Hi! I’ve been looking for discussions about this and in finding none figured I might do some crowdsourcing myself. I’m honored to be considering Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, and Stanford for undergrad, but also going a little crazy with indecision (10 days left…). I know I want to study linguistics and social sciences, but a diverse and ambitious student body is also important to me, and I had my heart set on going out east (I currently live very close to Stanford). Georgetown has fantastic linguistics, but to be honest I was a little turned off by the culture there. I liked Hopkins when I visited, but a major issue is that they don’t even have a linguistics major! I was talking to a senior there who said linguistics (through the comp sci department) is strong but there’s just not as much range as I might find at Georgetown (so a deep dive into sociolinguistics, for example, might be only through research/independent projects rather than classes tailored to it).
I’m wondering if anyone reading this has experience with linguistics (and/or languages) at Hopkins, or knows anything about it that might help me? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I just want to know how big of a gap there’d be between minoring in linguistics at Hopkins versus studying it at one of the other two schools.
Thanks so much!
You need to decide whether the presence of a specific major is worth more than the campus environment. Note that most students will change their intended major at least once in college.
You may want to check out JHU’s interdisciplinary studies major (self designed) and see if you could create your own “linguistics” major that way.
Stanford has the strongest program of the three, and to be honest, probably has the best culture. In addition, a Stanford degree carries more prestige than a JHU or a Georgetown degree. For the record, I’m a JHU grad, followed by Penn so I mean no insult to the school. JHU has a very competitive culture rather than a collaborative one. I’ve never been to Georgetown but I’ve heard about the culture. I’m curious to know what turned you off about the vibe if you don’t mind sharing. My D21 is interested in studying linguistics and is also looking at Georgetown. Best of luck with your decision!
Thanks so much! I’m starting to consider Stanford more seriously. I just really was hoping not to stay in the area. Georgetown would be a great choice for me academically, but especially after visiting Hopkins, I was disappointed by the lack of diversity at Georgetown. Especially as a girl, there seemed to be a perfectionist culture (a certain way to look, act, eat…) that also seemed pretty tied to class. I know you can find “your people” and stay true to yourself anywhere, and also that Georgetown attracts amazing people from all backgrounds, but I’d like to be somewhere that actively pushes me to question privilege rather than succumb to it. I think Stanford definitely has the most appealing culture out of all of them.
Wife went to Stanford (I went to MIT for grad) and we’re both Hopkins grads living in silicon valley. You cant go wrong here. Hopkins more than holds its weight and it’s not clear Stanford has the best program for linguistics. A Stanford degree does not give noticeable advantages when it comes to employers and is more known for Tiger Woods and sports at times than academics. This coming from someone that was in prestige obsessed industries such as management consulting at Bain. Hopkins is also currently definitely not competitive (and yes, it is collaborative) despite what @GoldPenn indicates above. Given they have a college aged daughter, they likely graduated decades ago and not within the past few years like us. It’s a very very outdated stereotype of Hopkins.
And yes, there’s nothing wrong with traveling out east. We live close to Palo Alto and work for major tech companies (Google), and it is a bubble. The many many Stanford grads I know rarely ventured out of campus (they mostly went to downtown PA on university ave and rarely to San Francisco given it’s a bit of a trek (in norcal speak) at 50 min). Venture out east and come back for grad school.
stevensPR: Thanks so much! Yeah, everyone I met at Hopkins seemed ambitious and hardworking but also super approachable and friendly. I know the social scene there is different from other schools though. I’m glad it sounds like you enjoyed Hopkins while you were there. Stanford ling is great but definitely more AI/natural language processing focused (so as someone more interested in social applications, if the program was the most important thing about a school I should probably be at GU).
Thanks also for your thoughts on PA. I’m starting to realize I might really want to be out east because even if I love it here, I can’t imagine not being sick of Silicon Valley in another 4 years (especially if I’m never getting out to the city). I’m wondering if despite my conscious wish to get out of my comfort zone, Stanford appeals to me because it’s familiar. Yesterday I was telling someone about my worries with Georgetown’s culture and they said they’ve heard similar things about Stanford (even if there’s more racial diversity perse, there’s still a dominating culture of airpods and pressed juices).
@lingcurious yes, we’re talking about 3 elite privates here and not podunk college, so you have 3 great choices. College is a time to explore - you can’t go wrong here. I would say all 3 have their pockets of affluence. Some more so than others.
There’s a reason why so many Gunn and Paly high kids choose to go east despite having connections to Stanford and Berkeley.
@stevensPR I agree 100%! That’s part of why I’m warming up more toward Georgetown. I have no idea why I’m not considering Hopkins as much anymore, it just sort of happened. A really cool school though.
I also want to iterate that I really lucked out with my choices and I’m super excited for next year. I’m bummed that making a decision requires some critical/negative thinking rather than celebrating all of the positives. I also think it’s still worth the time to take advantage of having these options to be thoughtful in my choice. Still, you’re right that once I arrive on campus I’ll know I can’t really have gone wrong.
I think you are paying too much attention to things you hear from others, do some research about Johns Hopkins.
@Riversider I agree that my decision should be my own, not others. I’m just not sure what kind of research I have left to do. In terms of academics/my original question here, I guess I could read more about the research being done by linguistics professors at Hopkins. I just don’t necessarily trust college program “ratings” online because there’s so many factors and they already change arbitrarily from year to year, and I was hoping to hear some personal takes. Let me know if you’ve found something helpful though, because I think you have a good point!
For your major & for campus culture, I agree with an above poster that Stanford is your best option. Consider studying abroad for a semester or for a year. Also, consider registering for a year as a visiting student if you want a break from Stanford.
I think that Georgetown’s campus culture is well known.
Ultimately, do what you feel is best not what strangers on the internet might tell you to do. Hopkins is rated #1 for linguistics at the graduate level which should also reflect strength at the undergrad level (it’s not even close as their high and low scores are #1)
https://www.chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124741
There are better choices if you are the type to want to explore elsewhere beyond the Silicon Valley bubble including Georgetown and Hopkins as both schools have student bodies that venture out more into the city. Neither are a significant step down from Stanford (and this coming from someone who was accepted at Stanford multiple times in his career for grad school and at GSB). Don’t get me wrong, Stanford is a great place (my wife went there), but it won’t afford you magical leg ups on say Hopkins when it comes to careers unless you’re interested in VC or PE in SF (both of which seem counter to your ambitions of eschewing privilege). We hire CS majors at Google from JHU just as we do from Stanford, and the standards don’t differ.
@stevensPR: Makes a great point–although unintentionally. Save JHU for grad school in linguistics as that graduate program is well respected, but the JHU undergraduate program is woefully deficient.
@Publisher on what basis do you say this? It’s effectively cog sci at Hopkins and my friends all had ample research opportunities and most are at Harvard for linguistics in grad school now.
Based on OP’s original post in this thread. (No linguistics major at JHU.)
OP: Also consider Harvard for grad school.
There’s a linguistics focus at Hopkins within cog sci. Just because a major doesn’t exist similar doesn’t mean the curriculum isn’t there or is somehow deficient to others. OP: contact professors if you’re so inclined for more info.
OP already researched this & was disappointed by lack of “range” in the offerings at JHU.
Another Hopkins advocate here. The ability to put together majors of interest and the opportunity to do real research at the undergraduate level among multiple disciplines is a major plus for those that are inclined to delve deeply into that exploration. At the end of the day you have three good schools and programs to choose from. The opportunities and connections that each will offer and the environment of campuses are different. I’d go back if you can and spend some time on each campus and talk to the students and see which you most jibe with.
Thanks so much everyone! Some updates: after talking with my college counselor, I’ve finally decided to table Stanford. If I’d grown up anywhere else, it would have been an ideal fit for me, but as much as I’d regret passing up on Stanford, I think I’d regret not going out east even more. It’s now down to Georgetown and Hopkins. My counselor brought up that even if sociolinguistics and language documentation (the areas I’m most excited to learn about) aren’t as established, if I want to go to grad school, making my own way and being a pioneer could actually be really attractive. I reached out to a Hopkins professor about what opportunities there might be while I’m there to explore those areas. In terms of location and social life, I think I prefer Georgetown, but I don’t know how much I care about the difference in socioeconomic/etc. diversity between the two schools. In terms of linguistics, it’s a matter of whether I’d rather go somewhere with a very well-established program but where I don’t love the culture versus making my own way in a school that highly encourages undergrad autonomy.
(Depending on your intended path with linguistics, there may be better fits than Hopkins and Georgetown; it’s a complex field. A case could be made for Pitt, Rochester, Indiana, Wisconsin, Bucknell, or even the linguistics minor option at Middlebury all as undergrad options.) Try going to the sites for the departments and see what the research/capstone projects are for the undergrads, and what sort of work they did during internships where that applies. Check out the faculty lists - generally a small population in that major - and check their ratings and publications to get a feel for how students interact with them.