Hey guys! I know there’s many students still deciding on colleges and i am one of the many. I’m so very grateful to have been accepted to these schools and do not mean to brag in any way. I’m just having the hardest time deciding which to attend and i have three days left to decide.
Here’s a few facts about me:
I plan to major in biochemistry and minor in psychology on a pre-med track. (It sounds cliche, I know)
I’m very extroverted and hope to be in an active environment. But I grew up in a small suburban town in Minnesota so I don’t want a large culture shock.
I know some ivys deflate your gpa, so I obviously want to take this factor in when deciding.
I’ve only visited Yale and not the other four.
My parents have both attended Brown so I was leaning towards there for a while, but I don’t want to have the main factor of choosing a school be because my parents went there.
I want to be in a diverse campus area.
One of my best friends is going to Johns and it has a good medical program.
Since the tuition in all of the schools are pretty similar, I am not taking money into account. It has more to do with better academics, more active campus life, and just an overall great city to find a job and have better connections. Please let me know where you think I should go and why. Thanks a bunch.
I’d go with Johns Hopkins or Yale, just because both schools are well-known for their pre-med programs. And the city isn’t too lively yet not boring at both. But go with your gut.
I don’t really know how these five stack up for the two specific programs you mentioned, but I’ll try to tackle the other fit variables:
Extrovert looking for an active (social) environment: I think Brown, Princeton and Yale are known more for an outgoing social vibe than Cornell and JHU. Brown is known as happy and mellow, Yale's social life seems to revolve around the residential colleges, and Princeton revolves around the eating clubs (for many kids, anyway).
You grew up in a small suburban town and you want to avoid a huge culture shock (I'm assuming here that a huge culture shock to you would be a big city):
Princeton is suburban and Cornell is rural/small town. Yale is a medium-sized city, I guess, with about 130,000 people. Providence is a bigger midsize city at about 180,000 people. And Baltimore is a big city.
I have read that Princeton, Cornell and JHU used to have grade deflation, but let others confirm if this is still the case.
A diverse campus area -- do you mean the diversity of the student body or of the look of the campus? All of these schools employ holistic admissions to admit a class that's diverse in terms of interests, race, SES, etc. In terms of campus architectural variety... I'm not sure.
Best academics -- these schools are all very good academically. By overall rep P and Y lead this group, but maybe not for biochem or psych (i'm not sure). The biggest practical difference among them is that Brown has an open curriculum while the others offer more traditional distribution requirements to help guarantee breadth.
An overall great city to find a job: Baltimore is the biggest city. The rest of the schools are fairly close to large metropolitan areas like Philadelphia, NYC and Boston. Of course, a degree from these schools will qualify you for jobs anywhere you want to be.
To clarify:
Do you want to be in a small city, a big city, or a smaller town or suburb?
@prezbucky I want to live very close to a city (big or small) so that i’ll be able to take up opportunities. and since theyre all private institutions, theyre gonna have a smaller student to teacher ratio. but i prefer a small to medium-sized campus
For a school that has an undergraduate focus, I would pick either Brown or Princeton. While both are excellent, they have very different vibes - so if you were going to pick between those two what may be the driver at this point. as both are similar sized campuses, is that one is in the city and the other a suburb with a nice “but not student focused” downtown
I would go with Brown if you think you will stick with the pre-med track. You’ll be able to get a high GPA easiest there and still be able to go outside your comfort zone with classes without worrying about your GPA.
With respect to location, Brown might be the sweet spot. The campus is located across a bridge from downtown, adjacent to a historical neighborhood. So while you have easy access to the city of Providence, there’s also a degree of separation. Open curriculum and shopping period for courses are attractive. I wouldn’t diss it just because your folks went there.
Princeton - small, upscale town that is connected by train to Philadelphia and New York. Surrounded by fairly dense suburbs and commercial areas. Princeton is said to be among the most undergraduate-friendly of the Ivies, as is Brown.
JHU - Baltimore is a real city, a bit gritty as compared to Brown and Princeton. Pre-med is said to be intense.
Yale - I don’t have current information. You’ve visited so you can draw your own conclusions.
Cornell - don’t know much about the student vibe or how competitive the academics are currently. Campus is quite spread out, Ithaca is a small city, easy access to outdoor recreation. Syracuse is about an hour away.
You have great options, good luck and let us know what you decide!
@HeyItsTay I would focus on Brown vs Princeton vs Yale given their undergrad focus and quality.
Brown is the most grade-inflated, followed by Yale and then Princeton, in general Brien is thought to be the most pro rival for pre med: grade inflation, flexible curriculum etc. of course yake and Princeton have higher prestige and arguably quality.
Cornell is known as the easiest Ivy to get into and the hardest one once you’re there. They grade on a curve in all those pre-med classes with the average set to B-.
Yale - great,diverse community within the residential colleges, generally happy and collaborative students, and my son is majoring in biochemistry and loves it all. Great research opportunities and has gotten two great summer jobs his first two years. And lots to do socially as well.
@tooksattoday1 In general Cornell is thought of as the easiest ivy to get into due to its higher acceptance rate and lower average SAT scores and because it loses most of its cross-admits to other ivies.
But that is like splitting hairs. Of course it is very hard to get into Cornell.
