DD accepted to both, leaning premed but not sure. Thoughts? She is thinking that she might have a better opportunity to shadow a doctor at JHU but I am not sure how she arrived at that idea. I’m concerned about the quality of education and student life. Of course JHU is ranked highly, but I just haven’t been able to get a sense of what distinguishes it from any other top school. Would really appreciate any insights or opinions. Cross-posting this on the Columbia page.
(Current Student)
Obviously I can’t speak to Columbia, but I can do my best to shed some light on Hopkins programs.
a. Academic Programs
Hopkins academic program is a bit different than most. Unlike the traditional program where you must take specific general ed requirements, Hopkins programs are focused on “distributions”. That is while you’re forced to take a fixed set of classes to fulfill your major requirements, you only need to take a certain number of credits in specific areas to fulfill your GEs. So, for example, if you’re a STEM major who hates English but enjoys psychology and history, you could take 18 credits of courses from the psych or history department that are categorized as H (humanities) or S (social science). This GE style allows Hopkins students to branch out a lot more than the traditional style and enables some students to pursue double majors and minors.
b. Access to research
Hopkins is extremely research-centric. I would honestly be surprised if any school offered as many research opportunities to undergraduates as Hopkins. A majority of undergraduates conduct research at some point in there undergraduate career - and that’s not limited to STEM students. Many students are also able to conduct research at labs on the Hopkins med campus which not only gives them exposure to truly cutting edge biomedical research, but also can be very useful for med school apps (think rec letters, papers, etc).
c. Premed support
This is something that many top tier schools have, but Hopkins does a pretty good job with advising for premeds. Premeds have ample opportunities to meet with advisors, interact with upperclass students, talk to med students (assuming they go to the med campus every once in a while), shadow physicians (if not at Hopkins then at one of the many hospitals in the area), and more. Hopkins also has a program called Medical Tuturials which streamlines a lot f the process of applying for shadowing, clinical research, and the like.
d. Location and opportunities
The DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) is a very diverse location that gives students a whole range of opportunities. Baltimore is rife with community service opportunities and there are countless student groups at Hopkins dedicated to just that. If you’re interested in politics and government work, DC is a $5 train ride away from Homewood. If you’re interested in R&D, engineering, or general applied engineering NASA Goddard and JHU APL are 45 minutes away from Homewood. Interested in shadowing physicians and you really have your pick of hospitals. In terms of “fun” there’s also a lot to do in the area and - if you exercise common sense - you should be safe.
Feel free to respond or PM me with any questions.