Okay, so I was having lunch with a friend the other day, and we started talking about college. I told him I was interested in Princeton but because I wanted to be a doctor, I wasn’t sure if that was the best school because they don’t have a medical school.
When I told him this, he laughed and said, “Grace, if you graduated from Princeton you could get into any med school you wanted.”
I’ve thought about this a lot since then. Do you think Princeton would give you the advantage of getting accepted into any med school you want? Or would it not matter?
Okay, well obviously I realize that you wouldn’t get into a med school if your grades and test scores aren’t good enough. I figured that was given. I was just asking if graduating from an Ivy League like Princeton would help your application in any way. Thanks anyway @surfcity.
Ladygrace, GPA, MCAT and EC´s come first of course. Son sophomore at Pton, started in Engineering, switched to Mol Bio, now wants to go to Med School. His comments are that Pton is a top 10 school, as long as the GPA and MCAT and ECs are fine, he should be on track for a top 10 med school. A large percentage of Pton students go to med school, even though there is no premed major nor a Med School. To answer your question, graduating from an Ivy will clearly enhance your chances for entrance to any type of doctoral program…all things being equal.
As a matter of fact going to a school known for grade deflation like Princeton will make it harder for you to get into med school. The grade situation has gotten better in recent years at Princeton but the science GPA and MCAT scores will be the primary determinants of admission.
Simply having an Ivy League degree is not going to cut it. You have to show good grades.
Princeton has ended grade deflation and Princeton students have a very high rate of acceptance at medical schools (between 90-92% usually). While I agree that a student might get a higher GPA at a school that is generally easier, I truly believe that the Princeton educational experience is very very strong and that most students will get into a very good medical school.
My daughter attended Princeton during grade deflation. She was not pre-med, but Psych with a Neuroscience certificate. She finished her pre-med requirements at Drexel while working full-time for several years. Her MCATS were not high (very hard to learn enough Orgo at night for MCATs, I think) but she was still accepted at a top 15 med school.