<p>The distribution of majors at JHU is as follows:</p>
<p>24% Health Professions (includes 18% for Nursing which is the # 1 major)
17% Social Sciences (includes 8% Int'l Relations, 4% Poli Sci, 3% Econ)
8% Biomedical Engineering
8% All other engineering
7% Biological and Biomedical Sciences
6% Visual & Performing Arts (Peabody)
4% Neuroscience
4% English
4% Psychology
3% Computer & Info Science
3% Business & Marketing</p>
<p>Hawkette-- I would take issue with your suggestion that Hopkins has a greater drop out or melt rate of premeds than other institutions. I don't think that's true, although I am unaware of hard statistics on this. I know that the freshman class at Homewood (engineering and arts & sciences combined) starts with about 1/3 saying they are premed--and that number melts down to about 1/4 of the class 4 years later. I don't think that melt is out of line with other places, including Wake and Vandy. Do you have any statistics to the contrary? What do you base your opinion on?</p>
<p>Also, while some of that melt rate is due to disappointing performance by the student in required science courses (which is true everywhere), some of it is due to students changing their mind. I started out premed at Hopkins, but took an IR class my freshman year which I enjoyed much more than Chemistry. I ended up getting accepted to the 5 year combined degree program in international studies. So although I would have been in that melt statistic--it would be hard to draw a conclusion from it.</p>
<p>bonanza,
You raise a fair point, but I was not claiming that there are necessarily higher pre-med dropouts at JHU. Pre-med dropouts are high at virtually every college. The difference would be that so many college aspirants are attracted to Johns Hopkins in the first place because of its superb medical-industry reputation and this leads to a different incoming class than what you'd find at Wake or Vandy or most other colleges. The result is an even more competitive pre-med environment combined with a reality that the med school application advantages of attending JHU undergrad over other strong colleges are minimal (if they exist at all). The good news, as you attest, is that Hopkins is more than a one-trick pony (despite its public rep) and has strong offerings in some other areas, eg, International Relations.</p>
<p>Also, Hawkette's list of distribution of majors at Hopkins is correct but it combines 5 schools--including the School of Nursing, Peabody Conservatory, and the Carey School of Business which are on different campuses than Homewood. The reason that others on this thread have different statistics is that they are referring only to the Homewood schools--Whiting School of Engineering and Krieger School of Arts & Sciences.</p>
<p>As a Wake alum, I think Hawkette is pretty much on target. Wake has the unusual flavor of being a national university that's a curricular match for, and not much larger than many LACs. You'll find more of the close-knit, high interaction culture there. All I know of JHU is from the stereotypes that have been presented here. Wake = Vandy Lite can be supported from several perspectives. I'd agree that Vandy has some of the distinctively Southern social structures of Wake with the high-profile medical community associated with JHU, as well as extensive pre-professional and grad schools. I'd be surprised to hear however that Vandy undergrads have had the same extent of up-close-and-personal experiences with faculty and administrators as do students at Wake, which has < 4,000 undergrads. Wake's campus is a bubble, while I understand that JHU students typically don't travel too far into sketchy surrounding neighborhoods. Vandy may offer more compelling off-campus social opportunities.</p>
<p>Not to take issue with you, but it would be a serious misimpression to think that Hopkins students just stay on or near campus. Yes, it is true that students don't (or shouldn't) venture into sketchy neighborhoods but Baltimore has many wonderful parts of the city that students take full advantage of. Baltimore is a big city with all that entails (good and bad) and is part of the northeast corridor--which make other major cities easily accessible.</p>
<p>bump bump bump</p>