<p>i'm a new member and I'm looking for any piece of advice i can get. i'm choosing between johns hopkins, uc berkeley, and duke. my parents are willing to pay all of the cost of uc berkeley or half the cost of a private school. johns hopkins offered me a merit scholarship that covers the other half my parents are unwilling to pay.</p>
<p>i've visited each campus and i know i could be happy at all of them, but i did like duke the most (a lot more). duke is my dream school and i have worked so hard in high school to get in a school like duke. i am willing to get into debt, but i plan on going to med school (or law school if that changes), or some sort of graduate program. all of the schools have very high acceptance into medical schools. </p>
<p>i like all three schools, and i was wondering what your guys' advice was on 1) getting in debt, and 2) the schools themselves. i want to go to duke, but a lot of people have told me that liking the school more is not worth graduating with $100,000 debt on your shoulders to pay with interest when you plan on going to medical (or some other graduate) school. at the same time, i've heard people who have said they've done it and that it's worth if if you really love that school. </p>
<p>any advice you can provide would be much appreciated. i have three days to figure this out. thanks.</p>
<p>Lets start out by stating that all three are great schools. Nonetheless, Berkeley, by virtue of being a public institution, is at a considerable disadavantage compared to the other two in terms of the amount of individual attention they can give to undergraduates. Class size and student-faculty ratios aren't comparable. </p>
<p>You don't say what it is about Duke that attracts you so much. The quality of education at JHU and Duke are comparable--with JHU having the edge in some fields and Duke in others (did you know that Duke's only Nobel prize winner just left to return to Hopkins, which is where he earned and was awarded his prize--he missed Hopkins' atmosphere after two years at Duke). Duke is somewhat larger than Hopkins--and arguably has more of a cohesive community but that is largely due to Duke's location in Durham. Duke has to offer a lot of amenities to students because, frankly, Durham has little to offer students. Baltimore, on the other hand, is a much larger city which, once you get to know it, provides a lot to see and do.</p>
<p>In light of the cost difference--I think its a no brainer to go to Hopkins. You will get a first class education and will have a great time to boot. Save the money for medical or law school. If you have to see ACC basketball--U Maryland games are a handy substitute ( I actually did that a few times when I was an undergraduate at Hopkins). And, anyway, Hopkins has beaten Duke for the Div. I national championship in lacrosse in two of the last three years (Hopkins has 44 national lacrosse championships, Duke has 0).</p>
<p>Haha Duke crushed JHU by 11 goals in lax when they played earlier this year. Besides, who cares about lacrosse? I can't believe you're presenting that to the OP as a reason for attending JHU. As far as Hopkins' atmosphere, from what I have heard, it is extremely cutthroat and unfriendly. This is probably just a stereotype of course but you would never find anyone who would launch that accusation against Duke.</p>
<p>To the OP, Duke and JHU are similar in pre-med but Duke is much, much better than JHU in any other pre-professional field. The pre-med overall experience is probably better at Duke due to the superior weather and social scene. If your heart is set on Duke, then definitely go there.</p>
<p>I will be blunt. Putting yourself $100K in debt is crazy and self-destructive, especially since you can get a WORLD CLASS education at UC Berkeley or Johns Hopkins without going into debt.</p>
<p>wait, so u have to pay 100k more to go to duke compared to jhu or berkeley? If that is the case, I would go to either jhu or berkeley. 100k is a crap load of money, esp in the form of dept. JHU has top bio and science programs too, so, you couldn't go wrong with jhu anyway.</p>
<p>i've been thinking about it and i think that i won't be going to duke due to the costs. but what about uc berkeley or johns hopkins? since i'm not sure what i want to do (and whether or not this interest in medicine will last), i'm worried that going to a school like johns hopkins that is really good in specific things (bio, writing) but not so good in other fields would hurt me if i switch majors and limit my interests. between johns hopkins and UC berkeley, any advice would be much appreciated. price isn't a factor between these two since i have the merit scholarship at JHU. thank you so much.</p>
<p>Hopkins isn't "not so good" in other things. Aside from a great Bio and writing department, the english and history departments are excellent. Political theory is very strong, international relations is widely considered to be among the best. Math and Economics are strong, and place well in grade school. Overall, Hopkins is very well regarded, academically. not to say Berkeley isn't. Berkeley is great, but I'd only go there for graduate school because of the environmental differences. I wanted a smaller school for a more intimate education as an undergrad.</p>
<p>Your decision shouldn't be made on what school is better for what specific thing, but rather what kind of school you want to spend the next four years at. Both will give you great opportunities, but I don't think you should be worried about being "limited" at Hopkins.</p>
<p>well, academically, both JHU and UCB are top notch. but, it seems like JHU has an edge in premed and international relations in particular, compared to a large public like Cal. However, I thought that Cal's campus was gorgeous and a lot nicer than JHU. Besides, Cal's location is more ideal, at least to me, given its proximity to San Fran and its nice weather. Last thing, Cal has strong econ/biz departments, so in case u may have an interest in those fields, Cal is excellent. But, between the two, I would choose based on the fit: which campus do you feel more comfortable at? Weather? Location? Student body?</p>
<p>NRC</a> Rankings in Each of 41 Areas</p>
<p>Compare Berkeley and JHU on these lists and decide for yourself. Either is a great choice, but Cal offers a full experience of a big campus environment and a world class education.</p>
<p>^My point exactly. "full experience of a big campus environment" includes huge classes and little individual attention.</p>
<p>The NRC rankings are almost entirely irrelevent for undergraduate education. There is no doubt that Cal has some great research professors--and also little doubt that few undergraduates will ever be exposed to them.</p>
<p>If JHU costs are similar to Berkeley with the scholarship and you prefer going away to school with a smaller environment, I would go to JHU.</p>
<p>First of all: have you talked to Duke to see if they'd give you more money? This can't hurt. Just tell them your situation. What if they gave a 1/3 scholarship. Then you'd be in debt afterwards for what about $33K. This is a lot of money, but I wouldn't call it a crushing load. It's probably the limit I'd go though. Just a thought.</p>
<p>Berkeley vs. JHU: having been to both for degrees, I'd have to say in just about every way I prefer Berkeley. However, I'd probably recommend Hopkins for you for the following reasons: you are from California, and I'd agree with a lot of people here on CC who think that it is a good idea to get away from your home state/city for college and experience something new. There are a lot of good departments at Hopkins. I'd say at places the caliber of these two schools, I wouldn't worry about rankings differences of departments generally.</p>
<p>On a second thought, that is a lot of debt for you to handle. I would go to JHU because of the excellent hospital system, top-notch medical school placement and the pletora of opportunities to do research at the undergrad placement.</p>
<p>Bonanza this statement is just sheer ignorance:</p>
<p>"The NRC rankings are almost entirely irrelevent for undergraduate education. There is no doubt that Cal has some great research professors--and also little doubt that few undergraduates will ever be exposed to them."</p>
<p>Professors teach both grads and undergrads, sometimes even in the same classes. You have no basis whatsoever for such claims.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The NRC rankings are almost entirely irrelevent for undergraduate education. There is no doubt that Cal has some great research professors--and also little doubt that few undergraduates will ever be exposed to them.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Uh, I gotta pile on here: that's b<strong><em>s</em></strong>.</p>
<p>I was trying to make two points. One, the NRC rankings are for doctorate programs--they have nothing to do with undergraduate education (and the ones cited are 15 years old). Second, Berkeley's faculty student ratio is 15.5 to 1, or almost double the ratio at Hopkins. Sorry, but that makes a huge difference. Ask any faculty member at Cal.</p>