<p>I was accepted to both of these schools. I know that this is a "high-class" problem...but I was wondering if anyone had any insight into the benefits of these respective programs.</p>
<p>How I see it is:</p>
<p>Penn has a more all-around solid education when you include all majors--and is thus viewed as the "better" school of the two (By better I mean ranking and the far less important snob factor...but I am sure that is also debatable)</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins has a better engineering school. BME at JHU is the best in the world. But I have a hard time grasping what that really means.....</p>
<p>......... omg lol.... you just stereotyped yourself as the "asian" who applies just for prestige...</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins University is the leading university in the current world on biomedical engineering due to its many accomplishments in the past... developing the pacemaker, artificial heart valves, having done more research than many of the universities in the world towards the aspect of bioengineering... and one of the greatest universities incorporating engineering to solve medical problems... they developed many techniques in facilitating surgeries... i mean list goes on....</p>
<p>BME=a very strong major requiring lots of research... and JHU is number 1 in that...</p>
<p>Ummmm....I am actually not Asian, and I wasn't trying to propose that I care about prestige at all. I was trying to say that Penn has the prestige and ranking, but all that was "far less important".</p>
<p>I am a kid from the middle of nowhere farmtown where the Ivy League and Hopkins are practically unheard of. I really only care about the academics and school itself...sorry if I implied that this was a "Which is more famous?" poll. That is not what I meant.</p>
<p>Anyway...any opinions would be appreciated.</p>
<p>it's pretty much as simple as that. it's the best around, and although you can get an incredible education elsewhere, hopkins is simply the strongest bme program for now.</p>
<p>I've never visited Penn, so I can't comment on it specifically, but your impression of Penn as an "all-around solid education" was exactly the impression I had of Hopkins and part of the reason why I picked it over places like Princeton and Caltech. Hopkins has some of the top ranked Writing, Political Science and French programs in the country, as well as the top BME and other great science and engineering programs</p>
<p>oo actually its my bad... i had bad eyes when i caught ur name... i thought it said asian, but its aslan sorry bout that lol... oo and thats what i thought you were implying yah cuz u said u applied to BME but didnt know why and stuff or something so i presumed u applied cuz its the most prestige program at JHU (because its the only limited major that makes it prestige and number 1 in the country)... academic wise they are both really good places to learn and accomplish things... i would say UPenn has a great med school as well so if ur heading from business into med UPenn would be ur choice... Also, if you feel that u still dont know, but already have an intended major in mind, find which university offers the best programs for ur intended major... sorry im short hand typing... but yah its really what you want man,we are here as just a small opinion factor... GOOD LUCK ON UR DECISION :D</p>
<p>Penn SEAS as an undergraduate school of engineering is strong and I would consider it equal in prestige to Whiting at Johns Hopkins. Both schools at the undergraduate level enroll about 1,600 students or about 400 a year. </p>
<p>I think I generally give the edge to Hopkins for three reasons:</p>
<p>1) Overall, Hopkins as an institution is half the size at the undergraduate level. The incoming class at JHU is 1,200 students whereas Penn has four undergraduate colleges is 2,400. </p>
<p>2) Engineering at Hopkins get a lot of attention (they are 1/3 of the class) whereas I feel many engineers at Penn are expected to have some sort of business affiliation with Wharton to get any credibility (like M&T or something similar). Engineers are Penn are only 1/6 of the class and are often found to be overshadowed by Wharton and in some cases the college. </p>
<p>3) Students are 'locked in' to their colleges at Penn. Students who wish to leave SEAS or any college for that matter have to apply to transfer to another undergraduate college at Penn. Students have to then be reviewed by advisors and then admitted to 'internally transfer' or are denied and have to stay where they are. From what I know about Hopkins, this is not the case - students can move freely between the two undergraduate colleges at their leisure even after they declare.</p>
<p>They truly are both great schools they are just different and offer experiences that are different for the undergraduates. This becomes a fit issue from this point on - so visit both if you can. Best of luck - you can't go wrong!</p>
<p>"Penn has a more all-around solid education when you include all majors--and is thus viewed as the "better" school of the two"</p>
<p>quick question. are you majoring in all of the majors? Because if you're not, then this shouldn't be an issue. </p>
<p>Hopkins BME (for those who are familiar with it) has an excellent reputation and is recognized for the intensity and competitiveness of its program; they know you worked hard and must have been stellar to have been admitted. And the people who will be hiring you should be familiar with Hopkins BME. As Wealth pointed out, the incoming class at Hopkins is significantly smaller than Penn but Hopkins still has resources comparable to those of much larger universities. And at Hopkins, you have more flexibility to switch your major than at Penn. An exception to this may be BME, but I imagine it's much easier to get out of BME than get in. </p>
<p>You said that you pretty much care about academics and the school. If based solely on academics, I would choose Hopkins because academics have a reputation of being harder at JHU vs. Penn. Based on the school itself, I would again have to choose Hopkins because it has a smaller student body and faculty which allows you the "personal touch" of a small liberal arts college. And JHU's campus is exquisite; if you haven't visited, then you'll be sold when you get there. Even in the winter, JHU's campus looks nice. I can't say the same about Penn; I visited in both the fall (November) and spring (March). In the winter, it looked so depressing.</p>
<p>My son has acceptances at both Penn and Johns BME, but won't be considering either -- not enough money among other reasons. Between these two colleges, he would choose Johns and then Penn, but keep in mind that he KNOWS he will do BME, which is not the case for many prospective BME majors.</p>
<p>"Penn has a more all-around solid education when you include all majors--and is thus viewed as the "better" school of the two"</p>
<p>Dude, Pick a school based on the specific field that you will be majoring in. Just because a school is more well rounded in all of the 42 majors doesn't mean that you will be majoring in 42 majors.</p>
<p>Take for example Art History.</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins ranked #1 Art history based on national survey on PhD. programs. And I'm a Art history major! I'm in the best program in the entire nation for Art history. Thats is what prospective employers care about. Industry leaders that will be hiring you will know your school regardless of its reputation nationally. If its ranked #1 in a specific field, that takes precedences over the ranking of the entire university itself. Make sense?</p>