Cornell, JHU, USC, Cal, or Boston College?!

<p>So I'm trying to decide between these four schools, and they all have something that appeals to me and something that sort of scares me. Oh, and I'm a psychology major who's going pre-med. So here we go..</p>

<p>Cornell - The appeal of it being an Ivy league school makes it hard to turn down. The academics at Cornell are great, but it's so cold! It rains or snows 80% of the year!</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins - Since I'm gong pre-med this seems like it would be a great choice, but I've heard of its cut-throat nature especially in that field and I know people whose spirits seem to have been crushed by attending there.</p>

<p>USC - I visited the campus and I really like the look of it, the weather, and the people. Plus, I have a hefty merit scholarship to USC and I'd be in the honors program. But it's not as strong in my major, though if I changed majors I'd have some good options.</p>

<p>Berkeley - Best for my major, but I'm somewhat afraid of the UC's because of large class sizes and unpredictable funding. I like the idea of a private school having smaller class sizes and more research opportunities to undergrads.</p>

<p>Boston College - I love the Boston area, and I'd be in the honors program there. However, it's the least prestigious and I know the least about it.</p>

<p>So what do you all think? I applied to a ton of schools and I'm super excited about the options that I have, but I have no idea how I'm going to choose. All of these schools have pros and cons, so I'm in a bit of a pickle. Oh, and cost isn't a factor.</p>

<p>Thank you for your input! All advice is appreciated.</p>

<p>If your plan is to go to med school, your GPA and MCATs are more important than the school you went to for undergrad. Within reason of course. Middle of Nowhere State U wouldn’t look too great on your application, but all of these schools you have listed should be comparable.</p>

<p>Disclaimer: I’m a student at USC right now.</p>

<p>I have some friends who go to Cornell. When I tell them I was considering their school but chose USC instead, they all immediately said “You made the right choice.” I was a bit surprised by this, but apparently it’s quite cut-throat and unforgiving at Cornell.</p>

<p>Can’t comment on the rest. I will say that you should go to USC though :)</p>

<p>I think JHU is the way to go. All the colleges you listed are prestigious, and they have their pros. But I think JHU, with its strength in medicine and the sciences, is the way to go.</p>

<p>I’d most likely go to Cornell. </p>

<p>Personally, I’d narrow my decision down to JHU and Cornell. The competition at JHU is fierce and there is some serious grade deflation going on.</p>

<p>Don’t go JHU. The insane cutthroat pre-med classes weed out tons of people and they seem to have something against admitting their own undergrads to their med school.
BC is really preppy, upper middle class, and Caucasian, just a forewarning. It’s not any less prestigious though. I would go USC or Cornell, probably USC. I don’t know what your majoring in, but USC seems the best option financially and there really is no bad department there.</p>

<p>avenlea, that’s the impression that I’ve been getting from JHU, but I didn’t want my assumptions to be based on stories about a friend of a friend, you know? I think that I like the idea of the school more than the school itself, so idk if I can see myself attending.</p>

<p>beatlesdisturbed, do you know about the environment at the school and what current students’ perspectives of it may be? I’m looking for a complete experience and I’m worried that attending Hopkins would provide to be a more stressful one.</p>

<p>sentimentgx4, is there something that draws you to Cornell over the others?</p>

<p>hawkwings, thank you for your input as well. Do you think that your friends’ responses were based on the academics or on other factors? And I agree that these would all be great schools to go to, which is why I’m having such a hard time finding out where I’m going to go.</p>

<p>I know that I’m asking a lot of questions, but i assure you all that I’ve done a lot of thinking about this myself. It’s just that this decision will dictate where I spend the next four years of my life so I want to make sure I put in the effort to try and find where I’ll be happiest/most successful. Thank you all for your advice, I definitely appreciate it! And if you have anything to add, I’d love to hear it!</p>

<p>Avenlea doesn’t know what he/she is talking about. Hopkins Med admits more Hopkins undergrads than it does graduates from any other college. And the rumors about cuthroatness have been around for years and are greatly exaggerated. Talk to current students and find out what it is really like, as opposed to old rumors and urban myth.</p>

<p>@bonanza, that’s not necessarily true. Take a look at this: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/403605-what-undergrads-get-into-jhu-med-school.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/403605-what-undergrads-get-into-jhu-med-school.html&lt;/a&gt; and <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/869029-happy-premeds-jhu.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/869029-happy-premeds-jhu.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>"Now as far as the cut-throat statement … it all depends on how you define the statement. Is applying to a top tier medical school competitive … absolutely!!! But that doesn’t mean students compete with each other for those spots, and “attack” each other because of this. That is just one of the great myths passed along by people who have not experienced how it really goes. Hopkins pre-med students are driven, internally competitive, but they do not “fight” with each other for opportunities, resources, etc. There is a great sense of collaboration at Hopkins that few talk about, because the general assumption is with such a small acceptance rate into top tier medical schools students must be competitive with each other. Not true … do your research and you will see. "</p>

<p>While my statement isn’t completely correct (I apologize! I’m just going off what I’ve read on these forums), I don’t think going to JHU undergrad will give you a significant advantage at JHU med - especially because they probably take a couple people from their undergrad, and all of the premeds from JHU will most likely be applying to JHU med. I think it’s probably safe to conclude that going to JHU undergrad will be extremely difficult, but if you survive, you will be prepared. I know from people who have gone to WashU and JHU undergrad that many regret their decision and sometimes wish that they had gone to an undergrad where it was not as difficult - that is just something to consider. It would be difficult to survive as a pre-med at hopkins than anywhere else, that’s for sure, and if it gives you a significant amount of debt and you don’t thrive in that kind of environment, it might be best to not go to Hopkins.</p>

<p>Sorry if my previous statement sounded slightly misinformed, I just remember seeing that on a previous thread and I guess that person who posted it was wrong. My apologies.</p>

<p>Boston College. I may be a little biased because both of my parents went there and my sister is currently attending. However, you can’t beat being in Boston during college - exposure to the city and other colleges without actually being in the city is a major plus that you won’t find anywhere else. While it’s the least prestigious of your options, you’ll be in the honors program and it’s still a great school that can provide you with fantastic opportunities and a smaller, Jesuit education.</p>

<p>Avenlea–did you read what you cited to me? Sure, the percentage of Hopkins undergrads being accepted to Hopkins Med is small. That’s because most Hopkins premeds apply and since there are only @100 spots, of course most don’t make it. But, typically, about 10 of the 100 spots will go o Hopkins undergrads, which is a bigger number than any other school so it was ridiculous to suggest that the Med School doesn’t like Hopkins undergrads.</p>

<p>wtcgshep, I have a question for you that’s sort of been confusing me, embarrassingly enough.</p>

<p>What does a “Jesuit education” refer to? Like I know Jesuit people are Catholic, but I don’t really know anything else.</p>

<p>Oh, and also, thank you all for your info and such, there’s so much to think about! Anyone else have anything to add?</p>

<p>The Jesuit tradition goes back to the Order’s founding in 1535. While its prescribed course of study, the Ratio Studiorum is a malleable document, in that it is adaptable to the times, it does uphold its basic tenets – among which is that [undergraduate] education should be of the general, well rounded type (even as it delves into many disciplines), rather than the specialized, profession oriented type found at other colleges. Jesuit education is a liberal arts experience in the truest sense. It prizes the liberal arts and they serve as the strong foundation to subsequent, professional studies in graduate school.</p>

<p>Another keen aspect of this wonderful philosophy of education is that students so trained are expected to “be men and women for others”…to go out into the world and use their rigorous training to do good for society… to be there for others. It is a refreshing and much needed tonic to the events of the last several decades, filled with innumerable instances of greed and gluttony — some of the basest attributes of man.</p>

<p>If you like the idea of service to others rather than to your self – a noble endeavor, indeed – BC is the place!</p>

<p>Please go to the Catholic Encyclopaedia (see link below) for a fuller description of the Ratio Studiorum.</p>

<p>[CATHOLIC</a> ENCYCLOPEDIA: Ratio Studiorum](<a href=“http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12654a.htmo]CATHOLIC”>http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12654a.htmo)</p>

<p>Hopkins and Cornell have great pre-med programs. Cornell also has IVY prestige. USC has seen increase in academic prestige, while Boston College is a Catholic school.</p>

<p>BC has the best looking campus, great football AND hockey, is rising in the USNWR every year, and isn’t in a hick town like cornell (ithaca). its the easy choice.</p>

<p>Agree it’s a slam dunk for BC.</p>

<p>I’d go for JHU if not Berkeley if I were you. </p>

<p>JHU is amazing when it comes to premed. It also has its own top-ranked med school which practices in-breeding. So you’d be given a special preference coming from the same university.</p>

<p>Berkeley is amazing for premed as well. The data would show that if you’ll do well at Berkeley, you’ll get into anywhere. Several Berkeley premeds get into UCSF, UCLA, UCSD, UC Davis, Stanford, Harvard, Yale and JHU med schools. These are some of the finest medical schools in the world. And, the Bay Area is amazing, lively and fun. It also has a much desirable weather condition the whole year round.</p>

<p>“Boston College - I love the Boston area, and I’d be in the honors program there. However, it’s the least prestigious and I know the least about it.”</p>

<p>Yes, it lags behind Hopkins, Berkeley, and Cornell a bit among people who make a living out of splitting such hairs. And there are some here who believe that the professors at “top 20” schools are all geniuses, while professors at the 31st ranked school have difficulty tying their shoes. But the reality is that to get a faculty position at any of these schools you have to have your stuff together, academically. The professors at all of these schools went to the same top grad schools and learned the same stuff.</p>

<p>The main differences here are not in their US News rankings. Cornell and Hopkins are classic high-pressure East Coast academic meat grinders that reportedly do a pretty thorough job of thinning out their herds of pre-meds. What happens in the classrooms at USC and Berkeley seems to have less of an effect on ones experience there than what goes on outside the classroom…the social life, sports, and glitzy SoCal lifestyle at USC, and the neo-Bohemian lockstep dudeism and step-over-the-homeless-guyism of Berkeley.</p>

<p>With all of this as a backdrop, you can see why the BC folks here are recommending their excellent-but-not-non-meat-grinderish school, which offers a quiet and safe location just a trolley ride from downtown Boston.</p>

<p>USC sounds like your best bet. You have the scholarship there, like the weather and people, and are in the honors program.</p>

<p>JHU and Cornell are too competitive for me (from what I hear about them at least), I want to enjoy college, not kill myself to do as good as others that are all in competition.</p>

<p>Based on the factors you stated are important and your intended path, I think USC is the best choice. The prestige difference for the schools won’t matter much when it comes to med school admissions. Yes, JHU is great at sending its students to JHU med - but that still only affects a *tiny *percentage of the total pre-meds at JHU. Your focus should NOT be to get into a top 5 med school (although all high schoolers seem to think they’re a shoo-in), but rather getting into any reasonable med school at all. I think USC offers the best mix of academics, $$ (save for med school), weather, and advising to prepare you well. But in the end, the differences aren’t that grave and I could see picking any of them. You probably should just go with your gut and where you think you’d be happiest rather than trying to analyze the small differences. Good luck!</p>

<p>You realize the OP already made his decision a month ago and chose Cornell, Right?</p>