<p>I am interested in becoming a doctor, and for awhile I have been interested in applying to Princeton university. I am aware that they have no formal medical program for undergraduates, however, I have been informed that to get into medical school I have to take certain classes (I.e: Biology w/ lab).</p>
<p>Does Princeton carry the classes required to take the MCAT? Thanks!</p>
<p>The classes “required” to take the MCAT are essentially the basic sciences. So yes, Princeton has it covered…as well as pretty much every college/university (pre-med track).</p>
<p>Princeton Pre-Med</p>
<p>[Health</a> Professions Advising - Princeton University](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/hpa/premed.html]Health”>http://www.princeton.edu/hpa/premed.html)</p>
<p>make sure that you review all the tabs under each heading near the top - very informative.</p>
<p>Princeton, in fact, offers a certificate in “Pre-Medical Studies.” One of the requirements to graduate from the esteemed pre-medical program is to take the MCAT course as a senior, in lieu of your senior thesis. Since the MCAT has such numerous pre-requisite courses (more courses at Princeton than at other institutions), it has never been heard of for a student to complete the MCAT before his/her final semester at Princeton.</p>
<p>Thus, if you are applying to medical school out of Princeton, you must be prepared to apply after taking the MCAT in your senior year. What that means is that you can’t apply until after graduation, and thus it is not possible for a pre-medical student at Princeton to go directly from undergraduate to medical school.</p>
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<p>Newest, I’m afraid that you are badly misinformed here. A great many Princeton students go directly to medical school after graduation. Of those going to medical school, about 50% start in the fall after they have graduated. The other 50% take a year off (often known as a “glide year”.) Those who go directly to medical school after graduation simply take their MCATs earlier.</p>
<p>“Applying to medical school is a complex process starting in the spring of the year before you wish to matriculate (approx. 18 months prior). Roughly 50% of Princeton applicants elect to take one year off prior to matriculation at a medical school, waiting until after senior year to apply (there are often many advantages to doing this). You can hold off on knowing most of the details until the year you apply, but there are two exceptionsissues you may want to think about as early as possible: timing the MCAT and gathering letters of recommendation.”</p>
<p>[Health</a> Professions Advising - Princeton University](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/hpa/premed.html]Health”>http://www.princeton.edu/hpa/premed.html)</p>
<p>I think he was just posting a sarcastic response to what he thought was a stupid question…</p>
<p>This might be a stupid question, but wouldn’t students want to know before they graduate whether they got into the med schools of their choice?</p>
<p>this way if they get shut out they can make other plans while still in school.</p>
<p>Many top medical schools do not release decisions until March or April, so even those students who apply while in school would not find out where they got in until they only have about a month before graduation. That doesn’t really leave any time to make alternate plans.</p>
<p>I’m afraid Newst/Newb’s comments are completely incorrect. Princeton is an outstanding place for a premedical student. There is no certificate in pre-medical studies, rather there is a Certificate in Global Health & Health Policy, which is not required to apply to medical schools. I turned down an integrated 5 year BS/MD program to go to Princeton, from which I graduated in 1978, and went directly on to medical school at The University of Pennsylvania. I will be forever glad that I went to Princeton, and the fact that there is no defined premedical track is a good thing. There is no problem in taking the prerequisites for the MCAT and medical school, and Princeton does not steer students into a predefined major as do some colleges with formal premedical programs. At Princeton, one can major in whatever one wishes, and still apply to medical school, as long as one has taken the required classes. In my era, some colleges overtly discouraged certain students from applying to medical school, in order to pull up the percentage of applicants who were accepted. Princeton did not. We had plenty of English and Art History majors get into medical school, along with the hard scientists like me.</p>
<p>I can also assure you that you can take the MCAT and apply to medical school before graduation, earlier this year I participated in a career seminar at Princeton, and spoke with a number of students who had already been accepted to medical school, and were waiting on other acceptance notices before deciding where to go. They had yet to graduate, but already knew they would get to be physicians.</p>
<p>The great thing about Princeton is that it combines the facility and opportunities of a large university with the personal scale of a liberal arts college. Since you will hopefully be spending 4 years in medical school, having 4 years of a great undergraduate experience is a good idea. My advice is to look at a number of colleges, apply where you want to, and go to wherever you feel you will be happiest. Good luck.</p>
<p>Did no one else realize newest newb’s post was sarcastic? :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Newest newb goes to Princeton. He was obviously kidding/sarcastic.</p>
<p>Cut them some slack. Sarcasmeters weren’t invented until after 2000.</p>
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<p>um, I don’t think he was obviously kidding/being sarcastic.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone!</p>
<p>At first I thought about not applying to princeton, because I was scared of a university without a pre-medical track. However, I will definitely reconsider it.</p>
<p>You know what I just noticed (crossing my fingers, hoping this doesn’t happen after I post this) – german_car hasn’t said anything in a while, and this would be the perfect thread for him to do so. So, if he continues not to post, yay!</p>
<p>Just thought I’d point that out.</p>
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<p>Sorry, obvious to anyone who knows anything about Princeton’s curriculum/mission/certificate programs and obvious to anyone who knows anything about being applying to medical school.</p>
<p>Take the MCAT course in lieu of your senior thesis? And “thus it is not possible for a pre-medical student at Princeton to go directly from undergraduate to medical school.” Are these really not dead giveaways?</p>
<p>Another good reason to apply to Princeton is the generous financial aid policy, including the commitment to meet financial need without the use of loans. Unfortunately the cost of medical school has skyrocketed, and unlike my era, current loans are not automatically deferred without accumulation of interest during training. My medical school loans were deferred without interest during residency, I made payments during a year that I worked as an ER physician between my medical residency and cardiology fellowship. When I started cardiology training, I simply sent a letter to the bank that I was back in training - and the loans were deferred without interest for the next 3 years.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, those days are over, and I am horrified by the debt loads carried by my residents and younger colleagues. Given that Princeton tries to get its’ students out of college without debt, that will hopefully reduce the total cost of college and medical school.</p>