Cornell vs. Johns Hopkins

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey everyone. So, currently I have narrowed down my choices to Cornell and Johns Hopkins. I was accepted into the biomedical engineering program at JHU, while at Cornell, I would be pursuing biological engineering. I am interested in engineering, but am not 100% sure that I will stick with it. I like some of the humanities areas as well. I'm also considering pre-med, but again, I want to leave my options open; after four years, perhaps I will want to get an MBA or something instead. </p>

<p>I know that Hopkins is ranked more highly for biomedical engineering and presume that it has more research facilities because of its large research endowment. However, because I am a NY state resident, I would recieve a tuition break of $15,000 per year by doing engineering at Cornell (b/c it's biological engineering, i can do the major through CALS and still recieve a degree from the engineering school). Clearly, i have some decisions to make. Does anyone have any advice or experience with a similar situation?</p>

2

<p>Sure will be tough turning down the best BME program in America :stuck_out_tongue: How much more money will you be saving over the next 4 years with Cornell v. Hopkins?</p>

3

<p>if money is a concern then def. go Cornell
otherwise flip a coin lol
but u shud try to visit because both campuses are WAYYY different and tht shud help decide
JHU is super urban whereas Cornell is in middle of nowhere Ithaca
depends on wat atmosphere u like (btw im going to JHU next year =] )</p>

<p>Edit: regardless of where ou go you’ll get a great education so honestly let money and enviroment decide</p>

4

<p>Options are pretty enormous for students outside of premed at Hopkins. A very close Hopkins friend of mine dropped out of premed is starting his own neuromarketing firm AND consulting firm and I’m joining him on it… I’m considering MPH/MBA myself to do health care consulting… </p>

<p>I was actually formerly a Art history major (ranked #1) before I decided to switch to public health… Humanities program at Hopkins are top notch… Hopkins is known as a science stronghold, but the administration is trying to change that image by advertising towards a broader group of individuals outside of pure physical and natural sciences…</p>

<p>If you would like, you can ask in the Hopkins forum and talk to a BME person about what their experiences are like. I know this one dude named Tanmay who is a BME’er who can probably answer a lot of your questions or concerns about Hopkins.</p>

5

<p>Save 60 grand and go to CORNELL</p>

<p>Sing it with me…“High above Cayuga’s waters…”</p>

6

<p>I know you’re not set on BME, but if that’s what you’re interested in at the moment, you should know that the program at Hopkins and Cornell are very different. The department at Cornell is the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering and their focus is very much on environmental type applications of biological engineering. They do have a concentration in Biomedical Engineering, and what this concentration encompasses is the entirety of the BME program at Hopkins. I’m not sure what aspect of BME you’re interested in, but most people, when they say BME, do not mean the environmental aspect. If you’re interested in areas such as tissue engineering, device development, computational modeling etc, then you’ll get (based on a quick read of the Cornell BME website) a far more thorough education in those areas at Hopkins. Ultimately, I think that if you’re pretty sure you’re interested in the type of biomedical engineering that I mentioned (and not the environmental aspects), then Hopkins is a really good choice for you. If you’re more interested in the environmental side, then Cornell’s program is very strong in that area, but keep in mind that Hopkins also has a well-ranked and respected Environmental Engineering program.</p>

<p>I think the environment and resources at Hopkins are hard to match. When it comes to research opportunities, the main advantage Hopkins has over Cornell is the proximity of the medical school (3 miles down the road versus across the state). No doubt there are labs doing excellent research at both schools, but I think you will have a much better chance finding a lab you love (both in terms of research, and the environment) at Hopkins because of the huge number of available labs. You did mention that you weren’t certain that you wanted to study BME, and the diversity of academic programs at Hopkins is one of the major reasons I came here. Even though I really don’t like English and writing, and I knew I wanted to study BME, I wanted to go to a school with strong programs in all areas. Hopkins has top-ranked programs in writing and political science (both of which I have actually taken advantage of by taking classes in those departments) as well as many other fields, and I wanted to be at a school where there was a broad range of students who were passionate about all sorts of different things. </p>

<p>Finally, the last issue is the one that bkhan90 brought up - the campuses at Hopkins and Cornell are vastly different. I thought the Cornell campus was beautiful when I visited as a prospective undergrad but I didn’t think it was somewhere I would be happy for four years, whereas I really felt at-home when I visited and stayed overnight at Hopkins. (On the other hand, I know people who had the exact opposite impression, so I’m not saying Hopkins is the best place for everyone)</p>

<p>I hope that helps a bit in your decisions. Congrats on your acceptances to both schools and best of luck with your decision! Feel free to PM me or post on the Hopkins forum if you have questions about the program at Hopkins.</p>

7

<p>If this impacts your decision at all, the reason why Cornell does not have a Biomedical Engineering degree (and only a minor) is that they found that employers who are seeking biomedical engineers want to see people with a graduate degree, rather than just undergrad degree (but graduates from JHU might be exceptions to this). So the Cornell BEE curriculum is much broader, possibly giving you more options for grad school and employment.</p>

8

<p>This is complicated because of the money issue. How certain are you about BME? You say not 100%. If money were not an issue, I would choose JHU for BME (although I like Cornell more in general). But, I would not spend an extra $60K if you are somewhat undecided on the major. And, you can attend JHU for your masters perhaps.</p>

9

<p>If money is going to be the deciding factor–I wouldn’t close the door on Hopkins without talking to their FA office. Be honest with them–tell them you are accepted to Cornell and how much it will cost you to go there. They may not be in a position to match it, but you will never know if you don’t try.</p>

10

<p>It would be very hard for JHU to match Cornell’s offer, since the tuition for the contract colleges is so much lower to begin with–tuition is already about half of what it is at JHU, w/o FA. You can still try though.</p>

11

<p>Don’t forget, JHU’s Environmental Engineering is ranked among the top 5 actually… In the humanities, both English & History are in the top 10…</p>

12

<p>Cornell. If you do well at Cornell, your opportunities would not be diminished. Plus, you save $$$.</p>

13

<p>It’s a wash even before money comes into play. Outside of biomedical engineering, I personally don’t think you can get much more out of Johns Hopkins than Cornell. And even in BME, it’s not like Cornell is a slouch.</p>

14

<p>I’m new to this, so thank you everyone for the rapid responses.</p>

15

<p>Just to address some of the questions/remarks, I have visited both campuses and think that I would honestly be happy at either one. I have been to Cornell many more times since it’s relatively close to home, so I think I feel a little more comfortable there because of that. But given that I’ve only been to JHU once, I don’t want to let that be a big influence. I liked both of the campuses, though Cornell is definetly a bigger campus. </p>

<p>I guess I have a few questions too. </p>

<p>For Tanman (btw, thanks for such an in-depth response), do you feel like living in Baltimore provides a lot of additional things to do? Cornell is pretty isolated, but I’m not sure how important that is, if students don’t really go to Baltimore too often. I’ve never lived in a city, so don’t really know the perks except eating places, haha. And how is the social environment. From what i’ve gathered, it’s more studious than Cornell, though I suppose any student can make it what they want…
Also, about the particular major, I think i’m more interested in the cell/tissue area. I think I would like stem cell/cancer research/virology. I’m not sure if virology actually fits in there, but I could probably check. I’m really not into mechanics and computer modeling, etc. That’s almost one of my concerns with engineering in general. If I don’t like that kind of core engineering stuff, maybe I’m in the wrong major. But JHU definetly has other interesting options in sciences. I might try cognitive or neuroscience. Another good one might be cellular/molecular biology or w/e it’s called. And I read some research about environmental and actually think some of the work with alternative energy and water quality is quite interesting. I know that JHU is ranked really high in environmental engineering too, as Phead128 said (thanks Phead128 if ur reading this too, haha). Sorry, my thoughts are so jumbled up!</p>

<p>Vivace13: I’ve actually heard this before too. On the other hand, from talking to some students there, it seems like they are having a hard time finding recruitment because Cornell is more isolated from companies (and probably due to the current economic situation). I like the idea of broad-based learning because I may end up liking environmental engineering, but even when I look into the program at Cornell, I’m more drawn towards the biomedical track…so it’s basically doing the same thing that I’d do at Hopkins. But, like i said, I’m not positive about the engineering, so maybe I would like something else too. </p>

<p>Bonanza: I already told JHU about the Cornell tuition and they said they couldn’t do anything about it. </p>

<p>BKhan: If i go to JHU next year, perhaps I’ll meet you :slight_smile: Thanks for the advice; it’s comforting. </p>

<p>Again, thank you to everyone who took the time to help me out!</p>

16

<p>If isolation is a problem for you, Hopkins in Baltimore should be wonderful. You will have access to Baltimore, Annapolis, DC and Philly as well as NYC, and from there, what other city do you really need? lol. The trains to DC and Philly are both very quick, convenient, and relatively low cost. If you have a car, it’s even easier. </p>

<p>I would say that given Hopkins’ urban location, you will have many more opportunities to intern during the year and the summer, as well as the fact that Hopkins’ research opportunities are almost literally unlimited. There are always job listings on the hopkins site for research positions and intern positions available to undergrads at JHU literally year-round. </p>

<p>BME at Hopkins is so amazing and you will truly enjoy the experience.</p>

17

<p>Do you think the additional tuition is worth it, in that case? It’s $60,000 more for me and I honestly wouldn’t care, except for the fact that I’m considering med school after. I don’t want to discount JHU b/c of that because it really is an amazing school. The BME program seems very tight-knit as well. If the tuition was the same, it would be a much easier decision. </p>

<p>Also, isolation isn’t really a big deal to me, given that i live in Central New York and there really isn’t anything to do here, haha. I just wanted to know how the social life is at JHU. Some people really like it and others say it doesn’t give you the real “college experience” because its smaller and supposidly more serious/studious. Also…the food is pretty bad at JHU, no offense…:P</p>

18

<p>This should be up to whoever is paying the amount, and I would say that it would probably be your parents. $60k over four years is definitely nothing to sneeze about…but a Hopkins education is likely worth it if you are considering BME or Neuroscience. In these two fields, I would say that Hopkins is noticeably stronger than Cornell. If this were a debate about Engineering, math, economics, etc, I would tell you to save that money and go to Cornell instead. </p>

<p>If your parents can afford it and are willing to afford it, Hopkins will provide you with more/better attention and better resources for your specific plans.</p>

19

<p>lol, Social life at Hopkins can get tough at times. You work through it and when you are done with finals, you LOVE Hopkins for what it is and what is able to give to you. It has seriously made me more mature and more appreciative of life.</p>

<p>The past two weeks, I pulled 3 all nighters and consequentially have probably been the best two weeks of my life with alumni weekend (day of rivals against University of Maryland lacrosse) and Spring Fair (arguably the best reason why I’m able to survive here at JHU. The food is AWESOME! srry you couldn’t try pork leg on a stick or funnel cake… free booze too if you have the right connects) I just saw the fireworks that were amazing on Decker quad to kick off Spring fair, and it has been a REALLY fun time over the past two days… I hope to get laid this weekend. Hopkins has it’s low points and really high points. Just three days ago, there were monstrous amounts of student out on the beach relaxing, chilling, enjoying FREE TASA Chinese food on the beach. Arguably the best day of my Hopkins career. I got to enjoy inner city Baltimore (PF Changs for my roommate’s birthday), volunteer in one of the poorest areas of Baltimore (eye popping life changing experience btw), and chill out and discuss about healthcare, economics, Taiwan, and future of US economy with a random ChemBE/Economics dude I met on the beach. I also met President Daniels and enjoy some of the most beautiful weather on the beach… :)</p>

<p>Hopkins is fun dude… It takes time, it’s not for everyone.</p>

20

<p>Lots of companies do come to recruit at Cornell, as cornell graduates are highly sought after. The career fairs in the fall bring in over 200 companies and many more come to recruit throughout the year. I’m not sure about biological or environmental companies specifically thought. </p>

<p>Since you are in CALS, you could easily switch to another, non-engineering major within CALS. Or even an internal transfer to other schools if you want.</p>