Competition in JHU-Healthy or not?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Johns Hopkins University
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<p>Lately i have been hearing stories of students tearing up pages from library books and doing other such stuff just to put others out of the competition. I have heard this not only from CC but from external sources as well. Is it really like that? IF it is, is it only for the more competitive majors like BME?
I really hope the situation isn't as bad as it's been made out to be...</p>

<p>Yeah i know this topic was started in the 'life at JHU' featured thread but then the thread fell silent. So i wanted to revive it.</p>

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<p>hello...I go to JHU. In my opinion, I DONT think the competition is healthy. Its not that we are really seriousely in anger and deep competition with each other. Its just that since we are in competition for the grading curve, everyone obviously tries their best. But, this means never getting sleep, always studying, etc etc... and it is RUINING MY LIFE!!!</p>

<p>Basically, my whole entire 18 year old life is gone due to hopkins, and so is the beginning of being 19 too.</p>

<p>The arts and sciences seem to be ok??, but in engineering no way!!</p>

<p>Before I started I knew that hopkins would be tough and I'd have to work hard. And thats fair, its what I should be doing. But its getting ridiculouse, I go out on friday and saterday nights to get drunk just so that I dont have to think about the horrible week ahead of me, or the horrible week of no sleep and bad grades behind me (much worse than I imagined before I came here).</p>

<p>Its awful, nobody really seems to be having too much fun here (some kids do, they still always party and have a good time but none of those kids are engineers....and im not really sure how they do it still, id love to know??)</p>

<p>ANYWAYS, there are studies that show how lack of sleep, having no fun in your life, and too much stress actually makes you die earlier. AND I HAVE NO DOUBT that going to Hopkins, and possibly Medical School will cause me to die earlier. So no, I dont think the Competition is Healthy.</p>

<p>AND IF YOU ARE A CUTE, PRETTY GIRL, PLEASE THINK TWICE BEFORE GOING TO HOPKINS!!!!!!!!! Not saying that you shouldnt, theres lots of benefits, like that you will get a good job, and the fact that its a great university.</p>

<p>BUT, do you really want to put yourself through this? You can much easier marry a nice boy who is rich and talented, and live happily ever after. Without stressing through hopkins....? just consider it!</p>

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<p>Thanks for that account hopkins12. No, i am not a cute lass. I am of the opposite sex.
Any other comments are welcome too ofcourse.</p>

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<p>lol lol lol</p>

<p>Bruno a cute lass....Lol LOl LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>

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<p>A&S isn't too bad in terms of competition. You just have a lot of people who enjoy working hard and, consequently, the bar is raised. Also, I know people in the Engineering school, like my BME roommate, who really don’t care that much about competition and just do what they have to do for a good grade (i.e. working hard). The only competitive thing I've encountered is that my freaking econ TA announced my mid-term grade to the class after I refused to tell my them and left the room...it was quite annoying!!!</p>

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<p>Only an anti-scholar would rip up a book. How horrifying!</p>

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<p>god damn hopkins12.</p>

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<p>Dude, its not bad at all. The workload may be hard, but competition isn't really cutthroat, everyone is very supportive of each other and willing to help. I'm only A&S, but all of the Engineering/Premed kids I know regularly work together for homework problems/lab reports/studying for tests. There are of course some people that prefer working alone (like me), but when that happens its not because we want a leg up on the other people, its because working in groups often becomes a distraction (socializing) for us, instead of being good study time.</p>

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<p>I'm like you, magnum. I prefer studying alone coz i too tend to get distracted when in a group. I'm glad to hear not everyone feels worn down to the last thread at JHU. Guess it's a matter of how we manage our time.</p>

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<p>And drinking alcohol in order to forget HW isn't eactly the brightest idea in the first place, lol.</p>

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<p>any BME's wanna comment on how they keep themselves sane w/ good grades?</p>

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<p>I would say the competition is pretty stressful, always knowing there are kids out there willing to devote all their free time to school work and not go out on weekends can keep you up at night. In the end it feels very you-against everyone else.</p>

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<p>Well I'm only a freshmen BME and I don't find myself drowning in work, but my grades aren't the best either(a 3.25 first semester). I'm really trying to get dean's list, but I'm too lazy. And yes there are others like me.</p>

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<p>Honestly, especially if you want to be a doctor go elsewhere. All three of my Hopkins friends dropped out of bio/ BME. Meanwhile lesser students in my class went to less competitive places and are in med school because they didnt burn out. There are also a ton of good schools which will get you just as good a job and into as good a med school that actually have a quality of life too. My roommate went to Hopkins and he and another guy from JHU were working together on homework (we're in grad school), and they actually said "WOW I can't believe two people from Hopkins are helping each other." I only have my own experience as an example, but I didnt see such a competitive atmosphere at Columbia or Dartmouth (I went to both...transfer), and those two do just as well in recruitment/ grad placement.</p>

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<p>Hmmm...that's interesting. But somehow, all this competition makes me want to go to Hopkins all the more even though I might regret it later. Btw, can you schedule your classes at Hopkins? Like decide on a computer network what time you want to attend Physics class and what time you want to attend chemistry class? I am asking coz i heard there's some such system at Boston University.</p>

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<p>Depending on what physics you want to be in its only offered at certain times. Right now phys for bio majors is lectures Monday-Wed 9-9:50 with an 8AM friday morning conference. No choice in the matter unless you wanna be in phys for physical science majors or classical physics</p>