To anyone at Johns Hopkins,
What’s life there like? I couldn’t find a lot of resources on this on CC or outside, and I’m seriously wondering. I know it’s in Baltimore, but how’s the nearby neighborhood? What sort of school culture is there? Is there a lot of people interested in research?
Any information like this would be helpful.
Hopkins has a very safe “Hopkins Bubble” around campus. The dorms and the overall charles village area is pretty safe, but it’s at the outside edges that it begins to get a little unsafe. On the other side of campus, Hampden is super hipster and has great restaurants, shops, and bars.
Safety-wise, as long as you stay smart and don’t walk around alone at 3am, you’ll be fine.
School culture is very competitive, but not cutthroat. Most students collaborate together to work on homework assignments and study for tests.
Research is very popular. There are many labs on the undergraduate campus, and a ton of labs on the medical school campus. Research is available to all who want it if you just ask around.
(current student)
Hopkins definitely has the “Hopkins Bubble,” which as vrhou98 said is the area right around campus. A few blocks around are mostly campus buildings/student residences, little restaurants, stuff like that. But Baltimore also has pretty artsy neighborhoods, like Hamden, where lots of students go, and more touristy areas, like Inner Harbor, where students also go. There’s a free Baltimore bus line, the Charm City Circulator, which is really useful. There’s also a Collegetown Shuttle, free with a student ID, that goes to all the Baltimore-area colleges. You can easily get a free ride to Towson mall or the Inner Harbor aquarium, both places I’ve enjoyed a lot, for example.
The general rule is to be smart when venturing off campus. If you’re going out at night more than a few blocks away from campus, bring some friends. If you’re walking back home at night, and you’re alone, the Blue Jay Shuttle service will pick you up (also quite useful in the rain) if you call it. Definitely feel free to go off campus and explore, just be smart about where you’re going and when. You’ll quickly learn where to be a bit more mindful. Most of the time, there’s nothing to worry about, and you’re not going to be going to a shady place anyway.
Do Peabody and homewood students know each other? I’m highly considering Peabody/hop and I want to make sure I’m not only socialising with a small group of people and that I’ll make friends with homewood students as well