Penn vs. Princeton

SusieBra
Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:49:19 +0000

I had to deal with this issue not too long ago (although I’m not pre-med). Penn and Princeton are two completely different schools. At Penn, you don’t need to do Vagelos to be Pre-Med. Many Pre-Med kids to CAS. Vagelos gives you a lot more than you need for pre-med and it’s usually great if you’re interested in making a career of scholarly scientific pursuit. Penn is also great because we have lots of research funding and the Medical School and University of Pennsylvania Hospital right there.

You can be pre-med anywhere. I mean my doctor went to Princeton and then University of Illinois College of Medicine, and he’s a good doctor. But I’m going to have a doctor in Philadelphia now that I’m living in Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania Hospital is amazing.

My doctor always complained about how hard Princeton was and that’s why he couldn’t go to a better med school. That didn’t influence my decision though because he was there pre-grade deflation, so whatever he went through must have been nothing. That said, my mom’s cousin was at Princeton and was pre-med and had to transfer to Hopkins because she said it was way too competitive and she used to cry all the time and make her parents come from Long Island to visit her. When people used to study, others would purposefully not return the books so that others would have to wait. Even after having to transfer, it worked out well for her in the end because now she’s a cardiologist at Hopkins.

But you also have to consider the environments, which are very different. You might like the environment at Princeton- it’s a very large suburban campus. Or you might prefer the environment at Penn- a medium-sized campus that’s kind of like a “bubble” within the city. It’s in a very safe area of the city. But, it’s going to depend on what you like, ultimately.

I liked the one-university policy at Penn because I would have access to the law school and other graduate schools. Additionally, I liked the flexibility with living- you can have the traditional dorm scene at the Quad or enjoy apartment style living in Harrison through Freshman Experience.

I also liked CURF and all the amazing research opportunities.

Penn was for me, and is for many pre-med students, but in the end, the choice is yours. It’s a very personal decision.

And finally: Early Decision- it does give you an advantage because it shows the utmost interest because in applying ED, you are telling Penn that it’s your first choice.