Mike01071994

Yesterday I received a call from Dartmouth College saying that I got accepted from the wait-list. I am thrilled about it! But I already committed to Johns Hopkins before May 1st. I want to be a doctor-surgeon in the future. I will be majoring in Molecular Bio + Pre-med Track. Which school: Dartmouth or Hopkins will prepare me better to get to a great Med-School and why?

Waverly

Dartmouth is a huge step beyond JHU!

dblazer

Undoubtedly Dartmouth. In addition to being a better school, it has a great rep. for pre-med.

Blah2009

Depends on the major. For premed, engineering, some humanities, and international relations and most sciences, JHU is far and away the better school. Dartmouth is better in some humanities. Compare the med school application statistics. JHU applicants get a bump in GPA and MCAT. Don't always listen to high schoolers on CC who get blinded by the ivy label (some even think ANY ivy is more prestigious than Duke or Northwestern or Hopkins or even Stanford - it's bizarre). This stance will do you no favors, especially as an aspiring engineering/bio student. A research recommendation from a bio faculty member at Hopkins is worth a lot more than one from a bio faculty member at Dartmouth also should you choose to do grad school. This is due to the fact that the former is likely to have research collaborations with other faculty from top schools. That is where grad rankings come into play.

batfan

Someone on the Dartmouth FB group posted that his friend was admitted off the waitlist - sounds like you! Anyway, congrats. I am going to Dartmouth because of the undergraduate focus and the D Plan; those appealed to me specifically, and many others like it as well. However, that said, Hopkins is very good for medical school, assuming you do very well - yet you can't really underestimate Dartmouth either, as many students go on to great medical schools from there too. Looking for statistics on medical school acceptance rates and placements may be helpful.

tk21769

Blah, can you please cite a source(s) for the statistics that demonstrate such a bump?

hippo2718

Not enough of one considering only 63% get into medical school.


Only JHU students or alums would vote for it here. Dartmouth is the better undergraduate college, more fun, and a lot safer.

noobcake

Stop with the Ivy League love. Dartmouth is still a peer school with JHU. Dartmouth is not a "huge" step beyond JHU.

Dartmouth is merely a better feeder into graduate school and has better business recruiting.

beyphy

What exactly makes Dartmouth the "better school" or "better undergraduate college"?

I doubt Hopkins has a lacks a strong pre-med route, and they're probably likely to at least somewhat favor their own undergraduate's in admissions if you're interested in going to school there.

Hopkins certainly isn't in a safe area, but neither is UChicago. And it isn't like Dartmouth's area is particularly exciting...

bluebayou

Fewer grad programs, so some/many faculty only teach undergrads. Fewer grad programs so faculty must use undergrads for help in faculty research. Dartmouth has its on MRI on campus, and any undergrad can use it to conduct research. Dartmouth offers four-years of on campus housing.

Hanover is a beautiful town, particularly for those that like the outdoors. Dartmouth has its own ski slope/mountain, which offers PE credit. But for someone who wants a urban experience, Dartmouth ain't it. And since you are a self-professed City-guy/gal beyphy, you won't likely get the rural thing.

Hopkins is much stronger in Engineering, and lacrosse. (Go Jays!)

Those are the operative words (for any premed). But at Hopkins, the competition is greater in absolute numbers. Approximately a third of the matriculating Frosh are premed; a small % actually end up applying to med.

Actually, no. Those numbers are worthless across the board. For example, Hopkins has a Committee which essentially screens out lower-stat applicants and discourages them from applying, at least until after they graduate. While that may perhaps strengthen the app, it also improves Hopkins's numerator.

That is a ridiculous statement. The odds are that the Dartmouth rec will be from a full Prof, while the Hopkins rec will be from an adjunct or tenure-track assist/assoc. Which is better? Who knows...

In the end, they really are academic peer schools. Go where you think you will enjoy yourself more for four years, or whichever is cheapest and offers the best financial aid (which will be D).

AllyJay

People give the area around Hopkins a bad name!
All you have to do is be safe, take care of your stuff, and don't get involved with any of the other nonsense like most urban cities. You're going to get the same thing if you go to any major city. Baltimore just gets an especially bad rap for some reason. But maybe I'm just used to it because I used to live there but, nothing horrible ever happened to me. Anything you hear is usually on the other side of town and among the locals with problems of their own. JHU students are usually safe. They're working on building up the area too with new apartments.

Living in the city is an exciting experience and everything's literally and 10 min. walk away max. and they're endless things to do. Contrary to popular belief Baltimore does have a lot of nature areas. Druid Hill park is right next to the Baltimore Zoo. Plus you can catch a cab to the Inner Harbor where you can go to Harbor Place which is filled with stores and restaurants. Philips took over the ESPN Zone recently and they have a huge Barnes and Noble's next to that.

As far as the school, Hopkins would seem as though it has a very good pre-med program, with opportunities to go to the hospital itself and if you decide to go to grad school there the medical campus is right next to the hospital. Ivies and JHU are really level when it come to GPAs and SAT scores out of high school. After graduating, I'm not entirely sure. It's really up to you but I have a friend who got into all of his ivy league choices and decided not to go to any of them.

I know I didn't mention Dartmouth in any of these but, I was just speaking about what I knew. I'm sure Dartmouth is a great school too but everyone was knocking down JHU!

Hockeydude664

Both schools have excellent pre med programs. Both are excellent schools. You really can't go wrong with either (Just wanted to underscore that ). To me, the question you need to ask yourself is are you a city person or not? do you like being in a big city w/ a lot of hustle and bustle? If so, JHU all the way. If not, Dartmouth ftw. Oh and for those who have been claiming JHU is not safe keep in mind that it has been rated as the safest campus in the country the last two years and the head of campus security was the head of the secret service for President Clinton. I assure you, you will be safer on JHU campus than most places.

muckdogs07

For someone interested in medicine you cannot go wrong at either JHU or Dartmouth, but I would probably choose JHU because many of its grads go to the med school there, which is one of the tops in the country (if not the best). Still, the two schools have different cultures with Dartmouth rural and animal house and Hopkins city and serious. Which environment are you more comfortable in? If you answer this question honestly, you have probably made your decision.

muckdogs07

Hippo2718,

Dartmouth a safer school. Lol. Maybe from the surrounding people, but not from the students themselves as shown in the Rolling Stone article.

warblersrule

Or blinded by alum loyalty? Nah, that never happens.

Dartmouth is more selective, but I'm not sure I agree it's better, especially for molecular biology.

It's worth noting that molecular biology is one of the few areas in which Dartmouth offers a PhD program. This results in increased course offerings but detracts slightly from its LAC-like bragging point. Admittedly, the very small number of such students (14) may not change things very much.

I'm always amused by statements like this, which strike me as incredibly naive. When a college like Chicago brags that it has the largest private police force in the country or when JHU announces that it installed gunshot detectors around campus, I tend to be more alarmed rather than less. One wonders why they feel the need for such things!

You don't hear about the mayor of Hanover attempting to put the city under martial law to curtail violent crime, or a Dartmouth student admitting on CC that he'd been viciously mugged and beaten with a baseball bat only a couple of blocks from campus. For JHU, they're both true. Some urban areas are much worse than others; anyone who thinks one is as safe going three blocks off campus in Durham as in Westwood is woefully misinformed. Reality is what it is. Since only freshmen and sophomores are guaranteed housing on campus at Hopkins, safety is more of a concern to prospectives than at urban colleges which guarantee housing for all four years (e.g. Harvard and Columbia).

All of that said, I disagree that campus safety should play a role in this decision. It's something to keep in mind while a student, certainly, but I think the other glaring differences between Dartmouth and Hopkins far outweigh the few incidences of crime either has. The vast majority of Hopkins students stay safe and are very satisfied with their college experience.

Agreed.

The focus of the student bodies may be something to consider as well. Hopkins slants heavily toward STEM fields, with slightly less than 2/3 of students majoring in engineering or the sciences; Dartmouth leans toward the social sciences and humanities and has only about 25% of students majoring in the sciences.



Mike01071994 -- I recommend that you also consider where you would be happier if you decide NOT to be pre-med. I think it too often clouds the waters, especially at a school like JHU, which has pre-meds salivating at its name like Pavlov's dogs. After all, only 50% of people taking the MCAT apply to medical school, and quite a few people drop out before that point. If you decide, for example, that you instead want to major in history and go to law school...where would you be happier?