<p>Oddly enough, I think the outlier in that group is Cornell. Now, I would not be saying that if you had been admitted to the College of Arts & Sciences at Cornell, which is privately endowed and is really the “Ivy League” part of the University. The College of Human Ecology (which used to be called Home Economics) is a statutory or contract college, meaning that it essentially is endowed by the State of New York and is part of the “public” part of Cornell, along with Agriculture, Hotel Management, Industrial and Labor Relations, all of which are subjects that you won’t find at any of the other schools you listed, or at any of the other Ivys. Don’t misunderstand–I’m not saying the statutory schools are bad; it’s just that they are more comparable to a flagship state university (which New York really doesn’t have) than they are to other schools generally thought of as the very top universities. Cornell is also huge in comparison to the others, with about four times the undergraduate population of Hopkins. And while all of the schools will have large lectures for introductory or survey courses, for most of them you are talking 200-300 students in a lecture (with small sections led by a graduate student). At Cornell, some lectures (intro psych for example) can have as many as 2000.</p>
<p>It is easier to compare the other schools with each other. Hopkins, Northwestern, and Wash U are all academic peers (BTW, I consider Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences a peer as well). I’d put Tufts slightly behind the other three but not so much that the difference should necessarily be determinative. Northwestern has a beautiful campus on Lake Michigan, but it is in Evanston, not Chicago, and you are a good 40 minutes away from the Loop. So it is accessible to Chicago, but your not going to go there every day. Hopkins and Wash U are both right in their respective cities, and they both have beautiful, park-like campuses. Wash U is in a nice, safe part of town but St Louis is the most dangerous city in the country. It is also not near anything else (unless you consider Springfield, Ill. a hot place). Hopkins’ Homewood campus is also in a relatively safe part of town (and the areas to the north of campus are very nice). Baltimore also has its share of problems but, on balance, I’d much rather live in Baltimore than St. Louis. Baltimore is also easily accessible to DC, Philly and New York (you can be in DC in about the same time it takes to go to Chicago from Northwestern. Tufts is not in Boston but is on the Medford/Sommerville line. It is pretty easy to get into the city though; walk 10 minutes to Davis Square and the Red Line will take you right into the city. Tufts campus is nice but not nearly as nice as Hopkins, Northwestern or Wash U’s campuses.</p>
<p>Athletics are different (I mention this for school spirit purposes since you didn’t say you were an athlete). Northwestern is Div I (Big 10), while Hopkins is split division (top D-I school in men’s and women’s lacrosse; D-III otherwise). Wash U and Tufts are strictly D-III. So I would list them in that order in terms of school spirit. Men’s lacrosse is the only sport that gets big crowds at Hopkins (there were @24,000 fans at the Meadowlands this past Sunday to watch Hopkins play North Carolina).</p>
<p>Here is one difference you might not have thought about (and for some people it is immaterial and for others, important). Tufts is, at best, the third best school in the Boston Area (behind Harvard and MIT). For that reason, locals’ don’t give it the kind of respect/reverence that it probably deserves and would have if it were located elsewhere. This lack of respect is probably the cause, at least in part, of the so-called “Tufts syndrome.” The situation is somewhat similar although not as acute at Northwestern, which is viewed by most (although not by all) as inferior to the University of Chicago. But Hopkins and Wash U are king in their respective cities. Tell a local that you are a Hopkins student and the usual response is “wow, you must be really smart.” A small thing, perhaps, but it does make you feel good.</p>
<p>I can’t comment upon the food except to say that it is much better today at Hopkins than it used to be (and it used to be pretty bad). Most students tell me it is now pretty good although, like at any institutional setting, it can get somewhat monotonous. It is not home cooking.</p>
<p>The weather should not be a huge factor. Chicago tends to be very cold in winter and very hot in summer. Boston is not quite as extreme, but the differences with Chicago are not huge. Baltimore is a little warmer than Boston in winter and much hotter in summer. St Louis a little warmer and hotter still. But again, the differences among these places are not huge. University of Hawaii is not on your list.</p>
<p>All of these schools are good so you can’t make a serious mistake. But I will say this–if you are planning for a career in medicine, there is no better brand on your resume than Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>Good luck with your choice.</p>