<p>I've narrowed my choices down to these two schools, and my mind has gone back and forth over the past month! I'm a DE resident so I would receive in-state tuition for UD, along with some merit scholarships the COA would be around 15k a year. For Hopkins, I received a Bloomberg scholarship of about 19k. Because its need-based, I would receive this my freshman year, but after that my older sister will graduate college and my aid will likely decrease. Planning for the worst case scenario, Hopkins would be roughly 160k more than UD. I'd have roughly 30k debt with Hopkins, but a nice sum of money in my pocket right after graduation from UD. </p>
<p>I applied to BME to both schools, but wasn't accepted to Hopkins BME so I was looking at their Applied Math, Environmental Engineering, and Public Health Studies majors. At UD, I'd be in BME. I am not pre-med as of right now; grad school is a possibility but not a definite. I visited both schools - I appreciated the academic environment and Baltimore surroundings at Hopkins, but UD seemed to have more school spirit and had more of a typical college experience feel. Probably the most important factors for me in a college is academic freedom, campus spirit/traditions, research/internship opportunities, and of course minimal financial burden. I'm having a lot of trouble! Any advice is appreciated.</p>
<p>While a very good school, IMO Hopkins is not worth $160k more than Delaware. Since among your most important factors are campus spirit/traditions and minimal financial burden, I’d say UD and don’t look back.</p>
<p>The opportunities JHU will provide dramatically outweigh what UD can provide. You will be in a world-class academic environment exposed to the finest professors and stimulating classmates. It is an incredibly valuable investment in your most precious asset that will pay dividends throughout a life you only live once. If you feel you made a mistake after freshman year you can always transfer back to UD and only lose the nominal Year 1 differential. However, once you have a taste of an elite academic institution you will fully comprehend the value proposition. </p>
<p>Delaware Honors is highly underrated. The one person I know who went through Delaware Honors went to MIT for grad school and is one of the smartest people I know. He raves about Delaware Honors because he was so coddled at a low cost public school in a great college environment where he wasn’t stressed out to the breaking point. He TAed at MIT and thought that the students were over worked and didn’t have time to digest the material. I went through MIT undergraduate, and he’s right. It’s stressful but effective. Not everyone would enjoy that kind of environment. </p>
<p>Johns Hopkins is academically very hard. Most people take 5 classes a semester. It can be exhilarating or crushing. At University of Delaware, you will get personal attention from professors who know that the honors students are the one’s that they want to work with. </p>
<p>On the other hand, Delaware’s BME department is unranked and a lot of professors who do BME are in other departments. However, your aren’t into JHU BME. Delaware is world class for ChemE, and there are professors in that department who work more bio end of things. Maybe call the BME department and see if you can find out some outcomes like where the honors students who graduated have gotten into graduate school, etc. </p>
<p>I think you have a difficult decision that isn’t clear cut. The good news is that I don’t think there is an obviously right answer, so I don’t think there is an obviously wrong one either. </p>
<p>Hi all thanks for your responses! Are any of you current/past UD or JHU students? </p>
<p>I’d love to hear from any current or past UD Honors students about the academics. I’m aware of the perks you get from the smaller classes to alt spring break and study abroad and such but in terms of classes, does it feel like you are being academically challenged in the honors classes (or in general classes)? I do like JHU’s academic rigor but I would not like to be challenged to the point where it becomes stressful. Add that with the debt stress and it seems a little draining. In the honors program, do you find yourself surrounded by bright individuals that truly engage in an academic environment? Also at UD, how abundant are research/internship opportunities?</p>
<p>From any Hopkins students… do you find yourselves stressed frequently? Do you feel like the opportunities at Hopkins outweigh this?</p>
<p>In our HS many kids have to choose between Cornell at full price or UDel honors with merit money. It’s a tough call but I think you will be very challenged at UDel. I agree that the honors program is underrated. </p>
<p>My friend/neighbor’s kid attends the honors program at UDel and she was somewhere in the top 10% in HS. She received merit money and my friend tells me that she does have to work hard to keep her GPA so that she does not lose the scholarship. </p>