<p>Okay so, a friend of mine applied to these schools:
Harvard
Dartmouth
Brown
Johns Hopkins
Tufts
(he applied to more, but I dont know which).</p>
<p>These were his results:
Harvard - Waitlist
Brown - Waitlist
Dartmouth - Waitlist
Johns Hopkins - Accepted
Tufts - Accepted </p>
<p>His goal is premed (intended biology major), so when I heard his acceptances I naturally assumed he would put his name on the waitlist for H, B, and D, but I thought he would choose Hopkins. The thing is, we live in Mass and apparently he wanted to choose a school based on proximity. He ended up choosing Tufts, which I think is a very wrong move. I mean, I know people say that it doesn't matter what college you go to, its what you do at that college, but doesnt Hopkins offer one of the BEST premed programs in the country? I don't know, I didn't say anything to him, but I think making a decision based on proximity is pretty stupid.</p>
<p>There isn’t so much of a difference between the two schools that choosing based on factors other than academics – like proximity – is “stupid.”</p>
<p>The idea of ranking premed programs is kind of silly, and it’s really just associated with Hopkins because of the high-ranking medical school associated with the name.</p>
<p>Tufts is an excellent school. Even if he wants to be pre-med, who knows how he’ll feel in two or three years? You shouldn’t choose a school based SOLEY on your intended career goal when the difference between it and another school is not that great. Is Johns Hopkins one of the absolute best places for pre-meds? Yes. Is Tufts a good place for pre-meds? Of course it is. It’s a good place for anything.
Your friend may even have an easier time getting into med school from tufts since it may be easier to get a higher GPA there, due to less competition from other pre-med undergrads.
Also, I doubt that he chose Tufts based on proximity alone. That may have been the single most important factor, but I’m guessing he visited all the different campuses, and he liked Tufts’ more, maybe due to its proximity and some other intangibles.
In any case, he didn’t make a “wrong move.” Turning down Hopkins is not like suicide for premeds.</p>
<p>HUGE mistake is overstating it, as long as the person picked Tufts that he is happiest, he will perform academically better because of that. I don’t think that it’s a huge mistake, besides the whole “prestige/reputation” think is a bit blown up</p>
<p>It might be a mistake in the eye of the beholder. Napoleon Hill said it best: "We foolishly believe that our limitations are the proper measure of limitations. Just because they outlook on life isn’t the same as our own doesn’t mean we can refuse to believe that which we do not understand.</p>
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<p>The Johns Hopkins Hospital has been ranked the #1 hospital by USNews for the past 19 years in a row. It’s not merely just because of the medical school that is associated with premed excellence. It is the only academic center which boasts top ranking programs in Public health (#1), Nursing (#3), Medicine (#2), and Hospital (#1) in close proximity to each other, making opportunities to do clinical, bench, or laboratory research or even volunteering for an average premed a breeze to acquire.</p>
<p>Maybe that kid didn’t want to go to the “Hottest Premed School” 2008 according to USNews because there of the vicious premed competition. There are many good reasons why ppl may be turned off by Hopkins. It is perfectly understandable.</p>
<p>The kid most likely knew what a good pre-med program Hopkins has. Given that, there must’ve been something substantial about JHU he really hated or something about Tufts he absolutely fell in love with. Either way, he’s going to be happier at Tufts, so he made the right decision. College life isn’t just about good academic programs and gearing up for grad school admissions… I know a kid who turned down MIT and Princeton for Tufts (w/ similar fin. packages for all three). He knew he’d never be happy at MIT and P…</p>
<p>A ridiculously smart person that I met at Model UN and on a tour of Hopkins turned Hopkins down for Tufts. His reasoning was that he didn’t want to go through hell again in college like he did in high school. </p>
<p>He preferred Tufts because it was the environment that he was most happy in because he could work and chill out and not worry about intense competition. It is perfectly understandable considering he went to UChicago Lab School and he didn’t want to work as hard as he did in high school and burn out after he graduated from college.</p>
<p>I turned Tufts down for Hopkins because I liked competition and I knew of the premed program. Ppl have different reasons for going where they are going in life. Just gotta learn to accept it of course. :)</p>
<p>What would be a “wrong move” would be choosing not to remain on the waitlists of H, Brown, and Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Proximity isn’t a bad reason for choosing a school. For example, remaining in the Northeast, the South, the West Coast, New England, etc.</p>
<p>But, if it’s a primary reason, it reflects close-mindedness and cowardice, an unwillingness to experience different things and a fear of leaving the nest.</p>
<p>All of the schools, including the ones he got waitlisted at, are peer schools. There are regularly students who turn down any one of them for the other, though I’ll admit, Harvard is more rarely turned down. lol.</p>
<p>Tufts is a great school. I loved the campus when I visited, and that may have been the deciding point for him…or, as mentioned before, the relative laid-backness in comparison to a high-rigor place like Hopkins.</p>
<p>People have different preferences. Now, if he had turned down Hopkins for Boobaloo College or something, THAT would be stupid.</p>