Should my D accept a full ride scholarship at Georgia Tech for pay full tutiion at Johns Hopkins? We would be paying with our savings and we have another child in college for two more years. She feels JHU is better for her as a pre-med student with the vast research opportunities they offer. However the Stamps scholarship offers $12,000 as an enrichment fund to use including the opportunity to study abroad. Please help… would love to hear some thoughts…
Georgia Tech is also a science powerhouse. I expect it also would have good reasearch opportunities for her, but she may want to take that question directly to her major department there.
What GPA does she need to maintain to keep the scholarship at each place? If she loses the scholarship, can your family afford to pay the full costs? If she changes her interest from pre-med, what alternatives are available at each place?
Ga Tech. There will be a lot of students at JHU on the premed track, competing for all those research opportunities, attention of the professors. The Stamps is a very nice honor and will give her a lot of opportunities.
Hard to believe this is a difficult question. GTech is a fantastic school.
I feel bad for you.
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JHU is the place for medical research, and GT isn’t a medical college. They do have a partnership with Emory for biomedical research and is tops in the country for that. Don’t be in the dark and call make contacts in the department to find out what undergrads at tech are researching in the field and how to get her foot in the door.
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I think parents make the mistake of absolving their children’s financial obligations when it comes to college. It’s time for them to grow up. This should be a decision in which you are both equally invested. Right now she is playing with your money without consequence. In your case, I would let her make the decision with the written understanding that she would be paying you back whatever the stamps scholarship covered. This way she will make a rational decision with her money and you will not be on the losing end. Think of it his way, GT said “here is 200k” now she has the chance to spend it on JHU or GT.
@supermom2
OP, I happen to not like GTech as a school, however, with no disrespect, you would be silly not to accept their offer. Please convince your daughter otherwise that the wise decision is GTech and she will thank you in the future.
It’s a close call, but I think Georgia Tech is the way to go, even without the financial consideration. With the Stamps Scholarship, it’s hard to pass up.
Thanks for all you inputs! We have a lot to think about…certainly for pre-med the research opportunities are better at JHU, and GTech does rely on Emory for medical research. The Stamps scholarship is a full ride plus $12K enrichment grant to use for study abroad, or research. It is a difficult decision…
Georgia Tech.
Stamps, hands down. Getting a pre-med worthy GPA will be tougher at JHU and not worth the additional cost. Not a difficult decision. A Stamps Scholar at GT just won a Rhodes. The opportunities are endless.
supermom2,
your DD will have PLENTY of opportunities to do research at GT.
the competition for pre-meds at JHU is ABSOLUTELY brutal. That means that MOST students will NOT be getting A’s there, because of the way the grades are curved.
GPA is SO important for Med School applications, therefore she should go to GT where she has a MUCH better chance of nailing a hi GPA.
This really is NOT a difficult decision, especially if she wants to go to Med school someday.
Having the Stamps Scholarship on her med school applications will certainly set her apart from the majority of applicants.
My Ds had a similar situation- accepted at many tip top colleges without FA, and a full tuition scholarship at a slightly “lesser” U. His long term goal was to earn a PHD at the top research grad school in the country that also had the best program in his area of interest.
He was treated like GOLD at the “lesser” U and was ultimately accepted at his “dream” grad school.
Tell your DD that she should accept the Stamps Scholarship and be one of the few “big fish” at GT.
It’s not even a close call in my opinion. Georgia Tech. A Stamps Scholarship is a great honor and carries with it many benefits, including a ready made network of high achievers. It looks great on a resume.
If you have an extra $260,000 to spend on her college without compromising your next kid’s college or your retirement, it may be better to offer it for her medical school costs after going to GT on a full ride. Starting medical practice with $260,000 less debt would mean that she will have more freedom in career and life choices, rather than having to chase the maximum amount of money every time.
That’s a no-brainer. Go for the scholarship. There’s no reason to spend money you don’t have to when you have 2 great colleges to choose from. As long as she has top grades with strong MCAT scores, she could get into medical no matter which college she chooses. Graduating debt free is a real virtue, because medical school will be very expensive.
GT is the winner here…with the Stamps. As you noted…your kid gets $12,000 to use for study abroad or research!
She can go to medical school just as easily from GT as from JHU.
And who is paying for medical school? That is very pricey with precious little in financial aid available except loans. Save your money and offer to help with medical school…really…no debt as an undergrad is a HUGE gift.
Using your savings for JHU is totally NOT necessary for a student who is planning to apply to medical school.
The JHU medical school is not on the same campus as the undergrad school. The main campus is in an area some consider unsafe (I don’t, I think it is fine) but the medical school and hospital are not in a nice neighborhood. It may not be convenient to do undergrad research at the medical campus.
unlike perhaps a majority of folks here, I see value in an “elite” university, even when going to med school (I went to Swarthmore and have more than a handful of friends who went to med school very happily from there despite the supposed “lower GPA” etc.)
However, I can see absolutely no reason at all not to go to Georgia Tech with that scholarship. GT is a great school!
From a purely financial point of view…
If you have $250,000 to pay for the undergrad degree a Hopkins…and another $250,000 or more for medical school…then go for Hopkins.
But if you want to help this kid at all with medical school costs…it might be nice NOT to spend that $250,000 in savings on undergrad.
Medical school is VERY expensive.
I’m going to disagree with the popular opinion and say get an undergrad degree from Hopkins. it’s pre-med program is just too strong, especially in comparison to Georgia Tech, where most of her medical work would be done at Emory. If she is worried about research opportunities at Hopkins, well getting the Stamps scholarship means she is very talented and she would be one of the top picks to do research anyway at Hopkins. although it is clearly a difficult decision, the strength of the program at Hopkins will certainly pay off post graduation. good luck to you and your D
I have to agree with collegemom and donna here… JHU is renowned for its pre-med program and hospital, while GT does not even have its own hospital. Also, the JHU name gives your D the assurance of a well-known diploma if she decides to not continue with the pre-med track and instead go straight into the workforce after undergrad. If she went to GT and decided to not continue with med, she would likely have to get a grad degree to earn the same amount that an undergrad from JHU will get her. I know this is a very hard decision, and I hope I could be of some help!