So, this is late, but if you still haven't confirmed your enrollment for Rutgers and perhaps the pharmacy school, I hope this will sway you, reconfirm any decisions, and help answer what you want to know. Thanks to Priyanka for inspiring this post!
How hard is the coursework?
Everyone I've talked to has agreed that the first year is the “easy” year of the five (I say five years even though the program is six because the last year is practice experience rotations, not a conventional classroom setting). And, it's been pretty OK. To put things in my perspective, I've managed to work about twenty hours a week and have done quite well in all my courses. This certainly isn't to say that the experience is the same for everyone, and it seems to me that a lot depends on your aptitude and inclination for science. I've always leaned towards science, and had a lot of grounding in Chemistry in high school, so that certainly made things a bit easier.
However, Chemistry and Biology are generally not taken at the same time by most people. Add in Calculus, Expository Writing, and Intro to Experimentation (Chemistry lab), and you have a demanding course load that WILL require a lot of study time.
Can you still have a social life?
Meh. That word sums up my social life, haha, and I don't think it requires much further explanation, but I shall add it anyway. My own social life doesn't extend much past watching Family Guy with boxes of takeout (with other people, not just boxes of takeout) from the dining hall or random adventures now and then. I'm not a partier, but I'm not the one in good company. If you want to party, there will be plenty to enjoy the night with, and from what I've heard, these will be pretty good nights. If you don't, everyone I know is always game for just hanging out or checking some cool events out. Also, just at meal times, study groups, and even at work, I find that I already do a lot of socializing that is very fun, too. :)
Again, this really does vary. Since I work a lot and am taking twenty credits this semester (this is beyond the set curriculum), I honestly don't have too much free time for designated socializing. But, I know of others, both pharmacy and non-pharmacy, that are extraordinarily party-hardy and still perform well academically. They just don't spend as much time in work or clubs or things of this sort.
Can you still sleep?
Yah! But I mean, who needs sleep when you can hang out/make$$$$/volunteer and really make a difference/pledge for a sorority or fraternity/get down with the Biology book/getting ready to boss a test/millions-o'-other-awesome-things which I will henceforth abbreviate as MOATs?
Do I like it?
I do. At the current moment, I feel like this is really what I want to be doing, and this is a great place to be doing it. There's literally an endless number of opportunities at a school this large. And, the pharmacy curriculum allows me to take electives in areas that I've always had an interest in but are not really as science-y. I feel now, more than ever, that I will be graduating in May 2016, at the age of almost twenty-four, with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree.
Also check out Phyllis's post and this one too! from last year, which were so helpful to me, not to mention much less scatterbrain-ly written. Also, snoop around Peggy's posts or ask her for more compelling (and again, better written!) reasons to pursue pharmacy because she has the perspective of an amazing life that I, as a sleepy, nose-in-a-book-or-soft-clouds person without many MOATs, do not. However, if you have any other questions that you feel I could adequately answer, please feel free to ask, and I will do my best to answer!
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