<p>I was accepted at both schools. I am looking to study Biology. I like both schools (and feel lucky for this option) so I am finding it hard to choose between them. I am hoping someone can add some advice/input regarding these schools. Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated. Thanks.</p>
<p>As both schools are very strong in the sciences, I don’t think that one has a distinct advantage. However, ask yourself what you want to do long terrm and if either school will prepare you better for that goal. I assume you have visited both schools. In the end, it’s really all about fit. If there is something specific you are interested in, see which school offers it or does a better job.</p>
<p>Here is US news ranking for Biology</p>
<h1>1 Stanford University Stanford, CA</h1>
<h1>2 Harvard University Boston, MA</h1>
<h1>2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA</h1>
<h1>2 University of California–Berkeley Berkeley, CA</h1>
<h1>5 California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA</h1>
<h1>5 Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD</h1>
<p>Besides this one big difference (which you probably already know) is the campus atmosphere. MIT is in a city (bunch of buildings in several city blocks) whereas JHU resembles a campus town (though it is also inside a city).</p>
<p>honestly, their rankings are so close that they don’t matter anymore. Look at the students, area, and campus. Where can you see yourself living the next 4 years?</p>
<p>Thank you to PsychoDad10, collagedad and AAustin for your replies, you were helpful although I still am undecided. Although both schools have a great reputation, some people I have spoken to find it hard to believe that I could think of passing on my offer to MIT, that is not to imply that JHU is not an outstanding school but if I was offered a spot at MIT they find this difficult to understand why I wouldn’t choose MIT.</p>
<p>MIT is very well known and arguably more well-known than Hopkins. While they are basically equal in ranking, many confuse notoriety for being better. That is not necessarily the case since both employers and grad school admissions representatives know that Hopkins is just as good. So don’t let others influence your decision past giving you the facts. Ultimately it is your choice where you want to spend the next 4 years. Either school will get you to your goal. You just have to decide which path is the best for you.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your help. I visited Hopkins again this past weekend. I do love the campus and students there - not so crazy that there isn’t much in the surrounding area. I plan to visit MIT again - hopefully will see some of the students - love the surrounding area.
Can anyone tell me about Financial Aid regarding Hopkins vs MIT. Unfortunately this will be a big factor in my decision as well. My parents salary (combined) varies greatly year to year… from under $50m (mostly) but as high as $150M (rarely though) - two kids. The problem is that when a “good” year comes along there is so much debt built up from previous years by then that the higher income becomes a wash. Any thoughts???</p>
<p>If objectivity is the sole factor, I would go with MIT. If I had the choice myself, I would go with Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>thank you asianandproud for your reply - but can you elaborate on your comment?</p>
<p>What do you plan on doing after undergrad?</p>
<p>JHU biology majors are mostly premeds who are competing very hard. OTOH, very few apply from MIT to med schools.</p>
<p>Hi texaspg…I definitely plan to go onto graduate school. Right now I am thinking pre-med - but obviously this can change, however I do think I will continue in the biological field.</p>
<p>How do you know that few MIT students apply to med school? What happens with them?</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/download/321456/data/2012factstable2-6.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/download/321456/data/2012factstable2-6.pdf</a></p>
<p>If you look at this, JHU had 364 people apply to med school while MIT had 119. </p>
<p>However, only about 60 seem to apply from undergrad.</p>
<p><a href=“http://gecd.mit.edu/sites/default/files/premeddata.pdf[/url]”>http://gecd.mit.edu/sites/default/files/premeddata.pdf</a></p>
<p>Not sure I understand either link. The 364 and the 119 refer to # of applicants applying to med school but there is nothing that lists the total # of students that are in the pre-med program to begin with, so how would we know what percent of students apply to med school? The 60 apply’s to the number of Asian students. Maybe I am interpreting the data incorrectly…</p>
<p>@gumdrop, go to the pre-med forum, there is a lot of discussion about MIT and the impact of lower GPAs on MIT med school applicants. MIT requires engineering classes of all students, which tend to be graded on a harder curve, and you do not get a benefit from going to MIT applying to med school, all GPAs are unweighted. MIT has the Broad institute though, a Harvard-MIT consortium on molecular genetics that is very hot. </p>
<p>I would go with MIT, and be prepared to sweat blood. </p>
<p>JHU has a lot of pre-meds and not so many pure math/science types. </p>
<p>Really depends on where you feel more comfortable.</p>
<p>The AAMCS link is there to give you totals for each school last year. Only way to find them is to find a listing which has the school in it based on some race. Essentially the totals are 364 for JHU and 119 for MIT last year.</p>
<p>The school affiliation does not go away irrespective of how many years you may have spent outside of school. I have seen an actual breakdown in the past for JHU and about 2/3 rd (200+) apply straight from undergrad each year. As MIT link says, they had 57 apply in 2011 from undergrad for a comparative number. </p>
<p>MIT has about 50 people each year in Biology. What is that number for JHU?</p>
<p>[Enrollment</a> Statistics: MIT Office of the Registrar](<a href=“Statistics & Reports | MIT Registrar”>Statistics & Reports | MIT Registrar)</p>
<p>I’m getting really tired of non-Hopkins affiliates spreading this rumor that we are cutthroat. There may be a few, but they are definitely in the minority. In fact, just yesterday a student stayed with me for 2 hours after they had already finished their probability homework to help me because I was having some trouble with the more difficult problems and they wanted me to learn the material rather than just get the answer. Does that sound like cutthroat to you?</p>
<p>Also, Hopkins’ immediate surrounding area needs to be improved, but don’t forget about Inner Harbor, Hamden, and Fells Point. All three are very easy to get to and full of awesome restaurants, club, bars, and other activities (like an aquarium).</p>
<p>Moderator’s Note: Edited some posts to tone it down.</p>
<p>AAustin - Are you premed? if so, how many biology majors are also premed each year?</p>
<p>2prepmom - MIT has no engineering classes required of their students. What they DO require are specific number of Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and liberal arts classes for graduation which are considered quite tough if one does not intend to be a STEM major. They would help a premed do well in MCAT though.</p>
<p><a href=“Welcome! < MIT”>Welcome! < MIT;
<p>Echoing AAustin - D is at JHU and is very happy. Lots of great friends enjoying academics, extracurriculars, and social lives. Homewood/Charles Village is fabulous and Baltimore has many fun areas. Undergrad (but not the med school campus!)at JHU is the best of both worlds: a true campus in a fun city environment. Truly you cannot go wrong with either choice. MIT may have a tad more “selectivity cred” but I would focus on something more tangible, like med school acceptance rates or % that go to grad school in biology or whatever is relevant to you. Good luck.</p>
<p>I personally am not a pre-med but a lot of my friends are pre-med. They all study in groups as well. In fact for the 1st Orgo midterm, a student reserved a room in Brody Learning Commons the night before for any Orgo students that wanted to study together</p>