Pharmacy programs in New England for a B+ student?

[arisamp]

Posting for a friend. Friend's D is a senior this year. A B/B+ student (do not know exact GPA) with SAT scores in the 1900-2000 range. She's looking for a school with a good reputation for pharmacy in the New England area. Will qualify for financial aid - so pointers to schools with good pharmacy programs that offer to meet need would be appreciated.

[SLUMOM]

UCONN, but as it is a public school, it will not meet 100% of need.

[ReadyToRoll]

What about Northeastern? I think that's a B plus school and has a great pharmacy program...although the program may be more competitive than the actual school.

[1sokkermom]

UConn may be very competitive for Pharmacy as well.

The GC at D's school stated that Pharmacy was probably the most competitive program. D is interested in nursing and was told that the acceptance rate in to the nursing program at UConn was only 10%.....

URI has a Pharmacy program.

[the_mom]

URI is well known and VERY competitive for the pharmacy program.

[Consolation]

The University of New England has just built a brand-new pharmacy facility on its Portland campus.

[pugmadkate]

Just attended the Northeastern University info session with my son. If memory serves, they accept about 25% of the applicants into the six year pharmacy program. Here is the freshman class profile for Fall 2008 for all majors, Northeastern University Undergraduate Admissions > Apply > Academic Profile

Your friend's daughter should call the NU admissions office and speak to someone. They were very friendly and helpful.

[JustaMom5465]

Saint Joseph's College (a women's college, I believe) in West Hartford is starting up a brand-new Pharmacy program, I think the first entering class begins next fall...

http://ww2.sjc.edu/PDF/PressReleases...ean_020209.pdf

I agree...UConn Pharmacy is EXTREMELY competitive.

[jackief]

I know nothing of their reputation or their competitiveness just that they have done some expansions recently.

MCPHS

[Nova10]

MCPHS is considered to be not that good of a pharmacy school. It has a bad reputation and a high flunk out rate. The flunk out rank is high even for those who transfer into the professional program. Only a handful of programs accept students direct from high school. Almost all of the better schools do not accept directly from high school.
Here's a list of all the programs Home Page for ACPE - Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education
Just be careful if you choose this profession. Current projects state there will be a modest surplus in the coming future.

[lamom]

Curious, why does girl want a career in pharmacy? What does she know about being a pharmacist?

[sk8rmom]

Is she looking for a 0-6 or a 2+4 program? The 0-6 schools are few and very competitive and numbers driven. Her SAT may be good enough (if 1300+ for M/CR), but her class rank and gpa will also be a factor. Afaik, none of the 0-6 schools offer to meet full need. Of the ones that my D applied to, MCPHS came the closest to meeting full need but still gapped us by around $10K (after Stafford loans and merit awards). MCPHS does have a lower NAPLEX pass rate than some of the other schools but many students there seem happy and they are a well-established school. Northeastern may be a good option too, but financial aid is unlikely to cover anywhere near the full cost.

For 2+4 schools, she is not required to do her pre-reqs at a college with a pharmacy school so she could choose to do her first two years at any school that offers the courses she'll need and then take the PCAT and apply to PharmD programs. I believe the only school with a COP that guarantees to meet need is UNC but there's no guarantee she would be accepted into the PharmD program after two years as they accept mostly NC residents. There are 2+4 schools with early assurance guarantees listed on the AACP website.

[sk8rmom]

Btw, regarding new pharmacy programs, I would be cautious about any programs with only pre-candidate status. Pharmacy schools are not fully accredited until they graduate their first class and, if all does not go as planned, these students would not be eligible to sit for the NAPLEX or practice pharmacy. It's unusual but not unheard of and with so many new schools popping up it's probably bound to happen again somewhere! Definitely look very carefully at the strength of the school in other health majors such as DPT, etc., as well as where their faculty and funding are coming from.

[Nova10]

There has never been a case of a school receive pre-candidate status and not obtaining full accreditation status. If the school has candidate status, that means you can take the NAPLEX. That rule is not true for a school with pre-candidate status. Candidate status is achieved after the first class finishes a year of classes.

[Keilexandra]

Unrelated to pharmacy schools, it should be noted that B+ students will be reaching for most any school that meets full need. You're better off looking for schools with a generous FA track record, not a guarantee.