I was recently accepted off the wait list and given three days to reply to offer of admission. This opened a HUGE pandora s box in my house- i was already set to go to a great instate school in the honors program for around 20000. My family has to decide whether to accept Hopkinsoffer of admission by tomorrow; my father can’t imagine turning down that offer after working so hard for it, my mom doesn’t want to give up our lifestyle for tuition. Idk if numbers are appropriate but the tuition would still leave them with around another 150000 in income to go to everythhing else and I only have one younger brother who like won’t look at any expensive schools. Also, this would put me in a position where I would have to put myself through medical school if I decide to ultimately do that, but I know I would eventually make enough to get out of debt. Does anyone have any words of wisdom as to whether the opportunity at a top 10 school is worth the staggering price tag?
Honestly, I think it a great school and would go if I could afford it.
Visited with my son last summer, but he did not get in.
Was our top choice, and we too would have had to pay full price and turn down less expensive choices.
I would have done it.
My older S left a full tuition scholarship at a public college and transferred to pay full price at a major
private school comparable to JH. Was glad to help him do so. Huge difference in his experience now
vs the public college, much better education, and learning environment.
That’s 44k difference per = nearly 200k for all 4 years. For med school admissions, what counts is GPA & MCAT.
So nice of you to unilaterally consign your bother to a cheap school. Look in the mirror and reflect that this had got to be one of the most selfish things I’ve ever read in my years on this forum.
The prudent financial strategy is to conserve cash for med school, so why deliberately put yourself in a 200k deficit before even beginning med school.
There’s no guarantee that med school or high income will happen.
Definitely not worth 256,000+ $ over four year unless your parents make a load of dough.
The extent to which it is worth paying for Johns Hopkins depends on a wide range of factors that only you and your family can really consider. If you were one of my kids, there are a few things I’d want you to consider.
One was already mentioned. A surprisingly small percent of those who start out with the goal of going to med school end up doing that. It is one of the most obvious careers for many high achieving students, often fueled by the goals their parents have for them, but they get introduced to other options once in college. I’d suggest making your decisions without taking the pre-med idea into consideration. I would not say similar if you planned for an engineering major because such majors can command comfortable salaries without further education. So if you are an engineering major taking on a lot of debt is less risky. But many students considering pre-med plan to major in fields like biology and chemistry where starting salaries without further education are low. So, make decisions without banking on pre-med. Further, if you do go to med school, you will need to plan to access a lot of money. So going to a less expensive school for college would make sense anyway.
The other critical variable here is about the school you are considering if you don’t attend Hopkins. What in state school is an option. If you were one of mine, and the alternative was Chapel Hill, Ann Arbor, Madison, UVa (and others in Virginia), Maryland, Georgia Tech, any of a bunch of the California system schools or a similarly outstanding state school, then I’d view those as excellent options. But if the alternative was any SUNY (even “honors”) or UMass, I’d fork it over for Hopkins.
Like everyone else, I have my biases (grounded in experience and facts). I’m not a fan of SUNY although students can do very well and many like it. I don’t think SUNY offers students a quality experience that compares to the experience students get elsewhere. I’m a huge fan of Hopkins. It is a school I know quite well in a city I like a lot. But if it were a matter of attending one of the flagships such as those listed above compared to Hopkins, I’d be as torn as you are. I’m not sure that Hopkins makes much sense, given the price tag and your family’s financial situation. I tend to favor private schools for the experiences they offer but the great flagships sometimes offer even more. They tend to have great resources and a smaller price tag. Even if price were not factored in, I’d have a tough time deciding between Chapel Hill and Hopkins, for example. I’d go for Hopkins if they were the same price but that choice is not an obvious one. In other words, I don’t think you can go wrong with either if those are the options. SUNY vs Hopkins would not introduce a speck of doubt-Hopkins!
Also, I agree with blevine’s comment “Huge difference in his experience now
vs the public college, much better education, and learning environment.” but have to guess that the son was in a SUNY or Mass rather than a flagship. There is a difference between any private and public school but the differences are bigger when the state system is not known as a good one. And, some of the public flagships are really hybrids-with large private endowments-that make the experience more similar to a private school. Would be great to hear what blevine views as the major differences his/her son encountered between the public and private school.
I say go to JH and have a great education. If you do make it to Med school then take loans. If you don’t, at least you’ll have a desireable undergrad degree.
That is if it’s just a matter of lifestyle for your parents, not putting their mortgage or 401 in jeopardy.
S1’s great instate honors program consisted of silly enrichment classes that he mostly did not enjoy,
some group community service, some antiquated “tech” training (how to blog…nobody blogs anymore).
His school was just full of bureaucratic barriers to academic plans. Despite having honors registration preference,
still could not get classes he wanted because of silly rules. His honors adviser gave no advice, just enforced silly rules and sent him to others for help, who ended up not being helpful.
Now he is in a peer institution to JH, and without being in an honors program, he is treated much better.
Has had no issues getting into any class he wants, has many more classes to choose, has advisors that are
actually helpful.
All that said, one must be in a position to afford the opportunity, and one must be serious
about school (studying and picking/sticking to a major) so that the 4 years of tuition do not turn into 5.
In regards to which state, while there are certainly a handful of major state universities that claim to have the
same quality of education as top private schools, I just don’t see how you can get the same attention with
40,000 undergrads vs 12,000 students at JH. To me JH is the perfect size, big enough to have resources,
small enough to be treated better than a number.
Best of luck on your decision.
@lostaccount S1 was at CUNY Macaulay Honors College, which is supposed to give a tuition fee
education to the best and brightest kids in NYC. Except it seems we got exactly what we paid for.
The kids in this program that can afford a JH would do well to go, but was tough to leave free tuition,
and most simply could not afford the luxury of such a decision. For S2 I would not even let him apply
to some OOS flagships. Not going to pay 55k/year for mass education, not at Michigan. I will be paying
less than that at another great private for S2, and would have gladly paid for JH had S2 gotten in there.
SUNY was in the mix for both kids, as safety schools, and while 20k/year is attractive, would not pass
up a school like JH.
@GMTplus7 thanks for being such an expert on my family, but that was not a unilateral decision in the least. ultimately we’ve decided that I am going to attend my state school and get help from my family with grad school.