<p>^ Swimguy, what sets Hopkins apart is the fact that without the Hopkins model, many of today’s leading schools like Stanford and Uchicago, etc would be VASTLY different. Even Harvard, Princeton, Yale, etc would not be the same way that they are today, and would probably resemble Amherst/Williams a lot more.</p>
<p>Hopkins was the first school in the United States to teach through seminars in stead of just lecture. It was the first research-based university in the USA that emphasized pioneering and discovering knowledge rather than just teaching the textbook.
It was the Hopkins model that inspired the likes of UChicago and Stanford, WashU, etc, and trickled down to affect the policies of schools from Michigan, to Harvard to Berkeley.</p>
<p>In a matter of 20-30 years, Hopkins had built up comparable levels of esteem and prestige that schools like Harvard, Penn, Princeton, etc had spent hundreds of years building.
And the Hopkins medical school is not simply just “medicine.” Hopkins was the first medical school to emphasize UNDERGRADUATE studies. The first Co-EDUCATIONAL medical school in the US. The first hospital to use gloves in surgery, etc etc.
Sure, other schools have great programs in those areas too, but Hopkins is top 5 for International Studies, top 3 for Writing, #1 for BME, #1 for Public Health, etc. There are few schools that can boast so many top programs: certainly not Georgetown or WUSTL. </p>
<p>In academia, Hopkins is on about the same level as Uchicago, Cornell, Columbia, and Penn. It’s strength in professional and non-professional areas of study is what sets it apart, and its great affinity for drawing research dollars continues to set it apart from even the best of the best.</p>