<p>There is not a doubt in my mind that few, if any, national universities offer academics that exceed those of JHU in quality.<br>
Not surprisingly, few people would be concerned about just how good JHU's academics are because they are known to be absolutely first rate.
But I personally am a believer that the undergrad experience should be a well balanced admixture of great academics and a great social/extracurricular life, and I have heard things that cause me to think that the latter is much weaker than the former at JHU.
I would appreciate it if some current students and/or recent alums would offer their honest, completely unvarnished, opinions on this.
Thanks</p>
<p>My honest take as a freshman:</p>
<p>Is there hard work? Yes. However, this does not mean that social life is nonexistent. On weekends, groups of students can frequently be seen hanging around and partying. On weekdays, there are always people on my dorm floor in the common room who enjoy working together, talking, watching TV, etc. Very few people that I know of are pent-up in the their rooms or the library 24/7 studying. There definitely is an active social life here and if you ever need someone to hang around with, there’s always someone.</p>
<p>I get that there’s a social life, but is it your sense that it measures up to the social life at other top academic schools, like Northwestern, Brown, Georgetown, Duke, to name just a few? Or do you think that JHU is a bit less balanced (in terms of academic vs. social) than those schools are reputed to be?
At a JHU weekend open house event last summer for prospective applicants, they were not shy about saying how many students are in the library on Friday and Saturday nights, which did not strike me as a positive picture.</p>
<p>Yes, there are always a lot of people in the library, but I have a feeling it’s like that at just about every large school. And then again, there are also a fair number of students who use the top floors of the library as a “hangout” place to simply socialize and maybe do light studying. Not all Hopkins students are in the library at once. As I look out my window right now as a matter of fact, I see groups of friends walking with each other, hanging out, having a good time.</p>
<p>The balance between social life/fun and academic life/work will vary by individual, and this is true at Hopkins and every other school you mentioned. At Hopkins, you can find students who party most of the time, and you will find students who work most of the time. Most students, however, find some reasonable balance in the middle. Exactly where that balance is will vary by individual. </p>
<p>It is probably true that the average Hopkins student finds that balance point somewhat more toward the work end than the fun end as compared to students at, say, Brown or Northwestern. Why is that? Its not that Hopkins students are inherently different than students at Brown or Northwestern; to the contrary, the applicant pools are very similar. I think the difference is due to a number of factors: (1) Hopkins has a higher percentage of students studying the physical sciences and engineering than those other schools, and those subjects tend to be more time demanding (e.g., English and political science majors don’t have problem sets to do); (2) Hopkins has a higher percentage of pre-meds than those other schools, and pre-meds everywhere tend to be competitive because, nationally, there are far more pre-meds than spaces in medical schools; (3) Hopkins students tend to have a higher course load–an average of 5 courses per sememster compared to 4 at the Ivies; (4), Hopkins does not discriminate against Asian people and, as a result, has a higher percentage of Asian students than the other schools you mentioned. While I hate to play into stereotypes-it does seem that many Asians have a cultural bias toward hard work, and a walk through the Eisenhower Library at odd hours will tend to confirm that; and, (5) finally, while Hopkins, like every other school, has had grade inflation over the years, the rate of inflation has been less at Hopkins and, therefore, one probably has to work a bit harder at Hopkins to get a top grade. I don’t want to overstate this last point; the average grade at Hopkins is lower than at most Ivies (Cornell excepted) but the difference is less than most people imagine. </p>
<p>I don’t view any of the factors I cited as negative and, in fact, most prospective employers and graduate departments view them as highly positive. The important point is that every individual can choose the balance point that is most appropriate for them–and you will have plenty of company whichever balance point you choose. The vast majority of Hopkins students find an appropriate balance–and the “work hard, play hard” philosophy seems to be quite prevalent.</p>