The final 6...

Ok, I know most of the people reading this are aware of my desires/intentions to go on to graduate school for a PhD in pharmacology. I have discussed this with several friends, family members, and professors. Today I met with a Pharmacist/Pharmacologist (both a BS in pharmacy and a PhD in pharmacology from Purdue) here at Lilly and he gave me some additional guidance and what to expect down the road. With his input, I looked at a few more schools and considered the NIH funding of my previous choices. In case you are curious, the NIH funding is important because that often goes hand-in-hand with the ability for cutting edge/exciting research (all of my choices are in the top 64). I have done many internet searches of various programs across the nation and even international programs. With the deadlines for applications approaching and my pending GREs, I have narrowed the list down to those schools to which I will be applying. I was willing to apply to 5 schools, but since 1 (possibly 2) of the favorites does not charge for applying, I don't hardly count it.

Here they are (ranked order):

6. Indiana Univeristy-Purdue University-Indianapolis (IUPUI) - less inclined because I would like to get out of the Midwest for several years and the program does not look all that exciting, 47th for NIH funding (2004)

5. Dartmouth College - Ivy league school, con is the location (NH = cold), 64th in NIH funding, no application fee

4. University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) - good looking program, has a PharmD on faculty, decent weather, not as far as some choices, mascot is a dragon (just adds coolness factor), 22nd in NIH funding

3. University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC) - great location and weather, good national recognized program, lots of history, 16th in NIH funding

2. Vanderbilt University - this is the newest addition to the list, very good looking program, closer to family, still Midwestish (TN is slightly S), no application fee(?), 19th in NIH funding

1. University of Colorado-Denver Health Science Center - really like the looks of this program, the weather is nice (cooler, but nice), it is farther away, 28th in NIH funding

There they are. If all goes well, one of those sites will be my home for the next 4-5 years (starting in August of 2006).

Comments and thoughts welcome on these, my final choices for graduate schools.