<p>I got in to Hopkins yesterday, and I could not be more excited! However, I had a question for all of you collegiate aficionados out there - and especially any current Hopkins students. </p>
<p>I plan on studying political science (and perhaps double majoring in economics) at Hopkins. Obviously, Hopkins is internationally recognized in the field of BME, but how does it fair in the social sciences and humanities? Are the same level of research opportunities available? Does the "Johns Hopkins" name still carry as much weight in this end of the "major" spectrum?</p>
<p>The International Studies and Political Science programs at Hopkins are at the top of their field. SAIS - The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies is one of the top graduate programs in the country. You won’t be disappointed with any type of education - whether it’s engineering or social sciences or the humanities - at Hopkins.</p>
<p>We have top departments in History of Art, English, Writing Seminars, etc… something you wouldn’t immediately expect as the name “Hopkins” is so closely affiliated with the sciences.</p>
<p>I also applied for Political Science, and it seems like I will be attending.
I’m glad to hear these responses, because I had those same concerns.</p>
<p>Have you done any internships? If so, where? Have they given you a better perspective on what you want to do upon graduation?</p>
<p>How is the course load? I have heard mixed things about course load at JHU: some say that everything is a ton of work because of deflated grading, but others say that the engineering students are bombarded while the liberal arts students get off easy. Could you clarify?</p>
<p>Lastly, are there any classes/professors of which you would encourage or discourage attendance?</p>
<p>I worked at Citi over the last two summers (and probably again this summer). However, I did not get the internship through Hopkins (indeed, it is fairly difficult to get a position at a big Wall Street bank from Hopkins). It has given me a pretty good idea of what I would like to. I’ve been admitted for graduate study in economics which is what I’ll do, and then after I get my Ph.D. (hopefully!), I’ll try to work on Wall Street.</p>
<p>The course load is what you turn it into. If you’re going to take 5-6 classes per semester, then yes, you will have a lot of work. And if you’re taking 3-4 math/science/engineering classes, you’ll have a lot of work. In my experience, economics work is much easier than math/science/engineering but that said, there are a lot of people who struggle in the econ courses. However, people who are strong in math perform much better.</p>
<p>I can recommend professors/courses, but I’m somewhat biased. Maccini’s intro macro course is a great course, and Maccini is great (he wrote one of my letters for grad school). I also recommend Ball’s Monetary Analysis course (I’m one of the few people that likes his courses; he wrote one of my letters as well). Shore’s intermediate micro course is well-taught, Faust’s Financial Markets course is very good, and Duffee’s Corporate Finance course is very interesting. I personally hated Hamilton’s intro micro course (as do many people) and I found econometrics incredibly boring. Please note that a few of the above courses are required, so there’s no getting out of them. I’ve heard that Jon Wright’s course is quite good, and I’ve heard decent things about Harrington’s game theory course. Finally, I recommend that everyone take a course with Ali Khan if given the opportunity. You’ll have no clue what’s going on or what you’re doing, but he’s such a character that it’s worth it.</p>
<p>I was a pseudo-econ major (BME and econ double major) and I think my bias in terms of classes is quite opposite from WealthOfInformation’s. I would second the recommendation to take a class with Ali Khan. I took his Mathematical Economics class and absolutely loved it (it was one of my favorite courses in college, even though it was well above my head), and I had him write a rec letter for med school. I also liked Harrington’s game theory class as well as Micro Theory with Norman and Econometrics with McClelland, though I don’t think either of the latter two regularly teach in the Econ department. I took Corporate Finance with Duffee and really, really wished I hadn’t, and I dropped Monetary Analysis after the first month (mostly because I found a much more interesting class)</p>