<p>Hello!</p>
<p>I have been admitted to Berkeley, UNC Chapel Hill, Johns Hopkins, and am on the waiting list at Harvard. I want to study bio with the hope of either going into field or molecular biology. I also want an amazing social experience in college. Will I find it at Johns Hopkins? Should I choose Johns Hopkins? </p>
<p>Also, the admissions decision did not say anything about money - is it possible I will still get a scholarship?</p>
<p>Hugely different schools you got on your list…visit and find out…=). Hopkins is more personal by virtue of it being a private school with smaller class sizes and greater undergraduate research involvement and opportunities. Social life is great, but it lacks DI sports like Cal or UNC. You would likely be a Ravens/Orioles fan though…=). People definitely party and hang out though - especially near the inner harbor area/fells point/federal hill area with bars and clubs Hopkins is world renowned for biology - your research there with professors would launch you into top graduate schools should you choose.</p>
<p>I totally agree with what Blah said. I won’t talk about the other schools because I don’t know anything about them, but I will give my take on Hopkins.</p>
<p>Is the social life/party scene as good as state schools? Not at all- it’s part of the sacrifice you make for going to such a good school. However, there ARE parties and you’ll never have nothing to do on the weekends if you feel like going out. Greek life is pretty big in terms of the party scene but not mandatory. I’m friends with people in many fraternities so even though I’m not in one myself, I have no problems going to frat parties. Inner harbor and Fells Point are also really popular places to go on the weekend since they both have great restaurants and bars. </p>
<p>However, the academics here are amazing- as much as you will complain about long problem sets and labs over the semester, you WILL learn the material very well. Many companies love to hire Hopkins student because of their tendency to remember more of the material from past classes than other college student. Additionally, Hopkins is not cut throat. There are some people who aren’t helpful, but you’ll rarely ever find anyone who goes out of their way to make sure other people do poor on exams. Instead, people help each other out all the time and just study harder so that they do very well, regardless of how everyone else does.</p>
<p>So if your look for a pure social school, don’t come to Hopkins. This is a place for people who love to learn more than just the bare minimum and are really nerds at heart (anyone from Hopkins who says they aren’t at least a bit nerdy- beside lax players maybe- is lying). You come here for the great education, but you will still have a good social life as long as you don’t come in expecting it to be a great as state schools</p>
<p>@jeffreycoleman I was admitted to all those schools too! And I’m stuck between UNC Chapel Hill and Johns Hopkins at the moment…</p>
<p>Does anyone here know what percentage of pre-med students at Hopkins who get a 3.5+ GPA?</p>
<p>There should be no comparison, everyone from NC, California, Michigan usually had their flagships (with in-state tuition) as options but chose to come to Hopkins at likely higher costs…=)… </p>
<p>As for pre-med stats: </p>
<p>[JHU</a> Pre-Professional Advising](<a href=“Pre-Professional Advising | Student Affairs”>Pre-Professional Advising | Student Affairs)</p>
<p>88% chance of acceptance if you have a 3.3 or higher. That’s average or slightly below average at Hopkins:</p>
<p>[Greek</a> Grade Information, Spring 2012](<a href=“http://web.jhu.edu/studentlife/greek_life/GradeInformation/greekgradesspring12.html#MGC]Greek”>http://web.jhu.edu/studentlife/greek_life/GradeInformation/greekgradesspring12.html#MGC)</p>
<p>I imagine the average GPA for premeds doesn’t deviate much from the overall average as science majors at the end of the day still take the same courses premed or not.</p>
<p>@Blah2009 Yes, I’ve read that information before too! For some reason, everyone has been telling me that the premed intro classes at Hopkins are centered at 2.7 (B-). How on earth am I going to get even a 3.3? 
I know med schools concentrate on your science GPA and will look at that separately from your overall GPA so you can’t necessarily take a ton of easier non-science courses. It’s just really intimidating to me. Are there easier science classes at Hopkins centered at maybe a B+ so I can raise my science GPA?</p>
<p>who told you this? I took a lot of the premed classes (chem I, II, calc, and physics was required for engineering) and the median was always around a B+. I’ve heard similar things about bio intro classes and orgo (curved to a B) from my friends.</p>
<p>@Blah2009 -DreamsAreReal associates with only mediocre students and that’s why she is hearing all the 2.7 stories :).</p>
<p>@Blah2009 So it’s curved to around 3.0-ish? That doesn’t sound as intimidating now. You’re sure, right?</p>
<p>and @Professor101 Yes, there have been some people who’ve told me that if I work EXTREMELY hard, I can only be guaranteed a 2.7, B-. That’s one of the reasons why I wasn’t sure about Hopkins and was considering Chapel Hill because the competition would be less, although Hopkins most likely offers a better overall education</p>
<p>This school looks like it’s out of the question. I do not get a happy vibe from this place.</p>
<p>@DreamsAreReal</p>
<p>I’m a freshman right now taking some of the intro science / pre-med courses, so I can only speak for my freshman experience. Yes, some of the larger lecture classes are curved to a B-, but remember: the B- is the middle of the pack. If you’re working “EXTREMELY hard,” or even just maintaining decent study habits you’re likely to preform much better, at least in my experience.</p>
<p>@BaltimoreBlueJay Hey, thanks for your response! Well I’ve been an extremely hard worker my entire life, but I’m afraid that if everyone else does the same (unlike high school) and actually tries, then I’d perform worse. For a long time, my success probably amounts to the tons and tons of effort I try to put in while everyone else hangs out/parties/etc. But now, I’m not sure if my “hard work” will stand out anymore at Hopkins where everyone else is working just as hard.</p>
<p>@dreamsarereal Wow I had exactly the same fears last year before I came to Hopkins! Because of the school’s reputation, I was worried that I would be working nonstop just to get C’s. Luckily, I came here and found that the rumors were not true. Yes, Hopkins is full of hard workers, but that work is still definitely reflected in grades - and if you work efficiently, you can do very well and still have free time left over :).</p>
<p>@BaltimoreBlueJay Thanks for telling that; it makes me feel so much better! So as long as I work hard, I should be able to get above average in the intro science classes? If things are graded on a curve, wouldn’t the higher percentage of hard workers make it seem like you aren’t working as hard, which would hurt your grade? You said that work is reflected in grades. But if most people at Hopkins are hard workers, wouldn’t that mean they’d all get high grades? I’m slightly confused.</p>
<p>@dreamsarereal</p>
<p>Hopkins is full of students that are passionate about their work, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is studying nonstop. Freshmen year is often a rude awakening for students here coming from high schools where they could get As without studying and expect the same habits to yield the same results. Remember that these students, students who take the large intro science classes and then decide that they don’t plan on following a premedical track after all, and some (for lack of a better word) lazy students, or students that are taking advantage of covered grades by not studying are also going to be averaged into these curves. </p>
<p>I am in no way guaranteeing straight A+s for you. Getting “As” is HARD. But “hard” in that you have to keep on top of readings and practice problems and attending class, and it sounds like you’re more than willing to put the work in. In Intro Chem I, typically 25% of students get an A when the class is curved to a B-.</p>
<p>@BaltimoreBlueJay Okay, that makes Hopkins sound a much more manageable. I guess that most people assume that it’s near “impossible” to do well…but that gives me so much hope! Thank you! So what would be the percentage of B+'s and B’s in an intro to chem class? Also, does organic have the same curve as intro classes or is it more lenient because so many people struggle with it?</p>
<p>If you took AP Calc AB, AP Calc C, AP Chem, AP Physics Mechanics, AP Physics E&M, AP Biology and received a 5 on the respective AP tests, then you will find the Calc 1+2, Chem 1+2, Physics 1+2, and Bio 1+2 classes here at JHU relatively easy.</p>
<p>Also, after the intro classes, most upper level classes are curved to a B+. For example, in my intro to probability class(a 400 level class), a 60-80 is a B and an 80-100 is an A and the professor gives a lot of extra credit on the homeworks.</p>