<p>Hey you guys! So I was accepted to Princeton University a few days ago, and I'm so excited! Problem is I was also accepted to Brown University and Brown's PLME program (which basically means I was accepted to medical school from high school), which is an incredible opportunity. I'm so grateful that I get to choose between two amazing schools, but I'm worried I'll make the wrong choice. Princeton is the number 1 school in the country... but this program at Brown would mean no MCAT, no pre-med requirements, and no applying to med school. Only 100 kids are accepted, and it would be so tough turning it down. But then again, Princeton is Princeton! Any thoughts?</p>
<p>If you are really sure you want to go to med school than you should go to Brown. This seems like a great opportunity for you and a tough one to pass up. Even if you wind up changing your mind somewhere along the way, Brown is an amazing school.</p>
<p>From what I read on CC Princeton is really tough on Pre-meds with the grade deflation.</p>
<p>My dad was a member of the PLME program back in the day, and he really liked it. Now, I don’t wanna be a doctor, so I only applied to Brown for the regular part. I got in both Brown and Princeton and my dad told me I’d be crazy to pick Brown over Princeton.</p>
<p>Overall, Princeton is a much better school than Brown, but if you think you’d like the unique Brown atmosphere and know you want to be a doctor… go for it.</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman at Brown in the PLME program and absolutely loves Brown and is is loving the college experience in a way I don’t think she could if she had the pressure of maintaining the required pre-med GPA. You should ask Princeton pre-meds sophs or juniors if they had the choice, what they would do.</p>
<p>I’m not a pre-med, but if you really want to be a doctor, I would choose Brown. If you go there, you’re guaranteed to go to their med school without having to worry about the pesky requirements (esp. MCAT). At Princeton, you’d of course have to take all the required classes, take the MCAT, apply to med schools, etc., which is a pain. Our acceptance rate to medical schools is about 90%, which is outstanding, but this is the acceptance rate to any medical school (including some of those who got into their lowest choice). </p>
<p>Also, you might want to take note that if you come here, your GPA will most likely be lower compared to other schools because of our grading policy. That doesn’t necessarily mean it will be lower (there are some really smart people here who still manage to earn a 3.8+, which dumbfounds me). </p>
<p>By all means come here if you don’t mind taking care of all the requirements and applying to med schools. Princeton truly is a fantastic school, and I absolutely love it here. But given your situation, I would not let that opportunity with the PLME program at Brown slip out of my fingers. </p>
<p>So my opinion in your situation - go to Brown.</p>
<p>Yeah, if you are sure about going to med school, go to Brown.</p>
<p>Brown is prby the best place if your sure about medical school. Heck, Browns a fine place to go period. Princeton is absolutely AMAZING too; however, its grade deflation will prbly be a very stressful burden to endure. </p>
<p>All in all, you really can’t go wrong picking either school. Regardless, I would DEFINATELY visit both. Who knows you may find yourself unable to tolerate the Brown campus/culture.</p>
<p>First off, Princeton’s “grade deflation” did not effect any of the hard sciences so it should not affect your pre-med sequence at all. Second, Princeton does extremely well wrt to medical school admissions with the vast majority of people applying getting into medical school.</p>
<p>Brown PLME is a fantastic program but if you do decently at Princeton, you would be pretty guaranteed into a better medical school. Choose between them based on fit, either way you’ll end up with a fantastic UG experience and a great medical school. </p>
<p>And finally, don’t listen to everyone’s qualms about grade deflation, it’s not a big deal and for the most part, I don’t really think it affects much at all.</p>
<p>^PimpDaddy1 does bring up a good point. The hard sciences haven’t been affected by deflation (they’ve always given out about 35% A’s anyway).</p>
<p>35% A’s? Wow…that’s absurd. Higher than any curve I’ve ever heard of.</p>
<p>If I was making this choice, I’d go to Princeton. And this is coming from a future Penn student, so there is no love lost. I just feel that you should never enter a school fearing failure and thinking that you are going to get beat down. Cowering from a challenge is uncontainable. Will Princeton be a challenge? Yes. But so will life, you might as well face the music now. If, at every turn when a challenge is presented to you, you cower and look for the easy route out, you will never make a lasting impact on this world. If you think that you can overcome whatever challenge is presented to you, you will. Man up.</p>
<p>@kafkareborn: that’s actually a really good attitude for life. </p>
<p>At the risk of sounding naive and idealist, I’d say pick the place where you’ll be happiest.</p>
<p>Just to give you guys an update, I ended up going with Princeton. As “erikadizzle” says, I know I’ll be happiest there and that’s what matters most. I can’t wait to spend the next four years in NJ, and then, if medicine is right for me, in medical school. Thanks for all the wise advice!</p>
<p>reach, I am really really happy for you. A warm congratulations!</p>
<p>Next stop for you: Harvard Med School</p>
<p>Definitely Princeton (because you’ll get to meet me :)</p>
<p>Also brown’s program seems like a cushion for people anticipating failure. Usually they don’t do well be because they’re guaranteed a future. How can you be sure about you life plans already? Maybe you’ll take another course at Princeton that you love and major in something else</p>
<p>Back in the 1970’s, I confronted a similar choice. I was accepted by the Penn State/Jefferson program (in those days it was a 5 year BS/MD program), but was not 100% certain of my desire to be a physician. I also felt I needed more time to mature before medical school. In the middle of my first semester at Princeton, looking at the brilliance of some of my classmates, I concluded that I would make an excellent scientist, but that I would not be the next Newton or Einstein - so I decided I should go into medicine where I could save lives. As soon as I had that Joycean epiphany, I feared that my having turned down the BS/MD program would be seen as a lack of commitment, and might hinder my getting into medical school.</p>
<p>As a result, I worked like a dog and graduated with honors in Biochemistry (the predecessor of today’s Molecular Biology Department - believe me, Princeton has always had plenty of grade deflation in the hard sciences and engineering - one reason for the grade deflation policy was to equalize grading patterns between the sciences and humanities). I was accepted to multiple medical schools, including Jefferson, and ended up attending my top choice, the University of Pennsylvania. I am forever grateful for my decision to attend Princeton, as it was an amazing intellectual experience. I am also very happy that I was able to attend medical school at Penn, as it is an amazingly collegial place. For those seeking an integrated BS/MD sequence, Brown is one of the best choices, as Brown (like Princeton) has a strong undergraduate focus, and one’s entire time is spent at Brown, rather than doing one year at Penn State followed by 4 years in Philadelphia. A number of my friends and colleagues went through the Brown PMLE program and loved it. </p>
<p>My advice to you is to enjoy Princeton, and if you (hopefully) choose a career in medicine, and apply to Brown Medical School, simply emphasize that you felt you needed more time and maturity before committing to a medical career. I said that when I interviewed at Jefferson as a Princeton senior, and my interviewer smiled, and replied, “hopefully at this time next year, I’ll see you walking through these halls.”</p>
<p>The thing to remember about a career in medicine (or nursing) is that one is granted the opportunity to be an enormous force for good. Little things done right can have enormous consequences. I am a cardiologist, and have saved patient’s lives simply by picking up lethal coronary disease before it killed the patient. I’ve also picked up potentially lethal cancers by being suspicious about a freckle that proved to be a melanoma that had not yet spread, and by being suspicious about a little blood in the stool that was from a colon cancer that was still resectable. Remember Princeton’s motto, “Princeton in the nation’s service, and in the service of all nations.” When one is a physician or nurse, one is in the service of all mankind, and lives that motto. Good luck!</p>
<p>Wow thank you so much for those words of wisdom! I feel so honored to hear such great advice from a successful physician. Sometimes I still question my decision because it was a hard one to make, but I know that I did what was right for me. If I am meant to be a doctor, it will happen regardless of where I go to college. </p>
<p>I love Princeton’s motto that you mentioned, and regardless of whether I choose to pursue medicine as a career, I plan to always pursue a career that is “in the nation’s service.” To hear from a doctor who took the Princeton path and succeeded is so comforting to me. Thank you so much for that! And I will certainly keep your advice in mind about the power to do good that a career in medicine provides as I journey through college and possibly medical school.</p>
<p>Good choice. ;)</p>
<p>haha thanks. :)</p>
<p>Thank for an inspiring read</p>