What are a few words that come to mind with these schools?
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Anonymous
| Seriously, how many of you posters have been to the neighborhood where the main JHU campus is located? The hospital/med school are in a pretty bad part of town, but the main campus is in Charles Village, which is actually one of the nicer parts of Baltimore. I lived there for 2 years in law school and didn't have any trouble. Baltimore *can* be a dnagerous city, but Charles Village itself is really pretty safe. |
Anonymous
| I have! And it ain't pretty! |
Anonymous
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My $0.02:
I strongly prefer for my kids (and my money) to go to colleges as opposed to universities, so that their professors are focused on *teaching* as opposed to research. None of those schools would make me happy for undergrad degree. Now, if we are talking about grad school, that's a horse of an entirely different color. |
Anonymous
| IMO, do not, I repeat, go to GW unless your family has a lot of money and connections. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
Why? Please back up such a proactive statement with a reasoning. Thanks! My d is considering applying early there. |
Anonymous
It's an expensive school and just not the same caliber as the other two schools OP listed. The best school at GW is probably the law school. Think even the med school lost or nearly lost its accreditation. |
Anonymous
| Disagree. GW is a fine school. Putting aside the temporary loss of ranking, it has always hovered at around 50 or 51 in the country. If you are to believe rankings that is saying its one of the best 50 universities out of many hundred in this country. Let us keep this in perspective. With regard to JH, if you are a premed student, admittedly the other two cannot compare but putting aside the premed I would take GWU or UNC hands down over JHU. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
| All good schools in their own ways. JH excellent reputation but much more of a grad school than undergrad and as an undergrad, typically science and/or lacrosse. But excellent school to be sure (they have a very good English Dept too but my sense is really a grad school dept). UNC is a terrific state school, beautiful campus but overwhelmingly North Carolinians. State schools vary on this score but UNC remains mostly in-state students and quite Southern. Whether it is a good choice for out-of-state really depends on one's interests. GW is tougher to pigeon-hole -- it has improved greatly and one way it has done so is that GW buys lots of top students, and treats them very well. For the rest, it is a more mixed experience, good location, undistinguished campus, mixed reputation outside DC to be sure, but for students who want to be in the middle of the nation's capitol, at a large school, not a bad choice at all. |
Anonymous
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I cannot comment on either JHU or UNC. However, I can comment on GWU, as I am an alumnus with a BA in Political Science and International Relations. GWU was my second choice school, so I am not sure what that says. Georgetown was my first, but I did not get in and in the end, after years of Catholic school that was probably better for me. Plus, I did not come out of GWU with significant debt due to financial aid as well as working while in school. Note, that GWU’s average net cost after grants and scholarships is about $27,000.
Why I liked GWU and what I got out of it: GWU is very well connected with "this town." Many of our alumni and very many of our professors are working as pracitioners in the Federal Government and in politics as campaign advisors, communications specialists, diplomats, soldiers, policy specialists, etc. They are all very knowledgeable and bring very good insight to the subjects they teach. I also feel that the cohort of students I was surrounded with – professionally minded and driven – were all at GWU to take advantage of the school’s location in Washington, DC. We were all doing internships on the Hill, or in the White House, State Department, World Bank, etc. and we were all doing so long before it became a regular part of student life. GWU’s Career Services Center, IMO, did an excellent job – at least for me – in helping me to learn the skills I needed to find a job after graduation. Working with the Center staff, I really did learn how to build and use a network, ferret out “unlisted” positions and, in the end, obtain my dream job. I have built a successful and very interesting (for me) career in international relations since graduating from GWU. The school has opened doors for me in my field. Since graduating, I have lived and worked on three continents and lived in six different countries. I might have also done the same had I gone to Georgetown (maybe not), but definitely would not had I gone to my flagship State University (Florida) or a local school near my home. So, GWU was the perfect fit for me. What school will be the perfect fit for my daughter will be where she goes, and that is as it should be. I am certainly not going to limited myself to the list “top ranked” schools in USNWR . |
Anonymous
| Oh, and I know how much my Ivy graduated colleagues in my field make, and their degree made no difference on that score compared to mine. |
Anonymous
This is a fair assessment. I went to JHU for undergrad. While not a difficult as many Ivies to get into, academically, it is on par. US News has it ranked between 3 and 6 on academic reputation over the last several years. In the world of academia - going to a top grad school is simply easier from Hopkins than the other two. |
Anonymous
Yes, JHU is kind of like University of Chicago in that sense -- a very grad-oriented institution. That said, smart/highly engaged undergrads in the liberal arts can become sort of honorary grad students (e.g. take grad seminars, get attention from faculty) if they're so inclined. I didn't think that the liberal arts undergrads were cut-throat -- to the extent that they were stressed it was because they generally had not gotten into their first choice colleges (typically Ivy) and were convinced that their futures depended on moving up a rung for grad school. Kids who didn't come in with that POV and who were focused on their studies (rather than their peers or grad admissions) seemed to have a challenging workload but not an overwhelming one. The Homewood campus is not in a particularly dangerous or scary area (it's next to the BMA, so if you've been there you'll have a sense of what it's like). So if you've got a future PhD candidate on your hands, I think JHU could be a great choice. I'll probably encourage my own DC to apply there. Wouldn't bother with GW -- the big advantage is DC and for someone who already grew up here, there's no value added. Don't know about UNC Chapel Hill from an undergrad POV. Totally different scale from Hopkins. |
Anonymous
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As a GW grad *both undergrad and graduate school* I do feel I need to chime in to say bottom line my experience there was excellent. Today, four years later I am making an enviable six figure salary at not even 29 years old. Fantastic and accessible professors, really exceptional internships (for those ambitious to seek them out) and I met an amazing array of international students, many of whom i am still friendly with. In fact going to a wedding of a former classmate in Spain next March.
I was a student in The Elliott school of International Affairs which is a highly regarded, very highly ranked program (one of the best in the country). When I was accepted, I passed on other higher ranked schools including one Ivy to attend this program. Now are there plenty of rich kids who come to GW for other things besides the academics? Of course, but tell me what high profile school doesn't have their share. On a sidenote JHU and UNC are both also excellent institutions. |