How cutthroat are non Pre-Med Students at Hopkins?

[ChillDad]

Everyone knows JHU is chill LAX

[sattut]

I don’t want to bad mouth my alma mater. I agree that it isn’t cutthroat in terms of people literally cutting others throats or even sabotaging each other. However, doing homework together is a little shady, and says something about the environment that everyone is doing that. If you do the homework on your own, you probably wind up with low grades.

It might not be as bad as when I was there, but they eliminated the honor code because premeds were openly cheating in groups. Most of the premeds would forge their adviser’s signatures on their schedules because the advisers were not interested and the premeds would get informal peer advise on what classes they could get grades in. The faculty would teach classes in their research areas and it wasn’t really a clear progression of classes. I wasn’t sure what the premeds learned picking classes that way. Then, premeds with 4 years of German in high school got Ds in German I, which I guess was a big disaster for premeds. I don’t know why they were in German I to start with, but you couldn’t take introductory language without 3+ years of it is high school.

The school was really intense and there are a lot of good points. Part of the problem is that med schools don’t adjust their GPA requirements by school to the same level that graduate departments by subject do. It may have changed in the long time since I was there, but it wasn’t the easiest environment, cutthroat or not.

[stevensPR]

@sattut

I don’t want to bad mouth my alma mater. I agree that it isn’t cutthroat in terms of people literally cutting others throats or even sabotaging each other. However, doing homework together is a little shady, and says something about the environment that everyone is doing that. If you do the homework on your own, you probably wind up with low grades.

It might not be as bad as when I was there, but they eliminated the honor code because premeds were openly cheating in groups. Most of the premeds would forge their adviser’s signatures on their schedules because the advisers were not interested and the premeds would get informal peer advise on what classes they could get grades in. The faculty would teach classes in their research areas and it wasn’t really a clear progression of classes. I wasn’t sure what the premeds learned picking classes that way. Then, premeds with 4 years of German in high school got Ds in German I, which I guess was a big disaster for premeds. I don’t know why they were in German I to start with, but you couldn’t take introductory language without 3+ years of it is high school.

The school was really intense and there are a lot of good points. Part of the problem is that med schools don’t adjust their GPA requirements by school to the same level that graduate departments by subject do. It may have changed in the long time since I was there, but it wasn’t the easiest environment, cutthroat or not.

What adjustment is needed? The average GPA at Hopkins is about a 3.6 now. Massive inflation and nowhere near as intense as before

[1stTimeThruMom]

@cptofthehouse

Not everyone is cutthroat, a bad word. High strung is more the case , and very grades and goal directed. Again not even the majority are that way. But it doesn’t take a majority to color the air that way. A puff of smoke can make that difference. A critical core can do that with students. Schools have an atmosphere, a vibe , a feel. Hopkins has that rep for good reason. It’s not the only school that way. Very different from schools with a more relaxed, joyful atmosphere.

@cptofthehouse

Not everyone is cutthroat, a bad word. High strung is more the case , and very grades and goal directed. Again not even the majority are that way. But it doesn’t take a majority to color the air that way. A puff of smoke can make that difference. A critical core can do that with students. Schools have an atmosphere, a vibe , a feel. Hopkins has that rep for good reason. It’s not the only school that way. Very different from schools with a more relaxed, joyful atmosphere.

I still remember the looks on the faces of the students in the library when we toured in summer ‘16. Intense.

[stevensPR]

@1stTimeThruMom

@cptofthehouse

Not everyone is cutthroat, a bad word. High strung is more the case , and very grades and goal directed. Again not even the majority are that way. But it doesn’t take a majority to color the air that way. A puff of smoke can make that difference. A critical core can do that with students. Schools have an atmosphere, a vibe , a feel. Hopkins has that rep for good reason. It’s not the only school that way. Very different from schools with a more relaxed, joyful atmosphere.

@cptofthehouse

Not everyone is cutthroat, a bad word. High strung is more the case , and very grades and goal directed. Again not even the majority are that way. But it doesn’t take a majority to color the air that way. A puff of smoke can make that difference. A critical core can do that with students. Schools have an atmosphere, a vibe , a feel. Hopkins has that rep for good reason. It’s not the only school that way. Very different from schools with a more relaxed, joyful atmosphere.

I still remember the looks on the faces of the students in the library when we toured in summer ‘16. Intense.

It is a good thing they redesigned this site to be less than useful for finding info. It mirrors the content.

[LoudounParent60]

I’m an old Hopkins grad – non-premed variety. When I was at Homewood, we heard horror stories about people known as “throats.” The kind of people who would razor blade key pages out of books in the reading room, etc. Now, did these people actually exist? Who knows. If the term has been watered down to just mean very focused, driven, competitive people, of course there are plenty of them at JHU and other top schools. My advice: Don’t worry about other kids, just bust your ass and do your best. NB: There should be enough gut courses for you to get a breather each semester. Good luck in Baltimore!

[stevensPR]

@LoudounParent60

I’m an old Hopkins grad – non-premed variety. When I was at Homewood, we heard horror stories about people known as “throats.” The kind of people who would razor blade key pages out of books in the reading room, etc. Now, did these people actually exist? Who knows. If the term has been watered down to just mean very focused, driven, competitive people, of course there are plenty of them at JHU and other top schools. My advice: Don’t worry about other kids, just bust your ass and do your best. NB: There should be enough gut courses for you to get a breather each semester. Good luck in Baltimore!

Have never heard this term during my time at Hopkins in the 2000s. I also have several friends that were premed and went to med school - they loved the collaborative nature of Hopkins. I think more recent experiences are more relevant.