<p>I got accepted by both Johns Hopkins and UCLA Biostatistics MS. UCLA was the first one notified me, in late March. JH notified me on May2. I have already accepted UCLA's offer since I heard that usually April 15 is the deadline for response. And I don't want to give up such a good school because of waiting for JH. After accepting UCLA, I already set up a trip to HK, during which JH's orientation and instruction will have begun. I feel so uncomfortable to deny JH because of this. But this is the only thing I can do now : (. Plus, it is not a good idea to withdraw from an accepted offer, right? If you were me, would you be sad about that?</p>
<p>it’s your future in question, that that of the school’s. they get plenty of terrific applicants each year; the addition or lack of one isn’t going to hurt them one bit. make up your mind based on what YOU want and where you want to go. if it does end up that you have to retract your SIR, just contact them nicely and tell them that you’ve been offered admission already. it’s not like they’ve invested heavily in you or anything.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree with you. My coworker also advised me to take the one that I really want to go no matter what. I’ve been searching for Biostat rankings or recommend programs on the forum. UCLA seldom shows up, unlike Hopkins. That makes me a lil worried. But I believe UCLA has a very strong math and stat foundation and have decided to go to UCLA. I think studying in LA is happier than in Baltimore.</p>
<p>don’t rely on rankings alone to make your choice.</p>
<p>but as a native californian, i applaud your choice. 
my friend used to be a UCLA lifeguard – she has awesome stories of celebrities coming to use UCLA gym facilities, plus reports of an unnamed male actor sweet-talking his way into the pool even though he didn’t have a membership. heh.</p>
<p>Being that I go to Hopkins and while I may disagree with your LA/Westwood being better than Baltimore comment (I used to live in a suburb of LA and personally prefer Baltimore), I agree with your decision to go to UCLA if that is where you prefer.</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins is located in an area of high crimnal rate. UCLA is located in Westwood, which is one of the best areas in LA and is only 10 min of drive to Santa Monica beach. Believe me you made the right choice in picking UCLA. Not to mention employers generally don’t put too much favor in JHU graduates than UCLA graduates, especially at the masters level.</p>
<p>I know we’ve been through this on this board before, but Baltimore is really no more dangerous than any other major American city.</p>
<p>I’ve heard from people saying that every 100m there are police on duty. But even you’re inbetween that 100m you can get shot! That’s why students who work late in the lab need someone to give them a ride, or smiply just not to work so late. That worried me a lot before. I visited the Harbour place twice and found that the area is pretty clean and beautiful. Not sure about during night time.</p>
<p>Hey Seaweed, are you a UCLA student?</p>
<p>To seaweed:</p>
<p>Are you serious? You must not be from Cali or delusional. If this were actually true, I wonder why so many people from Cali go to JHU despite the greater tuition and expenses. Must be the easier admissions standards right? (Oh wait…)</p>