<p>I kinda hate to ask this question, but i would love to get an insider's perspective on the competitiveness level and atmosphere at JHU. (I'd be attending engineering, so a comment about Whiting would be great) Thanks</p>
<p>there are plenty of comments on Hopkins' "cutthroat reputation". just hit the search button</p>
<p>but from everything i've heard, there is no more competition at Hopkins than at any other prestigious institution. many of the students have said that peers are generally very supportive of one another and form study groups very often. no one is going to burn your lab manual to get a good grade.</p>
<p>and if it matters at all, when I was taking classes at Hopkins pre-college this summer, we were all very helpful towards each other, even in classes with curves. right before the finals, many students would gather together in groups to study for the exam.</p>
<p>hope this helps</p>
<p>look through old threads, but here's a summary of my opinion. Most people here, and at every top college, are competitive. If you weren't competitive, you probably wouldnt get in here. But by competitive, i mean that we're all working hard to get the best grades possible. This doesn't mean that we're "cutthroat" and trying to sabotage other people or do better at other people's expense. I think that most students (and definitely most engineering student) realize that you can't excel without working with other people. Most people will study in groups, work through problem sets together and try to help each other do well.</p>
<p>This extends beyond the engineering majors. Although I am in math and take physics (rather close to engineering ;)) we all work together. In fact, next year, a few us collaborated so that we could take the same math classes and work on the sets together since we expect them to be hard (complex and real analysis in case you're interested).</p>
<p>once i stabbed this kid who ruined the curve in orgo</p>
<p>and i fed him to the rats of baltimore</p>
<p>Hopkins has had this reputation for being "cutthroat" for a very long time--maybe since its early days. It certainly had that reputation when I was an undergraduate (a fairly long time ago). It is almost entirely urban myth. When I was an undergraduate, I served on what was then called the "Honor Commission"--which handled cases of academic dishonesty and recommended dispostitions to the Dean (today a modified version of that committee still exists as the Ethics Committee (or something like that)). Anyway, we did an investigation into whether there was any truth to the rumors that students would cut pages out of library books, or steal reserve materials, or pass misinformation, or do other things in an attempt to undermine fellow students. We learned that the rumors were almost entirely unfounded, except for the very occasional psycho that can be found on all campuses. Instead, we learned that the rumors persisted because students enjoyed spreading the stories and upperclassmen liked to frighten freshmen with them, sort of like telling ghost stories at camp. Hopkins students like having the reputation of going to a difficult school. It provides the students who succeed with a feeling of having beaten the odds, and it provides the students who don't perform well with a built-in excuse. The problem, of course, is that the stories of cutthroat behavior not only frighten freshmen--but potential applicants and students as well.</p>
<p>Hopkins students are, in general, high achievers and work hard in their attempt to achieve. You can call this competitive if you want, but not only is there nothing wrong with this--I consider it a very positive attribute of the University. But truly cutthroat activities are exceptionally rare--and are no more prevalent at Hopkins than other top schools.</p>
<p>lolz at alonzo!</p>
<p>Hopkins is competitive. So is every other top university. I've never experienced the supposed "cut throat" reputation that this school has in my two and a half years here. In fact, I work more with other people than I ever thought I would in college. People are always sharing study guides, helping each other out on practice tests, editing their friends' papers. The "cut throat" thing is FAR from true.</p>