<p>Accepted into MIT and Hopkins. Interested in studying Biology. Any thoughts? Thanks.</p>
<p>Do you want to focus on microbial/cellular, neuroscience, bioengineering, botanical, zoological, or human anatomical? Look at an MIT subject catalog in Courses 7, 9, and 20. If this doesn’t cover your interests, check out JHU. A Pre-Med will do well at either school.</p>
<p>Thank you! I will look into this. I am interested in biological cell structure and function at the moment, but that could change. I am hoping to find a program that offers me the most options but at the same time will prepare me for graduate school and beyond. I appreciate your help.
Btw, I have visited Hopkins several times and met with many students and faculty - I definitely felt comfortable. I have visited MIT several times but haven’t yet met with the students and faculty - so I am not as sure in this part of my decision. That is not to say that I wouldn’t feel at home with the students at MIT like at JHU but it’s just that I haven’t had the opportunity to do so. Therefore I am relying more on comparing the academic aspects of both schools.</p>
<p>Both schools will certainly prepare you for grad school and beyond. I did not attend either school, but my son was accepted to JHU and is deciding on whether or not to attend. Could you get in touch with current MIT students to see what they think? Time is winding down, so unless you can schedule a visit to MIT, you might not get their input.</p>
<p>My advice? Don’t focus on the academics.</p>
<p>MIT and JHU are both well-respected in this field. You’ll have great opportunities to prepare yourself for grad school at either school. Figure out where you’ll be happier - location, communities, living arrangements, and culture.</p>
<p>The undergraduate experience at each school is probably quite different. Visit MIT. Preferably do an overnight stay (Ditto for JHU, if you haven’t already). At the very least talk to current students about non-academic aspects of life on campus.</p>
<p>The main factor in your decision should be which place feels more like home. You’re going to spend four years there. You’ll get a great education at either school, so just pick the one that makes you happier.</p>
<p>I’m an MIT alum in course 7 (biology) and course 9 (brain and cog sci), and I just finished my PhD in biomedical sciences at Harvard. I can’t really speak to the program at Hopkins, but I’m more than happy to answer any questions you have about biological sciences at MIT. </p>
<p>I felt that my MIT education prepared me extremely well for graduate school, and my PhD program was full of other MIT alums (MIT is far and away the top feeder into my program). Classes are interesting, and there’s a lot of flexibility in the biology degree to take electives that catch your interest. Importantly, there are abundant opportunities for meaningful undergraduate research, and for forging relationships with faculty members who are at the top of their fields.</p>
<p>There’s no question that the MIT undergrad program in biology is academically top-notch. I agree with wellthatsokay that the major question is whether MIT is a place that will make you feel at home.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your help. I visited Hopkins again this past weekend. I do love the campus and students there - not so crazy that there isn’t much in the surrounding area. I plan to visit MIT again - hopefully will see some of the students - love the surrounding area.
Can anyone tell me about Financial Aid regarding MIT vs Hopkins. Unfortunately this will be a big factor in my decision as well. My parents salary (combined) varies greatly year to year… from under $50m (mostly) but as high as $150M (rarely though) - two kids. The problem is that when a “good” year comes along there is so much debt built up from previous years by then that the higher income becomes a wash. Any thoughts???</p>
<p>For income that varies considerably year to year, I believe you can show the financial aid office several years of tax returns, and they’ll consider the volatility of income as a factor in their calculations.</p>
<p>gumdrop, what do you mean that the area around Hopkins doesn’t have much? Charles Villiage has a lot of great cafes, restaurants, upscale bars, etc. It is a great area. It is essentially midtown. The Roland park area between Towson and Charles Village is beautiful but residential. Then you can travel a few miles to Little Italy (yumm), or to Harbor place which is phenomenal.And did I mention Fells Point? There is also a ton of recreational things and festivals all the time-music and food. Then Baltimore itself has great sports, the surrounding areas offer anything you could want. It is a great city. It used to have a reputation of being rough and not having a lot but that dates back to…well before any time you’d be concerned with. Baltimore is a great city for students and it has a lot and the area immediately around the Homewood campus offers a lot. Not as much as does the area around MIT but if you travel 10 minutes you get to amazing.</p>
<p>wow - thanks! I didn’t realize there was so much to do nearby! I got the impression that there was a lot of things/events going on around campus but I didn’t know about all the other things you mentioned. Thanks!!</p>
<p>I’m assuming you meant $50k to $150k…explain the situation to them, and hope that your tax returns for this year are low.</p>