<p>I will be an English major. I got into Williams, waitlisted at JHU. If I were to get off the waitlist should I pick JHU instead of Williams?</p>
<p>JHU is supposed to have one of the best writing seminar programs around. The program has produced quite a few well-known authors, I believe.</p>
<p>Hopkins also has a great English program. Its graduate ranking for English is about 13th in the nation, and most of the undergrad courses are taught by graduate professors. I think it depends on the school you like more – location, people, etc. I believe both will give you a fairly equal education.</p>
<p>Spanglish, are they supposed to use English to write in the writing seminar? ;)</p>
<p>^^ haha. my suggestion is that if you want Hopkins, then definitely send an email to your regional person reiterating your interest.</p>
<p>The new president of Williams, Adam Weiss, was a long time Hopkins faculty member and, most recently, the Dean of the Kreiger School (Arts and Sciences). He would probably say that they are both fine schools and you should go to the one which fits you best. They both have beautiful campuses, fine faculty, and accomplished students. But that’s where the similarity ends. Culturally, they are very different places. </p>
<p>Williams is an old New England liberal arts college–with everything that connotes. Its students are mostly white, mostly Protestant, mostly wealthy. The percentage of students from prep schools, particularly New England prep schools, is very high. It is a Div. III sports powerhouse which means, because it is relatively small, that a significant percentage of students are athletes. It’s faculty is primarily devoted to teaching undergraduates–research and writing are secondary. </p>
<p>Hopkins is a top research university. It’s faculty are concerned with its mission–expanding knowledge. While this mission includes undergraduate teaching (and many are fine teachers), it also includes mentoring graduate students and, most importantly, expanding knowledge through research and writing. This emphasis creates a different experience, because the faculty and students are primarily engaged in creating new ideas as opposed to teaching existing ideas. While it is true that Hopkins’ undergraduates also must learn about existing ideas before developing new ones, and that Williams’ students will also be engaged in research and writing—the difference will be the emphasis. Also, the presence of graduate students will make for a very different experience at Hopkins as opposed to Williams. </p>
<p>Hopkins students are also much more diverse in background. It has far more international students, and far more geographic,ethnic, and socio-economic diversity than Williams. It also is somewhat of a Div. III powerhouse (and a Div I powerhouse in lacrosse), but a similar number of athletes are spread across a larger student body and, as a result, Hopkins feels rather less “jocky” than Williams does. </p>
<p>Hopkins is also in the middle of a big city (although you would hardly know that when on campus). Williams is in the far northwestern corner of Massachusetts–not really near anything. </p>
<p>So which would be better for you (if you have the choice)? Whichever one feels right for you. They are different enough that the choice should not be that hard. Good luck.</p>
<p>Wait Professor101 your comment definitely blew right over my head. Am I missing something, here? Hahaha</p>
<p>bonanza, you have your name wrong. The new president is Adam Falk (I’m not sure who Adam Weiss is but Adam REISS is a world-renown cosmologist here).</p>
<p>^You are right, my bad. I knew it was one of those Adams :)</p>
<p>Time for some fact checking.
White
Williams 61.2%
Hopkins 47.3%</p>
<p>Asian
William 11.5%
Hopkins 23.7%</p>
<p>Black
Williams 10.0%
Hopkins 6.70%</p>
<p>Hispanic
Williams 9.74%
Hopkins 6.84%</p>
<p>Source: Common Data Sets</p>
<p>Translation: Hopkins has more Asian students.</p>
<p>
Williams 7.04%
Hopkins 6.10%</p>
<p>Source: Common Data Sets</p>
<p>Translation: Sheer numbers, yes. Per capita, no.</p>
<p>
Williams
32% Middle Atlantic
21% New England
16% West
10% South
7% Midwest
4% Southwest</p>
<p>Source: Williams admissions</p>
<p>Hopkins
41% Other states
38% Middle Atlantic
13% Maryland</p>
<p>Source: JHU registrar</p>
<p>Translation: Both are geographically diverse.</p>
<p>Percentage receiving any financial aid
Williams 52%
Hopkins 45%</p>
<p>Percentage receiving financial aid grants
Williams 52%
Hopkins 39%</p>
<p>Average financial aid package
Williams $39,540
Hopkins $31,130 </p>
<p>Average grant
Williams $37,783
Hopkins $27,352 </p>
<p>Average self-help
Williams $5,870
Hopkins $1,757</p>
<p>Source: Common Data Sets</p>
<p>Percentage of Pell Grant recipients
Williams 12.5%
Hopkins 9.6%</p>
<p>Source: JBHE</p>
<p>Translation: Williams is more socioeconomically diverse than Hopkins.</p>
<p>It seems you are a transfer. It makes sense to transfer to Williams from Duke. Hopkins, not so much. It has a weaker English program, is less selective, and generally has weaker placement.</p>
<p>It depends really on what you want.
People can throw digits and their OWN opinions about certain programs at any rate, but Williams and JHU are completely different. The key difference: location</p>
<p>I will be as blatantly honest about the two locations.</p>
<p>Williams: the middle of nowhere. There are more cows than people. Good campus life though, only mostly because there’s nothing else to do save for a few shops that get old, and some restaurants that eventually get old too. The positive, however, is this makes for a much more tight knit environment and you will probably form strong bonds.</p>
<p>JHU: it’s in baltimore. sketchy a** town. Great and beautiful parts to the city, but then some parts that you should avoid stepping foot in. The positive, though, is that as a Hopkins student, you basically NEVER have to venture into those areas unless you want to. The campus is extremely safe, and the city provides a great backdrop to relieve stress, have fun, and explore with new friends, etc. Tons of great shops, quirky parts of the city, eating, and sports!!</p>
<p>Both campuses are beautiful.</p>
<p>and just throwing my opinion in here: I would venture to say you would get a lot more attention at Hopkins as a humanities student based on numbers alone. Also, Writing Seminars is not exactly a dead major. It’s the 3rd or 4th largest on campus, and the classes are actually extremely fun. I would know because I have taken several :D</p>
<p>and edit: i DEFINITELY disagree with the last part of what the speaker above me posted. If you’ve NEVER been to JHU then ■■■■. I didn’t criticize Williams on its academics or anything AT ALL. Though I have visited the town that it’s in, and its like farmtown.</p>