<p>Hi guys! I'm trying to build my college list. I want to limit myself to 10. I currently have 9. I want to decide between the two.</p>
<p>First of all, I know that both Emory and JHU's programs are probably about the same. I'm just guessing, but I don't know for sure.</p>
<p>In terms of location, I think JHU would win because it's near D.C. and there are a lot of opportunities there (obviously). It's great for both of my areas of study.</p>
<p>What are the schools' atmospheres like? Does Emory have better food than JHU? Does Emory have better dorms? Which area has better public transportation? Whose campus is prettier? Which university offers better financial aid? Which one is more flexible, etc? </p>
<p>If anybody has any thoughts, I would greatly appreciate them!</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>JHU is much better for IR related subjects than Emory. Also JHU has a much greater international recognition.</p>
<p>Thanks! That’s what I needed to know!</p>
<p>Baltimore’s also close to DC, I was able to intern at IR-related places for all of college in DC and commute easily.</p>
<p>MasterMargarita: Yep! That’s partially why I’m considering applying. I love D.C. :)</p>
<p>Emory is a fine university and, in some fields, is a peer of Johns Hopkins. But international studies is not among those fields. Since the 1950’s, Hopkins has been a world leader in international studies (along with Georgetown, Princeton, Columbia and Tufts). Hopkins and Princeton founded the field of Middle East Studies in the United States and Hopkins’ department is one of the few in the US that has retained its academic integrity, has not fallen victim to the anti-Western ideology promoted by the late Prof. Edward Said of Columbia (who actually was an English professor with no specialized training in the Middle East), and which is not funded by the Saudi’s or other Islamic states with a political agenda. You can’t do better than Johns Hopkins in international studies and Middle Eastern studies.</p>
<p>Bonanza: Thanks! I’m going to apply to Georgetown’s SFS EA. Then for RD, I’m applying to Brown, USC, Mount Holyoke, Barnard, Claremont McKenna, UChicago, Bryn Mawr, and JHU. It’s awesome that, along with Princeton, they founded the ME studies department! Would you also agree that, overall, JHU is better than Emory?</p>
<p>What is your opinion of Tufts?</p>
<p>I do feel in general the academics at jhu are better than those in emory.</p>
<p>Uh, well, what do you mean, overall? More prestige?</p>
<p>JHU is strong in ancient Near Eastern studies; its undergraduate course offerings on the modern Middle East are relatively sparse. Emory has greater breadth and depth of offerings in the modern Middle East.</p>
<p>MasterMargarita: By overall, I mean, like, is JHU a party school? How’s the atmosphere compared to Emory’s? Is the food better at JHU? Are they more generous with financial aid? I guess I have some general questions.</p>
<p>zapfino: Okay, thanks. This is a difficult decision. I don’t think I can visit either of the schools.</p>
<p>I can only answer questions about JHU becuase that’s where I went. The food at JHU is good. The party scene can be rowdy if you want, or nonexistant if you want.</p>
<p>MasterMargarita: That’s great about the food! I wouldn’t want to spend four years at an amazing university and have to dread meal times. That’s also good about the party scene. I don’t want to have anything to do with it. Also, if you don’t mind me asking, did you have a car on campus? I don’t think I would want to have one. Were the dorms decent? Sorry, the questions are popping in my head.</p>
<p>No car. Dorms are nice soph year, and pretty standard freshman year.</p>
<p>Sounds great! 
Is the campus pretty?</p>
<p>
Correct. Emory has the benefit of a department dedicated to Middle Eastern studies, whereas students at Johns Hopkins must rely on irregularly scheduled courses touching on the Middle East offered by various departments. Both schools provide a firm foundation in Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian, however.</p>
<p>Archaeologist: Hmmm… I’m glad I have another year to decide. Why can’t JHU just have a stronger Middle Eastern Studies program?</p>
<p>They didn’t say it did or didn’t have a strong ME program. I believe he’s saying that their focus is different. If you consider their focus as being different and less desirable, then that reflects what you want from a program. That’s not what archaeologist said though.</p>
<p>Anyway, Other than disparities in course offerings and location, I really doubt you’ll see much of a difference when you sit in a classroom at either doing a major in IS or MES. One can claim that one is so much better all they want, but given that both do great in polisci, I wouldn’t be surprised if the actual academic experience (perhaps other than activist activity) of two undergraduate students choosing either don’t differ dramatically. For example, maybe this isn’t as prestigious as being near Washington (but whoever really wants to do that can do either a Washington Semester or simply take an internship or job their during the summer. I haven’t seen people here struggle to do these things), but when my sophomore roommate arrived to Emory from Northwestern (transferred b/c NU was awesome, but too expensive), he got a legit internship/job opportunity helping a senatorial candidate (a challenger, not the incumbent). Going to Emory doesn’t really place one at any particular disadvantage vs. some other school for polisci/history like studies at all (Having a direct connection to the Carter Center certainly helps opp. prospects). You have good courses, good opportunities, good teaching are at both institutions. I would really just compare the atmosphere, curriculum, course offerings, and perhaps institutes hosted or associated w/the institutions related to the area of interest. Surely both hold many talks, seminars, and summits that are of interest. Look into that stuff. </p>
<p>As for Johns Hopkins Campus: It is one of the brick campuses I actually like. It is indeed very pretty. I don’t know why I like it better than some of the other ones (perhaps buildings are actually kept up better and while all being of similar architecture, have their own integrity). Don’t know about housing. From what one student said on here, it sounds like Emory’s housing is probably better overall (as in for the most years). Since new dorms are in the majority for freshmen now, one will likely have nice housing freshmen year (while not being isolated from main campus or key facilities, no legit freshman village or Commons type thing going on at Emory), mediocre-nice housing sophomore year, and then really, really (except that juniors/seniors are banished to the other side of Lullwater Park. At least we get our own athletic and dining facility along w/a shuttle route) nice housing if you stay on campus junior and senior year. Both campuses have their own perks I guess, so I wouldn’t choose based upon the quality of housing. Many awesome institutions (especially private) have relatively shabby/mediocre housing nearly all 4 years. I think Northwestern is an example.</p>
<p>Living condition 2: Food- If JHU is a typical campus, I would expect them to have more late night dining options than Emory. I don’t know what Sudexho at Emory smokes, but we maybe only have 2-3 late night options and absolutely no 24hr options. It wasn’t like that my freshman year (before the recession and before Sudexho came. Even in 2009 when the stock market was really crappy, Sudexho’s predecessor had much later hours. They were the same as Fall 2008). If you want a full break down of dining ops at Emory, you’ll have to ask about it in our thread.</p>
<p>Bernie12: I think Emory does have better food and housing. I like them both very much.
I’ll have to look into the course listings and see. A big plus to Emory is it’s somewhat close to the CNN building (isn’t it?) and it would be interesting to intern there. </p>
<p>I’ll probably end up applying to both and see what happens. I really can’t go wrong with either one. It’s unique that JHU has campuses in different parts of the world. If I’m lucky enough to get into both, I’ll just base my decision on financial aid.</p>