Trying to decide which school to transfer to… HELP any thoughts? I will be eternally grateful!
It might be helpful if you tell us what YOU see as pros/cons at each school. Maybe then we can give you our opinion.
Major?
Price?
Reasons for leaving your current school?
Have you been accepted to both, or are you talking about applications for next year. If you haven’t yet been accepted, apply to both, and several safeties.
What do you want to study?
Accepted to UVA, W&M, Johns Hopkins University
Major: Business (Financial Economics)
Price: Still waiting on financial aid from UVA but for JHU I will have to pay about $15,000/year
Reasons for leaving current school: No room to grow, won’t let me major in my area of interest
Pros for both schools:
-Academic rigor
Johns Hopkins:
Beautiful campus, campus defined boundaries, 24/7 security. great academic programs
UVA:
in-state
Cons:
Johns Hopkins: out of state and private school
UVA: complicated campus, slightly lower in ranking compared to JHU
$15k/year out of pocket is an incredibly good price. It makes the whole question of IS/OOS pretty much moot.
My own impression: I didn’t feel at all safe leaving JHU’s campus, even directly across the street, in the day time. There is a very stark division between the on-campus community of elite (and often wealthy) students and professors, and the neighborhood community of economic struggle. It’s a beautiful island in the midst of a sea of troubles. This is at least partly the result of a long history of race- and discrimination-related issues in Baltimore, and I must mention that recent riots and protests are finally bringing these issues some long-needed attention.
Charlottesville, in contrast, has a classic college town/small city vibe. Extreme poverty, gangs, violence, hard drugs on the street corner - these are not so much a problem in C’ville. (They’re not as bad in B’more as television and movies suggest, but they do happen.)
I think the JHU name will carry a little further. It’s a name that people everywhere know and recognize as exceptional. Even people who normally know little to nothing about colleges. A television writer who wants to show the audience how exceptionally brilliant a doctor character is, for example, will reveal that the character went to the Johns Hopkins Medical School. UVA just doesn’t have the same instant recognition factor.
UVA seems to have a better reputation for educating undergrads. JHU seems to have a better reputation for graduate research. This is reinforced by the numbers; compare the ratio of grad students to undergrads at any school to get an idea where their real focus is.
Ask yourself: where would I live, at each school? How would I get to and from classes? How much time would I spend in the surrounding community? What kinds of activities are available, both on and off campus, at each? What would I plan to do with my degree - go directly into work, go directly into graduate school, other? Where do I plan to establish myself after graduating?
While Johns Hopkins certainly has a well deserved academic reputation overall, if you are planning on majoring in business, the undergraduate business school at UVA is extremely well regarded and offers students some unique collaborative learning experiences. I also believe that Johns Hopkins is phasing out its undergraduate business program, and even if you are grandfathered in and allowed to receive a business degree from there you should consider that you may have a greater challenge securing internships and jobs if corporate recruiters decide to focus efforts on schools that continue to offer an undergraduate business degree. Ultimately, I agree with others that you should go to the school where you feel the best fit is for you. However, if rankings are important to you, which I assume they are since you alluded to it above, I would definitely take into account the fact that UVA is consistently ranked as one of the top undergraduate business programs in the country.