<p>
</p>
<p>Polo, that may or may not be true, but I wouldn’t recommend applying exclusively to 6 year programs. There are only nine 0-6 schools left (MCPHS, USP, Rutgers, URI, ONU, Findlay, St John’s, STLCOP, Northeastern). Costs vary, especially for Rutgers and URI (instate vs. OOS), but of the three on this list that my D was accepted to this year, all of them would have required substantial outlays of cash/loans, even with merit scholarships and grants. For example, USP’s top merit award is only $7K (if I remember correctly) and their COA is over $41K/year. Afaik, none of these school come close to meeting need, and most gap considerably. It may not be worth it, or even possible, for many kids to spend an extra $10-20K/year for a guaranteed seat from the starting gate. Also, three of these (USP, MCPHS, and STLCOP) are pretty specialized schools and their choice majors are fairly limited. The high attrition rate of most of the 0-6’s must mean, for some, that they really didn’t know if pharmacy was their niche or not. Imho, that’s an expensive and somewhat limiting way to find out…especially if you have to transfer out to find what you’re looking for. </p>
<p>Corey, aside from the 0-6 schools, I think you should also look at some schools that offer early assurance options but are technically 2+4. Last time I looked, these include:
Butler University
Campbell University
Drake University
Ferris State University
Harding University
Howard University
Mercer University
Midwestern University-Chicago
Nova Southeastern University
Ohio State<br>
Oregon State
Palm Beach Atlantic University
Shenandoah University
Sullivan University
Albany College of Pharmacy
University at Buffalo
University of Colorado Denver
University of Houston
University of Kentucky
University of Mississippi
University of Nebraska Medical Center
University of New Mexico
University of Pittsburgh
University of Toledo
Virginia Commonwealth University
Wayne State University
Wilkes</p>
<p>There are also some new PharmD programs starting up at existing colleges with early assurance (I think D’Youville in Buffalo is one) that may be worth a look if they’re experienced in the health/life sciences and have recruited experienced faculty/administrators.</p>
<p>Obviously, not all of these are on the east coast, and some give preference to instate students but looking at the public options, if any, available in your state may be illuminating. There may be others as well, such as Duquesne and St John Fischer, who don’t have formal early assurance options but do give preference to their own pre-pharm students.</p>
<p>This combined approach gave my D a choice of 8 schools with PharmD programs and allowed her to compare FA awards and other factors (ie. type of program, size, location, facilities, faculty). She ultimately chose a school she likes that fits her needs, with no/low loans, and that will allow her a broad range of other choices if she finds that pharmacy is not her true calling. It seems like a win for now, time will tell…Good luck!</p>