Should I ED to JHU?

College Search & Selection
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<p>I posted this in the JHU forum but thought I could tap my resources more by posting here too.</p>

<p>I’ve held an interest in JHU for as long as I can remember. I will want to be a biology pre-med, maybe a pub health premed. I believe JHU is the best school for both of those, as Hopkins Hospital and Medical School are so nearby and offers so many research opportunities.</p>

<p>I also visited a few days ago and loved the campus and really liked the people I met.</p>

<p>But I came back home, told all my rising college freshman friends that I liked JHU, and I didn’t get too many excited looks. JHU gets a really bad wrap where I live for three main reasons.</p>

<li>Food and dorms aren’t so great, especially the food</li>
<li>It’s in the “ghetto” area of Baltimore</li>
<li>IT’S SUPER COMPETITIVE WITH NO GRADE-INFLATION</li>
</ol>

<p>Well, I ate food at Levering and didn’t think it was too bad. Baltimore like any other city can be dangerous, and I believe I can get by if I’m not stupid. I furthermore kind of want to go to a competitive school so I can be pushed to my limits and see what I can truly do. However, I’m afraid this view of mine is somewhat idealistic and will be extinguished after I experience “academic hell on earth” from hopkins.</p>

<p>My parents also aren’t so thrilled with the idea of EDing to Hopkins. After hearing that Hopkins acceptance rate RD is 30% and ED is 45%, they kind of saw it as something I should just RD too. They say I should shoot for something harder to get into for ED, like a competitive ivy. Although I understand what they are saying, I really don’t think there are very many schools that can offer me what JHU has to give. The fact that I can have tons of research oppurtunities is one of the main reasons i’m liking jhu, but as my dad said, “Research isn’t important for undergrad” True or false? What other schools might I want to look into? </p>

<p>They think I should be EDing to Brown, MIT, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia. Will these schools be good for me?</p>

<p>I’m quite torn. I feel like it’s the rest of my world vs. me. JHU really does feel like the match for me though, but should I ED?</p>

<p>BTW, i haven’t visited many colleges. I walked around the Boston area, but didn’t really take a tour or anything. I attended tours/info sessions at only Cornell and JHU thus far.</p>

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<p>Nerd - 2 things</p>

<p>First, I'll be upfront, I have a strong bias against schools like JHU for the typical kid who wants to be a doc and practice medicine, so I would be offering you advice similar to your parents'.
BUT, if you search the forums, Parents Forum I think, using "JHU","Duke", and "Beururah", you should find a thread from a couple of months ago about a kid who was accepted to both those schools and had to decide between them. This young man had done some significant research, and was offered some specific research perks to go to JHU - this is the sort of person who might thrive at JHU. Read it, it is a good discussion of the pros and cons of pre-med at a "pre-med factory".</p>

<p>Second, it sounds like from your post that you are putting the cart before the horse. You need to list and prioritize what you are looking for in a college - size, programs, locations, etc. Engingeering yes/no is a big one. You need to think about safeties. But first you need to make a profile of the perfect college for you, understanding that, as you visit more schools, this picture will slowly change in your head. Also realize that no school, not even H or Y, may perfectly fit the vision in your head. The idea is to find schools of different selectivities that come as close to THE ONE, as possible. Then you will be ready to think about ED.</p>

<p>Don't worry this process doesn't take forever, after a couple more visits, a few hours of thought, and perhaps doodling on a piece of paper, may greatly clarify things for you - GOod Luck!</p>

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<p>"The fact that I can have tons of research oppurtunities is one of the main reasons i'm liking jhu, but as my dad said, "Research isn't important for undergrad" True or false? What other schools might I want to look into?"</p>

<p>Are you sure that the average student who enters JHU thinking s/he is a premed has a ton of research opportunities? I very seriously doubt it, not with the heavy weed-out of would be pre-meds at JHU. NONE of those weeded out get those research opportunities. Do such opportunities exist for the TOP students? No question. But all undergrads are competing for research opportuntiies at JHU with some of the top graduate students in the country, who are getting paid to achieve results, and on whose backs research professors are making their reputations. This even assumes you get past the weed out (likely the majority, or at least a large plurality, at JHU don't.)</p>

<p>For a future doctor, research opportunities are NOT the be all and end all. In fact, you might just as well major in music (and many do.) You need to get top grades in your 11-12 premed classes, do well on the MCATs, and be able to pay for med school. If you can get into med school through going to JHU, you are just likely to do so being the top student at your local state university (and maybe easier, too.)</p>

<p>But for public health doc or "biology" doc, yes, research is important. So you could choose the undergrad school that has the highest rate of undergraduate peer-reviewed research in biology of any school in the country. More than JHU. More than Princeton. More than.... Well, it's Hope College. Or you could go to Earlham, where approximately 20% of the student body is made up of biology majors, and they get major research grants through the Lilly Endowment. Or Kalamazoo College. </p>

<p>Find some safeties that you LOVE. There are plenty of them out there. And then let the chips fall where they may. And, yes, JHU is the finest graduate public health school in the country (or at least ranks up there with Harvard and Michigan.)</p>