Pitt vs Northeastern (2 near full rides)

@BlueRX – you mentioned that you are planning to study pharmacy – does that mean you would be entering as a freshman (pre-pharm)? At Pitt I think the competitiveness that you may be thinking about may not be in the pre-pharm classes, but rather in the application process to the school of pharmacy in your sophomore year. It doesn’t appear that Pitt is a true 0-6 guaranteed admission to the pharmacy school even if you are admitted as a pre-pharm major. Pitt’s website states that you must apply AFTER your pre-pharm math/science courses are almost complete (by spring semester of the year of admission) and all others by the fall semester before the year of admission. Pitt also requires applicants to take the PCAT and uses the scores in the pharmacy school admission process in addition to GPA and recommendations.

Our DS (pharmD 2013) knew he wanted to major in pharmacy so he chose Northeastern over a number of other options. It was a great choice and almost 40% of his class entered fellowship or residencies of their choice. The co-op program which offered three four month options for paid work experience within the pharmD curriculum (beyond the APPE rotations) also made it much easier for the rest of the students to find jobs immediately after graduation. Northeastern has built a very strong relationship with many industry/clinical/research/retail partners to help match students with their choice of career interest.

Northeastern is a 0-6 freshman entry pharmacy program. If you are accepted as a pharmacy student as a freshman, you are guaranteed a seat in the program which awards both the Bachelor’s degree in pharmacy studies and the pharmD as the final degree as long as you maintain a 3.0 GPA. There are about 10 universities that offer the true 0-6 pharmacy program (not all include bachelors’ degrees)–no PCAT, no interview, just continuation through all 6 years if complete the required coursework with a minimum of 3.0 GPA in the first two pre-pharm years. Your tuition for freshman and sophomore years isn’t wasted as long as you do your part. If this interests you, check out

Florida A & M University
Massachusetts - Boston
Northeastern University
Ohio Northern University
Rutgers University
St. John’s University
St. Louis College of Pharmacy
University of Findlay
University of Rhode Island
University of the Sciences

The post-doctoral fellowships at Rutgers are highly selective and the chosen candidates come from many different pharmacy schools (you can look them up on the Ernesto Mario Rutgers Post-Doctoral Fellowship program.)