<p>Actually, the derision you are picking up towards Hopkins is really just the undercurrent of a bigger wave of anti-intellectualism directed towards the sciences - particularly engineering - at Ivy League caliber schools. </p>
<p>The consulting-law-banking nexus is the undisputed high horse at most elites. Now there is nothing wrong with this per se. Approached in the right way, these can all be rewarding fields of great social import. However, the unfortunate truth is that a sizable segment of students in the majors that historically lead into these areas, mainly the soft social sciences like economics, political science and history, love to rail against any student who chooses a more challenging curriculum (i.e. the sciences) which does not lead to immediate and superior financial gratification upon graduation. Consequently, institutions that are heavily invested in this line of work to the degree that their brand name hinges on it - JHU, Cal Tech, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, etc. - get all sorts of nonsense heaped on them. They are only for gunner Asians, lab rats, people who could never hack it on Wall Street, those who lack communication and leadership skills The list goes on and on. Its a sadly pervasive philosophy that explains why America is falling behind in many critical, high value added economies of tomorrow. Add on top of that that most of these same detractors believe they certainly would have earned flying colors as an engineering students and its scorn squared. </p>
<p>But lets be realistic. From a pure prestige perspective saying you are studying biomedical anything at Hopkins will elicit even from farmer Joe a certain degree of wonderment. Moreover, even if you dont go to medical school with all the trappings of career success that carries, and instead end up in the biomedical sciences somewhere at a company like Novartis or Amgen, you are walking straight into a boom market with a chronic shortage of qualified, work authorized, native English speaking graduates. It is pretty much win-win. All you have to do now is make it through four seasons of Survivor: Baltimore.</p>