<p>You're not "stuck" -- if you flunk orgo, I think you can just drop out of PLME.</p>
<p>If you flunk organic chemistry I assume you would have no choice but to drop PLME.</p>
<p>Let's be realistic. Anyone who gets into PLME and Princeton is a pretty low risk for getting into medical school. </p>
<p>Ignorning for a moment the substantial possibility that even a PLME-accepted person might change goals during college, the risk averse move is to go to Brown PLME. Take a regular premed course selection, get as many A's as possible, study for and take the MCAT's. Then decide whether to take the bird in the hand slot at Brown, or apply out to other med schools. If the grades and MCAT scores suggest that admission to Harvard/Hopkins is plausible, and if you want that, then apply out. If admission to such places is a long shot, as it is for most premeds even from Princeton, then sit tight at Brown.</p>
<p>The difference between graduating from Brown med school and Harvard is substantial only for people who want to either enter academics or get into the most competitive residencies in certain fields. In either of these situations, Harvard is the better place to have on your resume. If you want to go into primary care, or a less competitive field, then it does not matter.</p>
<p>Just keep in mind that more that 90% of Princeton students who complete the premed courses and apply to medical school are admitted. It takes only an average performance at Princeton to be an excellent candidate for medical school. So, although PLME is the lowest risk maneuver, going to Princeton does not pose much risk.</p>
<p>Afan, just to be clear, Brown also has other academics that are quite good so I don't feel like deciding not to PLME is going to mean she/he made the wrong choice. Also, Brown has a very similar percentage of accepted students at med schools.</p>
<p>It all comes down to where you feel you fit, and whether you think PLME is a good option for you (and if you applied and got in, my guess is it is).</p>
<p>
[quote]
Brown also has other academics that are quite good
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Absolutely! I did not intend to imply otherwise.</p>
<p>one factor you should consider is that
yeah you dont have to take the mcat's
but brown's med school isnt highly up there
ucsf and ucla have a way better reputation and national/ international prestige</p>
<p>another..
i dont know how you like rhode island
some ppl love it some ppl dont
but ull be there for 8 years.. thats probably almost half your life as of now</p>
<p>fscottie, i'm pretty sure you are able to drop the PLME program if you want to. at least, it's like that with all other programs of the sort...</p>
<p>Hey - I am another person deciding between PLME and another school (Harvard, for me). You CAN drop PLME if you want. Secondly, I talked with a woman who did PLME in the 80's who failed organic chem and took it over the summer and remained in the program. Granted, she decided she didn't want to go to med school (b/c she was interested in policy) but she still could have. I'm leaning towards PLME because I think it really encourages kids to be well-rounded. It seems to be much harder to experiment with different areas of study as a typical pre-med. Hope to see you next year!</p>
<p>here's one nice thing about PLME:</p>
<p>if you stay at brown for 8 years, you only have to take organic chem once...versus twice elsewhere (once premed and once in med school)...worth thinking about</p>
<p>also, since you are set for 8 years, you can study abroad, have more flexibility..etc.</p>
<p>You don't take organic chemistry in medical school. That is an undergraduate course.</p>
<p>Brown Med is an awesome medical school. It only ranks ~40th on the US News ranking because it is small, and for the longest time, it only accepted people through PLME. That isn't the case now. It is therefore not assessed that well because it had been so small. Evidence of Brown Med's excellence is given by the residencies of all graduating students, who are extremely likely to get the residencies in great locations that they desire.</p>
<p>brown PLME's are able to take biochem in the place of second semester orgo--second semester orgo is an incredibly difficult experience for most people and tends to be where the last of the stragglers fall off the pre-med curve... so it's a pretty nice perk</p>
<p>SAT I Verbal: 760
Math: 770
Writing: 800</p>
<p>weighted GPA: 4.575; unweighted: 4.0; ranking: 1/700</p>
<p>SAT II US History: 780
Math IIC: 800
Bio: 760</p>
<p>43 college credits</p>
<p>AP Calc AB & BC: 5, 5
Bio: 5
English Comp.: 5, 5
US History: 5
Euro History: 5
Enviro Sci: 5
Chem: 4</p>
<p>National Merit Scholar, National AP Scholar</p>
<p>Deca team capt., Fencing team capt., orch. member </p>
<p>APs I'm currently taking: Stat, English Lit, Econ, CompSci, US Gov., Psych</p>
<p>yeah i agree with you about the flexibility.
i'm trying to decide between PLME and princeton (as you already know) and i find myself oscillating so much.
i know brown will take a lot of stress of my back - i'll be able to major in what i want and not worry about ruining my chances for med school if i choose to major in something like egyptology. lol.
but when i visited princeton (i spent more time there than at brown, which maybe is why i feel more attached to the place) i was just blown away by how pretty it was and felt like it was a wonderful place for undergraduate.
however, i'll have to be "worked to death" (as some people say) to try and apply to med school and take MCATs and all that and my chances of getting into med school will be more uncertain.
O_O
gah. lol.</p>
<p>ballerina..</p>
<p>i currently have a sister at princeton, and know another handful of local kids who attend.</p>
<p>princeton's workload is heavy, yes.. but from what I read around these boards, I think the extent of its burdensome effect is distorted. you'll work your tail off, but not at the expense of a social, book-free life to go along. if this were the case, i'd find it hard to believe that princeton is home to the #16 happiest kids in the nation (p.review--you guessed it). if anything, look at it this way: you are surrounded by a sea of brilliant, happy-to-be-there students who are also juggling a sizeable workload. my sister says this has had an amazing effect on her own ability to find balance: she can turn out 8 page papers in a night (just one of the endless skills undergrad at princeton has fostered), she can spend the afternoon basking in the sun playing volleyball, she can be involved in this-that-and-the-other extra cirricular, and all the while, enjoy the company of some of the "greatest people she's ever met."</p>
<p>so if the "work you to death" bit is what's worrying you, then i'd advise to take it with a grain of salt. pre-med is tough anywhere, but if you go to princeton, what may seem "tough" going in will be a piece of cake once you leave the place. i think--just by the success of princeton grads everywhere, alone--this speaks for itself.</p>
<p>I hate to break it to all of this thread, and to LMC, but turning out 8 pages in a night and pretty much everything else you said about balance is very true here at Brown as well.</p>
<p>But what I think she was referring to was that having guaranteed medschool admission, there would be less stress to keep that 3.896 GPA and more freedom to take a different sorta of class where you are unsure of how you will do (which is even greater facilitated by Brown's SNC option).</p>
<p>If you were admitted to Princeton, and to PLME, and you go to either Brown (outside of PLME) or to Princeton, you run little risk of not getting into medical school. Both places send the overwhelming majority of their applicants to med school. </p>
<p>As for "not working yourself to death" as a premed... what do you think medical school, medical training, and medical practice are like? If you are not willing to make your education the primary focus of your life, until you retire, you should find a different career.</p>
<p>modestmelody.. i recognize that to be true, and was just trying to give ballerina a little insight from the other side. i, by no means, wrote that with intentions to place princeton on some league-of-its-own pedistool at the expense of brown. both are great schools, both are challenging, (both enhance one's 8-pages-in-one-night writing capabilities).. hence why so many seniors find themselves stuck between the two. if they didnt have so much in common, im not so sure this would be the case.</p>
<p>at any rate, what i did intend to do was to disaffirm some of the information i've seen thrown around on here.. information thatfrom what ive gatheredseems to suggest that princeton is all stress while one can kinda cruise through brown. ivy league is ivy league, and there will be work no matter where you go. i just hope someone wouldn't turn down a place like princeton because they hear a few rumors that the workload is fatal.</p>
<p>princeton is awesome. brown is awesome. rock on.</p>
<p>"Princeton is ranked #16 for the happiest students in the country"</p>
<p>Yeah, but Brown is ranked #2.. If thats going to factor into the decision (and quality of life and happiness at your school is a major factor), then Brown clearly has the edge..</p>
<p>at both brown (non-PLME) and princeton, about 20% of pre-meds don't get into med school the first time they apply. it's not so much a matter of risk, as the three year competition among very motivated and intelligent students to make sure you're not in that 20%</p>
<p>dcircle</p>
<p>Can you give more detailed data for Brown? </p>
<p>Can you cite the data for your summary of the Princeton data? According to Princeton, ~93% of the Class of '05 applicants were accepted. Since these people just graduated, they would not have had time to be denied, and reapply.</p>
<p><a href="http://web.princeton.edu/sites/hpa/2005Statistics.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://web.princeton.edu/sites/hpa/2005Statistics.pdf</a> </p>
<p>(third chart)</p>