The first week of pharmacy school involves a lot of administrative tasks such as filling out paperwork, but you also get many opportunities to meet a lot of faculty and your classmates. At USC, we are offered free food (during the 1 hour lunch break) while we listen in on the presentations from the many student organizations that exist here. I highly suggest all of you beginning pharmacy school students take advantage of these information sessions to get a feel for what clubs you will join (instead of cutting a check for every single org!). Club fees range anywhere from $30-$200 range at USC. Since pharmacy school is a lot smaller compared to undergrad institutions, you can easily meet and get to know your professors as well as the deans/associate deans.
During our fall semester of our first year, we take 18 units. Compared to undergrad, I wouldn’t say the material is that much harder (yet), but we are bombarded with more information per lecture. We are given note packets for each class; in Biosystems and Biochemical & Molecular Sites of Drug Action, our packets are 15-30 pages per 2 hour lecture.
For those who are curious, our fall semester tuition was $21,208.51 (not including books, rent, food, gas, etc.). Tuition seems to go up ~$1000 per year. Also, there are rumors that the entering class for 2010 will receive free netbooks as part of the curriculum.
Here is what my schedule looks like:
Pharmacy Practice I – 4 units
Biochemical & Molecular Sites of Drug Actions – 4 units
Pharmaceutics I – 4 units
Biological Systems I – 4 units
Health Care Delivery – 4 units
Class Schedule:
MONDAY: 8am-10am, 1pm-3pm
TUESDAY: 8am-10am, 1pm-3pm
WEDNESDAY: 8am-10am
THURSDAY: 8am-10am
FRIDAY: 8am-noon, 1pm-3pm
Each student also receives a 1 month pharmacy practice experience in hospital or community per semester. This would occur WED-THURS 1PM-6PM
If you have any specific questions, feel free to email me or leave it on the comment section.
