Help me choose: Hopkins (2/3 tuition scholarship [$44k]) vs Emory (full ride [$4k, start at Oxford campus]) vs WashU (full tuition scholarship [$28k]) vs Yale (full pay [$91k]) for pre-med

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Hi everyone! These last few weeks have been such a rollercoaster and I’m truly so grateful to have these options. If anyone has any advice, pointers, or perspectives to add on making this choice, I would truly appreciate it!

For context, I’m from the NYC metropolitan area, likely don’t qualify for financial aid, and I want to double major between public health and something associated with foreign languages, and have an eye towards the premed track. Were I to cite a career goal it would be to become a doctor and one day work in the public health sector of our government. Here is a little pro and cons table I made :slight_smile:

Johns Hopkins (2/3rds tuition scholarship through Hodson Trust)

Pros:

  • #1 school in the country for public health
  • I love love love the environment of the school (I think I thrive best in very academic settings that have a bit of a competitive flair)
  • Huge research scene
  • Close to home to visit family yet far enough to still have my own bubble (which for me is really important!)
  • Romance Languages major sounds super interesting
  • Perfect size
  • Easy access to amazing premed opportunities (#2 med school right next door as well as one of 5 best hospitals in the country)
  • Prestige (and especially in the fields I’m interested in!)
  • Sizable scholarship + some additional perks Hodson entails

Cons:

  • Grade deflation (I’m thinking of going premed after all)
  • Amazing scholarship but is still 40kish/yr, which my family can afford pretty comfortably but given med school is a possibility…
  • Baltimore is dangerous
  • Kind of a grey flag, idk where to put it, but okay food and dorms

Emory (full ride scholarship through Woodruff Scholarship, contingent that first two years are at original campus)

Pros:

  • I would be going to school completely for free + small perks of Woodruff program
  • #4 school in the country for public health
  • Tight-knit community due to original Oxford campus for first two years
  • Sizable research opportunities, not Hopkins level but it’s definitely there
  • CDC is 40 minute shuttle away at Atlanta campus
  • Students are really close to professors
  • Linguistics major available

Cons:

  • Way too small for first two years - I was really hoping for a more mid-sized campus, Atlanta campus is great size though
  • Super rural. I wanted access to a city for research + community service opportunities
  • Far away and would need to take plane which makes visiting family a hassle
  • Limited class selection on Oxford campus, I want more niche foreign language courses at times which become a struggle
  • Definitely don’t dislike Emory’s environment but I felt more at home with Hopkins
  • Less presitigious/name recognition, especially in comparison to Hopkins and Yale
  • Again grey flag, okay food and dorms

WashU (full tuition scholarship through Ervin Scholars Program)

Pros

  • Scholarship program is truly so so friendly and amazing - everyone I met was so nice and they are all really tight-knit
  • AMAZING amenities - dorms, campus, food is all superb!
  • Good location in regards to STL - own little suburb but easy access to city proper for opportunities
  • Linguistics major is available
  • Great class size
  • Very strong premed program + #5 med school in nation right around the corner
  • Not having to worry about tuition cost is of course a blessing

Cons

  • Some grade deflation or at least very high rigor (not quite JHU level though from what I’ve heard)
  • Public health program is pretty weak
  • Location is really far away and requires a plane
  • Actual student body outside of the scholars program I found to be very cliquey and not really my vibe
  • Less name recognition than Hopkins or Yale

Yale (full pay)

Pros

  • Dream school for a long time
  • Really really close by
  • Yale name is obviously really great
  • Beautiful campus
  • Residential college system is lovely
  • Grade inflation galore
  • Super strong premed program
  • Strong public health program (not JHU or Emory level though) and really strong linguistics program

Cons

  • Price - on paper it’s affordable but since med school might be in the horizon idk if it’s worth it
  • I vibe more with Hopkins but I still do love Yale’s environment

Other schools (these above are top contenders but I’m open to other ideas): Princeton full pay, Rice 20k/yr scholarship, Brown full pay, Duke full pay, Case Western 45k/yr scholarship, Amherst full pay, Williams full pay

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Emory. You’ll be paid to go there. It is out of your comfort zone. Opportunities to learn and grow and meet Emory’s expectations to keep your full ride.

“This degree develops practical skills for a wide variety of health-related careers as well as a holistic understanding of physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.“

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While the full ride to Emory is a great deal, the two years at Oxford would be a negative to me and not worth the savings over The Hop.

I’d rank them #1 Hopkins, #2 WashU or #3 Yale.

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I know people who have chosen Wash U over Yale. It is an excellent school, more so with the scholarship.

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Curious why you don’t have Case in your finalist list.

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After considering your post, I believe you would find your top fit from one of JHU, WUStL and Yale.

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Yes, Hopkins and Yale have name recognition to the average Joe on the street, but ALL have name recognition to those who matter for admission to med schools. It does not matter one bit if a school is ranked #3 or #20 to those who really know the schools. Hopkins may have grade deflation but it isn’t preventing Hopkins students from getting into med school.

With your acceptances I’m guessing academics are not a problem for you - you love to learn, you test well, you contribute in class, etc.

Baltimore is a gritty city. Hopkins is in a lovely part of the city (the hospital is not ‘right next door’ as you wrote, but is deep in the city and even more gritty - and most future doctors would LOVE to go there!). There might not be a lot of food choices on campus but in the city (or north to Towson) there are plenty - crabs, Little Italy, the German section. You would only be an hour from DC for the occasional treat.

You’ve grown up in a city. You know how to take safety measures of traveling in groups, in daylight hours. You’d need to do that in New Haven too. And when traveling into Atlanta, or into St. Louis. Cities all have places you want to avoid but the Homewood campus at Hopkins is not one of them.

Wash U may be your best choice. St. Louis also has a lot of good food options, fun events in the city, and places you’d want to avoid. A full ride makes some plane rides home affordable.

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I am going to assume that your parents are not decamillionaires (ie, net work well over $10,000,000). If you are an only child and your parent’s second home is worth $25,000,000, then some of what I am about to say might not be relevant.

Medical school is expensive. It will likely cost well over $100,000 per year by the time that you get there. You do not want to take all of this as debt. If you take half of this as debt, and your parents pay the other half, then it will still take quite a while to pay this off and debt will be a burden (even for a doctor). As such cost of attending university does matter.

Your “Baltimore is dangerous” comment I think is likely true and concerns me. You have options that are just as good but are in safer areas.

Emory is a great university with a great premed program and apparently (I had not know this) a great public health program. Your deal there is amazing. Attending a moderate sized university is likely to make it easier to get to know your professors when compared to attending a larger university. Getting to know your professors is important. This can help getting research or internship or medical shadowing options, and will help when it is time to get references (which are very important for applications to medical schools).

Given how strong your affordable options are, I think that I would just cross off all of the “full pay” schools from your list. I do realize that every one of your full pay options is a fabulous school, but so are the schools that have offered you a better deal, and you can only attend one university at a time.

I did visit WUSTL a number of years ago and liked it quite a bit. I got to interact with students and a professor or two and was quite impressed. It is a very good university and very good for premed. Rice is very good also, as is Case Western.

You must be doing something really, really well to have such an impressive list of choices and scholarships.

Also, I know a few people who work in health care. One thing that I have heard a lot is that speaking more than one language is a big plus. This will depend a bit on where you practice (the person I know who practices in a city has mentioned this occasionally – the person I know who practices in an affluent suburb has not).

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Yale would be out.

If you are pre med, the where won’t matter - but saving will. If you are public health, you’ll need a Masters - and the where amongst these won’t matter.

Where did you feel most comfort?

Full ride and enrichment on the surface trumps tuition and 2/3 scholarship. Emory has CDC access for your last two years - but given your dislike of Oxford, I get it.

There is no doubt that kids from “grade deflated” schools are going to med school and other professional schools at a high level. I wouldn’t include that.

Given your concern for ruralness, and fondness for WUSTL, I’d go there first.

If you’d enjoy the tightness of the Oxford community and the ability to experience both an LAC and mid size university and have CDC adjacent access, I’d go to Emory. You say it won’t work for you but you might talk to students there and confirm if your thoughts are right. Ask to speak with a student ambassador to discuss more.

JHU is a fine school too as is CWRU.

No reason to consider a full pay - or even partial pay quite honestly - but that’s up to your family but Emory at free and WUSTL at free tuition are giving you two elite educations at a humongous savings which is available for med or other grad school.

You did really well.

Congrats.

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My S24 would have been in contention for the full scholarship at Emory and he decided (with our support) to apply elsewhere ED where we would be full pay. My H and I are both doctors and he is pursuing a non medical field. If he was going to be premed there is zero chance we would pay $90k a year for undergrad. Emory or Wash U are the best options for you unless your parents can pay for all 8 years of your education out of their paychecks.

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If it were me I would be choosing between Emory and WUSTL based on whether I thought the experience for the first couple years at WUSTL was worth the extra cost.

To me those sorts of universities are really in the sweet spot for pre-med to begin with, and then you have great financial offers. The best from Emory, but I get the issue with Oxford.

And the South 40 experience is arguably as good as it gets for underclass lifestyle, and then WUSTL also has all these great interdisciplinary options including the Ampersand programs that really make use of it being a jack-of-all-trades sort of college.

So I can’t answer for your family whether all that WUSTL offers in the first couple years is worth it, but it could be.

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For those that might not be aware of Oxford, it’s Emory’s original campus ~40 miles from the now main campus in Atlanta. Oxford houses ~500 students for the first two years of college, after which they move and take classes at the Atlanta campus. Most research opportunities are available on the main campus, so one woudl have to take the shuttle back and forth.

Oxford, GA is a town of ~2k population.

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Wow, what a great set of opportunities. If you don’t mind sharing, where were your grades / scores?

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WUSTL, Emory, Case.

For Emory you could buy a decent used car to get around considering it’s a free ride. You’ll be studying during the week anyway. Tons of direct flights to Atlanta. Probably 2 hours from NYC but how often will you be going home?

Great school and CDC is literally on the Atlanta campus. Lots to do in Atlanta. Athens isn’t that far either.

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You have clearly worked very hard up to this point and the fact that you want to serve in a role in public health in the future is outstanding!

You are conscious of the long term costs of medical school and from your pros and cons can already see some front runners.

Baltimore is a unique place, but plenty navigate it every day. The scholarship there with research on the undergrad campus along with proximity to policy work in DC just a train ride away makes it all very interesting for you!

Emory’s generous offer and the possible opportunities with the CDC for you certainly make that a win as well.

Save some money or a lot of money and do not worry about your full pay options with med school on the horizon.

Good luck - no matter where you land you will create your own path I am sure.

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If my kid was pre med and has your list of options, no question Wash U is where I send him.

Smaller than Emory and lots of resources. Top notch med school, ample UG research opportunities on campus. Very happy student body with a lot of school support.

In terms of “name recognition” my list would be Hopkins>WashU>Yale>Emory.
But factor in cost (as in your case) that list easily becomes WashU>Hopkins>Emory>Yale.

I would pay 1/3 for Hopkins over free ride at Emory, but free WashU is a no brainer.

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They have a full ride at Emory starting at Oxford. Wash U is free tuition, not free totally

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Thank you for the clarification. Even so, if it was my kid, I still do the same.

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I think Wash U is a great option!

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Yale should be off your list at full price.

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