Johns Hopkins University

As a sophomore electrical engineer, all I've gotta say is that you are going to have to be a certain kind of person to come to Hopkins. It is no high school—you WILL work for your grade here. I find that a lot of the dissatisfied elements are those people who expect that they can skip class, crack the book the night before the midterm and somehow pull off a stellar grade. Sleeping all day is also a no-no. At Hopkins your grade is truly a testament to the amount of time and effort that you will put into your education. I have yet to find a class that I felt rated me unfairly, and found several where the grades were actually much too easy. Here's the deal: do not lose sight of the purpose of grades; they are to tell you what you are expected to know and illustrate your strengths and weaknesses. At Hopkins you are expected to take a true interest in the material you are learning. In other words, if you're not the scholarly type, or willing to do the footwork, then Hopkins is not the place for you. You will not get a free ride here.

Social Life:

One recurring theme that I see here, and also repeated in people's comments is that the social life sucks at Hopkins. It is true that there is no student union—no common place for students to gather. This is partly due to the very poor university food and a bit of shortsightedness on the university planners. The transportation is abysmal in the city of Baltimore, and taxis are much too expensive to be used regularly. You will either want to a) bring a car or b) make friends real quick with someone who does. There is always something going on at night, and always something to do. I find that a lot of Hopkins kids slip into the mindset that they are much too busy to do anything like leave the room or go out. I myself am involved heavily in a cappella on campus, lead a student volunteer group at a local elementary school, and still find free time for whatever I need to do.

As with the education at Hopkins, you will have to take an active role in your social life. As a freshman in the AMRs (which I recommend to anyone trying to make friends) or to a lesser extent, Building A and B, you will pretty much have no choice but to make good friends. As the housing gets more spread out for upperclassmen, you will find yourself whittling down those friends and possibly finding new ones.

Professors and Academics:

Fantastic. I have yet to meet a professor that I didn't like in some way. Each and every one of them has their own personality and quirks, and I have yet to meet one that I haven't liked. My biggest recommendation is that you try to AP out of as much of the basic sciences as possible: the intro Biology, Chemistry, and Physics classes are amongst the largest and most tedious and impersonal classes you will take here. After you become more focused on your major, however, class sizes will diminish, and you'll end up taking more and more classes with 20 students at most in the room.

I have yet to meet an unfriendly professor, though I have heard of several. As with all other aspects of Hopkins, you are going to have to take an active role and try to avoid these professors. The add/drop policy at Hopkins is amongst the most liberal in the US, so don't feel bad about "feeling out" a class or something, and don't feel bad about dropping a course after two weeks and taking up another.

Research:

I cannot speak from personal experience here, as I'm just starting to apply to a position in one of the many labs at Hopkins, but I will say that this is one of the most interesting parts of Hopkins. Not only is it encouraged that you participate in scientific research, it's somewhat expected. I know that my friends and I are excited at the prospect of doing some real work here.

the academics are also focused towards this end: every class is trying to give to you the theory and knowledge necessary to actually understand the science involved. For instance, I took an Introductions to Thermodynamics course back when I was thinking about being a mechanical engineer and now I know more about how refrigerators and engines work than I'd probably ever want to. However, the professors are very interested in the material they teach, and are generally interested in getting you to know it as well.

Closing:

In short, if you just want to sail through college, get your degree because its expected by your parents, and then move on, Hopkins is not the place to do it. You WILL WORK here. Nevertheless, I feel that it's been worth every bit of it, because I know that when I leave, I will be prepared for anything that I would like to do. I do not recommend Hopkins if you're a humanities major—as good as some of the teachers there are, it seems like you would have a much better (and cheaper) time at a liberal arts college.

The student here are an interesting bunch, and generally friendly. I have yet to see ANY of the cutthroat behavior that some warn about; if anything, hard classes make people bond together in misery. You will have to take an active role in your social life here, but it is more than possible to balance your academic life with a rewarding social life. Some complain that a lot of the students here are rich and don't understand the concept of student poverty and this can be true. However, these are extreme cases, and you can easily avoid these people if you want to.

Hopkins is truly a great place where you can find a lot of like-minded people interested in working hard and making their education work for them. Find some extracurricular that you're interested in, find a study group to help you through the hard times, learn about your professors and talk to them, and generally keep an open mind. This isn't high school anymore, folks, and things are going to be wildly different.