<p>They are very different schools and, therefore, quite hard to compare. To be honest, these two schools don’t go head-to-head against each other for very many students and, when they do, Hopkins almost always wins out unless the money difference is so substantial that it becomes determinative. Or unless Big 10 football is a high priority for the student.</p>
<p>I don’t know a great deal about the specifics of the honors program Penn State but I assume that, like most honors programs at public flagship universities, it is designed to try to entice very well qualified students who otherwise would likely attend a private university or college to attend by offering honors courses and, oftentimes, honors housing at a much lower cost than the private alternative. Where the cost difference is not substantial, the private school almost always wins out. The quality of students and faculty in these honors programs is often comparable to the top privates. But the overall experience is often not comparable. Generally, the facilities used by honors students at public universities are the same used by the general student body. I suspect that, for example, the teaching laboratory facilities for undergraduates will not compare favorably with what you will find at Hopkins or similar top private universities [to be clear, I have no doubt that the faculty, post-docs and PhD students have fine laboratory facilities at Penn State; but check out where introductory engineering and science course laboratories are held for lowly freshman and sophomores]. In addition, not all your classes will be honors classes so you will still be interacting with the entire student population (which is huge), not just honors students. Moreover, the libraries and other facilities, while perhaps larger than the ones at Hopkins, have to serve ten times as many students. And they are not ten times larger. </p>
<p>And while you will find many students at Penn State who are smart and highly motivated, you will also find a large number of students whose primary college goal is to party and have a good time. You may or you may not find this tolerable. At Hopkins, you will also find many students who like to have fun but there is no doubt but, at Johns Hopkins, academics are #1. The vast majority of students at Penn State are from Pennsylvania so the geographic diversity of the student body will be vastly different than at JHU. Also, honors students still have to deal with the bureaucracy of a huge state university. You should check into how difficult it is to register for the classes you will need and want and how many students graduate on time. With budget cuts these days, attending a public flagship can often mean 5-6 years to your degree instead of 4 due to the difficulty of scheduling required classes. If so, the financial advantage of the public flagship may be easily lost. Again, I can’t speak about Penn State specifically but I know that in some Honors Programs at public flagships, the advantages offered to honors students are counterbalanced by the resentment that builds up among the non-honors students as a result of those advantages. In other words, the situation often resembles that which exists at large public high schools where the “smart” students may be stigmitized by the overall student body. Who needs that? I would make inquiries to current Penn State students about that as well.</p>
<p>If you visit both schools, the differences should be readily apparent. The entire undergraduate student body at Hopkins is about 1/10 the size of Penn State’s, and Hopkins’ entire student body will be as good if not better than the honors’ student’s at Penn State. But if going to Johns Hopkins means that you will graduate with $100,000 (or more) of debt that you wouldn’t have by choosing Penn State, than the obvious advantages of Hopkins may not be worth the cost. I have no doubt that you can get a fine education at Penn State.</p>