<p>I know both are competitive schools. I want to do early decision to one of them, and I can only do it to one of them because both of them are binding. </p>
<p>I have heard that Baltimore isn't really the best town to be in, but JHU has one of the best BME programs in the nation, which is what I think I am going to major in to get into medical school. UPENN on the other hand is located in an urban area that isn't as bad as Baltimore, and also has a great BME program (please correct me if i'm wrong). The location of the college I go to is very important to me - I don't want to end up in an unpopular city with no benefits. Please give me your opinions and details on both schools, all information would be very helpful to me. If you've ever visited one or both these colleges, please tell me about them and their programs as well as location and campus life. Your opinion on which school I should make an early decision to would be very useful.</p>
<p>Not only have i visited both schools, i was in your exact same position last year! im majoring in bio/premed so the decision was tough for me too bc both hopkins and penn are great. ultimately i decided on upenn, applied ed, and got in. however, i am absolutely positive that a good education can be had at either school. there is no doubt in my mind that if i was accepted at and went to hopkins, i would be able to do all i wanted and more. frankly, it came down to location for me. philly is a city that isnt too far from home and im pretty familiar with it. i felt it had so many opportunities that i could never get tired of it or claim to have nothing to do bc it seemed like penn was connected to the community. also, penn is incredibly diverse and the campus and surroundings felt so alive. not to say hopkins isnt though bc honestly, i visited on memorial day when all the students already went home. hopkins isnt as intertwined with the city as penn is, but i do find myself wishing that penn was a little more like hopkins in the campus setting sense. hopkins is absolutely gorgeous and is like an oasis within baltimore, like you can study and go to school in a peaceful area, but be able to go out and enjoy yourself in the city for some fun time. oh another thing is that i felt philly had more things to do for fun. like its has more arts and culture to experience. academically speaking, it is hard to say one school is better than the other. you are right that hopkins has the top bme program in the nation thought. cant say i know much about penns bc i didnt look into that. good luck! and this is just what i felt about each school but i dont wanna make your decision for you! try to visit if you can and imagine yourself there. that really helped me.</p>
<p>My mom’s cousin has a body guard escort her to her to her car. She’s a cardiologist at Hopkins- so it’s definitely not a great area.</p>
<p>If you’re pre-med, both are good because they both have great med schools, as you know, but I don’t know if Hopkins has the research funding and opportunities that Penn has. I also don’t know if it can top Penn’s unique one-university policy. Also, Penn is safe.</p>
<p>yea…baltimore is sooo shady…in terms of campus, UPenn is def. better, but i mean…you probably can get excellent education from both places…and i think as of now, the food at JHU isn’t very good…haha…at least the cafeteria i went to eat at…and from what i’ve read, neither is Penn…but they are getting a new food system? or something…haha…but thats only if you care about food.</p>
<p>A few years ago I talked to a girl who had just graduated from Hopkins. She said after a few months everything in Baltimore gets very boring. I have yet to get tired of Philly after 2 years and I think bagels still loves it after his 4 years as an undergrad.</p>
<p>You’re not getting a PhD where Hopkins being #1 and Penn being like 7ish is going to make a huge difference. It’s undergrad, and Penn is arguably the best place for premed. Come to Pen where you can have fun and have a marginally easier time as a premed.</p>
<p>I made the same choice at first and chose Penn. JHU was nice and obviously would have provided a good education, but Penn is not only far better in EVERY possible way (except maybe the strength of its biomed program), it’s also a better option if you’re not necessarily committed to biomed/premed. That’s basically what happened to me. I applied ED as a BME major and am already out of the program and going for CSE as of right now. I had an abrupt change of heart and decided I neither wanted to be an MD nor get a degree in sort of a lousy major. No offense to those who are/have taken BME, but it is a rather limited major…it encompasses a general sampling of all the fields that play a role, however minute, in the design of medical equipment and is geared towards an extremely specialized industry/occupation. Plus, at least for me, I simply decided I’m more of a computer person than a bio/chem person.</p>
<p>You could also always go to Hopkins for Med School.</p>
<p>Penn food: My friend is at Penn this summer helping a professor with research and she said that the new provider is delicious, so don’t be too worried about that.</p>
<p>I had a friend who was at JHU and doing premed. She said that it was like torture there. She applied to a few schools to transfer out and chose Penn in the end and loves it (she just finished her premed, but I have no idea where shes going to med school). With a name like Penn you will not have too hard of a time getting into a decent med school if your GPA is solid</p>
<p>undergrads do not major in medicine at either school and neither school differentiates with major admission unless you are applying to engineering (and unless you are applying to Hopkins BME vs other engineering). Unless you are applying to Hopkins BME, Penn is more difficult to get into in terms of selectivity.</p>
<p>SusieBra that’s what I was thinking too, I should go to JHU for med school instead. I live in NY and I’m thinking UPENN would be a better place for me to start off my first years in college. Just in case there’s an emergency and I need to get back home quick, UPENN would be closer to my home. And philly has good opportunities…I think if I went to JHU first I’d be scared and want to transfer out soon. Maybe I’ll go there for med school though…</p>
<p>My 2 cents without having read the thread other than the OP:</p>
<p>Hopkins is not hard to get into. A bunch of dim-wits from my school got in there early and regular applying for BME.
Hopkins is in one of the worst neighborhoods I’ve ever seen in my life. I live an hour away and whenever I go to Baltimore for whatever reason, I lock the doors. The streets are polluted with drugged hobos who have bloodshot eyes and an unpleasant habit of traveling in packs.</p>
<p>I know some people who go to Hopkins and they say they are afraid to leave campus. It simply isn’t safe.</p>
and yes I do love it…company recruiting trip will be taking me back to Penn/Philly in september, can’t wait!</p>