Preparing Your Candidacy for Pre-Health Seniors

Most of our applicants apply senior year (or later) and take a “glide” or “gap” year or years between Princeton and professional school for a variety of reasons.

Senior year should be a continued time for gaining leadership experience, fostering relationships with faculty and others who will write your letters of recommendation in the future, and ensuring that medicine is truly right for you, through clinical experience, self-reflection, and talking with mentors about your plans. It will also include finishing your thesis and determining what to do in your time after Princeton and before professional school.

Any student considering applying should attend an HPA Applicant Info Session in the fall semester. Dates will be announced via Vitals and on Facebook.

Other resources to provide guidance:

Seniors To Do List

  • Come to an Applicant Workshop.
  • Schedule an Applicant Intake appointment to discuss candidacy.
  • Ask for letters of recommendation.
  • If taking one "glide year": Prepare pre-application materials and have pre-application interview. 
  • Apply for fellowships, post-bac programs, or other glide year activities.
  • Come to Applicant Seminars in the spring, apply in the early summer.

For additional things to consider, check the Dean of the College's Senior Action Plan.