Hey guys, I was recently offered a spot in UChicago after being on the Waitlist. It really now comes down between JHU and UChicago and I plan to major in International Studies (IR) and hopefully pursue a path to Law School following my College Graduation. I was hoping to gain some advice on what specific advantages and disadvantages there are to attending either and if any current students can speak to their experience at either of these excellent institutions. Specific points of concern to me include Grade Deflation, Networking, and the Social Environment at these Universities.
Both schools have reputations for academic intensity, but it’s hard to generalize about grade deflation because there isn’t much good, up-to-date data (and you’re likely to see variations among departments/professors). IMO this isn’t a good differentiating factor. Both schools generate many successful alumni who are well-placed in government, academia, and major corporations.
UChicago has many ~unifying traditions and approaches like the Common Core, Scav, the annual Aims of Education address, the Lascivious Costume Ball, the Latke Hamantash debates, the Quantrell undergraduate teaching awards, the long-lingering influence of the old Hutchins College, or various “Chicago Schools” (approaches to economics, sociology, literary criticism). These features reinforce a strong sense of identity as an intellectual community that is more than the sum of individual departments or research projects. I don’t know if Hopkins is quite the same in this respect (it may have its own equally strong traditions, I’m just not aware of them). JHU does have a much more active Greek scene as well as a more robust sports scene (especially if you like lacrosse). Baltimore isn’t quite in the same league as Chicago (the city) for the arts, museums, shopping, restaurants … or nasty winter weather.
Either one could prepare you well for law school. Have you done overnight visits to both?
both great schools. Either can get you to law school, which only requires a strong GPA+LSAT score.
Go whichever is cheaper.
Jhu has strong grade inflation - average gpa is a 3.54 across the school. I would expect IR gpas to be higher than that given the average includes stem majors as well. This should help with law school
The average pre-law GPA is indeed a bit higher. When I last checked in August 2018, the average GPAs for law school applicants at Chicago and Hopkins were 3.60 and 3.61, respectively.
LSAC no longer makes this data readily available, unfortunately.
I have visited UChicago over the summer but not Hopkins. I loved the campus and the city of Chicago as well. The only significant concern I would have with UChicago is whether it is truly a college where “fun goes to die.”
Nah. It’s just a college. They’re all hard. Especially these two. And some schools and their grads like to play up the mystique.
I do like the beltway connection and commuter train 30 minutes from jhu to the global hub of international affairs in dc.
Where do you think all the power players go for medical help ? Hopkins. Lol.
Both great. I would prefer the slightly shorter and milder winters in the mid Atlantic. Nicer springs and late falls. Access to dc. And perhaps a slightly less intense student experience personally.
For international relations and connections, JHU.
If the core and the traditions matter more to you then Chicago.
Foreign Policy magazine assesses university IR programs.
For what it’s worth, their 2018 ranking rates UChicago stronger than JHU in IR at both the undergraduate and PhD levels (but not for masters degree programs).
I wouldn’t necessarily use this as a basis for choosing UChicago. My point is only that JHU isn’t universally considered stronger in IR, so IR strength might not be a good basis for choosing Hopkins (although JHU is noted for that). They both seem to be very strong in this field.
I think we can agree strength of department is debatable. This website cannot link to numerous outside URLs, but I can find quite a few rankings that place JHU above Chicago for IR including Niche, universities dot com, etc. All rankings including these and the one you posted have some flaws unfortunately.
I think what’s more pronounced is JHU is better known for IR vs Chicago due to its connection to SAIS and proximity to DC. JHU graduates about 10% of its class (about 110 out of 1300) every year in IR due to how well known it is in IR and department strength ofcourse. How many does Chicago graduate in IR for comparison in a given year?
For IR grad school, hands down JHU (SAIS) but for undergrad, it depends on what fits you better. Both are great and you just can’t go wrong with either pick. JHU has a fantastic 5 year BA/MA program with their school for advance studies, you spend 3 years at JHU, one year at their DC campus (SAIS) and one at their international campuses.
https://krieger.jhu.edu/internationalstudies/bama-programs/bama-program-with-sais/
SAIS also has MA/JD with UVA and Stanford. JHU is better for location, internships and connections too. Its IR but with heavy dose of economics so opens up more doors.
As a city I prefer Chicago over Baltimore but Baltimore makes travel to NY, NJ, Virginia, DC, Boston etc really easy, weather isn’t as brutal and sports scene is better. JHU has a mild GPA inflation so may be better for law school admissions. U Chicago too can get you to law schools so no disadvantage there.
They are very different schools. Try to visit! My son was an IR major – loved Chicago when he visited, didn’t like JHU. For grad school in IR, however, I think JHU is superior.