<p>Okay, so at this point, there are four schools in contention (Pton still pending). They are UM (honors, 20k per year), PSU-UP (honors, full ride), Johns Hopkins (got into Biomedical Engineering program), and Duke. I'm going to major in biology (biomedical at JHU). Does anybody have any insight into the strengths of each schools biology programs? Med school placement/premed strength? Research ops?</p>
<p>First of all, is money a concern? If it isn't, PSU doesn't belong. It is a fine university, but it does not compete with the likes of Duke, JHU and Michigan. Also, if you want a good quality of life, I would drop JHU. I'd say that it comes down to Duke or Michigan. Obviously, $18,000/year to attend Michigan is a sweeter deal than Duke at $45,000/year. Saving $100,000 over years would go a long way toward paying for medical school wouldn't it? hehe</p>
<p>See what's up with your parents and money. That's going to play a HUGE part in your decision. PSU is not in the league of your other schools. I don't know about bio departments, but PSU isn't at Michigan, Johns Hopkins, or Duke's caliber from a general standpoint.</p>
<p>You seem into sports, if so, would you want to go to JHU? It doesn't offer the sports environment like UM Football/Basketball/Hockey or Duke Basketball.</p>
<p>I agree the choices are between Michigan, Johns Hopkins and Duke.</p>
<p>Personally, I'd prefer JHU's biomed engineering. JHU also has its unique culture and appeal (e.g., first year pass/fail, leading programs in medical research, IR, etc., Peabody, proximity to Baltimore and DC...)</p>
<p>But there are other considerations. Money is an important factor. And as A2Wolves pointed out ... as a sports fan, would you be content to cheer Penn State and Michigan football from a distance?</p>
<p>all i'm going to say is, my friend toured hopkins, and the second his tour group left the admissions office, he saw a guy crossing the street get hit by a car and the car kept on going and the guy died.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice.
Money is very much a concern. My parents figure that they will be able to contribute about 20k per year. I think I can pull about 5-10k in scholarships. I feel that if UM and Duke are truly peer institutions with similar ops in premed and academic strength, I'd much rather attend UM.
Yeah, I'm also really worried about JHU's quality of life. I don't think that Baltimore is really for me. However, JHU is the one place where I can have a shot at playing college football.
As far as sports go, here's how I'd rank them: 1) Duke and UM tied, 3) Penn State, 4) JHU. Sports are pretty important to me.
Just to make matters worse, I want Duke, my dad wants me at JHU, and my mom wants me at UM. I don't know.
What a sad story dearkonstantine.
Sorry for my rambling.</p>
<p>Are you going to get aid from any school? Or do you have some outside scholarships coming? Go where you want to go. You said you want to go to Duke, it's the highest rated in US News, you have it #1 on your list. Try and shoot for it, not many people get the oppurtunity to go there. A kid in my class sat next to me, had a 4.0, was a double legacy at Duke, wrote wonderful essays, 33 on ACT, and was rejected. If finances don't work out, you always have UM to fall back on.</p>
<p>Maguo, we have a saying in Lebanon. "Mom always knows best"! LOL</p>
<p>magou, i noticed you were from florida and i'm from florida too. i was wondering where you're from and what high school too haha</p>
<p>we both posted that we weren't going to uf and there were many kids at my high school VERY well qualified (i mean like michigan qualified) and didn't even get into uf.</p>
<p>yeah it's a sad story. but still, i think it's kinda funny that my friend who saw it happen is ending up at hopkins</p>
<p>I'm from Southwest Florida: Gulf Coast HS in Naples FL. I think that the biggest concern for me at this time is how do the school's biology/premed programs match up. I'm just not sure UM can be placed in the same league as Duke and JHU.</p>
<p>Maguo, you should go to the school you like best (other than PSU since they are clearly not as good as the other schools you are considering). We aren't qualified to tell you whether or not Michigan is in the same league as Duke or Johns Hopkins. Personally, I think we already established that Johns Hopkins is out because it doesn't have a fun undergraduate environment. I think you should go for Duke. It is where your heart lies. I think you will regret not going there.</p>
<p>By all rankings I've seen JHU and Duke have better biomed programs than U-M. If it were my choice - and I could swing the money - I'd go for Duke (despite the recent news). Most students love U-M, but it is a huge, public university -- and I suspect that Duke and JHU do a better job with undergraduate education. The only thing I would say is that - if you make up your mind to be happy, if you apply yourself, if you take the right classes - you can get into med school from Michigan. So if you end up here, don't look back - it will be fine.</p>
<p>Actually Snorky, Michigan has very similar Medical school placement rates to JHU (60%-80% at Michigan, 70%-80% at JHU). Duke has significantly better medical school placement rates (80-90%) than Michigan. Those sdifference are directly attributable to the quality of their respective student bodies. However, Maguo's (or any indiviadual for thatmatter) chance at getting into Medical school will not improve if he goes to one school as opposed to another. Those three universities are peer institutions and will open the same doors. The quality of undergraduate education at all three universities is practically identical. But I think in Maguo's case, he's better off going to Duke, even if it will cost him $100,000 more.</p>