Preparing Your Candidacy for Prehealth Seniors

Most aspiring prehealth Princeton students apply to professional school in 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 who may apply this year should attend an HPA Applicant Info Session in the fall semester. Dates are 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. 
  • If taking multiple glide years, consider asking for letters of recommendation from Princeton faculty and staff prior to graduation. HPA can keep them on file for you.
  • 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.