Johns Hopkins for NON pre-meds?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Johns Hopkins University
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<p>Hi, I'm a high school junior thinking about applying to Johns Hopkins. I am planning to major in Bio and do research (maybe molecular bio, genetics, or biochemistry). I do not want to go the pre-med route.</p>

<p>I know Johns Hopkins has a very strong pre-med program. Is its regular Bio major program just as good? Does the supposedly cutthroat environment of pre-med affect non-premed Bio majors?</p>

<p>Please share your experiences. Thanks in advance!</p>

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<p>Hopkins is not ‘cut-throat’ now in 2010. It used to be in 1985. I wouldn’t worry about that aspect. </p>

<p>I think if you want research, Hopkins is a VERY good fit. It’s the center of what undergrads @ Hopkins do - research. </p>

<p>GL</p>

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<p>Ahahaha.</p>

<p>HAHA. HA.</p>

<p>Take it from an Mol/Cell BS major who ain’ premed here, mate. Y’prolly wanna reconsider. I’ll list your pros and cons, and you decide. Just 'cause my experience has been less than pleasant doesn’t mean I won’t try to be objective.</p>

<p>Pros:

  • Research. This place runs on undergrad lab monkey-ing, but if you luck into a good PI, especially if you let slip that you’re not premed and never have been, you’ll have lots of fun.
  • The department. The biology department here is high caliber and great to interact with. Most professors are very approachable, and again, if you slip in that you’re not premed, they more or less adopt you.
  • The MCB major. Believe me, it’s good. The course selection is marvelous, and once you get past the pre-med packed classes, a world of fun opens up to you.</p>

<p>Cons:

  • The student body. Oh, lord, the student body. “Cutthroat” is probably inaccurate, but don’t look for camaraderie here. I’ve got my friends, but they’re all premeds, and though they won’t actively try to screw you over, they won’t help you if they think it’ll disadvantage them in any way. Most are pretty stuck on their GPAs, too, so if you’re wanting friends who’ll be as enthusiastic as you are about the subject, good luck finding them.
  • The grading scale and deflation. Dear gods, the average here is usually literally the average. I mean, if you do the average, you’ll get a C+ or so. And hey, maybe you’re good enough to consistently do above the average, but even that usually only nets you some permutation of a B. Also, you’re competing with premeds. A good many study their lives away. If you’re hoping for a strong, 3.5+ GPA, JHU is prolly not the place for you, because not only will that be hard to pull off, you’ll get to listen to people moaning about their 3.7’s and how they won’t get into med school.
  • The courses. These professors are great researchers, but a great researcher does not a great teacher make.</p>

<p>All in all, not the worst place you could choose, and if you’re an awesome possum who breathes biology, prolly one of the best choices possible. That said, as a non-premed MCB like you hope to be, and a fairly normal person who has a life outside of studying, I wouldn’t make the same choice again.</p>

<p>Concluding advice? Go somewhere else for undergrad, and come here from grad school. The grad students in the department are pretty damn content.</p>

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<p>“The grading scale and deflation. Dear gods, the average here is usually literally the average. I mean, if you do the average, you’ll get a C+ or so.”</p>

<p>Isn’t that just a standard Bell Curve? I wouldn’t consider that “deflation.”</p>

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<p>You’d be hard pressed to find schools that curve the mean to a C (well, at least the top-tier private ones; public might be different). In large classes, the mean is typically curved to around a B, some higher, some lower. It’s probably different in pre-med classes, I don’t know since I’m not pre-med.</p>

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<p>Hopkins isn’t that strict a curve and honestly, that’s prof to prof not a univ. wide policy. The average kid at Hopkins gets a B. That’s normal.</p>

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<p>Sorry about the previous post - I was angsting over Cell Bio at the time. The curve in that class is ridiculous. It’s not curved to a C - it’s normalized to the top score, which is inevitably too close to perfect for it to reflect much on how the overall class is doing. That said, there definitely are classes curved to a C+, and that’s always a pain.</p>

<p>And yes, it is a standard bell curve, but Hopkins IS grade deflated, compared to other top-tier schools, which puts us at a disadvantage. It works fine for the half that is above the average, but y’know, there’s always going to be half below it, too…</p>

<p>The average kid getting a B = GPA of 3.0. Grad school, med school… neither would want to see that, honestly, not to mention how it makes your stress levels rise.</p>

<p>Out of curiosity, WealthOfInformation, did you/are you attending JHU, given your current location? And if so, what’s your major? JHU can be a very different experience depending on which major or field you’re in.</p>

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<p>JHU average grade</p>

<p>2005 3.23</p>

<p>2006 3.24</p>

<p>From [National</a> Trends in Grade Inflation, American Colleges and Universities](<a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com/]National”>http://www.gradeinflation.com/)</p>

<p>It is lower than Harvard’s 3.4, but it is closer to a B+ than a B.</p>

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<p>That GPA includes the non-science majors, which tend to have a bit of an easier time. Makes me wonder what the average of just the biology department is.</p>

<p>Also, be aware that this GPA average is not showing everything, because in my experience, there’s a not insignificant number of people retaking many classes, most prominently Organic Chem. They do tend to do better the second time around, and JHU only takes the latest grade in GPA calculations.</p>

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<p>^^ You really make JHU out to be worse than it is.</p>

<p>To the OP, I’m doing really well at Hopkins, and it is by no means cutthroat. Maybe certain people just attract the wrong friends, and that speaks more about them and their group of people, than Hopkins as a whole…but when i was taking chemistry, bio, orgo, etc, I would miss the occasional class (you know, oversleep, cold, etc), and my friends would always email me any notes or important things that happened. we studied together all the time, and it really helped a lot because I ended up with A’s or A-'s in all those courses (along with my friends). We did well, but we did well TOGETHER.</p>

<p>It really just depends on the type of people you end up making friends with. yes, there are people who are competitive, but what school DOESN’T have those people? Don’t let your few competitive friends speak for the whole school. PLEASE.</p>

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<p>I don’t think that being bio pre med or not pre med makes a difference in how well you do. Both take the same pre med classes, it’s just that one won’t go to medical school. I know plenty of non pre med bio majors and they are doing just fine. Either way, pre med or not, you want to do well whether it’s for med school or love of the subject or GPA. </p>

<p>It’s possible to do well and possible to do poorly. There are times when you study alllll day but your scores don’t show it. But that’s life and it happens. </p>

<p>It’s not cutthroat and all of the people I know study together all the time. Avg GPA means hardly anything to me because as someone mentioned, retakes happen, and different majors happen and different grading scales occur (organic chem is a B- curve, gen chem is a B, physics varies…etc).</p>

<p>But if you love bio and are willing to work hard for it I say go for it. :)</p>

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<p>Most Hopkins students are not Pre-Med. University DNE Med School.</p>

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<p>Current student-- about 80% of our students are not pre-med. </p>

<p>Someone mentioned grade deflation earlier-- if you do happen to be premed, we actually have higher admit rates for lower GPAs so the medical schools understand that Hopkins is a tough school which is aweome. </p>

<p>That being said, I am NOT pre-med…</p>