Are there really that few?

http://www.rxinsider.com/schools_of_pharmacy.htm

I'm in TX. I can't get into UT. I'm stuck with like three bad choices!?

It's an expensive school to start from scratch, so yes there aren't a ton of them.

It could be worse, you could live in Kentucky.

When i visited Ohio State, I was getting a tour with three kids from Kentucky and they all had to look at other states in case they didn't get accepted to Kentucky.

If you get into a top school, it won't hurt you to go out of state.

i don't think it's going to really make a big difference if you're going into retail pharmacy. a pharm degree from harvard or one from...toledo (hey napoleon!)...it's all the same for pharmacy options.

It's pretty much like the other professional degrees.

The only benefit of getting a PharmD degree from the bigger, more prestigious institutions is that they're better at research.

For example, the University of San Francisco is among the elite when it comes to AIDS medication research IIRC.

If you want to bypass the PharmD program and get a Pharmacology degree with a masters/doctorate in Medicinal chemistry, then going to a bigger institute is likely a better choice.

However, even at smaller schools you can do research.

My school has a thriving medicinal chemistry program that regularly gets government grants. With how few Pharmacy schools there are in the country, the money is pretty well spread around.

Another thing to look at is competitiveness of the schools. My school, which is not even near elite, has a less than 50% acceptance rate for Pharmacy.

Bigger schools are going to have even lower acceptance rates.

That's something you really have to consider as well.

Within Canada, it is a lot easier to get into a nursing program. From the nursing program, you can apply for a transfer to pharmacy. There is also the option of completing the nursing degree and then applying to a master's program in pharmaceuticals.