Michigan, Ann Arbor Vs Johns Hopkins Neuroscience

College Search & Selection
1

I have been accepted in Univ. of Michigan and Johns Hopkins. Johns will cost me 12K more so I have few questions.

  1. Considering Univ Of Michigan is great school and in state for me, should I spend those extra dollars to go to Johns?
  2. Michigan being in-state, I will not have to worry about rising costs. Does financial aid change drastically at Johns if my parents financial status doesn’t change a lot.
  3. Other than financial costs, what other factors should I consider to decide between these two colleges?
    For example: Neuroscience course, Research opportunities, Job prospects, Entry to Med School, Any other hidden cost factors or any other factors?
  4. Being in-state Michigan is only offering me 1500 Scholarship. What Scholarships I can explore at Johns to bridge this huge financial gap?
2

“1. Considering Univ Of Michigan is great school and in state for me, should I spend those extra dollars to go to Johns?”

If you can afford it, and if you think JHU is a better fit, then yes. If you cannot afford it, or even if you can but feel like you would rather go to Michigan, then obviously no.

“2. Michigan being in-state, I will not have to worry about rising costs. Does financial aid change drastically at Johns if my parents financial status doesn’t change a lot.”

I am not sure anyone can answer that, but I assume that if your financial situation does not change, and if you remain in good academic standing, your package should remain the same.

“3. Other than financial costs, what other factors should I consider to decide between these two colleges?
For example: Neuroscience course, Research opportunities, Job prospects, Entry to Med School, Any other hidden cost factors or any other factors?”

While those are all important factors, I doubt you will notice a significant difference between Michigan and JHU. If you were a doctoral student, I would recommend JHU since it is slightly better in Neuroscience. But as an undergraduate student, you will not notice a difference. Both universities offer undergraduate a wealth of resources, access to world class facilities and labs, instruction from leading faculty and opportunities to engage in ground-breaking research. Medical schools will not differentiate between applicants of either university.

I would focus instead on the difference in the overall college experience. JHU and Michigan offer very different experiences. Which one would you prefer?

“4. Being in-state Michigan is only offering me 1500 Scholarship. What Scholarships I can explore at Johns to bridge this huge financial gap?”

Like most elite private universities, JHU has limited merit scholarships. As fas as I know, there is only one for non-Engineering, non-Military students; the Hodson Scholarship. All applicants are considered for the Hobson, and they need not apply. The Scholarship is announced at the time of admission.

3

Thanks for sharing your opinion. Please elaborate on your comment that “JHU and Michigan offer very different experiences.”
What I know so far is that Michigan is a public school so number of undergraduate students is much more than JHU. This makes me wonder if there will be more opportunities for undergrads at JHU considering smaller class sizes (they claim 75% classes are 20 students or less). For example Perhaps at JHU - professors will be more accessible, students will have better and readily available research appoprtnities, career counseling, job opportunities.

4

And another thing I forgot to mention, is that I got accepted into the Honors program at University of Michigan. Please share if you know what additional benefits does Honors have at Michigan and does that make it even more comparable to JHU regular admission as an undergraduate?

5

Honors programs vary widely from college to college – it can range from an honors class here and there to having honors dorms, priority registration etc. You need to do the research to find out what benefits the honors program at UM encompasses.

IMO if the price gap would cause your family hardship or cause you to take out loans, I’d go with UM.

The two schools would provide different experiences as they attributes such as (but not limited to) the university’s size, location, prevalence of Greek Life, importance of bit time sports etc. will vary greatly between these two schools.

6

simba13, Michigan’s UROP/MRC programs ensure that virtually all Freshmen seeking research opportunities are paired up with faculty on research projects in their chosen field of study from the day they step on campus. Classes at Michigan will be larger your freshman year, but not beyond, and considering how popular the life sciences are at JHU, I would say that classes will not necessarily be smaller either way.

But I was not referring to those, since as I already stated, opportunities for academics and research will be roughly the same at both universities. I was referring to the overall college experience. Campus life at those two universities is significantly different. Rather than ask us, try to figure those out on your own, and decide for yourself which one suits you best.

7

Thanks @Alexandre

8

Thanks @happy1