JHU vs. Northwestern

Colleges & Universities Northwestern University
1

<p>Hi, I was wondering if you can rate northwestern’s selevtivity versus Johns Hopkins, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, and Emory, which are all my candidates for reach schools. I’m thinking about picking 2 or 3 from this list, so what ones would you pick considering I want to go to medical school, and have engineering for a backup. Also, despite being reaches, I still dont want to apply to a school where I have virtually no shot of getting in (ie stanford, harvard, etc.) so based on my stats, what would you recommend:
demographics
*I am an Asian Indian Male
*From a competitive public high school in Oregon, Beaverton High School, which was also rated the best AP school in Oregon, so yeah, its a smart school.
*student body at school = 500+</p>

<p>The Numbers/ECs
*Freshman year:
Lit 9-A, A with honors both sem
Spanish 1-A,A
Social Studies-A,A
Health 1 (req)-A
PE (req)-A
Adv. Algebra 2-A, A
SAT Verbal prep-A
SAT math prep-A
10th Grade Science-A, A with honors both sem</p>

<p>*Sophomore Year (really messed up):
Lit 10-A, A with honors
AP Chem- B, A
Precalc-A, B
Social Studies-B (note: can I explain a grade anywhere because this grade was ridiculous), A
Physics 2-A,A
Spanish 2-A,A
Band-A,A (needed for an EC)
Health 2-A (req)
PE-A (req) </p>

<p>*Junior Year (projected)
Human Anat/Phys-A,A
IB Bio HL 1-A,A
Spanish 3-A,A
IB Calculus-A,A
IB Psychology-A,A
Team Sports-A
IB English-B,B
IB Tok 1-B</p>

<p>*class rank UW right now = 38/515. Weighted = 30/515 (will go up because not many kids have taken hard classes yet)
*IB Diploma Candidate (to be)
*Will take AP exams in addition to IB exams, so I could be AP Scholar w/ distinction or just AP scholar as well.
*Varsity tennis 4 years (will have 4)
*Science Team 4 years (will have 4)
*World Quest Trivia 4 years (will have 4)
*Science Club Treasurer (1 year)
*Science Club VP (2 years)
*Math Club VP (2 years)
*Portland Youth Philharmonic (3 years)
*Mathfest Algebra 2 1st place fresh year
*OIMT Participant Fresh Year
*Mathfest Participant sophomore year
*Oregon Museum of Science and Industry Rising Star Program (will have 175-200 hours done)
*Mathcounts Tutor (about 50+ volunteer hours)
*expecting around 2000-2100 on SAT, 30+ on ACT</p>

<p>I’ve posted this before, but this is just so that you dont have to search for me.</p>

2

<p>Johns Hopkins and Northwestern.</p>

3

<p>I’m not clear from your post whether you want how relatively difficult it is to get accepted or how well the schools match your stats. I’ll do both. Admission difficulty first.</p>

<p>(I don’t go to NU or have anything in particular for or against it)</p>

<p>JHU v Northwestern University
Almost identical. JHU claims to put less emphasis on test scores, which appear to be your weakness. They also have a higher acceptance rate due to low yield. JHU is probably slightly easier for you.</p>

<p>NDame v NU
ND is a bit more forgiving of 1400ish SAT’s than is Northwestern. ND also claims to value SAT’s less. ND’s probably slighlty easier for you.</p>

<p>Vandy v NU
Vandy accepts slightly lower SAT’s and puts a lot of emphasis on EC’s. Probably a good amount easier for you than NU.</p>

<p>Emory v NU
Emoryt takes slightly lower scorers and has a higher acceptance rate. Just based on your stats, Emory is probably the easiest top school for you to get in to.</p>

<p>Now how well they match the desires you expressed:</p>

<p>NU
Very good med and engineering reputation. Hardest for you to get into of the schools mentioned (I wouldn’t really call it a reach though. Why do you expect low test scores, btw?) Prestige whores have adopted NU along with WUSTL as an object of scorn. I have no idea why, but take that into account if it bothers you. </p>

<p>JHU
Absolutely top notch med and very good engineering. Pre med is exceptionally competitive. If that doesn’t bother you, probably the best match. People will be impressed if you go here (med school).</p>

<p>NDame
Good general reputation. Not the easiest school out of the bunch to get into. Lots and lots of white catholic people. It’s in Indiana. I live in Indiana. Do not come to Indiana. Really. People will be impressed if you go here (football).</p>

<p>Vandy
Don’t know much about this place. Friend who applied tells me its full of rich people, even more than other top schools. Very good med and decent engineering. </p>

<p>Emory
Very good med. Easiest to get in to. Great place in general.</p>

<p>Reccomendation: If you apply to 2, do NU or JHU (depending on how willing you are to compete with JHU pre-meds) ans Emory. If 3, NU, JHU, and Emory.</p>

4

<p>If you really want to go to medical school, NU has the 7 year med program (hpme), which you can apply to. There is a thread on that in the multiple degrees forum. For regular pre-med/engineering, I would choose JHU, Emory, and NU. Being a pre-med at JHU is well respected, but keep in mind, much of JHU’s “med prestige” comes from its highly ranked medical school, which is completely separate from its undergraduate institution.</p>

5

<p>“I live in Indiana. Do not come to Indiana. Really”</p>

<p>haha, i went to IU last year, he’s not kidding.</p>

6

<p>I got rejected from JHU and accepted at Northwestern (both RD) as a Chemistry major for the class of 2010…don’t know if this helps at all.</p>

7

<p>similarly to chloecat16, i was rejected from JHU but accepted waitlist from NU (both rd as well) as a beng major. my grades havent been as good as yours. emory i think is a target at least</p>