<p>Hello!
I’ve recently received decisions for all three of these schools saying I was accepted, but I’m having a hard time deciding between them. I’m a senior in nyc currently, and I wish to major in Neuroscience, maybe double-majoring with Middle Eastern Studies or History as well.</p>
<p>My personal preferences would be a school with a good close community, a lot of opportunities for me to do research, and allows me the option to take some creative classes. (I want to take a creative writing course in the near future.) Also, I’m planning to go on the pre-med track, so that should probably be accounted for as well.</p>
<p>I know that Johns Hopkins is the most distinguished of the bunch, but I’m a 21st century scholar at Mount Holyoke, which means I get some much needed aid from them. Barnard is very close to home, and I’m loving the tight knit community there, but I’m worried that Johns Hopkins may have the best resources for research and internships.</p>
<p>Help? Thanks in advance!
(Note: I also cross-posted this to other school’s forums)</p>
<p>I would not like to sway you, but I would think Barnard an excellent choice for the goals you outline. Churchmusicmom’s daughter graduated from Barnard with a degree in neuroscience and is now in a competitive PhD program in that discipline. She had excellent research opportunities, some in conjunction with Columbia. The creative writing program is also strong.</p>
<p>I am not sure Hopkins is viewed as more prestigious with the exception of pre-med, but maybe it is. I am not one to parse such things.</p>
<p>Mt. Holyoke is a great school, and if your daughter is particularly attracted to the program she was accepted into, then I’m sure she could not go wrong there either.</p>
<p>With similar choices on the table (including Mt. Holyoke and some distinguished leadership award there that I can no longer recall), my daughter chose Barnard and was pleased with her choice.</p>
<p>Her field was human rights, American Studies and pre-law, and she was in a seminar with a Federal judge that took the class to the Supreme Court to hear a case. She had many such opportunities.</p>
<p>Sound like Barnard to me. I have no personal experience with Johns Hopkins or Mt Holyoke, so I cannot compare. I can, say, though that my Neuroscience-Major (and dancer) daughter enjoyed excellent research opportunities while at Barnard. She was an Amgen scholar at Columbia one summer and then, once she established the parameters of her research for her thesis, she worked through another summer in her mentor’s lab. I don’t know the requirements of the two undergrad institutions you mentioned, but the fact that you WILL come out of Barnard having written a thesis based upon original research is huge.</p>
<p>mythmom: Thank you for your help! It’s nice to know that your daughter chose Barnard when faced with the same decision, were there any deciding factors?</p>
<p>churchmusicmom: Thank you so much as well! Your D seems to have done a lot of research in Barnard, and I just want to ask how hard it was to get this research. Was there a lot of competition for these spots? How is the Neuroscience major there in all? Are the Professors open to talking to the students outside of class?</p>
<p>I also have an update in terms of Financial aid: Mount Holyoke has given me by far the best aid package, coupled with the 21st Century Scholarship, it becomes 30k yr. However, I’m skeptical of it’s distance and isolation. I have actually found it hard to even go there to visit. Is there any way to easily leave campus?</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins University has also given me good financial aid, around 20k a year w/no loans. However, I’m a little worried about the atmosphere there, as I have heard from multiple sources that it’s very competitive and people actually sabotage each other. I have talked to alumnae from there, and they have said the same. Does anybody know anything more about this?</p>
<p>Barnard College gave me the same, 20k a year, but with loans. Yet, since I already live in NYC, it’s very close to home- which my mother loves- and I’ve already visited and fallen in love with the campus and people. I know I’d be happy going there, but I’m worried about the financial burden to my family. How is the community there? </p>
<p>I’d really like some help, and I’m already really grateful for all the help everyone’s already given me. Thank you!</p>
<p>Finances are a decision only you and your parents are qualified to speak about.</p>
<p>My D fell in love with Barnard and never wavered from that love. She loves the city and all the possibilities and opportunities it offered her. Many of them did materialize.</p>
<p>She worked on campus all her summers and came home weekends (we are also close by.) All her room fees were paid because she worked for the Provost’s Office. It was a happy combination of staying independent and still seeing us.</p>
<p>You may find you can create the same situation.</p>
<p>The following is specifically for folks in the NY area: she liked having her life all come together. Her college friends are friends with her HS friends who moved into the city after college graduation who also became friends with her law school friends (she has since quit law school.)</p>
<p>But the point is that she liked having her life all in one place and richer for it.</p>
<p>Question: if you attend Barnard, do you plan to live at home or in the dorm? That may be a factor in the way your financial aid was calculated. You’ve told us the total amount of the financial aid package, but not what your remaining costs are. (I think its better to live in a dorm your first year, if possible – but if you are an outgoing person who will take initiative in getting involved in student activities, and the commute is not too complicated, you may be quite happy to live at home and attend Barnard.)</p>
<p>The neuroscience major is excellent, from what I know. My d took courses to get both the molecular/cellular (not sure if that is the correct name) AND the behavioral Neuroscience major. ALL the professors were very open and supportive. She still communicates some (professionally) with them and sees them at conferences and such. </p>
<p>The Amgen scholar research fellowship she got is pretty competitive. She did not really expect to get that and was beyond thrilled. If she had not gotten that, though, I am sure she could have found another way to stay in the city and do research that summer. Once she settled on a professor to advise her in her thesis, she worked with HER all the summer before her Senior year, and paid her way that summer by working in the Student Activities office (which was her on campus job all 4 years) as well as working in the lab. You WILL have research opportunities at Barnard, and you WILL conduct independent original research because you have to write a thesis to graduate! </p>
<p>Hope that helps a bit…</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision and best to you!</p>