Northwestern HPME vs. Princeton vs. Vanderbilt

Sam_Lee
Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:54:37 +0000

^To be honest, this whole thread seems to be based on such ridiculous assumption as if there’s such thing called “Princeton experience” and then everything else. I agree that the experience in Princeton is unique in the sense that you can’t replicate that in other schools but that’s no difference in saying other schools provide unique experience too. Maybe the experience is a little “better” than other peers on average, but I can’t imagine the difference is huge. I also can’t imagaine a HPME would enjoy NU less than an average premed at Princeton. If that’s the case, then the NU experience for regular premeds must be hellish compared to Princeton. That sounds like a BS to me.

If Princeton “experience” is so great, then why when it comes to Princeton vs Yale/Harvard/Stanford, that “experience” all of a sudden disappears or pales in the discussion? Is there Yale experience, Harvard experience, or Stanford experience too? I think this whole talk is more about prestige than the actual experience (substance) and maybe the thing that “remain part of your character and fabric the rest of your life” (post #73) is more about the “ego/vanity” than the actual experience.