<p>DD has been accepted to both and visited Preview at Princeton last weekend. She enjoyed it immensely and is deciding between P and S and Penn for her final choice. She was also accepted at JHU as Hodson Scholar and Rice ( Century and Trustee Scholar). Socially all are a good fit for her - she appreciates their differences and is easily adaptable. She is very interested in becoming a physician, has done some cancer research at a local research hospital and has a keen interest in writing and journalism. Some questions she has posed (and has read a lot of the threads here at CC about the difficulty of being pre-med at P): 1) Is it possible to travel abroad for a year with the rigors of being pre-med at P? She would really like to take the opportunity to do so. 2) She is thinking about Molecular Bio major, but she also likes the idea of WW Public Policy/International Affairs, or Economics as major while taking pre-med courses. She likes the Certificates in Public Health Policy or Creative Writing. How doable is this realistically ? 3) How much flexibility do the pre-meds have in taking humanities courses for interdisciplinary studies with science coursework? 4) Is the research for undergraduates at Princeton geared toward medical research? She was told research opportunities are not as available to Freshmen and are usually reserved for upperclassmen. Is this accurate? 5) She is coming from a high school with rigorous prep program and is used to the grade deflated stress, but would welcome a break from this and enjoy her undergraduate experience. She is really quite impressed with S's Human Biology major which has an interdisciplinary approach. Would Princeton's Molecular Biology have a similar approach or is there some flexibility in tailoring some courses that might be similar to S's curriculum? 6) Lastly, her ideal would be to attend Princeton for undergraduate and S for graduate school since she would like to work in northern CA (of course that could change). Does Princeton get very many graduates into S or UCSF medical schools? Should she re-consider JHU's program (the Public Health Policy program is impressive) since she is very interested in this, but she likes the culture of S and P and Penn better, and in case she changes her major, she knows she will benefit from an exceptional education. Thanks in advance for your replies.</p>
<p>1) Yes, but it’s probably harder to do at Princeton because of independent work.
2) I’m an econ major pre-med. It’s definitely doable. I’m also getting a certificate in Global Health and Health Policy, which is related to WW.
3) Lots of flexibility. I know plenty of sociology/anthropology pre-meds.
4) She was wrong. I did research as a freshman - it’s really easy to get a research position here with the faculty, even if you’re a freshman. Not like you learn that much your freshman/sophomore year anyway that’ll suddenly turn you into a competent researcher.
5) Mol Bio department here is definitely not very interdisciplinary. And if she wants a break from grade deflation stress, Princeton’s not someplace she’ll find it lol.
6) Eh, we get a good amount. We have ridiculously good acceptance rates to Penn and Hopkins for med school, but I’m sure our placement into UCSF and Stanford are very good as well. Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale are all equal in terms of pre-med placement in top medical schools. Although I’d argue premeds at Princeton work harder to get good grades…</p>
<p>My advice: go to Stanford. High grade inflation, high acceptance to top medical schools, California weather - should be any pre-med’s dream school.</p>
<p>Thank you so much randombetch-your replies and honesty are appreciated. Still-there is the incredibly special environment at Princeton that is unmatched! Are you enjoying your Economics/ Global Health Policy certificate work? Any professors you recommend she contact if she has any further questions? Was your research medical related? Also she has heard about senior journalism seminar? Is that for certain majors only? You may PM us if needed. Thanks again.</p>
<ol>
<li> I would advise your DD to contact the Office of International Programs to discuss study abroad programs. The university has agreements with universities such as Oxford to make international study possible.
[OIP:</a> OIP Home](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/oip/home/]OIP:”>Office of International Programs)<br></li>
<li> Students can take one or many more creative writing courses.</li>
<li> Princeton premeds majoring in the humanities or social sciences had just as much success getting into med school in previous years as the science majors.</li>
<li> There are many science options for premeds. Engineering Biology is is designed for those highly motivated students who are interested in pursuing careers or graduate education in the areas of biotechnology or bioengineering. About a third of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering faculty focus a significant portion of their research on questions related to biology. Bioengineering and biotechnology are the two most popular tracks within the department. The Princeton Physical Sciences-Oncology Center’s study the evolution of E. coli bacteria and human cancer cell lines. The center’s goal is to understand the explosive evolution of cancer under stress at a deep theoretical and experimental level by leveraging the strengths of an interdisciplinary team of physicists, engineers, chemists, biochemists and oncologists. The Program in Biophysics is designed for students with strong interests in molecular biology and physics who wish to combine these two subjects in their junior and senior independent work. The program encourages the serious study of cellular, molecular, and developmental biology as it interfaces with the physical sciences. Independent research enables a student to combine engineering, physics, chemistry, math or other disciplines with molecular biology.</li>
</ol>
<p>Thank you PtonAlumnus-very encouraging replies. DD will definitely look in the OPI and the Physical Sciences-Oncology Center. Thanks for both replies and crossing my fingers for a decision soon!</p>
<p>Princeton has pioneered an integrated science curriculum for science majors. This program is outlined here:
[Princeton</a> University - Integrated Science - Overview](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/integratedscience/]Princeton”>Integrated Science Curriculum | Lewis-Sigler Institute) </p>
<p>The Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics is very much an integrated science approach.
[Program</a> in Quantitative and Computational Biology - Undergraduate Announcement](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/pub/ua/qcb/]Program”>http://www.princeton.edu/pub/ua/qcb/) </p>
<p>Here is some information on pre-meds studying abroad.
[Health</a> Professions Advising - Princeton University](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/hpa/QofW_study_abroad.html]Health”>http://www.princeton.edu/hpa/QofW_study_abroad.html) </p>
<p>This should be enough material to keep your DD busy reading for a while.</p>
<p>The research opportunities in Molecular Biology are outlined here:
[Princeton</a> University - Department of Molecular Biology - Research Opportunities](<a href=“Department of Molecular Biology”>Department of Molecular Biology) </p>
<p>You said that your DD was also interested in economics. Uwe E. Reinhardt is the James Madison Professor of Political Economy in the Woodrow Wilson School. He is a leading health policy expert who has advised various state and international bodies, including the World Bank, the congressional Physician Payment Review Commission, the Veteran’s Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Recently Professor Reinhardt teamed up with former senate majority leader Dr. Bill Frist '74 (Harvard Med & Stanford residency) to teach The Political Economy and Health Systems.</p>
<p>Sorry I cannot find the link, perhaps someone else has the link, but Princeton was ranked higher than Stanford by the WSJ as a feeder university to the top med, law, and business schools. Penn is way way back. Each year between 90% and 95% of Princeton pre-meds go on to medical school.</p>
<p>The requirement to do independent research sets Princeton apart from other universities. If DD wants to be prepared to do medical research Princeton’s thesis is an excellent preparation; if that requirement scares her she should go elsewhere.</p>