I’ve been accepted into Princeton Univesity, Williams College, and Bowdoin College and I’m having a really tough time making a decision. Any help would be greatly appreciated including pros and cons of going to each school. I want to go on a premed track so keep that in mind with your answers. Thanks a lot guys and I wish the best of luck to all of you!
For pre-med it’s a wash. Surprisingly, life as a science student doesn’t really vary that much among top schools. You’re going to have to work your derriere off to earn an A in any but a handful of courses you take. All three have their own peculiar bubble; you can get just as swept up by being a Princeton Tiger for the rest of your life as you can being an “Eph” or a Polar Bear. Princeton is closer to New York City. Williams is closer to ski country. Bowdoin reportedly has the best cafeteria food in the country. All of this is a way of dancing around the fact that Princeton is one of the most instantly recognizable college names in the world. If that’s important, then the choice is clear. If it’s not, then you really should be packing your bags in order to visit all three. Full disclosure: I’m a ‘potted ivy’ grad from way back and I’ve never regretted not having who I am constantly defined by where I went to college.
Pick where you will be happiest. Also, medical extracurriculars are very important. You have to figure out which school has the most to offer with the least competition.
Bowdoin might actually be the best pick given its proximity to Lewiston and Portland and fewer students in the area.
really? I could see having a tough time between Bowdoin and Williams, but Princeton is so entirely different. It’s huge in comparison and the town is more like a city when put up against the rural hamlet of Brunswick or Williamstown.
Compare curriculum and revisit each. If you are still having a difficult time making your decision, then return to CC.
First, congratulations! Those are three premier institutions right there, and in terms of educational quality and positioning yourself well to get accepted to med school, you really can’t go wrong. This may sound silly given you’re facing such an abundance of excellent choices, but you have my sympathies. My daughter was in almost exactly your shoes four years ago and she really agonized over her decision. I’ll tell you the same thing I told her when she was really starting to freak out the last week in April – the good news is there’s no way to screw this up. Whichever of those you pick, it will be amazing if you take full advantage of your opportunities.
A couple more random thoughts:
I’m with @circuitrider here – try to block out the various voices around you that react with incredulity that you’d even consider not going to Princeton given your choices. My D heard from plenty of them, and they’re not helpful, nor typically very well informed.
Are you in a position to go to any of the admitted students’ days? My daughter did overnights at all her top contenders and found them quite helpful.
I’d suggest trying to answer the “If I decide on one of the LAC’s, which is my favorite?” question first, and then grapple with the LAC vs Princeton question.
Finally, if you’re really deadlocked, tie goes to the cheaper school isn’t a terrible rule to fall back on.
What great options! Have you visited each one? Is the cost to attend each one similar for you?
Princeton has the largest number of students, more than double the size of Williams and Bowdoin. Bowdoin is the smallest. Princeton and Williams also have graduate students, while Bowdoin is only undergraduates.
Are there any extracurricular activities you plan to participate in, and are there opportunities at each school?
Williams is in the most remote location. Is getting to and from school going to be an issue?
Can you attend the admitted student events?
Sometimes you can choose by thinking about which one you feel the worst about by declining, if that makes sense. The one you can’t let go of.
They are all fabulous schools and I don’t think you can make a bad choice. All three have programs in place to advise pre-med students. Can’t find the statistics for Williams, but Bowdoin and Princeton have high acceptance rates for students who apply to medical school (above 80%).
@college-query Those medical school acceptance statistics don’t tell the full story. Other questions that need to be asked include:
–What % of students who start off as pre-med actually apply to med school. What % switch to another path?
–Does the school only count the students who they approve for med school admissions in those admission statistics or is any student who filled the prerequisites allowed to apply to med school with the full support of the undergraduate institution? If the school essentially pre-approves med school applications, what are the parameters? (the answer is not the same at every school)
To the OP…I would go with your personal preference. Princeton or Williams would be my two top choices depending on the environment you prefer. From your black and orange icon it looks like you have your heart set on Princeton and if so there is no reason to waver from that. Congratulations.
As universities go, Princeton has a very strong undergraduate focus, perhaps the strongest in the country. Even at that, however, it cannot quite match your other options in this regard, especially when compared, for example, to Williams’ tutorials.
Williams and Bowdoin receive mentions in an online list, “The Experts’ Choice: Colleges with Great Pre-med Programs.” The list’s methodology appears to relate to a pre-existing book, though beyond that I’m not familiar with its basis.
In terms of name recognition, well I’ve heard of all three of these schools. I think, then, that it wouldn’t be literal English for me to say that I’ve heard of any one or two of them any more so than the other one or two.
Judging by the website, Williams doesn’t appear to have a separate office for pre-med advising, which might indicate the pre-med track is not populated with many students. In comparison, Bowdoin has a separate office with one advisor listed while Bates has three advisors listed in the pre-med advising office.
It would be interesting to see how many students from Williams actually go to medical school in comparison to the others.
First, congratulations! Second, is there a significant cost differential among the three choices? Third, there really isn’t a bad pick here.
Regarding internships, etc., I’m sure you know that Bowdoin is very close to Portland (30 mins.) and easily accessible by train. Princeton by train to Philly or Manhattan will take a good 1.5 hours. Can’t remember if that involves switching trains en route or not.
If you are not absolutely sure that premed is where you are headed (many students end up switching), a larger school with more choice of majors/programs/faculty might be worth considering, ie Princeton.
^^Princeton Junction by train to Philly is 45 mins. tops. An hour if you’re headed for New York City. There’s probably a connecting train that will take you to the town, but you can easily cab it.
The trip from Princeton to NYC can vary dramatically depending when you go. Up to 2 hours is possible and that gets you to Penn Station, not likely your ultimate destination.
I may sound silly, but why bring up NY or Philly. Williams and Bowdoin are both substantially further away from Boston and NY. Portland cannot be compared to any of these cities. In 2013, the population in Portland was 66,000+ and the “town” of Princeton, NJ was 29,000+. Even with Princeton being half the size of Portland, it is still substantially closer in size.
This should come down to $ (which i’m assuming isn’t an issue since it wasn’t brought up as part of the equation), curriculum, perhaps a professor one wants to work with, pre-med track, internship opportunities, etc…as well as basic fit/feel for environment.
Thank you all so much for all the kind words and help! I’m still trying to figure out what I like best as I just visited Williams today, but I’m not sure!! I’ll keep you all posted, thank you!
Though the schools are different (but the athletic conferences are analogous), this perspective may be applicable. When then mayor, now Massachusetts governor, was asked by the Boston Globe to take the Proust Questionnaire, he responded as follows:
Q: What is your greatest regret?
A: Not going to Hamilton College. I never really felt comfortable at Harvard.
So make sure you feel comfortable – in ways that matter to you – at whichever school you choose.
Re #14, intended as “then candidate.”