<p>Hi guys, I just got admitted to JHU under the ED plan. I love this school so much and it's definitely my first choice (my friend is studying there and he tells me it's a great place to study undergrad). However, I was disappointed when JHU didnt give me the financial aid I requested (my friend told me that JHU was need-aware and they only admitted me if they could provide me the financial support based on my family's financial condition). I have to contribute more than 20k/y (10k more than my expectation). My parents can pay that money for me though, but it'll be a great burden to them. Now I am in the middle of 3 options:</p>
<ul>
<li>Go to JHU! </li>
<li>Tell JHU that I'm not able to afford studying there, then I'll be released from the ED plan to apply to other colleges (I wrote to them a few days ago and they told me it'd be possible)</li>
<li>Forget about going to the US and apply for the Singapore Scholarship (I'm in Vietnam) and study at National U of Singapore.</li>
</ul>
<p>I personally prefer to go to JHU, my dream school, but I need to put in to account my parents' budget. The second option seems to be difficult 'cause in my list there is only BYU that has the deadline later than 1/1. I dont really like going to Singapore, but my family want me to go there since my brother's studying at NUS. In my opinion, JHU is way better than NUS, but my brother claims NUS is better in Com Science, my major. </p>
<p>Can u guys help me decide? It'd be great if u know smt about NUS and JHU and compare the 2 schools for me (is JHU = NUS + 100k?). Thank u guys very much!</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins is definitely way better…and in fact once you are there you can apply for departmental scholarships and others as well…also i think that NUS makes you sign a bond which makes you work for them several years after graduating…on a last note…your aid package is great…it would be unwise to let it go…</p>
<p>Cant u guys help me appeal my award? I did it once but they didnt approve. Here is what they said: </p>
<p>“Thank you for your emails. Unfortunately, this year we are unable to offer you additional financial aid beyond our initial offer. We realize that this is not the most favorable of news. We also recognize that there are other US colleges and universities that have fast approaching deadlines of January 1 and we wanted to give you the opportunity to apply to those other institutions as we recognize that the financial for you and your family is not ideal. That said, should other resources become available to you and our initial offer makes enrolling feasible, our deadline to deposit for students offered admission in Early Decision is January 15th, 2010. We will hold your seat open until then. Otherwise, you are released from the Early Decision binding agreement here at Johns Hopkins University. Please let me know if you have any other questions.”</p>
<p>It’s sad My friend tells me that I can appeal to get a higher award after I enrolls in the university. Should I pay the placement fee to get a place in JHU and then tell them I cant afford JHU? Will they withdraw my admission in that case? I love JHU so much. I’m having a heated confrontation with my older brother about how JHU is much better than NUS. He’s really stubborn. >"<</p>
<p>If your parents “can” afford it, that means their calculation is correct. I wouldn’t count on any appeal.</p>
<p>In defense of your brother, computer sci is not JHU’s strength. This is a rather dynamic field (not standardized curriculum) so comparison is often difficult anyway.</p>
<p>Hi, mib 1990, I suppose you post it on VA, you wil get more feedback then.</p>
<p>For JHU, I believe if it’s what your friend said, go for it since your parents can pay for it. After enrolling, you may have a chance to get more financial aid. But still apply to other schools.</p>
<p>Do you also plan on going to grad school? Take that into consideration too. But that sucks that they didn’t give you your ideal package. JHU is one of my fav. schools too, I’m going to apply next year, but not under ED because out of fear for what happened to you. If you can afford it and your parents don’t mind then go for it.</p>
<p>As others said, you can ALWAYS apply to dept. awards and scholarships once you get there. My uncle, when at Wayne State for grad school was an international student. Paid a lot of money. But, by his second year, he was paying LESS than half of his initial tuition AND getting the best research opportunities, while helping professors with their projects and getting some other scholarships. So, very possible to slash down your tuition after the first year.</p>
<p>I’m all for going to America, so do go to JHU if:</p>
<p>1) you REALLY think that your parents can afford the whole four years. Honestly, I wouldn’t count too much on better aid later on.
2) you would maybe consider graduating early to lessen the burden?</p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>Don’t go, because:</p>
<p>1) JHU is well-known mostly for their medical sciences, not sure about CS.
2) NUS is better ranked than JHU in the world rankings and I like Singapore, won’t mind even if they bond me. But of course, this is me talking.</p>
<p>As for me to not feel like a hypocrite, I applied to JHU RD and am counting on (lotsa!) aid myself, so you have the option of disregarding everything that I wrote above. ;)</p>
<p>Have you factored in what you might be able to earn while at university and during the holidays? Does your financial aid package include working at the university? If not, you should be able to work for up to 20 hours a week during term time and maybe more during the summer. Every little helps.
Can you take out a loan to be repaid after you graduate?
If it’s possible to go to JHU, I’d go. Otherwise, if money is limited, plan to use it to go to the US for grad school instead.</p>
<p>JHU gave you 10k less than you wanted – that adds up to 40k/year, assuming the FA stays constant. Are you willing to shoulder that burden of 40k? If you parents can afford it and you go to JHU, you could pay them back after graduating. </p>
<p>As a Singaporean who chose to go to univ in the US (Harvey Mudd, a small tech school), I acknowledge the benefits of a US education. Going to school in the US and in Singapore are vastly different cultural experiences. I <em>do</em> think that NUS is better than JHU for Computer Science, however, you have to weigh the costs and benefits. </p>
<p>JHU is very far away from Vietnam, and you’ll likely not be able to return home much since finances are tight. (plane trips are 2k USD) You might not be able to do a lot of fun but expensive things like tour around the US. You may feel homesick and unable to connect to Vietnamese culture (there aren’t many Viet-Americans in the Baltimore area, are there?) Also, you might feel obligated or guilty if your brother and parents disagree with your decision.</p>
<p>On the other hand, NUS is near to Vietnam and you’ll probably not have problems adjusting at all. You could go home frequently, and you might enjoy yourself more without feeling stressed about finances. HOWEVER, going to NUS basically means you’ll spend your many of your first adult years in Singapore, and you may not like that restriction (some of my Viet friends certainly don’t!).
I can’t comment specifically on JHU since I go to a different type of uni, but I can say that studying in the US is a pretty awesome experience. I enjoy it because my professors are very accessible and I have awesome American friends.</p>
<p>Good luck in making your decision~~ (I know the Vietnamese guy who’s a freshman at JHU now… Haha :)) Chúc em may mắn!</p>
<p>EDIT: Oh, one more thing. Don’t COUNT ON getting higher financial aid once you enter JHU. For this financial year, you were rejected and I think their rejection sounds pretty firm (unless you can come up with some new reason like your dad got fired or something) For the next three financial years, I don’t see any reason to HOPE that the FA will be much higher than this years.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that Google recruits highly @ JHU CS. I think JHU is known world wide period and that their departments are all very reputable & strong. They may not be #1 in the world, but mostly all are going to be top 10 if they offer it. </p>
<p>Undergrad degrees in the US are great investments too because you’ll have a better chance of getting into US graduate schools. They’ll see that a prestigious school invested in you and that is a big deal.</p>
<p>Good luck - Hopkins is an incredible place for undergrad.</p>
<p>You “heard”? Its CS was ranked 28th in just the US, let alone the world, with a PA score of just 3.6 out of 5.0. Stanford/Berkeley/MIT/Carnegie Mellon, where google “recruits highly”, got 4.9 to 5.0 by comparison. You were wrong to say most JHU’s programs are in the top-10. Many of them are actually not. In fact, as an engineer, I know most of their engineering departments were ranked outside of the top-10. For other disciplines that USN gave rankings, USN ranked JHU outside the top-10 in most of them. WealthofMISInformation perhaps… Without any data, I would suspect NUS has better placement to US grad programs in CS given it’s strength in that department. NUS doesn’t just have a department; what it has is a School (of Computing).</p>
My friend tells me that I can appeal to get a higher award after I enrolls in the university. Should I pay the placement fee to get a place in JHU and then tell them I cant afford JHU? Will they withdraw my admission in that case? I love JHU so much. I’m having a heated confrontation with my older brother about how JHU is much better than NUS. He’s really stubborn. >"<</p>