<p>Would it be worth it to go to JHU for premed and get into a lot of debt before entering medical school?
Also, does JHU give out good aid (as in scholarships, not loans)? I'm just starting to research colleges!
Thanks!</p>
<p>There is no easy answer to your first question. You’ll want to consider how much debt you’re going to have to take for your medical education and what income you’ll make after graduation. </p>
<p>As far as financial aid, here is a good list of basic statistics: </p>
<p>[Johns</a> Hopkins University Office of Undergraduate Admissions - Fast Facts - Financial Aid](<a href=“http://apply.jhu.edu/facts/finaid.html]Johns”>http://apply.jhu.edu/facts/finaid.html)</p>
<p>It lists an average aid package of 33k. Maybe that means that the average need based grant is 25k and the average loan package is 8k? </p>
<p>They also have a need estimator that you might want to fill out. JHU does provide need based grants. Like most elite universities, JHU provides very few merit scholarships and as I understand it, they are based on specific gifts from donors rather than institutional funds. Most schools use merit scholarships as a way of drawing students from more desirable universities. JHU is a top university, so it doesn’t need to do this. Here is a list of merit scholarships: </p>
<p>[JHU</a> Student Financial Services | Prospective Students | Freshman & Transfers | Scholarships](<a href=“Student Financial Support | Johns Hopkins University”>Student Financial Support | Johns Hopkins University)</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply! My family’s income is about 100-120k a year, so I doubt I would get much need-based. But we definitely can’t afford 40k a year. :(</p>
<p>My kid is looking at JH too, but not premed.</p>
<p>The financial situation is even worse than you posit, because JH does not give much in the way of AP credits.</p>
<p>My son already has passed 8 AP tests, which is almost a whole year of college—akin to a 25% scholarship at some schools</p>
<p>Worth it or not depends on whether you believe you will get your medical degree. If you do I say go for it because Doctors make a lot of money.</p>
<p>remember though that AP credit don’t count for medical school requriements so those 8 AP tests might be worthless in most colleges for premed.</p>
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<p>Are you sure about that? Only a handful of schools would eliminate costs for a student with your family’s income, but it’s not such a high income that getting a need based grant would be out of the question. You might as well try running it through the financial need estimator. </p>
<p>Another note on financial aid: most colleges meet the need based FA of peer schools. So if you get into Penn and JHU, and Penn offers more need based aid, you could ask JHU to match it. For that reason you might want to consider applying to a wide range of elite schools and just see how the FA works out, assuming that you have some financial safeties on your list should none of the reach schools work out.</p>
<p>Thought I would add a few thoughts to this discussion and some clarification:</p>
<p>First, as far as the initial question it really is a personal decision that I am not sure anyone can provide you with a definitive answer. I know many students who enroll at Hopkins as undergraduates planning to attend law school, medical school, graduate school and they are willing to take out loans because they see the value in our education. However, others do plan to attend public universities in their home states to say money during undergraduate. It is a personal choice in the end and a discussion you really should have with your family. </p>
<p>As far as Johns Hopkins aid programs, I strongly suggest you sit down with your parents and use the Need-Based Financial Calculator to get a sense if you will be eligible for financial aid at Hopkins: [JHU</a> Possible Aid Estimator](<a href=“Student Financial Support | Johns Hopkins University”>Student Financial Support | Johns Hopkins University). One statistics that I think you should factor in is that the average four-year indebtedness of a student graduating in 2009 was approximately $16,000 and I believe this number has not rise much over the last two years. Our financial aid programs are quite competitive, but very particular to each individual applicants’ financial means. </p>
<p>With regard to merit based scholarships they are very rare. Less than 5% of our total dollars spent on finanical assistance come from merit-based aid. </p>
<p>
I actually disagree with this assessment. Hopkins provides credit for all science, math, and foreign language exams: [Johns</a> Hopkins University Office of Undergraduate Admissions - Apply - AP/IB/Other Credit Information](<a href=“http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/apib.html?main]Johns”>http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/apib.html?main). We only do not provide credit for AP English and History exams since we do not offer related courses to transfer the credit (no survey english or history courses are offered). </p>
<p>
Just to clarify … Hopkins does not negotiate financial aid packages with students based on offers from other schools. We do not have a policy of matching what other schools offer, but rather we base our financial aid offers on our own processes and formulas.</p>