Recent Experience with Hopkins BME Undergrad

[Anonymous]

My DC is fortunate to be in the position of considering Hopkins for the BME major. DC has heard mixed reviews about the program - some say it is extremely cut-throat and competitive while others say that it's collaborative because of the difficulty and the high likelihood of post-grad employment. It is hard to cut through the noise. Do any parents have recent experience with a child who is majoring in BME at Hopkins? Do you wish your child had chosen a different path?

[Anonymous]

Unless the alternative is BME or BioE at Harvard, MiT, Duke, Penn, Princeton, Columbia, pick JHU. If you have one of the other options, pick for fit. Go visit.
If Hopkins is the only top option it would be insane to turn it down.
DC is BioE at one of the ivies above. Good friend is Hopkins BME and finds the grading and collaboration is similar to the ivy. Lots of intense students but in a good way, all aim for top research jobs and most get one of their top three choices. On campus is extremely easy for every student to get research. They all had top summer positions after sophomore year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC is fortunate to be in the position of considering Hopkins for the BME major. DC has heard mixed reviews about the program - some say it is extremely cut-throat and competitive while others say that it's collaborative because of the difficulty and the high likelihood of post-grad employment. It is hard to cut through the noise. Do any parents have recent experience with a child who is majoring in BME at Hopkins? Do you wish your child had chosen a different path?

JHU's average GPA is 3.5 in 2017. Their current average GPA is > 3.8. People tell you different things depending on which year they attended JHU.

I wouldn't worry much about the cut-throat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless the alternative is BME or BioE at Harvard, MiT, Duke, Penn, Princeton, Columbia, pick JHU. If you have one of the other options, pick for fit. Go visit.
If Hopkins is the only top option it would be insane to turn it down.
DC is BioE at one of the ivies above. Good friend is Hopkins BME and finds the grading and collaboration is similar to the ivy. Lots of intense students but in a good way, all aim for top research jobs and most get one of their top three choices. On campus is extremely easy for every student to get research. They all had top summer positions after sophomore year.

OP - The alternative is Dartmouth, either Bio or Engineering or some kind of combo. DC was looking at Bio for all colleges and only applied BME to Hopkins because there's no way to transfer into that major later. DC is not sure what they want to do after college. Loves learning and has a strong work ethic, but also wants a good all around college experience so they are torn.

[Anonymous]

Dartmouth has snow, mud season and flies but it's going to be a better ambiance than Hopkins. Have you spent much time around that campus, imagining what weekends are like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless the alternative is BME or BioE at Harvard, MiT, Duke, Penn, Princeton, Columbia, pick JHU. If you have one of the other options, pick for fit. Go visit.
If Hopkins is the only top option it would be insane to turn it down.
DC is BioE at one of the ivies above. Good friend is Hopkins BME and finds the grading and collaboration is similar to the ivy. Lots of intense students but in a good way, all aim for top research jobs and most get one of their top three choices. On campus is extremely easy for every student to get research. They all had top summer positions after sophomore year.

OP - The alternative is Dartmouth, either Bio or Engineering or some kind of combo. DC was looking at Bio for all colleges and only applied BME to Hopkins because there's no way to transfer into that major later. DC is not sure what they want to do after college. Loves learning and has a strong work ethic, but also wants a good all around college experience so they are torn.

You cannot do engineering in 4 years at Dartmouth. Dartmouth for bio is fine however. Very different schools.

[Anonymous]

I heard from a parent of JHU freshman that it’s brutal. I think they were BME, but switched majors already and still struggling. The average class gpa is 3.4 and the kid despite going to all office hours, using all available tutoring, studying 12/day still can barely get a B in the hardest classes. The grade deflation is real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless the alternative is BME or BioE at Harvard, MiT, Duke, Penn, Princeton, Columbia, pick JHU. If you have one of the other options, pick for fit. Go visit.
If Hopkins is the only top option it would be insane to turn it down.
DC is BioE at one of the ivies above. Good friend is Hopkins BME and finds the grading and collaboration is similar to the ivy. Lots of intense students but in a good way, all aim for top research jobs and most get one of their top three choices. On campus is extremely easy for every student to get research. They all had top summer positions after sophomore year.

OP - The alternative is Dartmouth, either Bio or Engineering or some kind of combo. DC was looking at Bio for all colleges and only applied BME to Hopkins because there's no way to transfer into that major later. DC is not sure what they want to do after college. Loves learning and has a strong work ethic, but also wants a good all around college experience so they are torn.

Though there is no way to transfer into BME at JHU, it's very easy to transfer out if not a good fit, e.g., to CAS for a bio major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard from a parent of JHU freshman that it’s brutal. I think they were BME, but switched majors already and still struggling. The average class gpa is 3.4 and the kid despite going to all office hours, using all available tutoring, studying 12/day still can barely get a B in the hardest classes. The grade deflation is real.

OP - this is what I feared. My DC is currently at the top of their class at a school where you can get regular As as long as you put in the effort. I think they are likely to get stressed out in this type of environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard from a parent of JHU freshman that it’s brutal. I think they were BME, but switched majors already and still struggling. The average class gpa is 3.4 and the kid despite going to all office hours, using all available tutoring, studying 12/day still can barely get a B in the hardest classes. The grade deflation is real.

This is false.
https://studentaffairs.jhu.edu/leed/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/2022/04/Spring-2021-CAP-Report.pdf
The average gpa is > 3.8 at JHU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless the alternative is BME or BioE at Harvard, MiT, Duke, Penn, Princeton, Columbia, pick JHU. If you have one of the other options, pick for fit. Go visit.
If Hopkins is the only top option it would be insane to turn it down.
DC is BioE at one of the ivies above. Good friend is Hopkins BME and finds the grading and collaboration is similar to the ivy. Lots of intense students but in a good way, all aim for top research jobs and most get one of their top three choices. On campus is extremely easy for every student to get research. They all had top summer positions after sophomore year.

OP - The alternative is Dartmouth, either Bio or Engineering or some kind of combo. DC was looking at Bio for all colleges and only applied BME to Hopkins because there's no way to transfer into that major later. DC is not sure what they want to do after college. Loves learning and has a strong work ethic, but also wants a good all around college experience so they are torn.

You cannot do engineering in 4 years at Dartmouth. Dartmouth for bio is fine however. Very different schools.

OP - yes, they are very different schools and there are pros and cons for each school so my kid keeps flip flopping. Unfortunately their admitted students days are on the same dates, which means we cannot go to both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is fortunate to be in the position of considering Hopkins for the BME major. DC has heard mixed reviews about the program - some say it is extremely cut-throat and competitive while others say that it's collaborative because of the difficulty and the high likelihood of post-grad employment. It is hard to cut through the noise. Do any parents have recent experience with a child who is majoring in BME at Hopkins? Do you wish your child had chosen a different path?

JHU's average GPA is 3.5 in 2017. Their current average GPA is > 3.8. People tell you different things depending on which year they attended JHU.

I wouldn't worry much about the cut-throat.

NP. The above poster sounds encouraging, but then another poster said:

Anonymous wrote:
I heard from a parent of JHU freshman that it’s brutal. I think they were BME, but switched majors already and still struggling. The average class gpa is 3.4 and the kid despite going to all office hours, using all available tutoring, studying 12/day still can barely get a B in the hardest classes. The grade deflation is real.

So which is which? I asked because, like OP, I'm worried about my DD who plans to do neuroscience/pre-med at Hopkins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is fortunate to be in the position of considering Hopkins for the BME major. DC has heard mixed reviews about the program - some say it is extremely cut-throat and competitive while others say that it's collaborative because of the difficulty and the high likelihood of post-grad employment. It is hard to cut through the noise. Do any parents have recent experience with a child who is majoring in BME at Hopkins? Do you wish your child had chosen a different path?

JHU's average GPA is 3.5 in 2017. Their current average GPA is > 3.8. People tell you different things depending on which year they attended JHU.

I wouldn't worry much about the cut-throat.

NP. The above poster sounds encouraging, but then another poster said:

Anonymous wrote:
I heard from a parent of JHU freshman that it’s brutal. I think they were BME, but switched majors already and still struggling. The average class gpa is 3.4 and the kid despite going to all office hours, using all available tutoring, studying 12/day still can barely get a B in the hardest classes. The grade deflation is real.

So which is which? I asked because, like OP, I'm worried about my DD who plans to do neuroscience/pre-med at Hopkins.

Do you want to rely on actual data? Or anecdotal stories?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is fortunate to be in the position of considering Hopkins for the BME major. DC has heard mixed reviews about the program - some say it is extremely cut-throat and competitive while others say that it's collaborative because of the difficulty and the high likelihood of post-grad employment. It is hard to cut through the noise. Do any parents have recent experience with a child who is majoring in BME at Hopkins? Do you wish your child had chosen a different path?

JHU's average GPA is 3.5 in 2017. Their current average GPA is > 3.8. People tell you different things depending on which year they attended JHU.

I wouldn't worry much about the cut-throat.

NP. The above poster sounds encouraging, but then another poster said:

Anonymous wrote:
I heard from a parent of JHU freshman that it’s brutal. I think they were BME, but switched majors already and still struggling. The average class gpa is 3.4 and the kid despite going to all office hours, using all available tutoring, studying 12/day still can barely get a B in the hardest classes. The grade deflation is real.

So which is which? I asked because, like OP, I'm worried about my DD who plans to do neuroscience/pre-med at Hopkins.

Do you want to rely on actual data? Or anecdotal stories?

I was typing while you were posting the link and thus did not see it. Thank you. It's on comforting to know.

What about collaborative versus competitive among BME/pre-meds? I've also heard conflicting stories and don't know what to believe.

[Anonymous]

extremely collaborative with the grade inflation now. Source: I was BMW class of 2022. BME Design team (look it up) is huge for making friends and establishing industry contacts