Wake Forest vs. Johns Hopkins

Colleges and Universities A-Z Johns Hopkins University
1

<p>I cannot decide between these two schools! I'm worried that Hopkins might be a little too "study all the time" and difficult for me, because I definitely want to have fun at college and I've heard that students there are usually pretty serious. But I've always wanted to go to a prestigious college and I know that the Hopkins stereotype isn't true for all students. With Wake, I feel like I would definitely have fun there but I don't know if I should take the opportunity to go to a prestigious place like Hopkins, even if it does seem a little out of my comfort zone at first. </p>

<p>Any insight??? Particularly in these areas:
1. School spirit
2. Parties/nightlife
3. Workload
4. Student body (enthusiasm, friendliness, personality, looks)</p>

2

<p>For real? You would pass up Johns Hopkins for Wake Forest??? Johns Hopkins has far more prestige in every academic discipline (except business), a much more accomplished and ambitious student body, more social resources given its location in a better city (there are few cities that Baltimore is better than, but Winston-Salem is one of them!), and better graduate school/professional school/employment placement. WFU does have a more traditional campus culture with more school spirit and Div. I athletics in the ACC, but it is the #3 school in NC and the ACC behind Duke and UNC. Hopkins has made dramatic improvements in its campus culture and undergraduate student life in the last 10 years, so it is now not an awful place to spend 4 years–but it is still not a Duke, Georgetown, UVa, Stanford, etc. in terms of quality of life. Quality of life is probably still better at WFU, but I cannot imagine anyone choosing WFU over JHU.</p>

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<ol>
<li>good during lax season, everyone goes to games. it’s a lax school, not football</li>
<li>I had a great time and always had a party to go to when I wanted to, which was generally about 3 times a week. JHU is less heavily greek, so there were more options besides frat/sorority parties</li>
<li>depends on your major and your ability to time manage</li>
<li>there are people of all types at JHU. frat boys/sorority girls, hipsters, nerds, wealthy upper east side types, california stoners. As i said before, JHU is less heavily greek than wake forest. you get all types there.</li>
</ol>

4

<p>

I came extremely close to doing just that – more specifically, choosing Wake over Hopkins, Duke, Chicago, UNC, Davidson, and a few others. In fact, I had already sent Wake my matriculation letter and withdrew it only after another college upped its money offer. Admittedly, Wake had given me a full ride, whereas Hopkins had only given me a good (but not great) financial aid offer and a small National Merit scholarship. </p>

<p>I am still immensely fond of Wake. I have been struck by an intense feeling of coziness every time I’ve visited, something I haven’t gotten to the same extent anywhere else I’ve attended or visited (which is A LOT of colleges). Wake students have also been the friendliest I’ve encountered. </p>

<p>Much of what medman says is true. Students at JHU are generally smarter and more accomplished, and Baltimore is a larger city. Although Wake is broadening its national draw, Hopkins is also more diverse. </p>

<p>It is difficult to compare academics directly. Hopkins is a major research university and a very good one. Wake’s only real parallel among the top universities is Dartmouth; the two are quite similar in having a fairly small student body (4000-4500 undergrads), a very limited number of graduate students, and a few professional schools. (Dartmouth is more selective, of course.) JHU provides access to more well-known faculty, whereas Wake offers the more intimate experience - though this is likely more noticeable in the sciences than the humanities, since so few students at Hopkins major in the latter disciplines that they offer much attention to undergrads.</p>

<p>As for choosing one over the other and the repercussions, I think it depends on what your plans and interests are. For certain fields - engineering, music, IR, public health, etc. - JHU is the clear winner. For others, particularly those that require a graduate degree - religion or biology, for instance - the differences between the two become much less important. You may also want to consider where you want to live after graduation; Wake is known and respected throughout the South but still has varying levels of recognition elsewhere; Hopkins has less lay recognition than many of its peer institutions but is well-known and respected by those in the know (e.g. employers, researchers, government officials). </p>

<p>If you truly feel Wake Forest is the right fit for you - preferably after having spent some time at both and researching them extensively - then go for it. It’s an excellent university, and a motivated undergraduate there can do extremely well. Of my two good friends at Wake, one ended up at Harvard Med and the other ended up at Berkeley English after writing a paper on Arthurian literature that netted her a one year fellowship at a UK university. If, on the other hand, you are simply afraid of JHU’s “work hard” reputation, I would encourage you to simply go for Hopkins anyway and take advantage of its social options. I was accepted to Hopkins for grad school fairly recently, and I noticed that people seemed to be a lot happier than when I had visited in high school; I think there is some truth to medman’s claim that social life has improved.</p>

5

<p>thanks so much for all of your comments! i really appreciate having some fairly objective insight. i completely understand what you mean by “passing up” JHU for Wake, because i know Wake doesn’t have quite the same level of prestige as JHU (although they are both still great). honestly though, i think that since they’re both very strong academically, my bigger concern is their “way of life/social scene”, and i think Wake wins for me in that aspect. i don’t mean to sound superficial at all, the only reason i say that is because i know i’ll receive a great education both places, so i’ve already solidified that part of the college decision. i think i’m leaning towards Wake more now, but no final decision has been made! thanks so much again for your time everyone!</p>

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<p>I’ve never understood these threads on college social life. It depends so much on one’s personality. if you’re anti-social, it’s not like the college you go to will all of a sudden make you social. And the opposite is true as well. You will find like-minded people no matter where you go. </p>

<p>People like medman and warbler can say different things about the schools, but they both didn’t go to either hopkins or wake for undergrad. It’s therefore impossible for them to accurately capture and contrast the experiences at the two schools. You’d really have to speak to students/alumni from the two schools. And even for majors like bio or physics that require higher degrees like warbler referred to, you’d have a much easier time getting into a reputed grad school coming out of Hopkins versus Wake. Getting a recommendation letter from a faculty member from a renowned Hopkins faculty member in say biology or physics is night and day versus getting a recommendation letter writer from Wake Forest for graduate school. I can tell you this based on my prior role in admissions at Stanford’s graduate school for engineering. I’ve seen applicants apply to engineering programs at Stanford with non-engineering degrees from Hopkins and Wake. At Stanford graduate school, a 3.5 at Wake was never viewed in same light as a 3.5 from Hopkins due to the reputation of the faculty writing the letters of recommendation. This is even despite the likely similar education provided by either school (math in terms of general material is likely the same wherever you go, but higher achieving classmates might dictate the speed of the course along with higher demands by instructors) . The accepted applicants from Wake were truly among the tops of their class. I could not say the same about the accepted Hopkins applicants.</p>

<p>At the end of the day, college is four years. Your life is about fifteen times that amount post college. There’s a reason why Hopkins students didn’t go to a smaller LAC or a big state school with a potentially better social atmosphere. You <em>might</em> have the same opportunities coming out of Wake versus Hopkins, but you’d have to work and network a lot harder at Wake. If you’re confident that you’ll do well at Wake, then by all means choose Wake.</p>

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<p>Honestly, I think you’re crazy thinking about going to WFU over JHU. JHU’s academic is on entirely different level than WFU. Additionally, the research opportunities at Hopkins are limitless.</p>

<p>Hopkins is definitely not a party school. That being said, I go out partying at least twice a week and never have trouble finding something to do. Hopkins is a wet campus and we actually have someone called the Shush Lady whose job is to work with the police and keep them from shutting down parties. Additionally, she works to make sure students don’t get arrested just for drinking. </p>

<p>That as good as I can describe parties right now since I’m supposed to be focusing on a presentation. However, just think of it this way- Do you really wanna limit your later life just for partying a bit more for four years? WFU parties may be a bit better, but Hopkins prestige will give you many opportunities after graduation that WFU cannot.</p>

8

<p>What did you end up choosing? </p>

<p>I’m confused as to why everyone on this thread is making Wake Forest University seem like a second rate school. It is a top 25 university, so I don’t see why it could not have been a serious choice.</p>

9

<p>dukie123, WFU may be a really good school, but it fails in comparison to a school like Johns Hopkins…
The same idea can be said for Hopkins vs Harvard… while Hopkins is an amazing school, Harvard, in most cases, would be considered the better school.</p>

<p>That being said, I would’ve chosen Hopkins over Harvard, but that beside the point</p>

10

<p>To correct a misconception expressed earlier in this thread: Winston-Salem over Baltimore is actually a significant plus: safer, more bucolic and yet with a thriving arts scene (NC School for the Perfoming Arts, Winston-Salem Symphony, art museums), etc. That said, academically JHU is a more rigorous undergraduate school.</p>

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<p>There are a few posters on this thread who are just incorrect. Anybody who says Wake’s undergraduate teaching is lesser than Hopkins simply does not know his or her facts. Wake’s business school has been rated #1 in academic quality for the past 4 years. Also, Wake is known as ‘Work Forest’ because of its rigorous undergraduate teaching. Yes, Hopkins is ranked #13 and Wake is #25, but I know a few fellow students who chose Wake OVER Hopkins. I’m not saying Wake is a better school than Hopkins, but Wake kids are really, really smart, and its name and ranking should only continue to rise. Wake Forest offers a fantastic education, and the people who matter know great of a school Wake Forest is. Also, a lot of it depends on what you want to major in. As a business major, Wake Forest was a perfect fit for me. I wanted to go to a school that had my major, but at the same time, had the level of ‘prestige’ that I was looking for. In sum, a college decision decision depends on more than just one ranking, but on a number of different factors, and is different for each person. I think we can all agree on that.</p>

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<p>^Second post in the thread:
“For real? You would pass up Johns Hopkins for Wake Forest??? Johns Hopkins has far more prestige in every academic discipline (except business), a much more accomplished and ambitious student body, more social resources given its location in a better city (there are few cities that Baltimore is better than, but Winston-Salem is one of them!), and better graduate school/professional school/employment placement. WFU does have a more traditional campus culture with more school spirit and Div. I athletics in the ACC, but it is the #3 school in NC and the ACC behind Duke and UNC. Hopkins has made dramatic improvements in its campus culture and undergraduate student life in the last 10 years, so it is now not an awful place to spend 4 years–but it is still not a Duke, Georgetown, UVa, Stanford, etc. in terms of quality of life. Quality of life is probably still better at WFU, but I cannot imagine anyone choosing WFU over JHU.”</p>

<p>You missed the “for business” part. Hopkins concedes to Wake in undergraduate business by virtue of not having a selective undergraduate business major on its main campus. By every other academic metric, it destroys Wake. Wake is the third or fourth best college in its own state (somewhere between Duke, Davidson, UNC, and Wake) and pails in comparison in terms of national reputation and academic student awards among the elite research universities.</p>

<p>It’s also great that you know Wake students that chose Wake over Hopkins. But there is this glaring fact:</p>

<p>"<a href="https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-university-search/wake-forest-university;jsessionid=C2DE88391D7A4698384B0660A7A28ED3"&gt;https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-university-search/wake-forest-university;jsessionid=C2DE88391D7A4698384B0660A7A28ED3&lt;/a&gt;"&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The TOP 25% of Wake students scored a 1400. For comparison, the average admitted student to Hopkins had a 1480 SAT. I’m sure a significant number of Wake students had the option of Hopkins to begin with.</p>

<p>But most importantly, you argue about the quality of teaching behind the two. You say Wake Forest is not that far behind Hopkins, but do you have quantifiable evidence? This isn’t something people have argued on this thread because it’s almost impossible to compare. I’m not sure how you can qualify the teaching quality between the two schools at all. The only mildly relevant metrics we have for this are post graduation awards, grad school placement, and employment numbers. In that vein, Hopkins does overwhelmingly well compared to Wake again, but perhaps you can offer something quantifiable that’s not based on hearsay to substantiate your assertions?</p>

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<p>Which imho is a category in which you’d *want *to concede. Lesser schools and lesser students major in “business” categories. </p>

<p>Speaking of which, if I were a reasonably smart, B-average student who likes to party, I’d be much, *much *happier at Wake. JHU is most definitely not for everyone.</p>

<p>BTW… ‘pales’ not ‘pails’ ;)</p>

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<p>^Engineering major here…=). You should give me credit for not butchering comma splices with dependent clauses.</p>

15

<p>I have to agree with Marsden on this. I’m a student at Hopkins and I plan on getting an MBA. However, I’m working toward a B.S. in Applied Math (an Engineering Major) with a concentration in Economics and a second major in International Studies with a focus in Latin America/South America. Personally, I believe that combination would stand out among all the pre-business majors when applying to grad school.</p>

<p>BUT NinDeac makes a point that it’s not just about the school but also the major. If you really have your heart set on pre-business, then WFU is for you. If you want to do something in the sciences or are undecided, I recommend JHU.</p>