Hi! I recently found out that I got accepted into UCLA, UCSD, UCI, and Johns Hopkins. I am still waiting for a few other colleges, but I was wondering if I could get your opinion on UCLA versus Johns Hopkins right now? I got into UCLA for bioengineering, and JHU for biomedical engineering, and I plan on being pre-med.
UCLA
Pros
- Close to home (I live in Irvine)
- My brother is there
- A very prestigious school
- Very good hospital
Cons
- Not as highly ranked in bioengineering
- Is a larger school, so may be harder getting access to resources like research?
Johns Hopkins
Pros
- Top 1 in Biomedical Engineering
- I got the Hodson Trust Scholarship for $36,500 per year (if I keep a 3.0 GPA), and I also got other financial aid, so in total I get about $40,000 per year.
- Very prestigious school (I still can’t believe I got in)
Cons
- Very far from home (across the US)
- I heard that the environment is not all that nice? I haven’t visited yet (I might during spring break), but is that true? Is Johns Hopkins really competitive and cutthroat? I imagine that in college of course the environment will be more competitive than in high school, but is it super bad at JHU vs UCLA?
Also, I am afraid that if I go to JHU, I’ll be homesick, but is that just a normal part of going off to college, and something you will get used to?
Thank you!
Hey, I was also in a touch situation with you two days ago actually between UCLA and TAMU. I ultimately decided TAMU since it was closer to home and a lot cheaper. It’s incredible that you got into both so congrats on that. If money isn’t a big issue for you, than choose JHU since it is literally the best school for your major. And homesickness goes away after the first few weeks when you’re finally used to all of the new college life.
JHU is very competitive and it would be hard to be on the top of the class since everyone who got admitted there are also on the top of their class. There are a few things to consider before you decide.
- Which school is a better match for me socially?
- If my scholarships were to go away due to a mishap, could I still pay for it?
- Just how much am I willing to go in debt before even entering graduate school?
Just let you know, wherever you go, if you keep a 3.0 all the way, you will not getting into a medical school MD or DO in the USA.
If I were you, I will wait a little longer before making a decision. Between JHU and UCLA, I’d go UCLA.
If the scholarship goes away, you reassess at that point. My daughter could not have afforded to continue at her school if she lost either of her two big scholarships, but it was worth the risk that she wouldn’t lose them (she didn’t). You have to give it a shot, at least if the conditions are reasonable (and a 3.0 is reasonable).
My brother and I went to the same school at the same time. Never saw him. Never. You might be homesick at Hopkins. You might be homesick at UCLA…
Hopkins is not in a bad area. Just north of the school there are million dollar mansions I’d kill to live in. To the east of the school? Yeah, a little sketchy. It’s a city. You’ll mostly be on campus.
UCLA is all triples for dorms, and that would be a negative for me. It might be harder to get the schedule you want/need.
I would go with UCLA. It’s a lot cheaper for you. Rankings are based entirely on subjective opinion, which is basically useless. In the end, as long as you have top grades and good MCAT scores, that’ll be the thing that gets you in to medical school.
“- I heard that the environment is not all that nice? I haven’t visited yet (I might during spring break), but is that true? Is Johns Hopkins really competitive and cutthroat? I imagine that in college of course the environment will be more competitive than in high school, but is it super bad at JHU vs UCLA?”
(current student)
It’s true that Hopkins is a very hardworking campus. Students there worked extremely hard to get in, and many of the classes are quite demanding.
But it isn’t true to characterize the school as cutthroat. It just isn’t, in my experience. Half of the library is set up with large tables and/or wipeoff boards, to encourage working together. I made several friends by studying together during my first semester. All professors and TAs have office hours, and some host extra review sessions or study nights before big exams. The freshman dorms have communal lounges where people often hang out and do homework together.
It can be competitive in the sense that the majority of students want to do well in classes. But it is very collaborative. I’ve never had a problem getting notes, checking work with others, or finding people to study with.
Congrats on your acceptances! I’m sure any choice would go well 
FWIW, here are a few metrics, some of which feed various college rankings such as USNWR:
- classes with < 20 students (73.6% vs. 56.6%, advantage JHU)
- classes with >= 50 students (10.2% vs. 18.4%, advantage JHU)
- 4y graduation rate (88% v. 74%, advantage JHU)
- median alumni starting salary ($61,600 vs. $55,000, advantage JHU)
- admit rate (12% v. 18%, JHU is lower)
- average entering SAT-M scores (727 v. 691, JHU is higher per collegedata.com)
- average entering SAT-ERW scores (706 v. 670, JHU is higher per collegedata.com)
- annual research spending ($2,233M vs. $968M, advantage JHU - #1 in USA per Washington Monthly)
- Bachelors-to-PhD rank (#17 JHU v. #39 UCLA, per Washington Monthly)
- cross admit choices (68% choose JHU, 32% choose UCLA, per Parchment cross-admit data)
In all these measurements, JHU appears to do better than UCLA.
Maybe I’ve missed several others that favor UCLA?
If not … and if measurements like this are valid & relevant … then it may be reasonable to conclude that, for a typical undergrad, JHU is worth some net price premium over UCLA (assuming JHU has the desired programs and otherwise is a good fit).
@CoonFan, what is your net price to attend each school?