Hi I am a senior applying to Brown university and I am really conflicted on whether I should apply to Brown PLME. I really like the program a lot but it is already January 3 and I have not started on essays. I will apply if applying to PLME does not hurt my chances, but I feel like it probably does and I am still not 100% sure about going into medicine. Can anyone give me advice on this?
If you are not 99% sure (nobody is ever 100% sure about anything) about going into medicine, do NOT apply PLME. The program exists to train future physicians, who also get a strong liberal arts/humanities education. It is not a good way to decide “Do I love medicine or do I want to become a speech therapist or museum curator”.
There is nothing wrong with not knowing what you want to be when you grow up And you can STILL become a physician by getting a bachelor’s degree and applying to med school.
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https://www.brown.edu/academics/medical/plme/information-prospective-students/admission
Always helps to go to the source.
I interview a lot of PLME applicants each year. The majority are well-prepared, focused, and dedicated to a career in medicine. Hardly any of those, even, are admitted. So as @blossom says, not the right program for someone wondering whether medicine might be something they would like.
Give some thought as to whether building even a non-PLME application around medicine would weaken it. Is there something else that could be focused on which would present stronger? If you are admitted to The College (Brown undergrad) – for whatever potential area of study – you will then have access to premed courses and can find out as you begin taking them whether a premedical course of study is right for you.
No, but there was a Google Hangouts on Air video from the early 2010s (Hangout On Air with Brown University Admissions Officers: "What Happens After You Press Submit" - YouTube) that I watched where an AO said that they review your PLME essays as well, not just the PLME admissions committee. So apply if you have the time to make sure your essays are as well written as your main supplements.
but PLME has no interview?
There haven’t been any interviews for Brown undergraduate admission – PLME or otherwise – in the last two years. Applicants do have the option of submitting a “video introduction”, which is free-form to within a two-minute length limit.