<p>My Daughter was accepted with a generous FA package. The problem is, the day we visited, we got a not too happy vibe from the campus. Scores about how happy the students are (61%) contrast Freshman Retention Rate (98%-One of the best). So I need some input before we decide where she will go. (And yes, there will be another visit). She got similar FA packages at less prestigeous schools, with a better "vibe/Feel".....So can you give me insight towards:</p>
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<li><p>My daughter loves to hug her friends. She is cuddly to the extreme. People seemed stand-off-ish there.</p></li>
<li><p>My daughter likes to study in coffee shops that provide distractions. are there coffee houses anywhere?</p></li>
<li><p>My Daughter likes to chill in the dining room, see friends, etc. How social is the dining hall? </p></li>
<li><p>My Daughter is a ferocious reader, so I am not concerned about her keeping pace, but she is also very competitive. It worries me a bit. How competitive is the IR departments?</p></li>
<li><p>My daughter is the type that learns by talking during class, socratic circle (if I spelled that wrong, forgive me). How much of the 100-200 level classes are discussion v lecture?</p></li>
<li><p>My daugher has some health issues which I will not get into here. But what is the student medical care like?</p></li>
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<p>Thanks for any insight you can provide</p>
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<li><p>The girls at Hopkins are WAY more huggy than the guys are. Naturally you’ll see a range but with her best friends she’ll absolutely be cuddly - I suggest living in the AMR’s as they are conducive to lots of open doors and friends.</p></li>
<li><p>Definitely lots of coffee shops to study in on and off campus - One World Cafe, Starbucks are around campus and always filled with students. </p></li>
<li><p>FFC and Nolans are definitely cool places to chill though most students hang out on the beach during fall and spring as students love to be outside. That’s the social center of campus. </p></li>
<li><p>Students are very academically oriented, just like your daughter. Sounds like she’ll fit in. Student’s care a lot about how well they do in classes and want to learn as much as possible so she’ll be in good company. She’ll also definitely be in one of the best IR programs around so there will definitely be students that will be able to read more, study harder and excel with her and perhaps beyond. This is a great environment for her to be stretched and challenged.</p></li>
<li><p>There are definitely discussion based classes and most lectures do have a smaller discussion section attached. Also, she should keep her eye out for DTF (Dean’s Teaching Fellowships) which are capped and almost all discussion based.</p></li>
<li><p>Medical care on campus is fairly average. Union Memorial is right across the way which is a full service hospital with everything imaginable. And, if she needs more care, Johns Hopkins - doesn’t get much better than that. </p></li>
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<p>I do suggest visiting one more time in April just to get a great sense of the school and the active campus life.</p>
<p>My daughter sounds a lot like your daughter. My daughter graduated Hopkins in '06 with a double major in Psychology and Art History. She loved Hopkins–made a ton of friends that she is still very close to–and had no problem finding other people to hug. She is now a grad student at Harvard–and she says that the campus cultures at Hopkins and Harvard are very similar, except its a lot easier to get A’s at Harvard. Like your daughter, she likes to study in coffee shops and there are a plethera of them both on and off campus. Whe was also involved with many campus groups (probably too many) and probably personified the “work hard, play hard” philosophy which is quite common on campus. </p>
<p>My son also graduated Hopkins three years earlier than my daughter. He was an IR major. He’s not as “huggy” as my daughter, but he also loved Hopkins and strongly encouraged my daughter to attend. My son became very close with a number of faculty members, which helped a lot when he decided to go to graduate school. He is getting a Ph.D in IR from a top institution. After Hopkins and before grad school, he was hired as a researcher at a Washington-based think tank. The position was posted as requiring a masters degree. When he (to his surprise) got an interview, he was told that BA’s from Hopkins were an exception to their policy requiring masters degrees because of the superior training they receive as undergraduates. </p>
<p>Because there is no single “student union” where students tend to hang out when not in class (those functions are spread among a number of building), and because most student housing is actually in Charles Village as opposed to within the walled-in campus, it can sometimes be difficult to find the campus “vibe”, particularly on an admissions tour. Both of my kids found the “vibe” when they did an overnight as part of the admitted students program. My son ended up staying awake most of the night, having gotten engrossed in an intellectual discussion with a number of Sophomores while he was spending the night in McCoy Hall. He loves doing that, and that sold him. My daughter, while very bright, was concerned that Hopkins might be too academic for her and not enought fun. After her overnight, she jokingly told me that Hopkins was actually a closet party school. God knows what her hosts took her to that night. Anyway,while the "closet party school"was probably an exageration, the fact is she partied quite a lot in college but still did well enough to get in Harvard for grad school.</p>