p>