Johns Hopkins vs Cornell
Major: History (emphasis on historical linguistics, eu history)
Similarities: both amazing schools, east coast (am a westie and want to move away), small, intimate class sizes, both expensive (price is not much of an issue)
Hopkins:
Pros:
- Top 10 school in the nation
- Urban location, lots to do; close to DC, the capital, lots of great resources for a history major, major city with a rich US history
- Top research university with acclaimed professors
Cons: - Baltimore's dangerous
- sister went to hopkins, said there's a tough and stressful academic environment that's not necessarily collaborative
- Top pre-med school but can't say the same for humanities
- I heard the dining hall food isn't great + sister went to hopkins and I don't really want to go to the same school but not a big con
Cornell:
Pros:
- Ivy league school, very prestigious , top university with acclaimed professors
- Reputed dining hall food
- Met with an alumni over Zoom who remarked about Cornell's collaborative atmosphere
Cons: - Fairly isolated from opportunities
- Rural area (I'm not a big nature person)
- High rates of student depression and suicide
Dealbreakers:
- student happiness, quality of life, food
- school strength in humanities (namely history), access to opportunities
- flexibility of changing majors, school difficulty (maybe)
- diversity (namely -- not 50% Asian american like my old high school and many of the UCs)
Postgrad I'm currently looking into law BUT will soundly stay with history as my major and likely minor in a "marketable" subject like economics or finance or something in the department. I have no definite career I'm looking for to be honest