JHU vs. Cornell vs. Wustl vs. Northwestern

College Search & Lists
1

<p>I have to choose one from those four universities, JHU, Cornell, Wustl, and NU. </p>

<p>In case of JHU, I got admitted to what’s called Hodson scholarship where the school awards a decent amount of ride ($114,000) if I choose to enroll there. And I also expect the school to provide me with some kind of connection to professors or internship opportunities since there are only about 60 of us.</p>

<p>From Cornell, I got into not the Arts and Science that I wanted, but into the college of Agriculture & Life Sciences. They are now offering the Rawling Scholar program which focuses on science research and directly gives support to the undergrads with a faculty mentor, funding, etc. But, this program seemed to be awarded to about 300 students.</p>

<p>In case of Wustl and NU, there are no scholar program or financial aid offered. </p>

<p>I’m now learning towards JHU and Cornell. Each scholarship seemed to have both pros and cons. JHU one is given to much fewer number of people, but Cornell one has a specific focus on science research that I want to pursue in my college career. Are there any opinions about which would be a better choice?</p>

<p>Or maybe if you guys prefer Wustl or NU to those two, I would like to know why. I am just not sure now what college would suit me best. </p>

<p>Right now, I am also thinking about transferring from one of those colleges after freshman or sophomore year. But, I’m worried about the grade deflation in JHU and Cornell. So I wanted to hear you guys’ opinions about what schools among them would be good transfer as well.</p>

<p>Sorry this is too long. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>btw i’m thinking of majoring in biology (maybe premed) or economics</p>

3

<p>If it were me, all things being equal I would probably take JHU, it’s a well respected school and that’s a lot of money. IMO, there is no material diffence in the reputation of these schools to the extent that it would trump $114,000. Unless, if you are in-state at Cornell and decide your needs will be perfectly well met from CALS, then you have to do some more numbers, and decide which environment you prefer.</p>

<p>But all things are rarely completely equal.</p>

<p>Have you visited JHU, and the others? Based on that and other things, do you have reason to believe you fit better at one place or the other, or may well materially dislike one of them?</p>

<p>Are you a New York State resident? Makes a big $$ difference for CALS.
As for economics, CALS also houses the Dyson school which sort of gets there, though probably not completely identical and ability to transfer into that program is not guaranteed. You evidently preferred an arts & sciences curriculum. Have you looked at the course and distribution requirements for CALS, to make sure you can have your non-major interests adequately fulfilled from it? The biology major is identical vs. CAS, but about 2/3 of the courses one takes in college are generally outside of one’s major, and the colleges have different distribution and in-college requirements.</p>

<p>Cornell has tremendous resources in biology, there is the regular program and then CALS is essentially a whole “college of applied biology”. And I loved it there. But $114,000…</p>

4

<p>I agree there is no material difference in the quality and prestige of these schools. Unless you’re rich, follow the money. </p>

<p>Why even think about transferring at this point? Why not approach with the idea you’ll love where you go?</p>

5

<p>I haven’t visited any of those colleges yet and the open house for Hopkins and Cals was on the same date, April 14th. Since i’m not NY resident and not that rich, I’m leaning towards JHU now. </p>

<p>But in terms of size, since Cornell’s got much greater number of student body, would it make any difference in education?</p>

6

<p>I don’t know anything about JHU. </p>

<p>Cornell classes are not small, on balance. On the other hand there are a huge number of them available, due to its seven different undergraduate colleges. There’s a huge amount one can learn there, and many people take advantage and expose themselves to stuff outside the normal that they wouldn’t have otherwise seen. They are rigorous, often, and most people work pretty hard there.</p>

<p>I asked my daughter about this just recently, and it was her opinion that the quality of the professor has been significantly more important in her experience than class size. I second that. But clearly there are people who feel otherwise. YMMV.</p>

<p>My observation was Cornell people got what they deserved in terms of subsequent destinations, I don’t think one can ask for anything else.</p>

7

<p>The Hodson scholarship is very prestigious and is a pretty big deal at Hopkins. Congratulations. </p>

<p>All four schools are great schools and all, clearly, are peers from an academic point of view. But they are different. Hopkins is a fraction of the size of Cornell. I remember when I was doing college tours with my daughter (who ultimately went to Hopkins, and loved it), that she was immediately turned off by the sheer size of Cornell. She refused to apply to any school where you had to take a bus to get around. When she asked the tour guide if we could see a freshmen dorm, she was told that freshmen dorms were not included in the tour because they were “way too far away” from the buildings which were on the tour. That did it for her. But, of course, things which were important to her may be inconsequential to you.</p>

<p>You really should visit both places. They are different enough that you will likely determine quite quickly which is a better fit for you.</p>

8

<p>They have a separate tour for the dorms, and the North campus freshman living experience,dining halls, student union, etc, so they can do them more justice.</p>

<p>The entire campus is big, and it feels big at first impression, no doubt. What the casual visitor may not appreciate fully is it is organized into separate quads by college. Once you are there you may have little reason to go to some of them, if you do not attend those colleges, unless you want to. The functional size shrinks rapidly.</p>

<p>D2 thought it seemed huge too, upon first impression. She was worried about it. So I printed out a map of the whole campus, and then started ripping off the parts that she would essentially never have to go to once she was there.
What was left was a small fraction of the original piece of paper.</p>

<p>She is a senior there now, and loves it there.</p>

<p>As a practical matter the campus is functionally mastered within merely a couple weeks. After which there are continued new vistas to explore, if desired, so it does not get boring.</p>

<p>It’s really not a big deal at all.</p>

<p>People don’t usually ride buses from dorms to classes, they walk. The buses help if you are going from one extreme location to the other, but that’s not usual. However, now that I think of it, those extreme locations are on the ag quad, basically. I would imagine some subset of CALS students are the people most likely to be taking the buses. But I don’t really know, you’d have to ask some of them.</p>

<p>The problem with the tours is they show all seven colleges, which together represent a huge area, whereas you will be attending only one of them and taking classes in probably no more than three. So it seems huger than it functionally will be for you in reality. Unless of course you decide to spread out more, but by then you’ll be ready for it and it will no longer be overwhelming.</p>