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More than 80 schools and colleges of pharmacy are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). If you are thinking of applying to pharmacy school, which one is right for you? Certainly tuition and fees play a part in the decision, as well as commuting distance or on-campus living arrangements. Beyond those obvious factors, what should you look for in a pharmacy school? What questions should you ask when visiting a perspective school? Here are the questions to ask and the answers to hope for:

Question: Are the pharmacy courses taught by professors, or do graduate students teach a lot of the courses?
Answer: Your core pharmacy courses should be taught by professors with expertise in their chosen field.

Question: How large are the classes for required courses?
Answer: Small size is good, but so is large if the course has recitation sessions where you can ask questions.

Question: How is quality teaching evaluated, and is teaching as important as research to my professors’ career?
Answer: Teaching should be of equal importance, and students should have input into the evaluation of teaching.
    
Question: If I need to take a semester off, how will that effect my year of graduation?
Answer: You would like to see schools that have opportunities to take required courses more than once a year. If not, missing a semester may delay graduation by a year.

Question: If I have trouble with a course, what help is available?
Answer: Good schools will provide office hours with the professors and tutorials. Academic counseling services should also be available.    

Question: What percentage of the starting first professional-year enrollment graduate as expected?
Answer: Some students drop out for nonacademic reasons, but if the percentage of drop-outs is extraordinarily high, then something is not right.

Question: What is the school’s passing rate on the pharmacy boards?
Answer: Pharmacy school does not make you a licensed pharmacist. It just gives you the opportunity to “sit for the boards.” Be sure to select a school with good and consistent passing rates.


Question: What types of tests are used in the required courses, and who grades them?
Answer: Good schools use more than just computer graded multiple-choice questions or grading by graduate assistants.
    

Question: What types of experiential learning sites are available?    
Answer: Good schools will have a variety of pharmacy practice sites and will allow you to have input into which sites you prefer.
    

Question: Do the professors practice what they teach?    
Answer: If the course has practical applications to the practice of pharmacy, then the professors should have some professional employment in the field to keep themselves current and reality-based.