<p>I’m currently deciding whether to attened Hopkins or Penn next year, so any information comparing the 2 would be great seeing that I’ve never been to either one of them. Thanks</p>
<p>Before I “discovered” Hopkins, I was set on going to Penn. I liked that it seemed more pragmatic than the other Ivies, which I found sort of head-in-the-clouds and ethereal. Penn, like Hopkins, was first a collection of graduate schools. The undergraduate college only came later, almost as an afterthought. I liked the autonomy and vaguely rogueish nature that history lent to the undergraduates.</p>
<pre><code> In terms of physical plant, Penn is also quite a bit like Hopkins: they’re both situation in rather dodgy parts of their respective cities. Some people love Penn’s architecture, a hodge podge mix of everything from gothic revival to modern. I actually find it kind of jarring.
Hopkins, on the other hand, is mainly a uniform style, classic collegiate Georgian brick buildings with marble trim and nice towers and such spread throughout. There are some modern buildings, like the library and some science buildings, but they were designed to blend in. Hopkins is, in many ways, what would happen if you took Harvard and UVA and kind of stuck them together, from the amazing academics to the charming semi-southern nature of the place.
So anyway, I was all set on Penn, until I went to a Model UN at Hopkins, which I hadn't really even considered before. As I got to know the students who were running the model, and saw the level at which they were functioning, I realized that I should take a second look. I visited Penn and Hopkins on the same day, and I was amazed at how much more I liked Hopkins. Everything seemed really alive; the people looked like they were *doing something.* What sealed the deal for me was how friendly eeryone was, even though they were busy. I was standing around with my parents, looking very lost and consulting a map (the campus is very easy to get around, by the way: I was just disoriented) and a student stopped and asked us if we needed help. We admitted defeat and asked for directions. He gave us great directions, but, seeing that we still looked unsure, he turned around and walked us to where we were going, all the while being very friendly and answering questions. An isolated incident, I know, but very positive!
In terms of academics, Hopkins has # 1 programs in BME, Writing Seminars, and Public Health, and Top 10 programs in IR and a bunch of other stuff. It's small enough that you get to know faces, but large enough that it's vibrant. People come from all over the world, and there's amazing tolerance: the Muslim Students Association and Hillel co-sponsor events! The research opportunities are fabulous, and the professors that I've run into are great- friendly, involved, and interested in their students.
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<p>I would agree entirely with the above. At UPenn you may have more options in terms of strength of across the board acacemics, but Hopkins is second to none for pre-med students and engineering disciplines. UPenn forces you to take required classes, which is very much like high school. Hopkins lets you do what you want, with the exception of taking writing classes (which is really beneficial and can be focused on your major). For this reason, a large percentage of the student body decides to double major, giving themselves even greater possibilities. Attend one of the open house days to check it out.</p>
<p>Silver4: Your explanation just made Hopkins sound very intriguing, but is this the perspective of someone who lives on the east or west coast?</p>
<p>Silver4,</p>
<p>I couldn’t have said it better, Hopkins is the best kept undergrad secret of the elite schools and a great opportunity for those with the patience to check it out.</p>
<p>I currently live on the East Coast (Charlottesville, Virginia - home of UVA) but I was born in Seattle and lived there for a while. </p>
<p>I never thought I’d actually like Baltimore, but it has its positives- just takes some digging to find them!</p>
<p>I’m most interested in their Writing Seminars Department. I love the fact that I can focus on fiction or poetry at Hopkins. I’m also considering a humanities area major- Humanistic Studies- which is an individualized major, taking various humanities courses from different departments which interest me. Johns Hopkins ranks among the top ten universities in English, History, Biology, etc. so I wouldn’t say it isn’t as well rounded as Penn academically. Both schools have strong schools of Arts & Sciences, but Johns Hopkins just has a better reputation in Engineering. I think University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Penn’s Econ Dept tend to appeal most to the get rich quick/Trump wannabe types, but Johns Hopkins appeals more to the intellectual types interested in Political Theory, Philosophy or Literary Theory.</p>