<p>I've gotten into both, but I'm not really sure what I want. I may be interested in the pre-medical program/cognitive science major and I understand that Hopkins is a better option if I choose to do that. However, there is always a chance that I do something more humanities-oriented. Any opinions on the general information regarding each campus, campus life, or any interesting details about the school in general? Please help!
And yes I plan on visiting both, but I just wanted to know a little about each before visiting.</p>
<p>Hopkins and Chicago are similar in many respects (perhaps not surprising since Chicago was modeled after Hopkins). Both are similar in size, have similar student bodies (both score high on the intellectual/nerdy scale 
), have similarly distinguished faculty, and both have beautiful urban campuses in a relatively nice neighborhood but close to not so nice neighborhoods. The biggest difference is that Chicago’s campus is predominately Gothic while Hopkins’ is Georgian. Both schools rank similarly in terms of prestige and selectivity. Both are somewhat less selective than the Ivies (except for Cornell, which is similar). I think this is due to the preceived “cache” of an Ivy degree and the fact that both schools are known to be difficult and, hence, the applicant pool is rather more self-selected than the Ivies’.</p>
<p>I think the real difference for undergraduates is the curriculum. Chicago is all about the Core; Hopkins has no core and has only basic school-wide distribution and writing requirments–the serious requirements being dictated by the chosen major. Basically, you can choose to study the Great Books at Hopkins but it is not universally required.</p>
<p>yupss the main difference between the schools is the core…do you want a core or not?
do you want to be on the east coast with quick access to DC, nyc etc including baltimore or do you want to be in the midwest…chicago?</p>