<p>University of Michigan engineering is top notch, no doubt about that. I think you have to distinguish between “accomplished” and “intelligent”. Kids that get admitted to Hopkins are likely to have had more activities and awards while kids that end up going to Michigan probably don’t. This is not to say they aren’t smart but they simply didn’t play the college admissions game as much. I would argue that Michigan engineering students (the ones that actually stick with engineering anyway) are essentially equal to JH. </p>
<p>Also, I think it depends what type of engineering you’re interested in. If you are going for mechanical engineering, aerospace or electrical, I would say Michigan all the way. Not only is the program ranked higher, it would be cheaper for you. If you’re going for anything biologically related or materials related I would go with Hopkins.</p>
<p>Lastly, do not go to USC. It is one of the most overrated schools ever. Unless you got the trustee or something, I would never consider attending that school.</p>
<p>Between Michigan and JH, I honestly don’t think it matters that much (besides bioE). If you do well at either school, you will have tons of job and grad school opportunities.</p>
<p>“Between Michigan and JH, I honestly don’t think it matters that much (besides bioE).”</p>
<p>Michigan is still rated top 10-11 for Biomedical engineering. I don’t believe JH is ranked anywhere near as well as Michigan for most other areas of engineering. Honestly, Michigan > JHU for overall engineering.</p>
<p>I believe that those were the peer-assessments from the past three years. You’ll see that even these fluctuate, Berkeley having a 4.4 to a 4.6 in a consecutive year, Hopkins going from a 4.4 to today’s 4.5, Michigan having a 4.4 for the past two years. It’s not the most reliable metric - and I don’t think averaging makes them any more reliable tbh - but it removes some of the more seemingly irrelevant factors that usnwr employs.</p>
<p>I think that just looking at SAT/ACT averages misses a lot of the difference in selectivity. JHU has holistic admissions so it will admit students with lower test scores who have some kind of unique accomplishments or come from a disadvantaged background. </p>
<p>Anyway, from a name recognition standpoint I think that all of the state flagships are basically the same. So my reaction to “UC Berkeley” is about the same as my reaction to any other state flagship: be it Oregon, Washington, Arizona, or Nevada. Lots of smart kids go to their state flagship for financial reasons and most state flagships are excellent centers of research. With that said all of the state flagships admit lots of average students, so no one is going to be impressed by the name alone. It’s up to the student and their individual accomplishments.</p>
<p>“Anyway, from a name recognition standpoint I think that all of the state flagships are basically the same.”</p>
<p>Like the University of Pennsylvania being no different than the University of Mississippi right? Oh that’s right, Penn isn’t a state flagship school. It just sounds like a state flagship. So with your logic Berkeley and Michigan are no better than Ole Miss, right? FYI, the top state flagships admit very few average students.</p>
<p>“I believe that those were the peer-assessments from the past three years. You’ll see that even these fluctuate, Berkeley having a 4.4 to a 4.6 in a consecutive year, Hopkins going from a 4.4 to today’s 4.5, Michigan having a 4.4 for the past two years.”</p>
<p>Michigan had a 4.5 PA score a few years ago too. I have no idea where that 4.1 came from. Michigan has never had that low of a PA score in the history of the USNWR rankings. Also, I can assure you that GT NEVER had a 4.8 PA score. I believe the poster mixed up different assessment scores, perhaps confusing high school counselors perceptions with much more knowledgeable university administrators. Certainly they are not based on “presidents asking for opinions on other colleges.”</p>
<p>‘State flagship schools’ aren’t homogenous; just like your good privates, you have a lot of crappy ones too. You’re associating ‘state flag ship’ with the public uni’s that the avg. kids from that state go to, not the best ones. These would be your San Diego States and Michigan States. Michigan / Berkeley / Virginia aren’t the same as your Tennessee’s / Nevada’s / Mizzou’s. You will find ‘Big M’ or ‘UCB’ recognition around the world, same can’t be said for the Smokey’s or Rebels.</p>
<p>There’s a big difference in how privates are perceived - i.e. Harvard =/= Yale =/= Hopkins =/= Duke etc… On the other hand, I look at all the state schools as roughly the same. I don’t know anything about South Dakota state (or U South Dakota, or whatever it’s called), but if I get a resume from a South Dakota student I’ll acknowledge the possibility that they’re a talented student who grew up in South Dakota and didn’t want to spend the money to go to a private or had a personal reason for wanting to stay in state. The same goes for any state: Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Delaware, etc. </p>
<p>Perhaps UVA, UIUC, UNC Chapel Hill, and a handful of other publics have higher standing than other state flagships, but any state flagship is going to have some smart in state students and ought not be overlooked.</p>
<p>Thanks guys for all the discussion. Although I am going to visit both schools this week I’m leaning towards Hopkins at the moment for a few reasons.
1- it will be much cheaper for me to go since my financial aid package was better than Michigan’s since I’m from out of state ( I did read the discussion about money and out of state schools and the test score average of public schools compared to privates…I live in California and I did not get into UCLA or Berkeley so I do agree that privates have a more hollistic process and maybe look more at awards and accomplishments)</p>
<p>2- I think that JHU will provide me a better overall education since there is no core curriculum and it is also very strong in liberal arts and international studies which I’m interested in aside from engineering. ( I forgot who it was but someone talked about having a standard engineering job and a more diverse one and I do understand what you mean)</p>
<p>3 - smaller student body ( I’ve always worked better in high school with small groups and classes. I’m aware that a lot of intro courses will be large but when i get into more specialized classes, the size will be much smaller considering there are 81 students in the whole ECE department and 17 faculty members)</p>
<p>what I’d like to know more about if you guys want to share…social scenes of both schools. it seems that michigan is much more social and that academics at hopkins is much more time consuming</p>
<p>“There’s a big difference in how privates are perceived - i.e. Harvard =/= Yale =/= Hopkins =/= Duke etc…”</p>
<p>You aren’t saying Hopkins & Duke are perceived to be as prestigious as Harvard & Yale are you? I must be misinterpreting your comments because if you believe this to be the case, it’s no wonder you look at all state flagships are being the same more or less.</p>
<p>aerolite23. If JHU is much cheaper to attend for you than Michigan, then I would definitely recommend going there. It’s obvious you prefer the size of Hopkins and feel you’ll get a better education there. Socially, I’m sure you’ll find enough people to make your years a pleasant experience. Best of luck to you at JHU. It is a great school, no question about it.</p>
<p>Idk about Michigan, but I wouldn’t worry about “social setting” too much. As one of my HS teachers said, social setting is only what you make of it. You can be a bee living in a cramped hive studying 24/7 or an all-rounded sage who actually has a life! haha. Really, it is easy to balance an academic life with your social self anywhere, whether it is a state school or Hopkins.</p>
<p>Hopkins got this anti-social reputation mainly from stereotypes about doctors having no social life. While it might be true that some aspiring doctors really don’t want anything socially, it shouldn’t be a cause for discomfort. A lot of students at Hopkins Interactive stress that they are very happy at Hop socially and couldn’t have been to a better place. And those students consist of pre-meds + non-pre-meds. </p>
<p>BTW, I hope to major in CS too! So I will most likely be seeing you this fall From what I have garnered, it is of your own benefit to prepare yourself for the load that is about to be tromped upon you. It wouldn’t be easy to excel at Hopkins, which is part of what makes it greater – everyone wants to succeed. Try your best, maintain your schedule, and always pull yourself together to have some fun non-academically.</p>
<p>Haha, man, I thought you received the same fin aid package at both schools; I’d have gone to the one that was significantly cheaper compared to the other as well - I’m going to Michigan at essentially no cost. Also to your question of social scenes at Michigan. While everyone is definitely focused on their work, it’s not at the forefront of everything. Most of my friends say that if you had a fairly comprehensive & challenging course load in high school, that it isn’t that much more difficult; you’ll have plenty of time to partake in athletic events, parties, extracurriculars, , goofing off, etc. </p>
<p>Also, al, “I look at all the state schools as roughly the same.” lol.</p>
<p>actually from a name recognition standpoint, most of my friends/family think Upenn is part of the state school (penn state). there is even a group saying i go to Upenn not Pennstate lol</p>
From what I have garnered, it is of your own benefit to prepare yourself for the load that is about to be tromped upon you. It wouldn’t be easy to excel at Hopkins, which is part of what makes it greater – everyone wants to succeed. Try your best, maintain your schedule, and always pull yourself together to have some fun non-academically.</p>