<p>Conservative or liberal?</p>
<p>I am trying to choose between Berkeley and JHU
Both are pretty cut throat,
and I think JHU has smaller class size, which I like
but I heard that Berkeley is very liberal, which I also like :-(</p>
<p>Is JHU liberal? or conservative?</p>
<p>the cut-throat thing is really just folklore - it’s been dismissed on here 100’s of times. it’s an old legend that’s been passed down over time and has no merit in 2009 so don’t let that affect your decision.,</p>
<p>Hopkins is definitely liberal, but attracts all different types of people, very international, diverse and small.</p>
<p>cal = 24,000 ug students
jhu = 4,400 ug students</p>
<p>visit.</p>
<p>I came from Cambridge, MA. It’s difficult living in a city dominated by Harvard/MIT and being a Republican in a Cambridge, MA…It’s a liberal atmosphere…It’s often times called People’s Republic of Cambridge (PRC) lol.</p>
<p>Hopkins is very democratic and pretty liberal. I was one of the very few who did not vote for Obama. *let me emphasize…very few… *I tend to find little difference between Harvard and Johns Hopkins in terms of liberal atmosphere. TONS of ppl who supported Obama rioted out during the street after news came out that he won the election…</p>
<p>Size is a problem. One of my closest premed friends decided to choose 50K a year at Hopkins vs. a much cheaper education at Berkeley (arguablly, I’d say the education is same, both really top universities, can’t go wrong with each).</p>
<p>Biggest problem he said was that Berkeley’s size limited research opportunities. (NOTE, this is complete hearsay, but this is what he told me) My premed friend said, don’t believe me if you don’t want to, that a Berkeley student told him to go to Hopkins because it’s difficult to compete against 24,000 bright students for the same research opportunities and professor attention at such a very big university. I am pretty sure UCBChemBE can speak more into this matter (maybe refute it, lol)</p>
<p>One of the greatest hallmarks of a Hopkins education is to conduct research. 80% of students here do research at least one point of their careers. Hopkins is the leading research university in terms of total amount spent on research… It’s small size can only add to that advantage.</p>
<p>Cutthroat… no. Both are tough and rigorous if you want to become premed, go to UCLA or UMich… both UC Berkeley and Hopkins are rigorous schools… Neither are cutthroat but both are competitive. (You’ve got to have some competition in you if can get into UCLA, Berkeley, or Hopkins, you gotta like competing and getting those A’s lol) </p>
<p>With 65:1 applicants to seats ratio at all the top 25 medical school, if you can’t handle UCB or Hopkins, there is little chance that you can handle admissions into med school either. That’s 5 times harder to get into top 25 med school than getting into MIT. 
So you will do well in thriving rigorous environment like UCB or Hopkins.</p>
<p>Cutthroat is ppl who want to see you fail. They actively try not to deliver crucial information and try to steal your homework or delete some files so you fail your class. Hopkins collaboration has made my time at Hopkins great because I get to interact with minds that are smarter than me and I richly benefit from their views, their knowledge, and a different perspective. These are REALLY smart ppl that collaborate, far far far different than cutthroat.</p>
<p>“cal = 24,000 ug students
jhu = 4,400 ug students”
I think I prefer the 4,400 ug… lol</p>
<p>Oh JHU is not cut-throat? that’s great, I’m def. leaning towards JHU now…
I live in Canada (west) and I’m still in school so I don’t think visiting is possible 
Maybe I’ll try to figure something out … </p>
<p>"Cutthroat is ppl who want to see you fail. They actively try not to deliver crucial information and try to steal your homework or delete some files so you fail your class. Hopkins collaboration has made my time at Hopkins great because I get to interact with minds that are smarter than me and I richly benefit from their views, their knowledge, and a different perspective. These are REALLY smart ppl that collaborate, far far far different than cutthroat. "</p>
<p>thanks, that cleared my confusion.
I don’t mind positive competition; I just don’t want people sabotaging(sp?) me ;)</p>
<p>Wow thanks for all the information.</p>
<p>I think I’ll read both universities’ websites thoroughly tonight…</p>
<p>I don’t know about Berkeley’s but JHU’s class sizes depend on which class you’re talking about. For example, my last organic chemistry 2 class had about 450 people in it. But I’ve also taken a history class with 15 people. So be sure to look into how large the class sizes are IN YOUR RESPECTIVE MAJOR. It’s true that Hopkins only has 4000+ undergrads, but 90% of all my classes have been 150+ people. I’m not sure if that helps.</p>