<p>After dwelling on my college options, I've come to a standstill between Johns Hopkins and Cornell, not being able to decide at all. I would really appreciate it if anyone were to weigh in his/her advice and perspective on the pros and cons of each school. </p>
<p>Below is some background information that might be helpful:</p>
<p>-I want to pursue Chemistry as a major, but don't have a specific end-game in mind (like med school or grad school/research)
-I'm really enticed by JHU's concurrent B.S./M.S.E program and Cornell's Dual Degree Program so if anyone has any info on that, I would be very grateful.
-I really like English (critical analyses of texts more than creative writing) and would want to be in a school with a very strong English program. At this point, though, I am not sure if I would major in English but it's definitely something I would consider.
-I have lived in NYC all my life...so location might be difficult in respect to Ithaca and to a certain extent, Baltimore, but I think I could handle a drastic change in pace.
-Financial Aid is about the same.</p>
<p>Does anyone else care to weigh in? I would really appreciate it and am growing increasingly desperate with the May 1st deadline staring at me deviously from a mere distance of 1 week. Please? Thank you.</p>
<p>Sit down and read through both insitution’s websites very carefully. Cornell has the Ag, Vet, and Human Ecology colleges that offer Chem-related programs that aren’t at JHU. Do any of those interest you?</p>
<p>Similarly, there are majors and individual courses at JHU that aren’t available at Cornell. Perhaps they are attractive enough to make your decision for you.</p>
<p>@happymomof1 Thanks for the advice. I probably should’ve mentioned that I’m in Cornell’s Arts and Sciences College. It’s true that I would be able to focus on some other aspects of chemistry that CAS would not cover…I like to branch out somewhat and hope to do so more in college. In addition to my interest in engineering, that was why I previously mentioned my interest in Cornell’s Dual Degree program, which would entail an extra year of study but also consist of me spending time in their engineering school. I’ll be sure to look at specific course selections. Thanks for the advice…truly.</p>
<p>@fliqer I visited only Cornell but was not able to make any of the days for JHU. I aim to look at it before sending off any deposit to either of the schools. I hadn’t really considered travel expenses but both seem reasonable. JHU is about an hour closer to home but I don’t suppose that will make a really big difference. Would Cornell’s rural location really be so advantageous compared to JHU’s urban one? I agree on the fickle merit of aesthetics; Cornell is truly gorgeous…which is not something that I could say about JHU’s immediate vicinity. Thank you for your insight. It got me thinking a lot more critically than I had been about the “advantages” of each college in respect to surroundings.</p>
<p>FYI, MY choice would be Cornell because I would take time to enjoy the environment, the northeast (which I prefer to the southeast), the LACK of urbanity and the Ivy league-ness of it. But honestly you can’t make a bad choice.</p>