Would like some comparisons on the academics for a pre health major. Class size, accessibility to professors… difficulty between the two? How would the overall campus life differ? social? Thanks
Recognize that as a WashU student, my view is obviously biased, but I found myself making this comparison two years ago when I was trying to decide what school I wanted to apply to Early Decision. I’d say class size, accessibility, and difficulty is very similar between both schools. Johns Hopkins is a more well known school, but medical schools definitely know WashU, so in the end, the difference is only in the public eye. From what I’ve heard as well as an impression I got from friends that I know at JHU, Hopkins has a more cutthroat and competitive atmosphere to it. WashU is competitive as well, but in a collaborative sense. We “compete” to make each other better, not to “beat” one another. All our pre health classes have a set curve, so helping a friend won’t lower your grade. People are ALWAYS helping one another at WashU and working together to solve difficult problems. Our intro Chem professor phrased it as the students vs the material, NOT students vs students. I don’t know anything about the social life at JHU so I can’t speak to that. One other major difference is the JHU campus seemed to be in a really rough part of town so that also turned me away from the school. WashU is in a really nice suburb of STL and is directly next to the gorgeous Forest Park which is bigger than Central Park and the official best park in America!
thank you for your input! Was very helpful.