Hello everyone! My D has ten acceptances. She has always had her heart set on a small LAC and has got admission at her top choice. One of the places she applied to because they are very strong in creative writing and international relations (her areas of interest) was Johns Hopkins. She has been accepted. It is now down to these two names. Both very different. She is very bright, more Type B than Type A. Quietly confident. Comfortable at the idea of the LAC. A little nervous about JHU. Doesn’t want to settle for what’s safe. But wants a place that’s collaborative and there is scope to do many things in and after College.
She is an international student, getting some modest merit aid at the LAC. But we are keeping finances out of the equation for now.
Any insights and guidance would be wonderful. Thanks!
Has she visited either one? I’m assuming she hasn’t, and won’t get the chance before she needs to decide, correct?
Is she someone that can make a pros and cons list of factors that are most important to her? Or how does she usually decide on things? Is there a reason she wouldn’t stick with her first choice since she “always had her heart set on it”? Is JHU more “prestigious”? Just wondering why she would consider the change?
Having said that, my son applied SCEA to Princeton, got in, but by April after a second visit, it fell to a distant third behind MIT and Mudd. He didn’t think he wanted a STEM school, and that was exactly what he did want, but visiting the schools really sealed the deal. He chose MIT because he found his people there.
I’m sure others will chime in with some good advice. Congratulations to your daughter!
Ty so much! She has visited the LAC. We did a whirlwind tour of colleges last year. She hasn’t seen JHU, is rather apprehensive about safety in Baltimore. She is considering only JHU from her list of acceptances because she feels it merits that.
@Reva66, Mt. Holyoke is a great, well-respected school & likely a better match for creative writing than JHU, which is known for health professions and international relations. The JHU campus is probably safe, but Baltimore itself has a high crime rate. You might want to research that. Funny, my D is deciding between Holyoke and a less well-known but still really good LAC in Norton, MA (Wheaton College - Massachusetts - not the one in Illinois). She got merit aid and a need-based grant from Wheaton and loves the supportive environment there, so she’s strongly leaning towards it. We’ve been impressed with the strength of their academics and internships, but I’m feeling torn about her letting the more prestigious opportunity go - she’s not.
Regarding the comment above that JHU would not be as strong for writing; it actually has an excellent reputation in that area, despite the fact that it is also known for health professions. It’s one of the schools that instantly comes to mind for strength in the writing program. That being said, if collaborative is important, it might not be the right place. It has a reputation for being competitive and kind of a grind.
She has some wonderful choices but she should go where she is comfortable, and she shouldn’t worry about turning down Hopkins just because it’s Hopkins. She is challenging herself plenty as an international student and shouldn’t be compelled to add more complexity. Baltimore can be dicey - no doubt about it.
Crime happens everywhere, and college students who are not street savvy (whether it’s a rural street or an urban street) are going to be at higher risk than their more attentive classmates. If your D doesn’t know that she shouldn’t walk home from the library with ear buds in, talking on the phone or listening to music, she’s at risk of getting mugged whether in Massachusetts or Maryland.
I wouldn’t worry about the general Baltimore crime so much. There is something known as the “Hopkins Bubble” meaning that the school and the immediate area around it are fine with regard to crime.
As a Baltimore resident I have to say that you should only worry about crime for a Hopkins student if they really want to leave campus to find less savory neighborhoods. The campus itself is very safe and there are some nice high end eclectic folksy neighborhoods nearby that are also very safe. There are nasty parts of Baltimore but you can say that about any large metropolitan area.
We are willing for her to do a three day trip just to visit JHU. She has school and Class 12 boards coming up, so timing is a bit iffy. We live continents away also… but seeing if we can make it work.
Two very different campuses. MHC is very remote and while there are the other schools in the area, she’d have to leave her town to get to them (5 miles or so). The other schools in the consortium will offer additional opportunities like concerts, sports, trips, and classes, but she’ll have to search them out. Even the town is a distance from campus if she wants a pizza.
Hopkins is in a city. The school provides some lecture and sports opportunities, but there are dozens more around the area, including professional sports, theater, concerts. There are also many other colleges in the area (Goucher, Towson, UM@Balt., Loyola, U of Baltimore), some with cross registration with JHU. Baltimore has easy access to DC for government internships or to access ALL the opportunities that city offers too.
For me it would come down to a small school in a small town (and I’d only consider that because of the consortium) or a medium sized school in a city. I’d take the city.
