Hey everyone! So I was fortunate to gain admission to three great schools, Columbia, Penn and JHU. Also I received a VERY big surprise when I found out I was selected for the Woodrow Wilson fellowship at JHU (a $10,000 research stipend for me to pursue my own research over my 4 years at JHU). I plan to be a neuroscience major but have recently considered changing that to environmental biology. My ultimate goal is to attend veterinary school after undergrad. I went to Columbia’s admit days this past weekend and I am attending JHU’s today through Thursday. (Can’t visit Penn again due to scheduling conflicts). I’m hoping these trips will help make my desicion but I’m not sure yet.
Columbia has been my dream school since freshman year but this fellowship at JHU is very enticing. They will cost roughly the same (I got Columbia to come down and almost match JHU’s very generous offer) so cost is not an issue. (4,000 a year at JHU and 5,500 a year at Columbia)
I feel like I would be stupid to turn down the fellowship but I can still do research at Columbia and I feel like the pre vet opportunities there are better (lots of zoos and animal hospitals in NYC). Also Columbia has a dance minor/concentration (dance means a lot to me) as well as a wider variety of majors in case I change my mind down the line.
Right now Penn is about 8,000 a year and I might try and appeal but I don’t really see myself fitting in with the Penn social scene (not much of a party person or Greek person) also I could always apply there for vet school.
Practically speaking, you will find cost of living and entertaining yourself VERY much less expensive in Baltimore than NYC and that could be a tipping point for you. Is money tight? Will you find that you can’t go out or do things in NYC due to super high costs? Going out, grabbing a meal with friends, sharing an apartment, even what clothing you wear or the types of activities your friends will want to do - all of this less expensive in Baltimore. Of course NYC is NYC so if that is your thing you are all set! Academically, pick where you prefer or feel like you will fit in the best. Great options- pick the one your favorite and don’t look back!
Oh my goodness! Congratulations, three great choices! See how you feel after visiting JHU today/tomorrow and reflect. Do you see yourself at Columbia or JHU? Either way, you can’t to wrong. And, that research stipend sounds amazing!
Congrats on all the great choices! One obvious difference between Columbia and JHU will be the lack of a core curriculum at JHU and a fairly rigid core curriculum (history, writing, social science etc.) at Columbia. Which would you prefer?
If you want to be a Vet, I would seriously consider Penn since they are the only one of these three that has a Vet school. I would investigate the chance of being involved in research or working at the Vet school. It was also be possible to take some classes in the Vet School under the One School Policy, if you can meet the prereqs.
@popper345 just a quick note, you don’t have to be a party person or a greek person to fit into Penn. The majority of people are not in a frat/sorority and their social life doesnt revolve around frats and frat parties. The party scene is big but not dominant. That misconception would be dispelled if you attended Quaker days but since you can’t I thought to point it out.
Also the research opps at Penn Vet could help a lot for vet school admissions and also to give you an idea of what vet school is like.
But anyways, I feel your heart is set at Columbia but you are second guessing it because of the hopkins fellowship (which is exactly designed to do that, i.e. lure ivy,stafnord, mit etc cross-admits to hopkins). I feel like you should look more into what the research opportunities are like at Columbia. I have heard great things and I can’t imagine they will be meaningfully more limited than those at Hopkins, but still look more into it.
It sounds to me like you really want to go to Columbia so I would personally advise you to do so. I can’t imagine you would be missing out on any meaningful opportunities at Hopkins that you won’t have at Columbia and you will probably have a much nicer college life at Columbia vs Hopkins.
@gocanucksgo I honestly see the benefits of both options, the Core provides that shared expericence and since I don’t want to double major I don’t see it as restrictive
Remember, if you pursue pre-vet at Columbia or JHU, you want to be sure to have a plan for getting the hands on animal/veterinary experience that you need on your application to vet school. It is possible that the schools have relationships with vets, or clinics, but it is important to know that.
Hey everyone! So I was fortunate to gain admission to three great schools, Columbia, Penn and JHU. Also I received a VERY big surprise when I found out I was selected for the Woodrow Wilson fellowship at JHU (a $10,000 research stipend for me to pursue my own research over my 4 years at JHU). I plan to be a neuroscience major but have recently considered changing that to environmental biology. My ultimate goal is to attend veterinary school after undergrad. I went to Columbia’s admit days this past weekend and I am attending JHU’s today through Thursday. (Can’t visit Penn again due to scheduling conflicts). I’m hoping these trips will help make my desicion but I’m not sure yet.
Columbia has been my dream school since freshman year but this fellowship at JHU is very enticing. They will cost roughly the same (I got Columbia to come down and almost match JHU’s very generous offer) so cost is not an issue. (4,000 a year at JHU and 5,500 a year at Columbia)
I feel like I would be stupid to turn down the fellowship but I can still do research at Columbia and I feel like the pre vet opportunities there are better (lots of zoos and animal hospitals in NYC). Also Columbia has a dance minor/concentration (dance means a lot to me) as well as a wider variety of majors in case I change my mind down the line.
Right now Penn is about 8,000 a year and I might try and appeal but I don’t really see myself fitting in with the Penn social scene (not much of a party person or Greek person) also I could always apply there for vet school.
@penn95 do you literally pull facts out of nowhere? You do realize ed admits to hopkins get these fellowships and even merit scholarships too right? Ofcourse not. I chose hopkins over penn and cornell back in the day as did many other class mates at hopkins. Hopkins has no need to buy cross admits save for those from HYPS - not just any ivy and certainly not penn
To OP, while the $10,000 research opportunity is excellent, please don’t let that be a major determining factor. I’m not as familiar with Columbia’s research funding opportunities, but do know that Penn has plenty of generous funding opportunities for research in STEM. Perhaps look more into Columbia’s fellowships office and see what opportunities are available?
$10,000 over 4 years sounds like a lot, but many top schools will have equally generous or even more generous funding opportunities. I went to Yale for UG, and received over $11k in research funding for junior summer and $9k for sophomore summer. With some Columbia-specific research, there’s a good chance they offer great funding opportunities as well.
Same cost to go to your dream school, one of the best reputed academically in the country? Why is there any question about this choice? Columbia seems the obvious answer. Don’t let the Hopkins enticement confuse these fundamental truths.