#caltech vs. jhu (pre-med)

74 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

patent hamlet
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Schools: i committed to jhu but recently got off the caltech waitlist
Intended major: neuroscience
Similarities: good for research in general, reputable, both are private universities, seems like there's grade deflation at both (but would be worse at caltech, which might affect med school admission?)

caltech

School 1 Pros:

  • closer to home
  • as a whole, more reputable/well-known than jhu

School 1 Cons:

  • doesn't have a neuroscience major (would have to major in biology)
  • i wouldn't consider myself an engineering person at all, so the environment would be more stressful (also because of this there are less options if i want to switch majors)
  • a bit too small (undergrad population of ~1000)
  • not as well known for pre-med?
  • doesn't have a hospital associated with it so i would have to go elsewhere if i wanted to do volunteering
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jhu

School 2 Pros:

  • would be able to double major in neuroscience & public health (more options are available)
  • high med school matriculation rate (especially well-known for pre-med, great support there)
  • feel like i would fit in better
  • more research opportunities related to what i want to do

School 2 Cons:

  • farther from home (im from ca)

it's probably pretty obvious from what i've written so far lol, but i'm a lot more biased towards jhu. however, my parents are strongly recommending i consider caltech, so...if anyone has any thoughts/preferences, especially regarding caltech's pre-med opportunities, please lmk! also sorry if this sounds really basic 😭

floral kraken
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Which one is cheaper? I feel like Caltech would be overkill on the mathy side if you want to go pre-med, but you might enjoy that. Try to find pre-meds at Caltech and ask about their experience

patent hamlet
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from what ive heard about the pre-med experience at caltech a lot of ppl say you'll only find it enjoyable if you're heavy on the stem side of things, which im honestly not quite sure about

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i just dont want to feel constricted especially bc i do want to explore other fields

robust river
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caltech is not great for premed and both have intensive atmosphere

buoyant moss
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jhu bro

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caltech for premed is wild man go to jhu arguably the best premed school in the country

harsh loom
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caltech food sucks ur gonna spend money to get off campus food

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but yeah go caltech

lusty rune
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that being said

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jhu is probably the better hcoice but im reluctant to say mostly because i dont know much about caltech

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i'd say jhu despite being hard because fo grade inflation and the cutthroat atmosphere is still known as a top premed school for a reason

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there seems to be a lot of stuff not considered in pros and cons though like gpa deflation or inflation, competitive atmosphere, location, etc., but youll be fine at jhu

patent hamlet
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i don’t have a preference for location either so

patent hamlet
lusty rune
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why would you entertain the opinion of a freshman

patent hamlet
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help 💀 i didn’t see the tag lmao

lusty rune
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and as much as there are challenges with jhu its historically been a prmeed school

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a very successful premed school

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cant say the same for caltech

patent hamlet
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thats true

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caltech seems to be known more for engineering

lusty rune
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i didnt even know caltech premeds existed honestly

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i thought it was pure eng and research

patent hamlet
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well i mean its pretty much just a list of courses they recommend u take to fulfill med school requirements

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but it’s super stem/cs/ai heavy

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but still it doesn’t seem like there’s that many ppl who r pre med

lusty rune
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like in their recommedned premed req listv

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or do you mean school culture

patent hamlet
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both

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like for example

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they don’t have a regular neuro major

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but rather it’s a cs focused neuro major

lusty rune
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also just gonna throw it out

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look into behavioral bio at jhu (my major)

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that and the inability to hit up any professor and be like “can i join ur lab “ are the only things that ill miss not going there

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very cool major

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its like an offshoot of neuro

patent hamlet
patent hamlet
lusty rune
patent hamlet
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bc while i’m sure they have lots of research opportunities idk if it’s as accessible

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at least for freshman

lusty rune
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behaviorla bio makws you take org as an elective unfortunately but everyhting else is cooler

patent hamlet
lusty rune
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behavioral bio? thats a sexy name

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you have way more swagger

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im considering making my own major and shamelessly copying behavioral bio ngl

patent hamlet
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i mean there’s nothing wrong w that

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and behavioral bio goes broader than just humans too

lusty rune
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tbh i was mostly planning on doing it to run around in forests and watch animals all day

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i think jhu wouldve been a lot more attractive to me if i had more mental fortitude

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but i dont think i do so a happier uni it is

patent hamlet
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that’s valid

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the students i talked to seemed happy enough

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that and the safety wasn’t as bad as i was expecting so

lusty rune
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i mean its a uchicago bubble situation

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and chicago is a much more fun city to offsey the crime in comparison to balitimore unfortunateky

patent hamlet
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yea

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i would’ve preferred to stay in ca

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just bc i’m more familiar w the area and everything

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but i figured i would take the chance to explore a diff place

harsh loom
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its really nice

west geyser
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jhu mogger but ca is nice

arctic matrix
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def jhu

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caltech has too little people

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it wont feel like a college

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and jhu is goated in terms of premed