<p>I was just accepted off of the waitlist at an ivy but have already sent in my deposit to JHU. Im now seriously considering attending said ivy school but dont know if it is the right decision. Its become apparent though that those who are going to JHU (from looking at profiles) did not make it into similar caliber schools. And although this may be a very bad reason to make a judgment as to where to go, this in my mind forms an image of bitter students who were not accepted at better/similar schools.This became apparent in the cornell thread. So for those who chose JHU over SIMILAR caliber schools, what schools were they, why did you choose JHU and was it a difficult decision?</p>
<p>Picked it over Penn State, University of Michigan, and Carnegie Mellon. Ultimately my decision was between JHU and University of Michigan (similar caliber, but not as selective). I picked Hopkins because it is closer to home, has a nicer at home atmosphere, more flexibility academic wise, and it's much smaller. If you don't mind me asking, what's the other school you're considering? ;</p>
<p>Thanks for the response! As for the ivy, I'd rather not mention as I don't want any biased responses occuring in this thread but I will mention it once I have made my final decision.</p>
<p>I wasn't accepted to any Ivy League schools. That's because I didn't apply. This year's early decision acceptees are the largest and strongest group that Hopkins has ever admitted, and they make up a considerable percentage of the class (~35%.)
I chose Hopkins because it has the strongest program in the world for my field of study, Public Health. It also has top ranking programs in subjects as varied as Writing Seminars and BME, as well as IR and other hard and social sciences. Plus we've got a D1 national championship lacrosse team. And it's not just the rankings - it's the students and professors. You can have an interesting conversation with anyone. I've found that the professors are caring and actually interested in their students.
I have a huge amount of legacy at the other "H." My sister goes there, my Dad went, all my aunts and uncles on my Mom's side, my Grandfather was a professor there, yadda yadda yadda. So I've spent a lot of time there, stayed in their dorms, gone to classes, etc. It's a nice school, the people there are undoubtably smart... but it lacks the spark that's present at Hopkins.
If going to an Ivy League school is what really matters to you, by all means, do. You wouldn't belong at Hopkins. If going to a school that believes in its students and helps them to reach their maximum potential and velocity matters... pick Hopkins.</p>
<p>Oh, and by the way... Hopkins declined to join the Ivy League. Twice. Didn't want to have to build its life around an athletic schedule. :)</p>
<p>i am not merely considering going to the other school just because its an ivy. I got in as a BME but am also interested in finance/econ and may pursue an mba which this other school provides a better opportunity of.However I want input from people who have been in a similar situation as me. It has been hard to find. It seems (without any disrespect intended) those who have made it into Hopkins but declare it as their second or even third choice after being rejected not just by ivies, but by other schools such as Duke, Northwestern, and Rice among others. After going through past posts, even those who received merit scholarships and research fellowships chose to go other other schools. Clearly Hopkins was the right school for you and the decision to go ED was justified. I understand the benefits of Hopkins but i would like to hear reasoning as to why people who had the choice chose it over other similar high caliber schools. Its easy to say you would choose Hopkins over other said schools or even Harvard/Yale/Princeton but unless you have actually done it, speculation is meaningless. Once again, no disrespect to those who either applied ED to Hopkins or those who chose to come to Hopkins but did not get into their top choice. I am in a tougher spot though and would like to hear input from people who have been in a similar position. Also I have received the hodson trust scholarship which while nice isn't really a factor for me as cost is not currently an issue.</p>
<p>When I first applied to Hopkins, it wasn't very high on my list - I really only considered it because of the BME program. However, after getting accepted and visiting JHU and my other choices, I really liked the JHU program and the campus and people and decided to enroll. The Hodson scholarship helped make the decision easier, but many other things also factored in. I picked Hopkins over Caltech, Stanford, Berkeley, Cornell, WashU, Duke and UT-Austin. I visited most of the colleges and met with faculty from the BME, BioE and ChemE programs at the schools. A couple points: [ul]
[<em>]At some of these colleges, the BME program was virtually non-existant (Caltech and Stanford) or relatively new (UT, which hasn't graduated a BME senior class yet).
[</em>]Also, the professors at each college asked me about my other college opttions and almost every one talked about how amazing the JHU BME program was. In fact, tons of the faculty members at the other colleges actually went to Hopkins or taught there at one point.
[<em>]The BME program at JHU is one of the few tied to a med school. The majority of profs in the BME programs are members of the med school faculty. This opens up an incredible amount of research opportunities at the JHMI campus (just a short bus ride away). I'm planning to go on the grad school so the ease of getting a research position will definately help in grad school admssions.
[</em>]The balance between liberal arts and engineering - I think JHU achieves a good balance between its liberal arts/humanities programs and its engineering programs thats missing at some other institutions. At Caltech, my perception was that the entire school was engineering oriented, which was not something I wanted. I want to have the opportunity to take some humanities courses in interesting fields that are taught by leaders in their fields, which Hopkins definately has. On the other end of the spectrum, I was strongly considering applying to Princeton until I visited the campus. While on campus, I got a strong feeling that the school was mainly a liberal arts college. The head of the one of the engineering departments who I met with directly told me that Princeton is a primarily a liberal arts school that happens to have a good engineering program. I percieved the focus to be mainly on the humanties, with engineering taking a back seat. I think Hopkins has a happy medium between the two. While they have a top BME program and other strong engineering programs, they also have world renowned liberal arts/humanties programs in fields like IR.
[li]If you're interested in business, Hopkins does offer a minor in entrepeneurship and management. There's also a MBA program, though it's intended for working business professionals.[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>If you're really focused on doing BME, with a side interest in business, then I think that Hopkins is the right place. If your focus is more on the business/finance/eco side with a side interest in BME, then some of the Ivy's will probably serve you better. If you do choose to go to your other choice and still want to go to grad school for BME, remember this - almost every professor told me that the undergrad school you went to really doesn't matter. What matters is that you excelled where ever you went and took advantage of every opportunity avaliable (and when opportunities are not avaliable, make them for yourself). At JHU, those opportunities in BME are more readily than probably at any other college in the country. At other schools, you make have to dig and poke and prod to get some of the same opportunities.</p>
<p>"Oh, and by the way... Hopkins declined to join the Ivy League. Twice. Didn't want to have to build its life around an athletic schedule."</p>
<p>I keep hearing people saying that but is that really true? Where is there proof of that, because I had never heard of it until recently and think it sounds a lot like a rumor.</p>
<p>They rejected the Ivy League when it was a sporting league alone. I'm sure that if they knew it was going to become one of the greatest marketing gimmicks in history, they would have joined it.</p>
<p>So, a long time ago? I really have never seen anything to substantiate that.</p>
<p>It was in a JHU newsletter article and the rumor was debunked by administrators. But thats besides the point. Keep the posts coming please..=).</p>
<p>Heres the article: <a href="http://www.jhunewsletter.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/02/06/4022f155ecf63?in_archive=1%5B/url%5D">http://www.jhunewsletter.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/02/06/4022f155ecf63?in_archive=1</a></p>
<p>Its funny that they mention the ivy league as consisting of 7 schools and almost on purpose exclude penn....</p>
<p>my older brother.. picked JHU over Georgetown, Columbia, Brown</p>
<p>considering his major-- International Relations, it was a tough but great choice! </p>
<p>Good Luck :)</p>
<p>Well guys, I have to make a decision by monday but I want to thank everybody for their help.</p>
<p>Hrm, where did you chose to go? And although you said that many kids going to Hopkins were not accepted to "similar caliber schools", I think you're wrong. Or we just talk to a different group of kids, because (myself included) many kids were chosing between Northwestern, Duke, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown . . . yeahh.</p>
<p>But anyway, I hope you're happy with your decision!</p>
<p>I will let you know on monday..=). Im still rather undecided but will be doing some more thorough research.</p>
<p>For some reason, I thought today was Tuesday, and you had chosen yesterday (Monday). Right, it's actually Sunday morning. Also, I have no idea why I kept putting "chose" instead of "choose" in the above entry. Ehk, anyway, good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>yep, chose JHU over Northwestern direct medicine program amongst other schools</p>
<p>you might think thats a stupid idea, and now i'm going to have to dread about MCAT's and whatever, but i think it was worth it...hopkins has way too many opportunities that just can't be overlooked, especially in the field of research...i was able to start research work at 15 years old on the medical campus and i didn't want to give that up by going somewhere else...also i got in BME like you and i know how distinguished the Hopkins BME program is, so i know i'll get the right education</p>
<p>hope you make the choice that leads you to the college you'll be happier in</p>
<p>It depends a bit on what you plan on studying. If it's a field were JHU is strong (med, bme, ir, writing sems, french, etc.) then it's probably a good choice. If it's something where the other school is stronger, then perhaps think about going there. You have to look at what the schools offer your individual situation, not just the overall ranking or prestige. For example, if I had wanted to study mainly business, I would not have chosen JHU.</p>
<p>Well guys, im coming after all. After careful deliberation the research opportunities and overall campus size prevailed. im picking this place over penn, cornell, duke and the place that waitlisted me (columbia). I hope this was a good decision.</p>
<p>Congrats...I'm sure we all made the right decision to pick JHU. : )</p>
<p>I chose Hopkins over Cornell, University of Michigan, Washington U in St. Louis, and University of Illinois. I applied to Georgetown too and they waitlisted me, but I decided not to remain on the waitlist because Hopkins gave me a $21,500 scholarship so I knew I'd be going there.</p>