<p>My daughter has to decide between Johns Hopkins and Georgetown. She is interested in the humanities but doesn't have a specific focus or major in mind as yet. She likes English, creative writing, history,international studies and the study of foreign languages. Our research tells us that JHU has stellar programs in all of the above but our concern is that she will be surrounded by students majoring in the sciences and may have trouble interacting with like minded people as only 25% of the students major in the humanities. She is of an intellectual bent and loves discussing books, politics, philosophy and religion. She has a love of learning and is hard working but at the same time she also seeks a vibrant social scene. Georgetown also has many programs that are of interest to her but we are wondering if the school is more pre professional rather than academic in nature. Would she get a more well rounded liberal arts education at JHU? Also, I was glad to hear that though Georgetown is a catholic school, it is very diverse and welcoming of students of all religions and ethnicities. But my daughter is very liberal in her views. Would that be an issue at Georgetown? Any advice from anyone who has had experience with either or both schools would be appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>“She likes English, creative writing, history,international studies and the study of foreign languages.”
There you have it. Johns Hopkins.
It is true there are many science majors, but a lot of students change to social science/ humanities major. I think it is due to the belief that Hopkins is a “Pre-med factory” I see a lot of students who don’t have interest in science but major in science anyway because their parents/relatives suggest them to.
When I first came to JHU, I was surprised because I thought it would be filled with only academically driven students who tend to be antisocial. However, I was wrong. There are so many social events going around everyday, and students have great college experiences.
If your daughter is going to major in nonsciences, she will enjoy small classroom setting and great relationship with professors and TAs.</p>
<p>(JHU is not a big school but it is big enough to see unfamiliar faces every day.)</p>
<p>Thanks BlueJays2016 for the information and for your insight! My daughter is planning to attend the SOHOP event next week. That would help her enormously in making her decision.</p>
<p>SOHOP is great (I’m on the Leadership Board so I help run it). Also some fun facts-
-International Studies is one of the most popular majors on campus
-Hopkins is highly ranked for both history and writing
-While all of the language departments are good, the French department is actually recognized by the French Government for being one of the best</p>
<p>As for Georgetown vs JHU, I looked at both when applying to colleges. Although I am Jewish, I, too, heard that Georgetown was very open to all religions. However, I couldn’t accept the fact that for Georgetown’s core curriculum, you are required to take more semesters of Theology than of English. While I knew there were many theology classes that were for other religions, I do not want to be forced to study theology. I am taking a theology/history class now at Hopkins, but it was my choice to take it, not a requirement of the school.</p>
<p>The beauty of Hopkins is that lack of a core curriculum lets you take other classes outside of your major that you wouldn’t have taken otherwise. For example, my freshman year, I took an Expository Writing class on the Ethics of Hamlet (I’m an Applied Math and International Studies major). While I was sick of the book by the end of the semester, the class was so interesting and I still use some of the stuff I learned in conversations.
As a result, even the science majors will be in some of your daughter’s humanity classes and she might be in some of their science classes. In fact, I know several pre-med humanities majors (e.g. my roommate last year was a pre-med with a major in writing seminars). Don’t worry, she will have no trouble finding other like-minded people at Hopkins.</p>
<p>A few points. (1) Hopkins is more science/engineering oriented than Georgetown but perhaps not as much as you perceive it to be. International Studies, for example, is not classified as humanities but as a social science. And when you add the students majoring in social sciences to those majoring in the humanities, the balance is not as out of whack as I you believe it to be. Yes, students at the Whiting School (engineering) often refer to students at the Krieger School (Arts & Sciences) as studing “arts and crafts,” but that truly is tongue in cheek. </p>
<p>(2) Hopkins is very strong in all the areas your daughter is interested in. There is no reliable source for judging the strength of undergraduate majors. But if you use graduate programs’ rankings as a surrogate, I think you will find that Hopkins rankings are stronger than Georgetown’s in every area except international studies (where they are essentially tied).</p>
<p>(3) Georgetown is a Jesuit institution and, if you are Catholic, that may be a plus. Otherwise, it may not be. Although Georgetown has a relatively light Catholic imprint compared to some other schools (Notre Dame, for example), there are still Crusifixes in the classroomf, priests on the faculty, etc. Hopkins doesn’t even have a department of religion (religions are tought out of the philosophy department).</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks BlueJays2016, AAustin and Bonanza! Your comments are very reassuring.</p>
<p>I was accepted into both schools as well. I’ll weigh in. For the humanities, I would choose Georgetown. Their languages department is one of the best in the country and their english majors are pretty good as well. Their international studies and languages majors definitely are better than those at JHU. Although JHU is good in these areas, they do not surpass Georgetown in my opinion. The schools overall are a push, your Daughter couldn’t go wrong with either. But for those majors I think Georgetown wins.
Of course you are receiving opinions from JHU students in this thread (you may also want to go over to the Georgetown board and get their perspectives), I am simply a student who has also been between JHU and Georgetown (ultimately choosing Georgetown though it’s not official). So, their opinions probably hold more weight than mine.</p>
<p>Divy, look again. JHU International studies is considered just as good as Georgetown. And at least the JHU french department is known to be better.</p>
<p>Maybe academically but considering Georgetown’s location in DC and their reputation as a quintessentially “international” university, the International studies at Georgetown definitely would get the nod. But this is just my opinion, I am not even majoring in International studies or languages.</p>
<p>Thanks. I’ll post in the Georgetown forum as well. My daughter also got accepted to some good small liberal arts colleges but has eliminated them from her list as she is now quite sure that she wants a bigger school in a more urban environment. So the choice comes down to these two schools and both have their pros and cons. I think the revisits will help a lot.</p>
<p>Divy, SAIS (internationally famous and the premier graduate program for IR over Georgetown) is in DC. As such, JHU’s undergraduate program definitely feeds off of SAIS’ prestige. JHU does not lose ground to Georgetown in any way save the ability to work in DC during the school year.</p>
<p>First off congratulations on your D being accepted to two very good universities! Both schools are very good choices, so your D can’t lose. </p>
<p>Two years ago we were in the position of having our son accepted to GU, Williams, Bowdoin, Berkeley, and many others. I was looking at the JHU feed today as my daughter is WL at JHU (but got into other good schools). I can offer perspective on humanities at GU as my S is now a sophomore so we have fresh information. I know JHU from reputation, information sessions and research, but don’t have first hand perspective so I won’t comment much on that (and you have plenty of great information provided by those on this thread).</p>
<p>Since your D is interested in humanities I assume she was accepted into the College at GU (vs SFS, McDonough or NHS). My son is in the college, and just committed as a Gov major (GU is famous for its undergrad Gov program as well as SFS). Georgetown is an extremely strong school for humanities, but its science program is much weaker than JHU’s as others have pointed out (however they have the new science building and are working to strengthen science there). Take comparisons between JHU and GU on humanities from some of those here with a grain of salt, unless you have been involved with or through both programs you are speculating on one. Both are highly respected.</p>
<p>Observations on GU as it relates to my son:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>My S has always been off the charts with his English writing ability. At GU he is challenged, getting A’s but sleeping 2-4 hours a night doing so. Course subjects run the gamut with core requirements, but all have had stellar profs.</p></li>
<li><p>GU foreign language is extremely strong, as you would expect from a university with an entire college dedicated to foreign service. My son is now fluent in Mandarin, and his GF (Chinese) has become fluent in Arabic. Check around about the foreign language reputation at GU, it’s reputation is well known in the right places. </p></li>
<li><p>Politics is in the DNA at Georgetown, it’s what they do. It is GU’s core competency, and the school is loaded with students passionate about politics and foreign affairs. </p></li>
<li><p>There is always someone politically famous coming to campus. My son texted me a photo of Karzai from Gaston Hall the last time he was in the US. Guests run the spectrum from Chinese leaders to Obama and Joe Biden, never a dull moment…</p></li>
<li><p>A lot of GU kids intern in the senate and congress, if that is of interest to your D. Long established connections and a strong alum network really help.</p></li>
<li><p>A fact many do not consider, GU is not on the common app. Acceptance this year was 16%. If GU was to go on the common app it would be on par acceptance wise with Yale and other Ivy’s.</p></li>
<li><p>Be skeptical about statements that either JHU or GU are academically superior in humanities one vs other. They are both great, and each will have stronger / weaker niches. </p></li>
<li><p>Look at the statistics of where top boarding school students from places like Philips Exeter or Choate choose to attend.</p></li>
<li><p>Having been run by Jesuits who are sworn to poverty, GU did not make fund raising a priority until much later than other major universities. This has changed. Money is now coming in, and the university is in the middle of a major campaign that is doing very well.</p></li>
<li><p>To correct a perception made by someone earlier, Georgetown may be Catholic but they go out of the way to make sure it doesn’t feel that way. <50% of students identify as Catholic and there is definitely a large presence of Muslim and Jewish students (not to mention secular). They even have a campus in Qatar!</p></li>
<li><p>My S can always get the classes he needs / wants. His advisor told him recently he could graduate early if he chose to.</p></li>
<li><p>There are tons of clubs and extracurriculars. My son writes for the Hoya and is an entrepreneurial fellow in a program in the school of business that is open to all colleges.</p></li>
<li><p>All the big consulting firms, banks, corporations, and selective gov branches recruit GU grads.</p></li>
<li><p>Like they say in real estate, location location location. Georgetown (the city) is absolutely beautiful and quite safe. There is always something to do close by. You can walk to M Street, DuPont Cir where embassies are located, go to the National Mall, Smithsonian, Capitol, White House, etc etc.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>If you haven’t done so, make sure to tour both schools, attend admitted student days, and pull students aside to ask about their experiences. Let your daughter chose by her gut feeling. She will love either one.</p>
<p>In the end your D has two great choices. I tried to highlight GU advantages, but in the end she has the choice between a Bentley or a Rolls - she can’t go wrong!</p>
<p>I’m sorry but I am quite familiar with the Georgetown foreign language programs and I can tell completely you are abusing the word “fluent” while I’m sure your son is decent at the language Georgetown’s Asian language program is far from excellent. And like you said location location location. All of Georgetown’s grad schools are located on campus so undergraduates get the benefit that we Hopkins students didn’t. But I have many friends that went to Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service that were not properly prepared for international living due to language issues. Fluent is used and abused too much. Also OP if you happened to be interested in Chinese Hopkins Nanjing campus is open to undergraduate students and has an intensive language program designed by some of the greatest minds in CHinese language in the world.</p>
<p>Dear BlueJay. Your opinion is duly noted. I’m assuming you didn’t attend GU, so you are unlikely to be very familiar with the GU foreign language department and more likely to be speculating based on general observations. The SFS does not require language fluency, only mid-level competency based on ACTFL. It is up to the student to take the language ability to the level they desire, and there are even multiple options for achieving that (like attending a summer program in another language). It sounds like some of your friends didn’t work on language as a top priority but that was their choice and not a function of the language department. Since the original poster noted that her daughter is interested in humanities, SFS isn’t very applicable anyway. It 's a very rigid program. She would be interested in the College, which is a top notch liberal arts school that requires study of a foreign language just like JHU’s ZK college of arts and sciences does.</p>
<p>Since you do not know my son, you are making a general statement that he can’t be fluent in Mandarin. You however do not know the effort he has put in, the summer intensive class he took in Beijing, the time he has spent backpacking across China, etc. Also, fluent is a relative term open to interpretation. ACTFL is the real standard, and of course Superior would be highest. The term simply means different things to different people.</p>
<p>I’m sure the Nanjing program is fantastic! Do they only teach Mandarin, or other languages / dialects used in China? </p>
<p>Chaidrinkers daughter is very lucky to have two fantastic schools to choose from for humanities, and she can’t go wrong with either one.</p>
<p>Thanks Sandad for the detailed account of Georgetown University’s humanities program and of your son’s experiences. It’s always wonderful to get positive feedback from someone attending the school. My daughter applied and got admitted to the college as she has a broad range of interests. We did consider the SFS as it also seemed appealing to my daughter but eventually applied to the college. I have some specific questions pertaining to the different schools but I’ll address those topics in the Georgetown forum. We’re not bothered about GU not being as strong in the math and science areas as she is clear that she doesn’t want to pursue those subjects beyond the core curriculum. JHU doesn’t have a core curriculum and there seems to be more flexibility there. I think both schools are excellent and have their own pros and cons. She is visiting both schools on back to back visits next week and that should really help her move closer to a decision. As far as languages are concerned, she is fluent in Spanish and French and is learning Latin right now. She would love to learn an Asian language. In fact she put down the FLL as her area of interest in the GU application. Thanks everyone for your insightful comments!</p>
<p>Hi Chaidrinker if your daughter is really wants to learn Asian languages I would highly suggest going to Johns Hopkins. Our Chinese program has become top notch thanks to the recent collaborations with our campus in China which allows undergraduate students to take special intensive classes at Hopkins SAIS Nanjing center while the professors on homewood campus now follow a rigorous curriculum. Hopkins Japanese program is quite strong and has a special exchange agreement with the University of Tokyo. Our Korean program is unique due to the face that Hopkins uses a textbook designed and created by our own Korean professor at Hopkins. The East Asia program at Johns Hopkins is extremely vibrant and growing.</p>
<p>BlueJayBJ, thanks for the information! She is looking forward to her visit tomorrow.</p>
<p>I also was accepted to both schools and I am leaning towards Georgetown!</p>
<p>Just for some clarification, 1/3 of students at Hopkins major in science, 1/3 in engineering, and 1/3 in humanities. It’s very well balanced, and you will certainly find like-minded people.</p>
<p>“She is interested in the humanities but doesn’t have a specific focus or major in mind as yet. She likes English, creative writing, history, international studies and the study of foreign languages.”</p>
<p>@OP Why has D narrowed it down to these two, GU and JHU? These are both very preprofessional environments. Your D has some LAC choices which would be better for the humanities in general. IR is something that can be done in grad school as SAIS or GU.</p>