integrated science

Colleges & Universities Princeton University
1

<p>I’m curious about the experience of students taking integrated science. Prospective students should know know that a significant number of freshmen (nearly half) dropped the program midyear, with more planning to quit at the end of the year. Why is that? Is this a good program that plans for such attrition, or is it a poorly devised program that can’t retain good students. Anyone?</p>

2

<p>I’m not taking integrated science, but I know many of the students. Most of the dropouts have cited that they are less interested in the material this year. I believe that the 2nd year is more directed towards biology, while last year was more concentrated on chemistry/physics/computer science.</p>

3

<p>there are several reasons people drop midyear–

  1. it’s A LOT of work, some people don’t want to spend that much time on a class, but its hard to drop integrated in the middle of the semester, since its two of your classes.
  2. some people decide that they are only interested in one of the sciences, or that they want a more traditional background-- ie you don’t learn all of freshman physics, only a subset–although that didnt hurt the physics majors who stuck with integrated
  3. They did really badly-- the material can be quite hard for people without a strong physics background
  4. They decide they aren’t interested in science</p>

<p>the program isn’t poorly designed-- they want only the people who are really committed to it to continue in the program. They are devoting a huge amount of time and resources to you, and they want you to actively choose to buy into their philosophy. I personally thought it was an amazing experience.</p>

4

<p>Regarding the integrated science students who stay with the program for two years - what do they go on to? Science majors or math, or comp. sci.?? I still don’t understand the high attrition rate. Losing half the students seems like it would be a problem.</p>

5

<p>how is it for pre-Meds?</p>

6

<p>people go on to a lot of different things-- mostly molbio and physics, but there have also been several EEB, ELE, COS, and chemistry majors. A large percentage of the people who do the two year sequence take the two other classes required for the QCB certificate. I’m not sure why you think the attrition rate is a problem-- they will never tell you to drop the class, it’s just not right for everyone, but if your goal is to go to graduate school in a biology related field (compbio, biophysics, etc), then it is a really great program. </p>

<p>If you are 100% sure that you want to be premed and that’s your dream, then it may not be the best program for you. The curriculum is not premed centered, and they actively force you to not worry about grades in the class. That makes the class nicer, but could be problematic if you need a very high gpa. However, if you are thinking about md/phd, or are unsure, then I think it is worth thinking about.</p>