<p>Also - anyone is welcome to respond to questions here! I’m sure the Class of 2015 would be happy to hear all feedback, not just mine :)</p>
<p>Thanks tanman and hopkid! :)</p>
<p>I also wanted to ask regarding the financial stuff.
If you get an Early Decision grant, what exactly will be done with it? I was just skimming over J-cash thingy on hopkins… and they said on the card’s website that we have to send a photo to the card services at hopkins. So I am not sure if they will merge the grant with the J-card.</p>
<p>How do payments (for foods, buying books/clothing/stuff at B&N) work out? I did get an ED grant and I wanted to buy a sweatshirt from JHU’s BN website. Is it not possible that I can use that grant now?
How does the process work?</p>
<p>Do you pay with your J-card to buy things, because I read that it is obligatory for every hopkins student to have one?</p>
<p>No problem, C0mputer5cience! </p>
<p>I won’t be able to answer all of these questions because I’m not too knowledgeable about financial aid, but I’ll be able to help you sort out questions about your J-card.</p>
<p>Every student at Hopkins has a J-card. It’s basically your ID. You need to use it to get into the dorms, the FFC, and some other buildings. As a freshman, when you sign up for meal plans (check out this <a href=“http://www.campusdish.com/NR/rdonlyres/CD78CCCF-AAC5-40D3-922B-C8F7459ED043/0/2010MPFull.pdf[/url]”>http://www.campusdish.com/NR/rdonlyres/CD78CCCF-AAC5-40D3-922B-C8F7459ED043/0/2010MPFull.pdf</a> to learn about all your different dining options and what they mean) you will get meal swipes at the FFC (either unlimited or 14 per week) and dining dollars (either 100 or 250 per semester, which you can use at places like CharMar). If you happen to run out of dining dollars (like I did) you can put your own money onto your J-card - where it’s considered J-cash. You can also use this at places like CharMar or other spots near campus (like Starbucks or Sandellas) that will accept it. A lot of students never use up their dining dollars and never put J-cash on their J-card, it all depends on how much money you spend. </p>
<p>They won’t merge your grant with your J-card. It will probably go towards books or tuition, but I’m not totally sure. I also don’t know what the rules or regulations are for using the grant - that might be a question to post on the Facebook group, if you’re a member.</p>
<p>Hey hopkid! I’ve been accepted into Hopkins BME (YES!!) and I was wondering what socializing at Hopkins is like. I’m very eager to meet new people and make friends there because apparently none of my friends will be there next year 
Was it easy making friends at first?</p>
<p>Also, what’s the party scene like? :D</p>
<p>Congratulations R3d3mpti0n! You definitely can’t go wrong with Hopkins BME :)</p>
<p>It’s really easy to make friends! Most people are in the same position as you (not knowing anyone before coming to campus) so everyone’s pretty much on the same page. During orientation week, Hopkins has a lot of events just for freshman, so you will be able to meet a lot of new people. You usually bond with your house (if you’re in the AMRs) or your floor (if you’re in A or B/Wolman/McCoy), and a lot of the friends you make during O-week become some of your closest friends at Hopkins. </p>
<p>The party scene is completely what you make it. There are definitely some people that never go out, and then there are those that go out all the time. Having covered grades your first semester freshman year really lets you experiment and see what works best for you. During O-week, frats have parties almost every day. After that, the parties are mostly on Thursday/Friday/Saturday. There are some theme parties held throughout the year that were really fun; the frats do a great job catering to everyone. Also, many people just chill in the dorms on the weekends or hang out with friends. The party scene at Hopkins is really flexible; you can go out as much or as little as you want.</p>
<p>I definitely agree w/ hopkid about the social scene. There is so much to do at Hopkins! I just wanted to add on that another great way to meet people and make friends is that RAB (the Residential Advisory Board) sponsors several fun events throughout the year - for instance, a private screening of the Social Network (in case you didn’t know, that movie was filmed at Hopkins!!), a day trip to Six Flags, or the midnight premiere of Harry Potter. The great thing is that they coordinate it all for you (i.e. transportation) and it’s all at a very low price. Like for the HP midnight premiere - tickets and transportation total were just for $10. I’ve met friends through them and have had a blast.</p>
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<p>This is… kind of false. I don’t think you can permanently uncover them on your transcript to add to your Hopkins GPA, but for example if you take 3/4 of your premed requirements freshman year, med schools might ask for those grades to be released to them, and they can calculate your GPA from that.</p>
<p>“med schools might ask for those grades to be released to them”
and I’m 99% sure Hopkins will say no. The only two ways that I know of to get grades released is to apply to transfer out of Hopkins after your first semester, or to get a letter in writing from a scholarship foundation saying that you will lose your scholarship or will not be able to apply for a scholarship unless you submit letter grades. I applied to med school having taken most of my premed requirements via AP credit or as a freshman, and never had any school ask about my covered grades. Most med schools get so many applications from Hopkins that they know the rules about covered grades (I’ve spoken to the admissions officers at my current med school and they’re very familiar with the policy) so it shouldn’t adversely affect your application</p>
<p>I wasn’t saying med schools WILL ask for it, hence the “might”. Or that it ONLY has to be med schools asking. 1) The school/employer would have to ask for it and 2) you’d have to agree to the release; Hopkins wouldn’t just be like oh, okay and send them everywhere.</p>
<p>I’m merely pointing out that they don’t just disappear off the face of the planet after freshman year. And if you do (very) badly even under covered grades, you can still be put on academic probation. </p>
<p>Actually - I have a question about AP cred + med school - I got a large number of credits from AP too; do you think that makes you slightly less competitive in the eyes of med schools? You’re probably not a good person to ask, being an MD/PhD and all haha.</p>
<p>believe it or not, I am worried about whether or not I will make friends 
how “friendly” and “open” is JHU?
you stated that people make their closest friends during O-week—but does it become cliquish?</p>
<p>@Kyuu: I really don’t think it’s a problem at all unless you’re a non-science major and didn’t take any extra science classes beyond the basic pre-med requirements. I think the admissions committees want to make sure that you’ll be successful in med school classes, and I would guess the best way to evaluate that would be performance in college science classes. Beyond that, though, I don’t think it would really matter all that much - I would guess a solid MCAT score, science GPA, activities and recommendations would trump your freshman grades being hidden</p>
<p>Hello, I too am a current freshman at JHU. (Physics, by the way).</p>
<p>hopkid, I just have one question for you. Are you paid by or otherwise affiliated with the admissions staff?</p>
<p>Hey wahkimoocow, Congratulations! </p>
<p>I wouldn’t be worried! If you look at some of my posts above, you’ll see there are plenty of opportunities to make friends during orientation week and afterwards.</p>
<p>I would say that some cliques do form, but not everyone has a certain “clique” that they belong to. It’s easy to hang out with other “groups.” I went to a high school that was very stereotypical (and therefore very cliquey) and that was nothing like Hopkins at all. A lot of times at Hopkins, sports teams will be seen together at the dining hall and out at night or a certain group of girls will always be together, but for the most part, it’s super easy to have a diverse group of friends.</p>
<p>Hey feynm123!</p>
<p>Nope, I’m not! I mean, I got accepted to Blue Key Society and Hopkins Hosting Society, which allow me to give tours and host prospective students respectively, but I haven’t started training for either yet.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply, hopkid!</p>
<p>I’m also a current freshman if you have any questions, and I totally second feynm123.
Most of the information hopkids given you is the same stuff you’ll read in any brochure or review of Hopkins. </p>
<p>My biggest suggestion to all of you is to try everything when you get here and TAKE ADVANTAGE OF COVERED GRADES. Now that covered grades are officially over, I wish I did even less work than I did. Which was little.</p>
<p>You guys are all welcome to answer questions on here as well or add on to my responses! I definitely can’t cover everything and I think varied feedback would be great for incoming freshmen to hear. Everything I’m posting is based on my own experience at Hopkins - it’s not the same for everyone.</p>
<p>Yes…varied feedback would be helpful: especially with the fact that it seems that we have different majors and therefore different opinions and experiences. I myself am majoring in International Studies and Global Envi Change and Sustainability. It appears that hopkid is majoring in English and Public Health, while feynm123 is a physics major. (Gtgen, what’s your major?) So already we have a diverse group ready to help out some 2015ers.</p>
<p>Can someone please tell me about cheerleading at Hopkins. I heard there is a team but I can’t find any info on them.</p>
<p>There’s a dance team called the Ladybirds that performs at football and lacrosse games but I honestly don’t remember ever seeing cheerleaders. I too have heard they exist on some level but I’ve yet to…see them. And I go to all the lacrosse games and a lot of football games.</p>