<p>I’m a current Hopkins BME. If you intend to major in BME, I can already tell you that the programs at Duke and Hopkins are far more well established, well known, and well funded than the program at Dartmouth. Hopkins is annually ranked #1 for bme, duke is usually top ten, but dartmouth is unranked I believe. Outside of BME, I feel like the three schools have equally strong humanities and engineering programs. If you are only slightly interested in BME, I would visit all three schools and chose based on financial aid and which school you feel has the best “atmosphere”. However, if you like BME, I think it is pretty clear that the choice should be between Duke and Hopkins.</p>
<p>Although I admit that I am biased, I think Hopkins is a better choice than duke. There have been many threads on cc comparing the two. One good source is tanman, who went to Hopkins for undergrad and Duke for MD/Phd:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/912362-jhu-v-duke-bme.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/912362-jhu-v-duke-bme.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/1045163-what-sets-hopkins-bme-apart.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/1045163-what-sets-hopkins-bme-apart.html</a></p>
<p>In general, we have a very “learn by doing” kind of academic culture here. Nearly every student takes part in research, whether it be gun policy research or computer integrated surgery. The BME department in particular is very project based, with the design team curriculum and the various concentrations.</p>
<p>I would also take a look at the hopkins interactive forum on the jhu admissions website. The information there is far more reliable than the info here. You won’t run into high school students perpetuating stereotypes about hopkins (For the record, this place is far from cutthroat, not everyone is pre-med, there is relatively little crime in areas around Hopkins). </p>
<p>For pre-med, I think Hopkins is probably one of the top three schools in the nation in terms of medically related opportunities for undergraduates. Research is one of the most important parts of your med school application and Hopkins has the best public health, nursing, and medical schools in the nation. This means that you can do medically related research but not necessarily be stuck in a lab doing cell culture. Take a look at all these research centers: </p>
<p>[The</a> Johns Hopkins University - Health Medicine Research](<a href=“Home | Johns Hopkins University”>Home | Johns Hopkins University)</p>
<p>Hopkins is also heavily involved in improving the Baltimore community. This means that there are many enriching volunteer opportunities. Take a look at the center for social concern website:</p>
<p>[JHU</a> Center for Social Concern: Student Groups](<a href=“http://www.jhu.edu/csc/studentgroups.shtml]JHU”>http://www.jhu.edu/csc/studentgroups.shtml)</p>
<p>The pre med advising is also very good here. All of this means that there are many Hopkins pre meds who go on to attend the best med schools in the nation, including Harvard, Hopkins, Stanford, UCSF, etc. </p>
<p>Overall, you can definitely be successful in any three of the schools you listed. However, from this perspective, Hopkins is probably best suited for your goals. This doesn’t mean that Hopkins should be your automatic choice. I would first visit the schools to get an idea of which atmosphere you enjoy the most. I would also heavily consider aid. If you don’t think you can afford coming here, I would call the financial aid office and tell them what other schools offered, and they might increase your aid. They could also point you to some scholarships that might help your family out a bit.</p>
<p>Sorry for the long post. I hope all of this was helpful!</p>