Hi everyone,
I recently got accepted to JHU and UCLA for Neuroscience, and I am beyond grateful. I intend to go to med school in the future, and while I know that both institutions are excellent, JHU is clearly better for pre meds. Nevertheless I received more aid from UCLA and my total cost of attendance would be about 15K more if I decide to go to JHU. I would like to know if the opportunities at JHU for pre meds are worth the price.
I am also taking into consideration other factors, such as location, workload, etc. I’ve heard JHU is extremely challenging, and I would like to keep my GPA high for med school, to volunteer, and continue with some extracurriculars. It is probably going to be hard to focus on these goals of mine in JHU’s challenging environment. Also, I love LA and the beach, and I would perhaps be more comfortable in California. I also intend to go to med school in California, particularly UCLA.
So I basically want to know how much does JHU increases my chances to get into med school, and if it’s worth the stress, the price, and the location (as I would be giving up LA, my dream city, over Baltimore).
Thanks for any advice you might provide!
(current student)
I’m from California and have some anecdotal experience with UCLA.
So first of all let’s clear up a bit of a misconception. Hopkins is no more difficult or stressful than UCLA - especially for premeds. Large, highly ranked state schools like LA tend to have more of a weedout culture in their lower level STEM classes (almost all of which you need to take in some form for premed requirements). If you take UC Berkeley as an analogue for UCLA (because I could find some anecdotal data), the Biology department has the lowest average GPA (around a 2.7). That implies that classes are curved to a B-/C+ - you would need to do very well in those classes to maintain the ideal premed GPA (3.5+). Anecdotally, Hopkins GPAs for intro STEM classes are comparable - if not better - than their counterparts at Berkeley - and by extension at UCLA. That’s not to say that you can’t do well at UCLA, but the idea that Hopkins is any more stressful than UCLA is not realistic - especially for premeds.
Now to answer your question I’m going to go ahead and assume that your family can reasonably afford Hopkins with the amount of aid you have - if not, go to UCLA no question. Making that assumption, it really depends on how much of a go-getter you are. Hopkins offers a lot of opportunities that are “within easy reach” whereas similar opportunities at a school like UCLA will be more competitive.
The biggest example is research. Hopkins overflows with research opportunities for undergrads in almost every field - you will have no trouble finding a research position as a Hopkins undergrad if you’re willing to put in the smallest bit of effort to email some professors and read a couple of papers. Some majors (Molecular and Cellular Biology and Neuroscience being the most notable) even require you to conduct research for a year to graduate. Many students are also able to conduct research at Hopkins med, allowing them to interact with physicians, med students, and - for the utilitarian in you - get influential rec letters from “Hopkins Doctors”.
Research opportunities definitely exists at schools like UCLA. However, Hopkins has a larger research budget and much fewer undergrads. Thus research positions at UCLA are extremely competitive whereas a majority of Hopkins students conduct research - and those who don’t typically didn’t want to do research.
Another example is premed advising. At Hopkins, premed advising is reasonably personal. While the student / advisor ration is relatively high, it is possible for you to maintain a good relationship with your advisor (which is helpful when they write your rec letter). However UCLA has significantly more students resulting in an extremely high student / advisor ration and a much less personal advising experience.
Now are these differences worth the tuition difference between Hopkins and UCLA? That really depends on you. Both are great schools, and - in the grand scheme - you can’t really go wrong with this choice.
Good luck!
Who told you JHU is better for Premeds? Is that based on the rankings? Go to UCLA. Better aid, better for yourself, closer to family, you won’t see premeds every day. so on. Also, Baltimore is a terrible city. To me, a UCLA graduate is no different that a JHU graduate if they are premeds. Where you go for MD matters.
Hopkins is clearly a better school.
@shhsvri is going around to different college threads to bash Hopkins. He/she is clearly a troll and has no life, probably a bitter reject. If this is how you act after getting rejected, you don’t deserve to be at the school in the first place. Grow up.
Or maybe @Shhsvri really is a student who was violently disillusioned about Hopkins.
Some people hate the premed-heavy environment (which isn’t everywhere if you can broaden your social circles, but does arguably exist in Public Health, Neuroscience, and Bio circles). It can be stress-inducing hearing so many others talk about their plans. Others (like me) really liked it. You can get a lot of really good advice, network, and support when you’re, say, taking a hard class or studying for the MCAT.
And clearly, location can play a big factor in your happiness at a school. Personally, I love Baltimore. There’s a lot to do, a lot to see, and a lot of people to meet. And there are abundant opportunities for community service (especially education / student mentoring), which is very important to me. But it’s not for everyone.
Have you visited either? For me, it really came down to the “feel” of the university, if that makes sense. That cliched phrase, “As soon as I stepped on campus, I knew that this was the school for me?” I think it’s real to some degree. You get a sense of what’s important to students and what the school values when you go on tours, talk to strangers, sit in on classes, etc.
Based on what you’ve said and without visiting either school, I’d go with UCLA. Hopkins is a great school. But like picking a major, choosing something that excites you will get you a lot farther than choosing something for “practical reasons” (which, this practical reason is the assumption that Hopkins will get you into med school and that it will be significantly harder to do so at UCLA).
Is the 15k more per year?
Hey guys, thanks a lot for your responses guys. I chose UCLA because I liked the location way better, will save up about 60K or more, their academics are also strong, Ronald Reagan is also a prestigious hospital, etc. I will work very to get into med school and take any opportunity presented to me.
Congrats and Good luck!