making an EA/ED choice. any input appreciated!
Neither is objectively better, independent of the individual student. Neither is more or less likely to propel you to med school. If you’re accomplished enough to get into these schools, you’re capable of getting to med school, and either one will prepare you well. Assuming that both are affordable for you (because going into debt before you even get to med school is a bad idea), choose the one where you think you’d be happier. Which one that is depends entirely on you.
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Remember that getting into med school is very reliant on a high GPA. It might be convincingly argued that Princeton will be the easier school to get high grades.
I agree with @aquapt … apply where you want to be. Assuming you’re at a coin toss on location…
Princeton’s EA is single-choice, so you can only apply to Princeton if you EA there. For all intents and purposes…it’s ED.
Princeton accepted 13% of the EA applications last year, and that filled ~60% of the incoming class.
Williams accepted 33% of the ED applications.
Knowing nothing about you, if Princeton is your dream school, then (as you know) EA is a chance to improve your odds… appreciating that EA at Princeton will jeopardize your chances at Williams. If you want to make sure you get into one of these two, then ED’ing at Williams would seem the most likely way of getting into either school.
Good luck.
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Easier or get higher grades at Princeton? I thought Princeton notoriously difficult with grading? thx!
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thank you–yes, that is the puzzle!
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Princeton has grade inflation. Many elite LACs are known for grade deflation. Either school will get you where you want to go, but as I said, you will need very high grades.
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As one perspective to consider, this site includes both Princeton and Williams:
@Lindagaf Princeton historically had grade DEFLATION. several years ago the school made the decision to change that but reports are that it still lingers.
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Excellent. Choose the one you’d be happiest at.
I have no idea if this is most current, but this is from last year. https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2020/01/the-decline-and-fall-of-grade-deflation
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This link provides more relevant data. But it only focuses on top 30 colleges and its second table adjusted for class size was using the university size instead of college size.
I would say based on the data Princeton statistically offers a better chance if you can get into both schools.
Princeton EA is non binding, so it is not ED. Applicants can also apply to non binding EA at public schools, and RD or rolling wherever. But applicants agree not to apply ED elsewhere, or EA to other private schools.
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The college transitions data only looked at 7500 of the 22K med school matriculants (assuming it’s 2020 data which they don’t say). I don’t know if that would change the results, but certainly there are grads from selective colleges attending non-top 25 med schools. Using LinkedIn and only considering 30% of the pool is incomplete, at best.
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There’s a good possibility you could be rejected from both schools. Premed isn’t something to focus on right now anyway. The vast majority of premed students don’t go to medical school, because they find they have passions in other things. Just find an affordable university. If you happen to decide medicine, your grades and scores will speak for themselves.
And by the way, every class and professor is different. There’s no possible way to know if your grades “would be” better attending one school over another. You just have to study and work hard.
Princeton doesn’t have grade inflation. Although they’ve officially done away with grade deflation in 2014 and in ensuing years the average GPA has climbed up a bit, they’re still the last among the Ivy League institutions in the average GPA rankings. The grade inflation/deflation needs to be within the context. Within Princeton, yes, there’s grade inflation, that is, since 2014, but within the context of peer institution comparisons, there’s still grade deflation at Princeton.
My son ('22) is a pre-med at Princeton, and it’s this lingering practice of grade deflation is what caused me to sometimes wonder whether he should have chosen Williams, instead, as Princeton and Williams were the final two choices before my son decided to commit to Princeton. He has now completed all of the pre-med required courses, but he has had to work his butts off just to achieve the average GPA of medical school entrants. Of course, what GPA you get depends on the individual student, but to associate Princeton with grade inflation cannot be any more inaccurate. Would my son have done better at Williams? Who knows, but GPA isn’t everything even for the pre-meds and pre-med is difficult no matter the institution.
Whether to ED at Williams or EA at Princeton is a tough call. The high percentage of ED acceptance at Williams can’t be disregarded. If the OP can be thoroughly happy and content being at Williams without looking back with second thoughts about Princeton, then ED at Williams; if the OP’s academic and EC credentials are strongly competitive to suggest a decent shot at not only Princeton and Williams but their peer institutions, as well, then taking a chance with EA at Princeton and RD at Williams (and Princeton if deferred) and other institutions wouldn’t be a bad choice. My son did neither ED at Williams nor EA at Princeton.
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Does location matter at all to you? Williams is like a small mountain resort town and can feel a bit isolated. The student population at Princeton is about the same as the entire Williamstown, about 8k. Williams College has 2k students, with 54 graduate students. Princeton has nearly 3k graduate students, which is something to consider if you are competing for opportunities for internships, research, etc.
There is no arguing they are both fine schools, but you should consider which environment would enhance your experience.
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I would focus less on perceived grade inflation/deflation and more on the concrete differences between the two.
For example, all Princeton students are required to complete a junior paper/project and a senior thesis, whereas a senior thesis is optional at Williams. As another example, Williams permits students to pursue more than one major, whereas Princeton restricts students to a single major (although there are certificate programs).
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Princeton is non-binding, but exclusive…meaning you can’t apply to other colleges unless they are rolling admission at a state school, not EA. From Princeton’s site…
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If you apply single-choice early action, also known as restrictive early action, on Nov. 1, you may not apply to an early program at any other private college or university.
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You may apply early to any public institution or service academy, as long as the decision is nonbinding.
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You may apply early to any international institution, as long as the decision is nonbinding.
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You may apply early to any college or university with a nonbinding rolling admission process.
So given the limitations of EA applications that go with Princeton’s app, how many people would you imagine get accepted EA at Princeton, and then apply someplace else? I’d guess maybe a handful per year?
As I said before, for all intents and purposes, given the limitations on applying elsewhere, EA at Princeton might as well be ED. You get in, before applying anywhere else, you HAVE to go! Money might be the only reason people pull out, and that would hold up even at a school with ED.
It would not be surprising if many Princeton (SC)EA applicants also applied EA to public universities that had them, or early to rolling admissions schools, in order to try to get an early safety in the case they do not get admitted to Princeton. It is not like they apply to Princeton (SC)EA and nowhere else until knowing the Princeton result. While yield is high, it probably is not as high as for ED admits at schools which use ED, since some may have changed their first choice between applying to Princeton (SC)EA and April/May.
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Almost everyone we know applies to Rutgers New Brunswick as the ultimate backup plan. These kids are all Ivy/LAC, but they get it out of the way early. My kids were accepted to Rutgers about 10 days after applying (they were accepted in October I think). Rutgers RD deadline is December 1…so waiting on Princeton EA results would be a problem.
I agree there aren’t a lot of people planning on Rutgers while applying to Princeton…but you have to if you’re looking to keep options open.