<p>Hey guys, I'm a columbia'12 (got a likely letter), admitted into MIT and threw Princeton into the bunch just to get a general idea, eventhough I expect a rejection. But my question is which school would be the best place for premed. I want to be able to do research, get a nice science background, get to know professors, and obviously get into Med school. After some research I've came up with this:</p>
<p>MIT: Research is by far the best available in the country in my opinion b/c of their UROP program, which pretty much allows freshmen to seniors to do research and get really involved. Downside, no med school thus junior and senior courses might not be as interesting. And its an engineering school, so i'm concerned that the people there might not be as knowledgeable as other schools with a Med school (this is what i've heard about premed advising, so correct me if i'm wrong) And MIT has grade-deflation, but it prepares you well for you MCAT, so....</p>
<p>Columbia: You get a core, which can make as well-rounded as possible. But that doesn't mean as much as the Med school, where you can cross-register you junior and senior year, which make classes selection really interesting. And you really get to experience how Med school is by talking to med students and learn what it takes to get in. Classes tend to be easier relative to MIT and Princeton, but I don't know. And a lot of classes are taught by TA's which may or maynot suck (sorry for the language).Your in New York City, which i don't know how much a factor this could be to premed...</p>
<p>Princeton: Not as specialized as the other school. But you get really attention from the professors vs classes that are taught by TA's. But the downside, major grade-deflation, and unlike MIT, there seems to be some competitiveness between students. And No med school.</p>
<p>So as you guys can probable see, I'm really torn about which school would be the best place for premed students, even though all three a great schools. This thread got a little long, but input would be great. Thanks!</p>
<p>I have two close friends at MIT, and from what they told me it seems that if you do not intend to do engineering/math, it would be wise not to attend. This is because of the core classes that are required of all majors, and which might very well destroy your GPA. If you want to get an MD and do bioengineering research or something like that, it would be the place to go.</p>
<p>MIT and Princeton are both now known for grade deflation, which kind of shoots you in the foot for med school.</p>
<p>Not saying it's not possible to go to Princeton or MIT and get to med school, as there are plenty of smart people there that do, but you may be making things harder for yourself by going to one of those schools.</p>
<p>I know a lot of people who do research at the med school as early as freshman year at columbia. You major classes are not taught by TAs, only the small sections of the Core are, like Lit Hum, University Writing, and CC, all of which are nice small classes. It's much easier to do premed in SEAS than CC because more of the requirements match up, however, I know many many many pre-meds in CC.</p>
<p>MIT: probably the best at research, but it is a very one sided campus. they rock at engineering and science, but for med school I don't see a distinct advantage. med schools like well rounded individuals, isn't all about the math and science.</p>
<p>Columbia: virtually none of the science classes are taught by TAs, and actually very few classes are taugh by TAs period. Maybe university writing, but then you want a TA, because they're more fun. the difference is, on average princeton would have smaller classes, at columbia you might have a big lecture and then attend a recitation with a TA to reinforce ideas. research opps are fcking abundant, tons of research available, i know of no-one who failed to secure something when they wanted it. The difference is that at MIT it's more of the norm to do research. At columbia half the kids just aren't interested in academic research, but a large proportion still are.</p>
<p>Princeton: new policy caps % of As in a class at 30%, so complaints of competitiveness are rife, I'd say princeton is a great option if you get in, there isn't really a downside unless you must take med school classes, or can't stand the deflation. If you don't want to be in NYC i'd say princeton's a no brainer. Research opps are comparable to the other two.</p>
<p>Thanks guys,
So what you guys are saying is that TA's don't teach none of the science/premed classes which is good. And that research is abundant. But what other people from Princeton/MIT are arguing is that even if Columbia has the med school, you will probably only take 0-2 classes there. Any comment on this, thanks for the info guys.</p>
<p>Consider the downside. I knew very many people who came into college swearing that they would be premed, for any of various reasons - many of which boiled down to parental pressure about money or prestige. A great many of them decided later that they wanted to try another path or that, after years of consideration, it wasn't for them after all. Now, what does each school offer you in terms of mitigating that risk to you? Columbia will be giving you a diverse education in many different fields, and you'll have the opportunity to take classes in a host of world-class departments and move quite easily between them no matter what you want to do. MIT is more specialized, and once you go down the premed road it may be harder to switch to whatever you decide your passion is.</p>
<p>The other point is that many premed or neuroscience undergrads I knew at columbia spent significant time up at the med school, doing research, assisting professors, getting summer internships, etc. You may not be an actual doctor or taking MD classes but you can get a lot of value out of being at the same university as the med school.</p>
<p>Even if you're not taking med school classes until later, you will have the opportunity to be doing serious research at the med school (or in bio) from the first year you get here. That also sets you up for potential recommendations from medical school professors, which I'd imagine are helpful.</p>
<p>Grade inflation (especially in larger classes) will help too. But that's a more dubious benefit.</p>