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He's a pre-med, who is studying for Step 1. My kind of gunner, for sure.


maninthemirror said:
I was wondering which book to use for studying pathology. Nowadays, almost everyone seems to universally recommend Rapid Review Pathology (3rd ed) by Goljan. However, I have also heard from many that the Saunders Text and Review Series (STARS) Pathology by Goljan was one of the best pathology review books ever written. My concern is that the STARS series is no longer in print and was published in 1998, quite old. Does anyone have any opinions regarding a comparison? Thanks.
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MIT. I'd imagine there are many more shadowing opportunities/ volunteer stuff in Boston. Plus, BU girls...
 
alienshards said:
MIT. I'd imagine there are many more shadowing opportunities/ volunteer stuff in Boston. Plus, BU girls...
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I would actually think that clinical volunteer opportunities would be very saturated in metropolitan areas.
 
Go to Princeton, nerd.
 
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Princeton would be your best bet. cheap, you said 95% acceptance rate, doesn't get better then that.
 
:vomit:
 
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maninthemirror said:
Cons for MIT: Not as much pre-med guidance as compared to Princeton. Lower medical school acceptance rate (around 75-80%)

Pros for Pton: Med school acceptance rate is >95%. More guidance, "better" name i guess?
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You need to be careful about this. My school has about a 90% acceptance rate, which seems great at first, but my dean also "strongly discourages" unqualified students from applying (sometimes they refuse to provide a committee letter for the students they think won't get accepted to med school). Some schools don't do this and let all of their students apply to med school (qualified or unqualified), so their acceptance rate may be a little lower. Not sure what Pton and MIT do, but this might be something to ask about. Just something to think about.
 
I made this same decision when I was heading to college (for what it's worth, I ended up choosing Pton, but I'm sure I would have been happy at either place).

To address a few points:

maninthemirror said:
Some things I've heard

Pros for MIT: More accessible to hospitals, better research opportunities, easier classes (if you're not an engineering major).
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I can't imagine that MIT has significantly less difficult classes than Princeton, but I suppose you can seek out classes with an easier reputation at either place. It's probably true that more hospitals are accessible in Boston - Princeton had one hospital within walking distance, but I think they're moving the Pton hospital to the next town over soon, but lots of students use summers/breaks for shadowing, etc. And you can borrow cars from the school for off-campus volunteering, which lots of people do.

Pton has great research opportunities for undergrads because it's an undergrad-friendly place, everyone has to do a thesis, there is often summer funding available, etc. One thing I've realized is that because Pton doesn't have a med school, you'll generally be doing more basic vs. translational/clinical research while you're there - so if you reeeally want to do clinical research, you might have to do that off-campus, over summers and whatnot. But overall, definitely good research experience readily available (and required! for thesis).

Cons for MIT: Not as much pre-med guidance as compared to Princeton. Lower medical school acceptance rate (around 75-80%)

Pros for Pton: Med school acceptance rate is >95%. More guidance, "better" name i guess?
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Pton's pre-med advising is quite good, in my experience. Accessible, honest, and generally helpful. It is true that they may discourage you from applying this cycle if you are truly not competitive, which may contribute to the high med school acceptance rate, but that's really just honest evaluation, which I appreciate. Nevertheless, I don't know that they'll actually straight-up turn you down if you desperately want to apply right now - besides, they've got a good idea (and years of data) about what kind of Pton student is successful in applying, and you've got good leeway. And they'll support you in exploring different ways to improve your candidacy if necessary.

When you are applying, they help keep you on the timeline, make suggestions about school choices, and are very timely with committee letters (unlike some other offices mentioned on SDN).

Cons for Pton: Grade deflation is a big one. I've heard mixed things about this. Some people say that even MIT has Grade deflation.
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Don't worry about this too much. Yes, the grade deflation policy exists, yes, people complain/debate/etc a lot. Its effect on you depends a lot on what classes you're taking, what professors you run into, etc. I can talk about the nuances, but I'm rambling on enough, so PM me if you want elaboration. Besides, from what I've heard, de-facto "grade deflation" exists at MIT because (1) people are taking largely engineering/natural science classes and (2) so many classes are friggin hard.

The other main thing is that for me, MIT will cost about 50k, whereas Princeton will cost about 25k a year.
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25k a year is a LOT of money, especially when you're considering going to med school - I'd advise you to go to Princeton. I liked lots of stuff about MIT (the culture, creativity, Boston, etc), even though I ultimately decided not to attend, but the money reeeeally tips the scale towards Pton.
 
maninthemirror said:
I love you guys. This account actually belongs to my older brother (who is actually a med student). I, however, am just a measly high school senior who's using this account just for this question. Some things I've heard

Pros for MIT: More accessible to hospitals, better research opportunities, easier classes (if you're not an engineering major).

Cons for MIT: Not as much pre-med guidance as compared to Princeton. Lower medical school acceptance rate (around 75-80%)

Pros for Pton: Med school acceptance rate is >95%. More guidance, "better" name i guess?

Cons for Pton: Grade deflation is a big one. I've heard mixed things about this. Some people say that even MIT has Grade deflation.

The other main thing is that for me, MIT will cost about 50k, whereas Princeton will cost about 25k a year.

Any suggestions and/or revisions or criticisms to what I have said above?
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I'd say Princeton, because of the cost. Don't go there because of the pre-med advising, though. SDN is better than any pre-med adviser I've ever talked to.

Another pro-MIT factor: MIT students are always coming up with neat inventions and ways to make the world work better. If you decided not to go pre-med, MIT would pretty much be the ideal place to be.. if you don't mind majoring in engineering or something similar.
 
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Cons for MIT: Not as much pre-med guidance as compared to Princeton. Lower medical school acceptance rate (around 75-80%).
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Not only that, but MIT grads [have to have?] higher gpa and higher mcat scores for med admission, which is counter-intuitive. No love for that eng school by med adcoms.
 
I have friends who have gone to these schools. I have heard that MIT is a bit of a grind, and the MIT students are under alot of stress and don't have as much fun as the students at Princeton. Both schools are great academically, but I think that you would have a more enjoyable college experience at Princeton and since it is less expensive, well, go to Princeton, unless you are a miserable masochist.
 
Forget about which school will give you better chances at med school. For all intents and purposes, you will have the same "chance" from either school.

That being said. Please go to Princeton.

Its cheaper, more prestigious, and better connected
 
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I would mail in that Princeton deposit so fast your head would spin. Princeton was always my favorite 😍

Both schools will be tough to get a high GPA. You are competing against some of the best students in the world. If medical schools aren't aware of this, then I am a fishstick.
 
Vandy Premed said:
I would mail in that Princeton deposit so fast your head would spin. Princeton was always my favorite 😍

Both schools will be tough to get a high GPA. You are competing against some of the best students in the world. If medical schools aren't aware of this, then I am a fishstick.
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I went bar-hopping with your avatar vandy premed.

Oh, and +1 more for Princeton. Welcome to jersey
 
alienshards said:
MIT. I'd imagine there are many more shadowing opportunities/ volunteer stuff in Boston. Plus, BU girls...
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You like J.A.P.s bro?

I think you'd get better company from Wellesley.
 
BC Girls > BU Girls

Almost every girl I run into while on the BC campus is a dime piece. When I was took a tour of BU I didn't see 1 really good looking girl.

MIT has it's own programs set up to help set you up with shadowing opportunities and what not, Princeton however being that much cheaper i'd say is more worth it. It has the big name with a low cost (in terms of most schools of it's stature).
 
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