<p>Here's the deal. I was planning on going to Hopkins because I know that I want to get a PhD and do research. What better place is there to do undergraduate research than Hopkins? I at an overnight program and the whole place skeeved me out a bit. Everyone seemed so intense. Then, I came back the next day for the tour and it seemed like normal people came out in the daytime or something. </p>
<p>I was borderline for admission. My SATs were just in their mid-range because I was sick the day I took them. Then I took them in October and got nearly a perfect score. However, I'd already thought about going ED to Hopkins and went ahead and did it. After a little more research I started to regret my decision.</p>
<p>I looked on a bunch of college review sites and found people saying things like </p>
<p>"Hopkins is about the academic opportunities, not the college experience. If you want to evolve as a person and enjoy life, Hopkins may not the right place for you."</p>
<p>and </p>
<p>"Hopkins is where fun goes to die."</p>
<p>I'm no party animal by any measure, but I wouldn't mind getting a bit out of control every once in a while to let off steam. I do want a college experience, and while I don't want to be drunk every weekend, I'd like to be able to have some fun. I'll be an engineer so I know that college will be hard anywhere, and it could actually be better to be at a place where everyone is working their ass off as much as I am, but will I regret not having the "college experience"?</p>
<p>Now that I know that I have these crazy numbers I could go to other schools that are nearly just as "good" but more fun, but not if I am accepted to Hopkins!</p>
<p>I'm not looking for a direct answer, but maybe just some advice. Will I ultimately be happier that I put my education first, or will I wish to have the best four years of my life back?</p>
<p>When you’re 45 with a family you’re going to be happy with the job you get with your hard earned degree. You aren’t going to be looking back at the times when you got **** faced and bonked some nasty chick to “let off steam”. Stick with your initial decision and worry about being the best you can be in your work and not about the parties. I’m sure, like every other school, there will be an occasional party but don’t let your fear of not being able to “let loose” sway your university decision. It wont be worth it in the end</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. There’s no doubt that I am career oriented (would anyone look at Hopkins if they weren’t?). I guess it can be easy to get caught up in social stuff because Senior Year is such a social time for everyone. When your friends are going to Penn State and Temple where they’ll party 7 days a week it can seem like a much better alternative to studying 24/7. My only concern is that I could have both. No, I don’t want to bang some nasty chick or get **** drunk, and even if I went to Penn State I wouldn’t do that (precisely why I am not applying there), but at a place like UVa (which has great grad school placement) or Duke I could have great school spirit, intelligent people, and a great education. Is this realistic or is this a classic case of grass is greener on the other side?</p>
<p>Excuse me, I go to Temple and that’s a completely asinine and misguided view of my school. Temple is not a party school in the way you make it out to be. I’m sure you wouldn’t say that about Penn and it’s really no different (and in fact, has more frats). Also, you’re kidding yourself if you dont think UVA and Duke are bigger party schools than Temple. You clearly know absolutely nothing about colleges.</p>
<p>Yes you are. Or at least most people do. Go somewhere you’ll be happy and have fun and you’ll not only do better academically, but you’ll grow as a person.</p>
<p>edit: Haha, someone said PSU people party 7 days a week. Stuff like that is why you don’t listen to people on the internet.</p>
<p>youll be able to find a balance between school and having fun. Just be careful not to lose sight. School is too expensive to throw it all away for a night of fun</p>
<p>Based on what you’ve written, you may want to withdraw your ED app to Hopkins. When we visited it several years ago, we took the time to talk in depth to several students. All described a very competitive, nose to the grindstone atmosphere. Based on that, our smart, but laid back son, decided not to apply there.</p>
<p>What’s the point of getting an ED admission to a college that would be a bad fit with your personality? There are plenty of other excellent colleges that don’t have the competitive reputation that Hopkins has.</p>
<p>go to the college that best fits your personality…most large research universities offer research opportunities to undergrad students. JHU’s not the only place where you can get the opportunity to do research in whatever field you’re interested in.</p>
<p>Think about it this way: let’s say you’re studying Biology (just picking a random field). There are hundreds of students at JHU studying Bio and trying to get the exact same opportunities with the exact same scientists/professors, they’re applying for the exact same spots. It’s competitive and filled with lots of gunners perfectly willing to have no social lives.</p>
<p>On the other hand, at a less competitive university (that doesn’t mean not as good of a school btw, just a more laid back one) it might be easier to get those research opportunities in the first place, you might stand out more to the professors. I’m not saying go to an average college if you’re shooting for a top school, I’m saying find a place that fits with your personality because college is about having fun, too.</p>
<p>and I’m assuming you’re what, 17, 18? a lot of kids plan on Phds and MDs and JDs and engineering degrees and whatnot, but you haven’t set foot in your first college class yet, so don’t get too caught up thinking “I better go HERE because otherwise I won’t get to do THAT” because you’re going to limit yourself.</p>
<p>Yeah. Go to a school that you really really see yourself going to for four years. I was dead-set on engineering when I started, now I realize there are other things I want to try out as well. And unfortunately my school makes it every difficult to do that. Had I known how hard it would be to take business classes when you’re not in the business school (read: impossible) I would have gone to a different school.</p>
<p>Woah diontechristmas! Don’t get offended so easily. I’m not saying that Temple is a party school, and I never said that people there always party seven days a week. I’m talking about MY friends, who will probably be out nearly every night. I said nothing about any of those schools, so chill. You cannot deny that at those schools it might be POSSIBLE to go out or party on any given night. Also I never compared Temple to UVa or Duke. Bigger schools usually have bigger parties, and I’m sure it would be no different at any school no matter how prestigious.</p>
<p>BTW, if I wanted to withdraw my ED, how would I go about doing that?</p>
<p>It’s POSSIBLE to go out or party on any given night at Harvard. You’ve made no point whatsoever. And I am going to be offended, because what you wrote was asinine.</p>
<p>Email the admission’s dept. ASAP and tell them that you would like to change your ED application to RD. They may or may not allow you to make the change but you’ll have a better chance of changing your application if you contact them NOW.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you are sure that the college is not a good fit, contact the admission’s dept. ASAP and simply ask to withdraw your application. They will most like agree to this request but you need to contact them now.</p>
<p>It sounds like you’re really not ready to commit to Hopkins for ED. I agree that I would e-mail admissions and ask that they change your application from ED to RD - these things happen every year, so I don’t think they’ll be too surprised by your request. You should be feeling excited about a school that you’re applying to for ED. Good luck!</p>
Go Owls</p>