My son is currently deciding between JHU and Northwestwen. He is planning to be on the premed track. Currently planning to major in Biophysics at JHU and BME at Northwestern. Which school is better?
For premed, JHU is ranked higher, but Northwestern is a great school too. Does your son have a preference for which campus he liked better? Which city? Where he felt more at home? Big difference between Baltimore and Evanston and the campus vibe in general. How does he feel about the quarter system (vs traditional semesters) at Northwestern? Honestly he can’t go wrong either place. Great schools! Congrats to him!
Thank you! He likes both campuses and cities. He likes the ability to take more classes under a quarter system but understands it may be more stressful. Are there any advantages of being premed at JHU over northwestern?
IMO, no. Med school admissions would be tough at both (really, anywhere). There almost certainly are more pre-med competition at JHU.
JHU is supposed to be very intense for all majors, not just pre-med. I would look at the what school you’d prefer if you decided to change majors. If you think you would still be in STEM, then maybe JHU, if you think something like econ or journalism (just throwing these out there), thne probably NW. But the campuses have different feels that you should be able to make your decision based on that. Good luck!
^It depends on which STEM. Anything bio-related, I would suggest JHU. But for chemistry and engineering, I’d pick NU. Actually for BME, you’d pick NU in this case too because JHU won’t let you major in it if you didn’t apply and get in at the first place.
Thank you all for your input. Visited both campuses and liked both. Especially like the research opportunities at the Hopkins, but believe NU also offers good undergraduate research opportunities. NU seems to be more well rounded and offers better overall undergraduate experience. However, just not sure if JHU graduates will get edge over NU graduates when applying for medical schools.
Good point, I forgot that NU has a superb chemistry program. I don’t think there’s a edge wrt med school admissions based on these two schools. I’m not even sure undergrad college plays more than a small role, if any. The key is to get the interview and for that it’s going to be gpa/mcat/research/leadership/personal statement.
They should both have pretty good research opportunities in which you help with a part of an ongoing research project. Your primary contact may not be the professor, but grad students instead.
But on top of that, NU funds about $1 million of undergrad research grants every year. These are independent research projects as a result of your own proposal. Many schools announce summer grant winners on their websites. Perhaps you can do a similar search to compare. I did one couple years ago and NU has a much longer list of grants.
Great choices. I’ve always thought of JHU as a medical school and science super elite. But I’ve also heard it’s super intense and you’ll be competing inncurve classes with super talent at both schools. Good luck you can’t go wrong here. And then have fun and work hard.
Both schools are demanding academically.
Medical school admissions are about MCAT, GPA, interviews, research & internships more than a particular college or university.
Northwestern University’s setting is spectacular while JHU’s is less so. Academic peers.
Congratulations !
^grants are awarded throughout the year, not just summer though many people prefer to complete their projects full-time within a summer.