<p>hi guys. so, yeah. i got into the PLME at Brown and i also got into Princeton. big dilemma here. i think when i visit the schools it’ll help a lot, but i need some pros and cons on each for right now. </p>
<p>THANKS.
:)</p>
<p>If you're planning to go into med, there is no dilemma whatsoever.</p>
<p>If you got into PLME, you shouldn't even be considering Princeton!</p>
<p>princeton vs. brown has been discussed/debated on a few threads here
you should think about what you want to get out of your undergrad experience and ask informed questions when you visit both
think about your areas of intended concentration, extracurricular interests, intentions to study abroad, desire to design your own curriculum, etc.
one large advantage of the PLME is that it gives you tremendous freedom (in comparison to the plight of traditional pre-meds) to pursue a wide breadth of interests as an undergrad</p>
<p>how are your stats, blue_ballerina?</p>
<p>nicee job, congrats....and btw its a very legit question even if you do know you want to be a doctor</p>
<ol>
<li><p>safety vs. prestige: brown's guaranteeing you a seat in the #40 med school. if brown is binding you to their med school too, then you're going to be stuck there. princeton has a > 90% acceptance rate into top med schools. from what i know, ~ 130 ppl apply to med schools from princeton every year. so if you work at princeton and you're willing to study for mcat's, you could end up getting into a better med school. and by better i mean better and safer location, larger hospital, more speakers, more opportunities for research, better residency placement. but you need to remember that you could also end up going from princeton to a med school worse than brown.</p></li>
<li><p>politics. the first thing you need to ask yourself is if you would like brown. there's 12 democrats for every 1 republican, and if politics is an issue, you really might not like it there especially for 8 years. it's the liberal core of the ivy league and if thats a problem then its probably not the best place to be at.</p></li>
<li><p>princeton's reputation > brown's rep. i think you would have an awesome experience at both places, but in terms of opportunities, the campus, students, i think you'd feel princeton isn't as extreme as brown when it comes to politics. though princetonians def have their own opinions and know how to talk, i think the environment is more neutral. if prestige matters to you, you can't go wrong by picking princeton</p></li>
<li><p>don't let the talk about "brown's flexible academia" fool you. you can major in whatever you want at princeton if you went there; pre-med required classes are minimal anyway. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>my vote: princeton....you might have to keep working once you're there and its taking a risk, but i think the odds are in your favor.</p>
<p>Princeton has a 90% acceptance rate into ANY medical school.</p>
<p>Don't let the #40 ranking fool you--ANY medical school is quite prestigious, as overall only 50% of qualified med school applicants get in ANYWHERE. And it's not like you know where YOUR doctor went to med school--it's not that big of a deal where exactly you go. More important is landing in the right residency after that.</p>
<p>Plus, I believe PLME is nonbinding--if after four years you have fulfilled the pre-med requirements you can still apply elsewhere (though I don't see why you would waste hundreds of dollars (app fees) and hours (MCAT studying) doing so.</p>
<p>What's true is that Brown and Princeton are very different social and political environments. Depending on your preference (or lack thereof) you may not want to be at one of the schools. But I would lean towards PLME anyhow.</p>
<p>You can also think in terms of retrospect--what if, four years down the line, you are universally rejected, and you end up spending the rest of your life wishing you had chosen PLME? There is nothing to lose by not going to Princeton.</p>
<p>the 90% acceptance rate to med school is deceiving because not everyone is allowed to apply (most top schools boast this stat and they all do this). more than half of the people who start out pre-med are weeded out by classes like orgo</p>
<p>the flexibility at brown is an easily discernible advantage. first off, pre-med classes are not minimal--they amount to 10 classes that are very difficult, curved, and consume your life during the semesters you take them. two, though you can major in anything you want at either school, at brown you have complete freedom over elective choice and are able to double or even triple concentrate in completely disparate areas. by contrast, at princeton there are very rigid requirements</p>
<p>all that being said, the schools have completely different feels and either may be a great fit depending on your personality and tastes</p>
<p>"universally rejected" isn't likely for someone who got into brown plme, more likely than not, this is a person who can do well on tests but also cares about medicine and is genuinely going to keep doing that. if you do decide to go to plme, it's gonna be tough to keep your fire burning because theyre promising you a seat. it's gonna be tough to have the motivation to get a top mcat score and go out of your way to find these nice opportunities that could get you into a better med school. in short, i feel like plme has a silencing effect on you. perhaps it would help to see how many plme students matriculate at med schools better than brown.</p>
<p>even if you do use thehotrock's logic, its very possible that you might feel like you gave up something if you to plme. chances are that you're the kinda person who wants to keep improving and enjoys challenge, and i feel like you might naturally gravitate towards wanting a better med school than the one you're promised. ifthats the case, you really won't lose anyhting by going to princeton. the connections, the name, the opportunities, and the type of person you are aren't going to change. you're not screwed if you go to princeton, all it means is that you chose a different path to get to your ends. the med school you go to does play a large factor (along with usmle scores) in your residency placement, which makes a hell of a difference with what kind of doctor you can become. </p>
<p>while its true that the national average is low and brown med is definitely nothing to cry about, it doesnt mean you need to get scared from your own potential. if you want the best possible option for yourself, go to princeton and use the fact that there's not a reserved seat for you to empower your drive. this by teh way, is the way most people get into a good college from high school...by not knowing what's going to happen, being scared, working, and then [hopefully] getting rewarded. its the natural cycle, its not stupid, and theres nothing wrong with invoking it as your reason to decline plme. </p>
<p>no matter what, you won't regret the princeton experience, the princeton degree, and the other doors you have open to you once you graduate for the rest of your life</p>
<p>silencing effect?</p>
<p>this sounds like trolling</p>
<p>What you forget is that though Brown Med School ranks low, this has to do with size, money, and the fact that most of hte kids at Brown Med don't take the MCATs because they are PLME. Placement out of Brown Med School feeds into programs like Harvard and Stanford for internships and residencies. So basically, Brown Med School has the same "misgivings" as the undergraduate college-- it feeds into excellent programs with great success, education is top notch, rankings aren't very high for a few specific reasons and Brown isn't catering to change the school for USNews.</p>
<p>Not to mention Brown Med is in the top 20, maybe even 15 for clinical work, so even though we aren't a huge research med school, chances are, many pre-med students want to be doctors that care for patients.</p>
<p>You also won't regret going to Brown PLME...LOL</p>
<p>And Princeton has insane grade deflation</p>
<p>If you are the kind of person who wants to go to Princeton for undergrad for the sole sake of getting into a better medical school than Brown's, then you have no business going to Brown. You are a mismatch with Brown's academic climate. Save yourself the agony, give the seat to someone who really wants it and enjoy being a premed undergrad at P.</p>
<p>A number of PLMEs apply outside of the program. However, it really shouldn't be foremost on the mind of anybody <em>truly</em> committed to the PLME program.</p>
<p>Which one's giving you more financial aid?</p>
<p>Thank you, fredmurtz. If you're just going to college for the name, then Brown (while it has a great name, in all senses) is not the place for you.</p>
<p>well...that's not totally fair. at least part of the reason why the majority cross-admits pick brown over outstanding schools like chicago, penn, duke, etc. is perceived prestige</p>
<p>it's also true that "princeton" might impress some people more than "brown".</p>
<p>it's also true that "princeton" won't impress some people more than "brown" and that both med schools and big time employers (ones like goldman sachs and the peace corps that actively recruit at ivies) won't differentiate between the two</p>
<p>harvard/yale vs brown plme toss up
pton/penn/columbia/stanford vs brown plme take brown plme
pton/penn/columbia/stanford vs nwu/cwru toss up
harvrad yale vs nwu/cwru take harvard/yale</p>
<p>pton/penn/col/stanford vs any other ba/md take ivy</p>
<p>go to whatever place you personally want to go. however, at brown you'll have more free-time and your quality of life, in theory, could be much higher in that you're not as stressed out, you're confident in your future and you can focus more on actually LEARNING and absorbing the information than worrying about the grades.</p>
<p>also, in my opinion, the school ranking system is overrated. these days its all about ambition and determination to see how far you can go. in this case then, going to harvard (#1) and not having the ambition to succeed ends up taking you nowhere and you can make just as much, if not more, and be entitled to the same jobs at a #40 school like brown where you truly apply yourself and work hard. in a simpler sense, the hardest workers earn the most rewards. don't underestimate a brown degree though, it's highly sought after and one of the best in the world out of the many thousands of med schools that there are.</p>
<p>another reason why i would choose brown is that you never know what will happen. you may choose princeton and take your first organic chemistry class and absolutely hate it and completely flunk it. in short time, you might not be accepted anywhere at all! at brown you know you're guaranteed a spot no matter what and with all the hype surrounding these classes the "no pressure" attitude will make it much easier on you.</p>
<p>also, don't conclude one of the biggest decisions of your life based on the thoughts of other people. when you're 50 and a succesful doctor having gotten an ivy-league education, name wont matter at all.</p>
<p>basically, this decision falls down on a risk/no-risk decision.</p>
<p>on one hand you've got princeton. sure the end might be a bit better, but it's a huge risk though and you might never know what to expect.</p>
<p>then you've got brown your "safety". excellent choice but not as many rewards. </p>
<p>it all depends on the kind of person you are and honestly i couldn't make the decision for you. either way, congratulations on your admissions and good luck!</p>
<p>"another reason why i would choose brown is that you never know what will happen. you may choose princeton and take your first organic chemistry class and absolutely hate it and completely flunk it. in short time, you might not be accepted anywhere at all! at brown you know you're guaranteed a spot no matter what and with all the hype surrounding these classes the 'no pressure' attitude will make it much easier on you."</p>
<p>of course, if you find you "absolutely hate" organic chemistry and as a result "completely flunk" it, you're probably going to be pretty happy you're at princeton, with all its options, and not stuck in a pre-med/med program at brown for the next six-plus years.</p>