<p>I've lived in Baltimore (or 15 minutes north of downtown) my whole life and will be attending Cornell (engineering) next year -</p>
<p>First off, Baltimore is just like any city - of course you don't interact with homeless people or beggars or whatnot. Just ignore them. Baltimore has a bad reputation for crime rates and such, but, like anything, if you don't go looking for trouble you aren't going to get it.</p>
<p>Food - I can't say anything about Cornell's (except that their on-campus food has a great rep), but I know JHU will have great off-campus food if you are into seafood. </p>
<p>Also - I'm not sure where everyone gets it that the quality of life at JHU is crappy, but around here, its known as a party school. I know a few people who are freshmen there right now as well as people at Towson U (which you'd think would be much more of a party school), and all of them say that parties and the social scene in general are way better at JHU. I've never heard anyone say they don't like being at JHU...</p>
<p>The winters aren't going to be all that different - more snow in Ithaca, sure, and a bit colder, but its still quite chilly in Baltimore from November to February. Not really something to make or break a school.</p>
<p>Academically, I wouldn't say (based on reputation) there's too much of a difference...so if youa re having a hard time deciding, that 100k scholarship (congrats on that) should make it a no-brainer.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your advice guys! It's very interesting to see the two very contrasting perspectives on Baltimore. I'm thinking that it will eventually come down to the money, but we will have to see. I am going to go visit Hopkins one last time to get the feel of it (I visited it last year during the winter so it looked very bleak) and I willl have to make a choice.</p>
<p>if you got a 100K scholarship to JHU , then your not going to have a problem dealing with grade deflation or competitiveness at either... since its clear that your among the cream of the crop</p>
<p>Cornell's got the best food ever, you can smell it from miles away. Hopkin's food tastes like Cafeteria food from the second grade. Unless you want to be spending 20 bucks a day on starbucks sugary pie, then you better stick with Cornell. On the other hand, i heard its expensive to live in Ithaca so I dont know.</p>
<p>Hopkins is much smaller than cornell, so it will be harder to get away from people you dislike. Buth with cornell, the student body will be so diverse (ranging from hotelies to engineering) that you will bound to find someone you like. So if money is not an issue, then attend cornell.</p>
<p>yes please visit b/c my perspective is a little pessimistic. Ive been waiting to get away from B-more for like four years. If I went to JHU I would be way too close to home.</p>