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Hopkins: Worth the Hype?
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First came Homicide: Life on the Street. Now, Hopkins, a six-part ABC docu-reality show gives viewers a glimpse into the lives of what it's like to do noble work in a seemingly anarchic city.
High school students who may be considering a career in medicine could be both intrigued and horrified by the depiction of life as a surgeon or nurse at Hopkins. Yet, no matter one's view of a career in medicine, the clear message sent by the ABC program is that Hopkins is THE PLACE to be if you want to reach the pinnacle of American medicine.
It very well may be true that Hopkins consistently tops the lists of best hospitals in the world and it very well may be true that as an undergraduate at Hopkins a student can often take advantage of one-of-a-kind research and extracurricular opportunities. But should a high school student dead-set on a career in medicine attempt to get into Hopkins as an undergraduate? In most cases the answer is a resounding no, for at least two reasons.
1. When looking at colleges, students must consider much more than reputation (particularly the reputation of an institution's graduate school or affiliated hospital). Workload, work-life balance, social outlets, size, cost, and location are just a few of the considerations that should be considered more than or at least equally to a college's reputation.
2. When looking at an undergraduate school, students should not assume that by getting into an institution such as Hopkins as an undergraduate that they have any better shot of getting into Hopkins' medical school or earning a residency at Hopkins Hospital. A common mistake by parents and students alike is to say "Johnny is going to be a doctor, so of course he is applying to Hopkins for undergrad." This is said with no understanding that in the event that Johnny actually gets into Hopkins, he may be inadvertently decreasing his chances of getting into their medical school because a) lots of other students are thinking the same way as Johnny and his parents and b) when making admissions decisions, medical schools by and large are looking at Johnny's undergraduate GPA far more than they are looking at the name of the school at which he earned that GPA. Furthermore, undergrads at Hopkins don't even study on the same campus as the Hospital, so in many ways Hopkins undergrads are as much removed from the excitement and prestige of Johns Hopkins Hospital as undergraduates attending Loyola, UMBC, University of Maryland College Park, Towson, etc.
Enjoy Hopkins the T.V. show for what it's worth - dramatic storytelling. When applying to college, understand that many different variables will determine a student's success, of which a university's affiliated hospital is not one.
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