<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<pre><code> I had a very hard time to decide to attend JHU over RICE; but today, I got a call from
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<p>DUKE and offered me a position off from waitling list; now the question is DUKE or JHU ?</p>
<p>I am planning chemistry with pre-med.</p>
<p>any advice ??</p>
<p>If you haven’t seen it yet, here are Duke’s and Hopkin’s premed stats:
<a href=“http://premed.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/2007-annual-report.pdf[/url]”>http://premed.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/2007-annual-report.pdf</a>
[JHU</a> Pre-Professional Advising](<a href=“Pre-Professional Advising | Student Affairs”>Pre-Professional Advising | Student Affairs)
So for Duke students, 70.8% were accepted (it’s higher for graduating seniors at 85%), and for Hopkins, it’s 63% (I don’t know if they separate graduating seniors in their stats). The average GPA of accepted Duke students is lower, too, although the average MCAT at Duke is higher. Going by these statistics, if you definitely want to go to medical school, I feel that Duke would give you a better chance.</p>
<p>I’m not familiar with a lot of Hopkins programs, but I think it is mainly known for its BME program and sciences (correct me if I’m wrong). On the other hand, Duke is strong all-around, and if you decide to not go premed (many do change their mind), you won’t be disappointed.</p>
<p>In the end, though, the academic differences are pretty minute, and for all intents and purposes, the schools are academic equals. They both have their own respective departments in which they best each other, but there aren’t too many opportunities you would be sacrificing by going to one or the other. I guess Duke Engage is unique to Duke, but there’s not much else. </p>
<p>For me, it would come down to the quality of life. I’ve heard the environment at Hopkins is more cutthroat, which I don’t get any sense of at Duke thankfully. So, unless you have a very strong aversion to Greek life, which you definitely do not have to a part of in order to have a good time, I would choose Duke.</p>
<p>PPham27,</p>
<pre><code>very helpful comments, thanks a lot !!
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<p>I agree with Ppham. Duke is so friendly!</p>
<p>Helicio,</p>
<p>thanks , thanks !!</p>
<p>JHU would get you into a med school very well because of its good undergrad in medicine. Also almost 90% (I’m pretty sure) of the premed students research and if you look at their stats, the students get like 37-38 on their MCAT compared to Duke’s 33.7</p>
<p>I paste below the text of my response to the same question from another OP several weeks ago. You can’t go wrong. Trust your gut about where will feel like home - differences in med school admission success will reflect your commitment and achievement, not any appreciable difference in the reputation of these fine schools.</p>
<p>I’m biased, but I went to JHU undergrad and Duke Med, so as informed as many, I think. JHU may have the reputation of “cutthroat” (overstated more often than not) but it also has an obviously outstanding reputation and track record for premedical education and success for its graduates entering medical school, and it also has the benefit of the pass/fail grading system upon entry, allowing adjustment without the pressure of gpa until later. I loved both places.</p>
<p>cdz512 and rowforlife,</p>
<pre><code>I do need to do some research on DUKE; at this time, I am still planning to attend JHU.
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<p>thanks, BOTH of you !</p>
<p>Edit: I seem to have misunderstood JHU site’s context, though their ambiguous wording certainly didn’t help matters. </p>
<p>Still, I’m gonna have to say that the 37-38 quoted above is highly misleading. </p>
<p>From JHU Premed site: </p>
<p>“The average MCAT score of accepted applicants for 2008 was 30.6. For most allopathic (M.D.) schools, an average MCAT score is 31-32; at the most competitive medical schools (Hopkins, Harvard), however, the average MCAT is 37-38.”</p>
<p>Therefore 37-38 refers only to the averages of those accepted to the top tier med schools while the 33.7 quoted above likely refers to something else (though I have no clue where that number came from). A comparison between the two isn’t very valid. </p>
<p>If you looked at only Duke premed who were accepted at Harvard, Hopkins, etc. I’m sure the avg would also be in the 37-38 range.</p>
<p>Apologies for the double post.</p>
<p>I neglected to look at the Duke report above, I see where the 33.7 is from. It’s the overall avg of accepted Duke premed. Therefore my point is correct, the 37-38 range cannot be fairly compared with the 33.7 statistic as they are as different as night and day. </p>
<p>On a side note, for a proper comparison the 33.7 number would have to be compared with Hopkins’ 30.6 number, making Duke look even better!</p>
<p>Both colleges in my eyes look very good. JHU does have a “cutthroat” program but it is rewarding in many ways and Duke has a outstanding and enjoyable program (by program I mean pre-med).
I would advise you actually look up a lot of info on JHU and Duke and see which one fits your interest, which one would you think you would enjoy. </p>
<p>nsrjsyt,
I think the other members of this post would agree with me on this (maybe not fully but to a certain degree)
As for us, although we are all giving you good advise, I think that you really shouldn’t rely on us completely to choose for you. It is your decision, not ours. College is a match to be made, not a prize to be won. We can’t sit here telling you all day to pick this college. No because we don’t know you totally, we have never been in your footsteps (at least I think) and we certainly don’t know your future, you have the biggest job here. Do some research about these colleges, see which one fits your interest and which one do you think you have a good chance at becoming successful in life. College definitely is a hard choice but you have come so far since High school but this is the last obstacle you have to overcome, the last choice you have to make before you jump off the “high school bandwagon”. Congrats on your acceptance to two of the most finest colleges in the world. But really, we can’t make the decision for you, you have to be the one to choose which college you want to go to, which one fits, which one do you think you can enjoy for the four years. (of course this doesn’t mean that we won’t give you facts about Duke or JHU but the final choice is yours not ours) </p>
<p>I hope you find the one that fits your interest and needs. Again congrats
If you need any question you can just continue asking</p>
<p>cdz512 ,SBR and all,</p>
<pre><code>your guys are too nice in helping me by writing so much. thanks.
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<p>BTW, I have last question: does DUKE have first semester pass/fail grading policy ?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>No, Duke grades on a 4.0 scales for all 8 semesters. </p>
<p>Depending on how you look at that though, it could be good or bad. Bad as in if you didn’t adjust well first semester, it could really come back and bite you in the a$$. Good in that if you did, then there are more good grades in there to average out bad ones later on in cumulative GPA calculations and AMCAS GPA calculations.</p>
<p>I think academically Duke and JHU have similar prospects.</p>
<p>But what about extracurriculars? A ton of the premeds (and non premeds) I know are doing health-based work via Duke Engage or the Global Health Institute. They’re traveling all over the world, setting up clinics, educating kids about AIDS and malaria in areas that have problems with those diseases, and in general just getting exposure to what’s going on in the world. And the best part is that all of this is funded BY DUKE. The students pay nothing. They look up these projects on Duke’s website, apply to whatever project sounds cool, and if they’re accepted, they can go do that project and not pay a dime. I don’t know if Hopkins has opportunities like that. If they don’t, and you think you might be interested in such things, definitely look into Duke.</p>
<p>Another difference I’ve heard between Hopkins and Duke is the cut throat atmosphere of Hopkins. I have no basis of comparison, so I’ll only say that I’ve taken Duke premed classes (though I’m not premed) and the people I met there are incredibly friendly/nice people. We’d make study groups and help each other out even though the class was curved and everyone was more or less ‘competing’ to get a good grade. </p>
<p>At any rate, you really can’t go wrong in the end so these are just a couple things for you to consider. Good luck!</p>
<p>Senator Noodlest
your " a couple things for you to consider " are exactly what I am looking for.</p>
<p>thanks</p>