Decision time - Johns Hopins vs Amherst college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what is an Amherst?

A school for smart people - don’t worry your little brain over it.

Smart people go T20 national universities.

This is accurate. (Although even some smart people need a small pond.)

[Anonymous]

Amherst College is consistently a top producer of Fulbright scholars over the past few years, not Johns Hopkins.

[Anonymous]

Well this thread seems to have it all - with its own brand of dcum hostility. There is a small bias among some against SLACs bc some aren’t as familiar with them. Fortunately grad schools and most employers are.

Then you are hearing from many who have gone to the bigger schools who agree that there are way more TAs etc at bigger places. Yep - true. I turned down Amherst for a top Ivy and there is zero question my classroom experience was way worse for it.

Either way you have great options and you should pick where the student will be happier and thrive . How you perform and enjoy one of these places far outweighs which one you pick.

Personally I’d pick Amherst for the undergrad experience but can’t go wrong.

[Anonymous]

LACs are a bit like timeshares. Either you like them or think they are a scam. Polarizing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Amherst College is consistently a top producer of Fulbright scholars over the past few years, not Johns Hopkins.

In 2023 5 Amherst students out of around 2000 total got Fulbright. The same year, 20 JHU students out of around 5200 got it. Do the numbers / research before making such a categorical statement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amherst College is consistently a top producer of Fulbright scholars over the past few years, not Johns Hopkins.

In 2023 5 Amherst students out of around 2000 total got Fulbright. The same year, 20 JHU students out of around 5200 got it. Do the numbers / research before making such a categorical statement.

Don’t be so smug, esp when you are wrong

https://www.fulbrightprogram.org/tpi/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amherst College is consistently a top producer of Fulbright scholars over the past few years, not Johns Hopkins.

In 2023 5 Amherst students out of around 2000 total got Fulbright. The same year, 20 JHU students out of around 5200 got it. Do the numbers / research before making such a categorical statement.

Don’t be so smug, esp when you are wrong

https://www.fulbrightprogram.org/tpi/

This list is SLACs only. Change the filter for institution classification and you will see other larger schools. And you will also see that JHU is a top producer, as well as Amherst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have visited both schools, and went to JHU for grad school.

I think Amherst is a much better setting for college.

Hopkins is (TBH) a rather greedy institution, that is very much run like a business (so it does not surprise me you felt more "love" from Amherst).

In the DC area, you can't throw a stone without hitting a Hopkins grad. That lessens the gravitas of a Hopkins degree. I think people in the know would be VERY impressed with anyone who went to Amherst.

Good luck on her decision.

You have to be kidding? They ended legacy admissions before almost anyone - support students with need. Bloomberg gave tons of money so that they wouldn't have to behave as a greedy institution.

And - there is a huge difference between someone who attended Hopkins undergrad or someone who was in the fulltime Homewood campus graduate programs and those in the DC area who took satellite courses or took night classes at SAIS. You know that Harvard has these sorts of classes in Boston too and nobody considers them as Harvard grads.

That said - as a Hopkins grad student - your child should think carefully about what they want college to be. I think Amherst will have a more collegial feeling to it - but it will be a small community. Hopkins has less spirit in their undergrad community. Teachers at both places will be excellent in their field. Reputations at both will be high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have visited both schools, and went to JHU for grad school.

I think Amherst is a much better setting for college.

Hopkins is (TBH) a rather greedy institution, that is very much run like a business (so it does not surprise me you felt more "love" from Amherst).

In the DC area, you can't throw a stone without hitting a Hopkins grad. That lessens the gravitas of a Hopkins degree. I think people in the know would be VERY impressed with anyone who went to Amherst.

Good luck on her decision.

You have to be kidding? They ended legacy admissions before almost anyone - support students with need. Bloomberg gave tons of money so that they wouldn't have to behave as a greedy institution.

And - there is a huge difference between someone who attended Hopkins undergrad or someone who was in the fulltime Homewood campus graduate programs when compared to those dime a dozen in the DC area who took satellite courses or took night classes at SAIS. You know that Harvard has these sorts of classes in Boston too and nobody considers them as Harvard grads.

That said - as a former Hopkins grad student - your child should think carefully about what they want college to be. I think Amherst will have a more collegial feeling to it - but it will be a small community. Hopkins has less spirit in their undergrad community. Teachers at both places will be excellent in their field. Reputations at both will be high.

corrections

[Anonymous]

Honestly an odd final two given how different they are (size, geography, location type).
Amherst will impress an intellectual crowd more but is small, cold, and in kind of a dull town (I prefer Northampton).
Hopkins is like UChicago, a very good university that is better for grad school in their strongest fields than undergrad. The area is also not very exciting.
Personally, I'd go with Amherst but both will open a lot of doors!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amherst College is consistently a top producer of Fulbright scholars over the past few years, not Johns Hopkins.

In 2023 5 Amherst students out of around 2000 total got Fulbright. The same year, 20 JHU students out of around 5200 got it. Do the numbers / research before making such a categorical statement.

Don’t be so smug, esp when you are wrong

https://www.fulbrightprogram.org/tpi/

This list is SLACs only. Change the filter for institution classification and you will see other larger schools. And you will also see that JHU is a top producer, as well as Amherst.

I know that duh. Per capita Amherst (11 Fulbrights) has higher number per student than JHU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amherst College is consistently a top producer of Fulbright scholars over the past few years, not Johns Hopkins.

In 2023 5 Amherst students out of around 2000 total got Fulbright. The same year, 20 JHU students out of around 5200 got it. Do the numbers / research before making such a categorical statement.

Don’t be so smug, esp when you are wrong

https://www.fulbrightprogram.org/tpi/

This list is SLACs only. Change the filter for institution classification and you will see other larger schools. And you will also see that JHU is a top producer, as well as Amherst.

I know that duh. Per capita Amherst (11 Fulbrights) has higher number per student than JHU

NP. A lot of Fulbrights are total fluff. It’s not like being Rhodes scholar. This is not a good way to convince people of Amherst’s superiority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amherst College is consistently a top producer of Fulbright scholars over the past few years, not Johns Hopkins.

In 2023 5 Amherst students out of around 2000 total got Fulbright. The same year, 20 JHU students out of around 5200 got it. Do the numbers / research before making such a categorical statement.

Don’t be so smug, esp when you are wrong

https://www.fulbrightprogram.org/tpi/

This list is SLACs only. Change the filter for institution classification and you will see other larger schools. And you will also see that JHU is a top producer, as well as Amherst.

I know that duh. Per capita Amherst (11 Fulbrights) has higher number per student than JHU

NP. A lot of Fulbrights are total fluff. It’s not like being Rhodes scholar. This is not a good way to convince people of Amherst’s superiority.

Amherst higher Rhodes scholars too!

[Anonymous]

Pick Hopins

[Anonymous]

I hear that Hopins is a great school.