so i got into the cornell’s college of human ecology and into johns hopkins, both places where i’d major in something public health-y. i’m definitely planning on going premed and i was wondering which school would be better for that, in terms of competitiveness/availability of undergrad opportunities, faculty support/advising, course load, applying to med school afterwards, etc. or just student life in general.
i know both programs (and premed in general) are super rigorous, but i come from a highly competitive high school so i’m definitely up for the challenge. i know hopkins premed is just an insanely good program, it’d definitely better prepare me for med school (esp with access to shadowing & research opportunities at huge hospitals), but at the same time i’d like to explore other interests like science writing and particularly research - i was really enticed by cornell’s project teams, and i feel that at cornell i’d generally have more room to explore, even if it means somewhat sacrificing the quality of my premed education. also, i’ve heard both schools have really bad grade deflation (worse at hopkins). i’m really not aiming to go to the school where i’d get better grades, but i know GPA matters when applying to med school, otherwise i wouldn’t be worried about it. there’s also the issue of a social life (or lack thereof). i don’t plan on becoming a crazy completely-devoted premed, at cornell i’d join a project team and at hopkins i’d likely rush a pre professional sorority. i’m genuinely so passionate about research and medicine and want to have an enjoyable, rewarding premed experience, otherwise i’m afraid i’ll lose that passion:(
anyway, i’m pretty torn between the two (also cost of attendance would be pretty much the same at both places) and am having an entire existential crisis about it. so any advice on that/how to navigate premed in general would be greatly appreciated!!!
Have you contacted the premed advisers? Met premed students?
For example COLLEGE OF HUMAN ECOLOGY
Shaun Gendrue
Assistant Director, Student and Career Development
113 Academic Surge A
Phone:607/255-1829
E-mail: sgendrue@cornell.edu
See the career center for Cornell http://www.career.cornell.edu/paths/health/advisors.cfm
Or
"Navigating your way through academic requirements at Johns Hopkins is a challenge that takes careful planning and great patience. If you are pursuing a health professions career, the academic planning process requires adaptability and flexibility. We encourage you to seek input from your advisors to devise a plan that is appropriate for your emerging academic and professional goals.
Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising
Johns Hopkins University, Garland Hall, Suite 300 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 Phone: 410-516-4140, Email: pre-professional@jhu.eduhttp://studentaffairs.jhu.edu/preprofadvising/
"
Johns Hopkins has robust staffing and support for pre-med.
There are pros and cons of both schools. You might thrive and excel in smaller Human Ecology program. But you may not have access to hospital or research internships that Baltimore and Johns Hopkins offer.
Sounds like you need more information on how well each school helps a student gain admission to med school. Is there a lot of support to do well in prereqs? To obtain letters of recommendation? To practice interviewing?
seriously?! what, exactly, makes you think that the “quality” of your pre-med education will be sacrificed? is it the same data sources that you have for “knowing” that JHU is “worse” for grade deflation than Cornell- the ubiquitous, vague and completely unsourced “I’ve heard”? I know it’s hard to gather factual info, but if you are a researcher at heart, start by being more rigorous about verifying your data set.
Have you visited either/both colleges? Hand on heart, given that finances are similar, and that there are no meaningful differences in the caliber and resources of the schools in question for you as an undergraduate, the single best decision factor for you between the two places is where you feel the most at home. You are clearly a talented student, so you will be able to do well at either school- but the odds are that you will do best where you are happiest, and that is entirely, 100% a personal call. At this point, everything else is just noise, rationalization, or other people’s personal opinions- which are wholly irrelevant for you in making this adult decision. Own it.
(and then celebrate- these are great options, and there is no wrong answer) (and no ‘sacrifice’ - lol I am still shaking my head over that one).
are you instate for Cornell? Is there a cost difference between the two?
Would you major in Public Health at Hopkins? Hopkins has one of the top (grad) public health schools in the world. I can only assume its PH undergrad courses are also excellent. (PH is a whole lot different than HE.)
Hopkins has undergrad research built into its ethos. That being said, plenty of research opportunities available at Cornell as well.
There are no bad choices here. But the statistical odds are that you will not make it to the med school application round, so choose a place that you could call ‘home’ for four years, and that will set you up for a job after graduation.
The two schools are going to be exactly the same for math, physics, Organic chemistry, biology. What is different is the setting. Do you want to be in an edgy city, Baltimore on the Chesapeake Bay with all that has to offer? Crab cakes, sailing, Navy officer peeping, OR do you want to be in upstate NY, sipping wines, hiking to waterfalls, eating great ice cream, and enjoying the hilly rural campus with lots of snow? !!!
Premedical education is very general, and will be about the same. What will matter is, your MCAT score, so do you study your brains out and train for that exam, no class teaches you that. AND what do you do in your summers, which you do not have to stay in Ithaca NY or Baltimore , you can go to any medical oriented research program at Ohio State, UC Irvine and other fine medical schools, and I am sure Cornell offers programs in Manhattan at their Medical school for undergrads. Check on that.
See how each school helps students prepare for the MCAT. Maybe you just take a semester and study, or is there help there to prepare? Its like any standardized test, it requires you study specifically for the exam.
@stevensPR I’ve seen you comment a few times that there is grade inflation at Hopkins, but that has not been my experience --I have 3 kids that are currently at Hopkins (all engineering) and I hear about all of the class average test scores, standard deviations, etc. Maybe they all picked the wrong majors
@Hippobirdy, if OP is in Division of Nutritional Sciences, it is partnered with Ag & Life Sciences. Within that, if Public Health, almost all of the premed reqs (physics being the main exception) are requirements for the major. If Human Biology or Nutritional, they have an explicit pre-med path.
@4togo4 I graduated from whiting about 9 years ago so I know quite a few engineers. there’s definitely grade inflation even within engineering as the requirement for tau beta pi has increased from about a 3.60 when i graduated to now a 3.7.
@stevensPR thanks. As I said, that’s not my understanding, but my knowledge is anecdotal based solely on my kids’s experience. It would be great if Hopkins published average gpa by major (I’m very curious) but I don’t think that information is available.
