Looking to apply to chem and was wondering if there were any chemists here? thanks!
“Chemists” as in working professionals or chem majors at JHU?
The chemistry program at Hopkins is a very small department in terms of graduates (like 5-20 graduates a year from what I last heard). This doesn’t mean the program isn’t great (the school has multiple Chemistry Nobel laureates associated with it and many students are required to take chemistry courses at JHU), just that many students with interests in chemistry end up majoring in related fields like Chemical Biomolecular Engineering, Molecular and Cellular Biology or Biophysics.
Oh right, thank you! I just wanted to ask a couple of questions regarding the chemistry courses!
Ask, away. Many other majors take chemistry courses besides chem majors (e.g. general chemistry, organic chemistry, physical chemistry), unless you want some very special upper-level chem courses like organometallics.
Thanks! I was just wondering whether there are any opportunities to carry out individual research? i have heard of the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, but are there still opportunities to carry out a project without the fellowship?
Oh yes, if you have a real idea and pitch it well you can definitely get funded. There are undergraduate research grants you can apply to each year that really aren’t too competitive. We had a student one year who wanted to study the importance of the Baltimore Ravens football team to community building, etc. and she got funding for flights, room and board for all the away games and tickets for all home and away games. While not the most rigorous research project, she did a great job with her surveys and documenting oral histories, and it was actually a very informative presentation. If the school was willing to fund all that, one can imagine the possibilities…
If you wanted to do your own lab research the best way would be to find an undergrad lab and research something there related to what is already being studied. That way all the equipment and resources are available (the school is not going to fund you millions). You would need to get the lab PI on board and he would have to oversee and probably assist you, but it’s been done before. Check the literature and see what questions have yet to be answered using techniques you are confident you can perform given your skill level and resources available. It’s reasonable to think you may need to wait until sophomore year to start your own pet project to build a relationship with the lab PI first before he just lets you go mad scientist in his lab though.
cheers for the detailed response! i will definitely keep that in mind 