Premed- Cornell, Johns Hopkins, and Duke

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello fellow CCers,</p>

<p>I am currently a junior and now that I now what I will be doing this summer, I have narrowed down my choices for early decision to JHU, Cornell, and Duke.</p>

<p>Because I will be completing the premed route and going to med school, I am really stuck on which one I should pick.</p>

<p>Right now, my order is this:</p>

<p>Cornell
JHU
Duke</p>

<p>JHU is fabulous for it's premed program, since I have read a lot about it. It also has a great medical school, so if I do really well in undergrad, I should be able to have a good shot at their medical school.</p>

<p>Cornell- My favorite, but their medical school is not as good. I really like the location of Cornell and I don't mind the weather what so ever. It seems to have many good reviews about its premed courses. I must admit, I do like how it is an Ivy League. Coming from a family where no one has gotten a college diploma, I have worked really hard and to be able to say I go to an Ivy League on the side means a lot to me. It would be a sense of achievement that I would admire my whole life because it proved that I worked myself to the top.</p>

<p>Duke- I love the sports!!!!! Cornell also is big on hockey, but let's face it, Duke Basketball is awesome. Duke's campus is gorgeous and it is very green with a lot of gardens. It is also highly respected in the premed courses AND medical school.</p>

<p>I know all three are great for premed. My goal is to at a minimum become a doctor, and hopefully to one day be in charge of the hospital in case that gives you any recs.</p>

<p>Also, which one do you think is the easiest/hardest to get in?</p>

<p>I think JHU is easiest, then Duke, then Cornell.</p>

<p>Thank You very much, and remember I am applying to one of these schools EARLY DECISION</p>

2

<p>JHU is more fabulous for his medical school than for his premed program. By the way, being a premed undergrad will not make it more likely for you to get into their medical school. This is a fact.</p>

<p>Cornell- here you have it the other way around. You are going to undergrad, so you should not care much about how good their medical school is. If the Ivy League suits your fancy, then go for it. (Ignore all the forthcoming nasty comments from others about you being an elitist or something related to that.)</p>

<p>Duke- I am all confused now. Awesome basketball won’t get you into medical school. Think more about academics and administrative support than about sports (one of the drags of being a premed…you will miss out a lot of the “great college life”)</p>

<p>As far as which one is the Easiest/Hardest - what?</p>

<p>Academics, they are all tough (JHU premed is pretty malignant)</p>

<p>Selectivity - this year was as follows<br>
Duke - 17% Acceptance rate
Cornell -19% Acceptance rate
JHU -26% Acceptance rate</p>

<p>If you are going ED, make sure you are ultra competitive and check them out before. Durham is a dump, Baltimore - not too nice of a city and Cornell in Ithaca -is somewhat isolated and surrounded by gorges… make sure you do not fall off one of them…</p>

3

<p>When I was mentioning sports, I was saying that because I have always been very interested in sports. It is definitely a huge plus for a school to have athletic spirit. Duke has it with basketball and Cornell with hockey. JHU is good with lacrosse and a little bit with baseball, but lacrosse is not my cup of tea.</p>

<p>You are absolutely right, sports do not have to do anything with picking the best school for premed- and they should not. I know A LOT about the campuses so CCer’s please don’t waste your time describing the campuses and how they are different.</p>

<p>If anyone could help me out by simply stating which one they think is BEST (or maybe a ranking in your opinion) and reason (s) why that would be awesome. I am aware of the campus differences, and locations, and I have read a lot about what people have said about the premed route, so please don’t make generic remarks like JHU is “really good”- everyone knows that, so please don’t waste your time.</p>

4

<p>link to Cornell pre-med:</p>

<p>[Cornell</a> Career Services: Human Medicine](<a href=“http://www.career.cornell.edu/HealthCareers/humanMedicine/default.html]Cornell”>http://www.career.cornell.edu/HealthCareers/humanMedicine/default.html)</p>

5

<p>All three are excellent schools. Do well at any one of them and you are fine. They are peer schools academically. </p>

<p>That is not to say that they are the same. Their “feel” and cultures are quite distinct. Hopkins is a small research university (only 4500 undergraduates–much smaller than Duke and much much smaller than Cornell. And although it has a beautiful, park-like campus–Hopkins is located in a big east coast city with easy accessibility to Washington, Philadelphia and NYC. Yet, notwithstanding its small student body, Hopkins has more funded research than Cornell and Duke combined. This amount of research directly affects undergraduates in terms of the easy availability of opportunities to get involved in research. Yes, you can get involved in research at all three–but the opportunities at Hopkins are astounding. And as a pre-med, you can easily get involved in research at Hopkins Medical School. Obviously, this is much harder for a Cornell student–since Cornell’s Med School is in Manhattan. </p>

<p>Cornell and Duke are also urban schools, but you can’t compare the opportunities available in either Ithaca or Durham with those available in Baltimore (and nearby DC). On the other hand, Hopkins only has one big time sport (lacrosse–in which it is better than Cornell and Duke, but not by much) while Duke has big time basketball and Cornell is very competitive within the Ivy League.</p>

<p>So my advice is to visit all three and, if you truly fall in love with one over the others, apply ED so long as financial aid will not be a major consideration. Otherwise, apply RD to all three and see where you get in. If you are fortunate enough to have a choice, deal with it then–you will be a year older and your views, interests, etc. may well be different next year.</p>

6

<p>Would really appreciate helping to make my RD final choice on these
Am an international student and location, safety make a difference
Its tough hvaing to make a choice as I am unable to visit…NOt really into sports but was looking for focussed academics with research opppurtunities</p>

7

<p>Yea, I need to make my regular decision between Cornell and Duke.</p>

<p>Personally, I think JHU is the best for premed but I didn’t apply because, in case I decide to switch out of premed (since 50% of undergrads change their majors), JHU is not known for much else.</p>

<p>I also favor Cornell for its campus, location, weather, familiarity, and like you said, ivy league status. After visiting the campus at Cornell, I definitely was amazed.</p>

<p>But then again, Duke has an awesome BME (#2) and premed program. Plus, I looked up their acceptances into med schools later on. 20% of Duke applicants to Duke’s Medical School were accepted. So, there’s always that.</p>

<p>I guess what I’m saying is, I’m as lost as you. Every school has its assets and its faults. But in the end, it comes down to, how dedicated are you to premed? If you’re totally set, choose JHU or Duke. If you might change, choose Cornell.</p>

8

<p>Hopkins has top ten programs ranging from Education, Music, Biological sciences, English, History, Creative Writing, Public Health, International relations, Nursing, Biostatistics, BME, Cognitive science, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Classics, Sociology, Environmental engineering, Art history… and ***a lot *more…
Hopkins stands on its own two feet, Hopkins is not just only ** premed. As many as 44 various graduate/undergraduate fields in humanities, social sciences, biological sciences, and engineering are ranked among the top 10 in the nation at JHU… </p>

<p>If it matters, you have opportunities to research at the Johns Hopkins Hospital (consistently ranked #1 Hospital for the past 18 years in a row)… as well as the #1 School of Public Health in the country and #4 Nursing program as well as a top notch med school all conveniently in East Baltimore campus… Cornell’s medical campus is in NYC and you can’t really access the resources at Weill Cornell’s med campus that easily from Ithaca, NY.</p>

<p>Hopkins is also the leading recipient of pretty much every federal agency grants you can think of… NIH, NSF, NASA, DoD, etc… and has the largest annual research and development budget of any university in the nation (twice that of the 2nd place largest research budget) and has held the top spot for the past 28 years… With that said, research is a culture here at JHU. It’s very easy to access research opportunities… Just ask :D</p>

9

<p>^^^ Exactly. The point is, just stay away from Hopkins for premed.</p>

10

<p>^^ What makes you an authority on being premed at JHU…?</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>At least when I remember applying, largest contingent of students accepted into Johns Hopkins medical school was…JHU undergrads at 19 out of 115 spots… or 17% acceptance rate back in 2007. Hopkins med favors it’s own students… as well as Yalies as well. Same year JHU was named the “Hottest premed” school for 2008’s issue of USNews magazine.</p>

11

<p>I vote for Hopkins.
It is the strongest out of these three schools for Pre-Med.
Also, the research opportunities are quite literally boundless.
If you decide not to be Pre-Med, Hopkins is also well-rounded enough to allow you phenomenal programs in just about any major you can think of.
Lacrosse at Hopkins is big. If you like school spirit centered about Lacrosse, go for Hopkins. If not, then maybe Duke or Cornell might sound better.
The school is very beautiful, especially around sunset and the dawn. </p>

<p>In terms of ease of entry, I wouldn’t be so sure about Duke/Cornell/Johns Hopkins. Each school has their own values. Statistically, Hopkins may look easier to get into, but I know that is not the case. A 3.9 student from my school with 2350 SATs got rejected this year, while a student with a 3.9 but lower SATs got accepted. At Hopkins, the essay and the passion-for-Hopkins is truly what separates the accepted from the rejected. </p>

<p>At Duke and Cornell, this might be a bit different, because that same 3.9 2350 student got into both Duke and Cornell, but was also rejected from Northwestern, Brown, Penn, Princeton, and Georgetown.</p>

12

<p>bumpppppppp</p>

13

<p>i would go to cornell, simply for the fact that the IVY name goes along with it and ends up on your degree and resume!</p>

14

<p>Do remember that JHU was founded as a graduate education, research institution and has that as its central mission which has shaped its structure. It’s a great place for some undergrads, but I think that it was initially started as this graduate/research place has done quite a bit to shape its culture which will work for some and not for others.</p>

15

<p>^ That is true, but in terms of undergrads that’s actually very good news. They treat undergraduates like the graduate students here. I definitely see a lot of undergrad research taking place, and I get the feeling that undergrads are held to the same standards here as the graduate students.</p>

<p>Also, the impression that I get from just about all the people, that I have met, that have graduated from Hopkins is that: yes, their time spent at Hopkins was challenging and had both ups-and-downs, but they realized later on in graduate school and the professional world exactly how much that experience helped in developing their organizational skills, their management abilities, and their own outlooks on life and themselves. I cannot say the same for every elite school out there as I know a few Harvard and Stanford (not just these schools, but I use them as examples) undergrad graduates who ended up fired from their first job due to bad work ethics and patterns. </p>

<p>the Hopkins experience is definitely not for everyone, which I assume is what ModestMelody is suggesting. I think the key here is that Hopkins is the type of school fit for those who truly want to learn and research at the pinnacles of human knowledge. Hopkins was founded to be a school dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, not merely the sharing of knowledge. Students at Hopkins are expected to partake in research of any kind and discover the knowledge, NOT just internalize it through books and lectures.</p>

<p>I think for students who might be intimidated by such a reputation and student body, Duke and Cornell might be a little more suitable. The Hopkins legacy has always been about research and discovery.</p>

16

<p>^^</p>

<p>That’s one spin on it. There are many ways to look at it, but the priorities and the resulting structures and devotions are different at JHU than Cornell and Duke.</p>

<p>Just the same as Duke’s student body is drastically different than Cornell’s.</p>

<p>Etc, etc.</p>

<p>I just thought in the midst of the JHU cheerleading, it’d be worth noting one of the things that makes JHU unique. Whether that’s a good or bad thing for anyone is up to them.</p>

17

<p>If your main goal is to get into a good med school, JHU is the way to go. (By far, I’d say) To my knowledge, the med school admission rate from JHU is seconded only by Harvard…</p>

18

<p>haha. i admit, I do cheerlead for JHU, but that’s because I truly love my school and the opportunities it has afforded me.
But when I cheerlead, I don’t lie. It is true. Johns Hopkins is stronger than both Duke and Cornell if research and hands-on experience is a criteria. There is so much research and internship available that literally, stepping into a professor’s office with even slight interest can very likely land you a spot even as a freshman (as many do).
For Duke and Cornell, the experience is similar to JHU, but with a much smaller emphasis on discovery and research.
At Duke, one of the biggest attractive qualities is the undergraduate “college” experience. It’s for students who want to go to a big-name school with good academics and a state-school-like party scene. Sure, research and opportunities are available as well, but the major focus of the Duke experience is the environment. It wasn’t always this way. In earlier years, Duke modeled themselves heavily after Princeton, Hopkins, and, to a lesser degree, some of the rest of the ivy league. With time, they realized that a more spirited environment ala Stanford or bigger state-schools was more attractive to undergrads, and hence, the shift to what Duke is today: a baby Stanford.
Cornell, on the other hand, emphasizes a lot of individuality along with spirit akin to Princeton. There are opportunities at Cornell, but its beauty is in the sheer size of the school where the diverse array of students and programs forces students to diversify themselves, learn from their peers, and find the niche that they truly want. Cornell is very undergraduate based, but also has a large number of top graduate programs. However, research here, other than on-campus research (which, let’s be honest, is nothing compared to research done at medical schools/biotech labs). In terms of student body, the students are in between Duke and Hopkins in quality. They work as hard (or harder by some accounts) as Hopkins’s students, but have a little bit of that Duke wild-spirit edge to them.
However, the disparity is not as great as it seems to be here. Hopkins still has kids that have a lot of fun and enjoy their time here as much as they would at a state school (especially during exciting Lacrosse seasons), just as Duke has the book-ish nerds that will scoff at the greek life and party scene. </p>

<p>For the OP, I think that Cornell might be the best of both worlds if (for student body-wise) if you aren’t leaning too heavily one way or the other.
That still doesn’t mean, however, that I think Cornell is the best school on this list. I think it’s quite obvious which school I place beyond both of the others here ;)</p>

19

<p>bumppppppppppppp</p>

20

<p>I would change the order to Cornell, Duke then JHU</p>