ADVICE NEEDED! Johns Hopkins BME vs. WashU for pre-med

I am very fortunate to have been recently admitted to Johns Hopkins University BME and the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. At either school, I will be on the Pre-Med track and I am about 90% set on going to medical school. The cost is almost identical at both for my family. I will be visiting both schools within the next few weeks, but due to COVID-19, I’m not sure that I will get an accurate feel for each school since the campuses will be relatively empty.

Initially, I was ecstatic to be admitted to Johns Hopkins BME, especially since it is the #1 program in the country. However, I’m worried about the “cut-throat” environment and lack of social life that is often attributed to JHU. I’m also worried that due to the sheer number of pre-med students, I will have to work significantly harder to get into medical school than I would at other places.

It seems like the environment at WashU will be more relaxed and collaborative compared to JHU. It is also a great school for pre-med, but are its resources comparable to JHU? Is it worth turning down JHU BME for WashU solely for the student life aspect? Does WashU have any benefits over JHU outside of the social environment and JHU’s stress culture?

Additionally, if I choose not to go to medical school, will JHU and WashU provide me with similar opportunities after graduation? Since WashU typically has less name recognition, will this impact my career at all?

Thank you in advance, any help at all is greatly appreciated!

You cant go wrong either way!

However, I have a friend who has been a part of the BME program for a year and I’ll share some of his insights.

  1. BME students are part of an exclusive cohort.

  2. Not too sure about WashU, but my friend in BME got research as a freshman so if you’re interested, the research opportunities early on are a huge plus!!!

  3. The people are also extremely nice at JHU, and while it is competitive, it will shape you into a better person. You will be around tomorrow’s leaders in robotic surgery, Biotech, etc.

  4. He says that he has to work extremely hard for a high GPA, but he’s also double majoring so…

TLDR: If you’re excited about BME, and are ready to put in the work, it will be extremely rewarding. While WashU’s premed is spectacular, BME is a niche program and is - in my eyes - as prestigious as the ivies, if not more.

In raw numbers, JHU has the 13th most (455) and WUSTL has the 24th most (363) med school applications of any school in the country. Most of the schools above them are the large state flagships.