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Problem choosing between schools

imported_vr6

Platinum Member
I am having trouble choosing between two schools

1. University of Maryland Baltimore - one of the top schools in the country #7. In my home state, however i would be doing a distance learning program where i will be watching live streaming videos of lectures.

2. Midwestern Chicago College of Pharmacy- out of state, i like the campus better, tradition classroom settings, i like everything about that school. howeveer it costs more and i will be living out of state.

bottom line:
1. i will end up getting the same pharmacist license.
2. Chicago costs aroun 15k more a year.
3. Maryland i'll pay less, but its E-Learning, which i am not a fan of, but its a highly ranked school.

what are your opnions and experiences with distance learning programs?

This is how the E-Learning program works.

UMD is split into two campus, main campus in Baltimore and the Distant campus(30min away).

The Baltimore campus is where the lectures take place along with the Labs.
The Distant campus is where you go to watch the lectures taking place in Baltimore, on a huge screen, so you are not really at the lecture you are essentially watching a video.

I am definitely accepted into the Distant campus, but i am waiting for a seat in the Baltimore campus.

You cannot trasfer from one campus to another.
so its 4 years long so i'll be paying to watch videos and going down to baltimore for labs.

I know what college is like and i cant imagine watching a screen for 4 years. but its a much better school and saves me money to stay in state.

Costs:
1. maryland - 12k a year x 4 years = 48k total.
2. chicago - 25k + housing = 40k a year x 4 = 160k.

-edit
to clarify, i'll still physically go into a classroom to take tests and "interact" with the classmates, but the lecturers and 99% of the faculty members will not be at the place i will be attending. The main form of communication would be email if i had any questions about lecture materials.

would you pay an extra 110k for live lectures?
 
Go to Chicago. E-Learning is not a substitute for real learning, especially in a hands-on job like a pharmacist.
 
wow i didnt think you could get a pharmacy degree sitting at home on the computer... i should look into this 😀

edit: do you take tests online too or is there a testing center.

BTW, the college experience is really cool.. and if you're living at home e-learning, you're going to miss all of that.
 
Don't worry about the $$. If you are good at what you are going to do, you can make that much in one year working at a Wallgreens here in Chicago.
 
I've been practicing pharmacy for 12 years so let me give you my perspective.

Go with the cheaper alternative. Unless you plan on doing something beyond retail or hospital pharmacy with your degree, no one really cares how your school ranked. I even went to law school 5 years later - they did not even care how my pharmacy school was ranked.

Bottom line: Your license is the only item most employers will care about.

I don't think the e-learning thing sounds like a bad idea. Too bad you can't do it from home!

 
Originally posted by: Kindjal
I've been practicing pharmacy for 12 years so let me give you my perspective.

Go with the cheaper alternative. Unless you plan on doing something beyond retail or hospital pharmacy with your degree, no one really cares how your school ranked. I even went to law school 5 years later - they did not even care how my pharmacy school was ranked.

Bottom line: Your license is the only item most employers will care about.

I don't think the e-learning thing sounds like a bad idea. Too bad you can't do it from home!

two other pharmacists, my current boss and a floater said the same thing to me. i did consider residency and wanted to explore options of being a clinical pharmacist. maybe i'll add a poll

 
Originally posted by: Kindjal
I've been practicing pharmacy for 12 years so let me give you my perspective.

I even went to law school 5 years later - they did not even care how my pharmacy school was ranked.

Did you think of changing to a law career or just decided law school would be a fun learning experience with no career aspirations? I take it you're still practicing pharmacy.
 
Originally posted by: everman
Originally posted by: Kindjal
I've been practicing pharmacy for 12 years so let me give you my perspective.

I even went to law school 5 years later - they did not even care how my pharmacy school was ranked.

Did you think of changing to a law career or just decided law school would be a fun learning experience with no career aspirations? I take it you're still practicing pharmacy.

I originally went to law school for a career change - and I practiced law for 2 years. But as my family grew and my time shrank, I decided to return to pharmacy because of its flexible schedule and short work week (four 10hr days).
 
Originally posted by: Kindjal
Originally posted by: everman
Originally posted by: Kindjal
I've been practicing pharmacy for 12 years so let me give you my perspective.

I even went to law school 5 years later - they did not even care how my pharmacy school was ranked.

Did you think of changing to a law career or just decided law school would be a fun learning experience with no career aspirations? I take it you're still practicing pharmacy.

I originally went to law school for a career change - and I practiced law for 2 years. But as my family grew and my time shrank, I decided to return to pharmacy because of its flexible schedule and short work week (four 10hr days).

what about drug patent law?
 
I've been a pharmacist for almost 6 years. School rank means nothing. I think the one thing that you will miss by "e-learning" is making contacts and networking. I personally couldn't envision watching TV for 3 years. I'm sure the last year of either program is rotations where you physically have to be at a location every day for ~1 year. Do you want to practice in Maryland or Illinois when you graduate? I'm sure the laws will vary by state so you will have to learn those if not attending the state you graduate from. If it was me I would vote for the $50K option over the $160K option and put the "savings" into a retirement account. $160K will put you at a home mortgage behind almost, $50K puts you a luxury car behind in debt!!
 
if your job is based on a license, go with the cheapest way. In the meantime, get your experiences working as a pharmacist assistant in retail.
 
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