<p>I'm really interested in this school and I'm wondering about the social life and the quality of life.</p>
<p>1) I heard the food is really bad, is that true? What makes it "bad"?</p>
<p>2) How are the dorms?</p>
<p>3) Are the work loads so high that students rarely get to socialize?</p>
<p>4) Aside from Lacrosse, what else do students rally behind in the year?</p>
<p>5) Is there a lot to do on campus and in the city?</p>
<p>Look at old threads on CC (there are tons!) with input from current students and check out the message boards (currently inactive till the end of the month-ish) and the blogs on Hopkins</a> Interactive</p>
<p>actually, i'll reference a thread right now: look at the sticky on the top of the forum.</p>
<p>1) The food is excellent. The entire food program has been redone a new caterer and all new facilities.</p>
<p>2) The dorms are equally excellent. My friends visit my Charles Commons suite and are blown away at how awesome the Commons are (non JHU friends.)</p>
<p>3) Depends on the program. There is a lot of socializing on this campus. I don't know where this myth comes from. Some students don't get to socialize because of the difficulty of their program but they are in the minority.</p>
<p>4) Research Grants, Research Publications, and Noble Nominees (kidding!)</p>
<p>5) yeah</p>
<p>Mr. Yang, you know what I had for lunch today? I had 7 slices of roast beef from Fresh Food Cafe's CARVING station, followed by a dessert which consisted of fresh (tasting, anyway) STRAWBERRIES and PINEAPPLES. This was a change because sometimes you'll find blackberries and rasperries at the fruit station. I often go to the ice cream station, where the nice lady behind me serves me two large scoops of Vanilla and Chocolate (sometimes they have strawberry) ice cream. I was once told the ice cream was manufactured by Hershey's, I believe.</p>
<p>Yesterday was my first time eating at Charles Commons, which provides food a la carte. Some evenings, there is a live band there. But it provides a very cafe-like setting with the fireplace and music. It's a great ambience to relax in with your friends and get some readings for classes done. </p>
<p>The dorms get better as you climb during your years here. I cant say they are superior, all have their own little personalities. </p>
<p>Lots of students socialize. What you said could not have been further from the truth. Much of the anti-social quality of life is self-induced, and I'm sure those students can't really complain. They just prioritize their lives differently than other students. But even the top students here have their fair share of fun. </p>
<p>Lacrosse is pretty much the big thing, although they've been kinda sucking compared to previous years. I'm not sure about what other sports are like this. </p>
<p>There's a lot to do around the city if you are willing to look hard enough. There's even more to do if you or a friend has a car.</p>
<p>1) This can be very objective. Personally, I think it's good sometimes and bad sometimes, although mostly bad. But I heard it's a lot better than before. and I dislike the meal plan system for the freshmen.
2) I live in the traditional freshmen dorm. It's very noisy. People always talk and play in the hallway during midterms and during quiet hours. and the bathrooms are dirty sometimes, especially over the weekends. They don't clean the bathrooms over the weekends so you can imagine what the toilets will be like after people come back from the frat parties.
3) Not true. The workload is managable as long as you use your time wisely.</p>
<p>i guess after eating crap food for an entire year, it makes the food at the cafeteria look like that of food at a banquet.</p>
<p>on-campus food is generally good with some days not so; the main cafeteria has different stations that will cook a meal right in front of you and the variety present is pretty decent, obviously it won't be extraordinary but the new food provider is doing a great job. also, they've established a new system of i believe monthly special brunches that are pretty good in quality. also, baltimore is filled with outstanding restaurants -- almost any cuisine you can think of and there are some really outstanding restaurants to splurge on once in a while (or for a special someone.) and if you do need a change from on campus food, there are several restaurants that are right across the street and also a fine dining restaurants that's inside the baltimore museum of art (which is basically on-campus.)</p>
<p>freshmen dorms aren't spectacular but are better/more spacious than a good deal of other colleges. in response to what godipial said, i have no doubt that that may be the case, but, there are 5 different freshman dorms to choose from, and they really are different in personality (it also varies from floor to floor and the dynamic of the residents.) i'm in building b and my floor is pretty good, people hang out in the hallways sometimes just to talk, sometimes go a bit crazy, but generally it is quite quiet and it's nice to have a retreat to go to after socializing at a party, etc. </p>
<p>i know this might not help, but the work load definitely varies on your major; it also depends on how many credits you are taking. i'm an arts and sciences major and the work load has been incredibly manageable, i've had a lot of time to finish my work and pursue extracurriculars. on the other side, i know a fair amount of pre-meds and while they do have a much more intense workload, especially when midterms roll around (i only had 1 midterm), a lot of them do have a lot of time to be involved with multiple organizations on campus and have fun. also to note, because there isn't a core curriculum at hopkins, there is a tremendous amount of flexibility in terms of course selection -- you can also take 1 course per semester pass or fail so that also is nice to have. also, you can take courses for free at the peabody institute (music conservatory) or the maryland institute of art. </p>
<p>lacrosse is mainly the biggest thing that people rally for -- right now people are pretty excited for the soccer championships, etc. that said, even for lacrosse and in general, there is an air of apathy at johns hopkins. not sure if you read about the protests that have occurred, but quite honestly something like that is so out of the ordinary. students here generally tend to do their work, party hard on the weekends (if they like to party), and stay involved with a lot of organizations. there's a general apathy towards politics, sports, etc. </p>
<p>on campus there is a LOT to get involved with, many people tend to become involved with multiple organizations or become deeply involved in 1 or 2. in terms of actual events, there are tons of things on campus every week whether it be classical concerts, improv shows, theatre, poker nights, jazz performances, condom bingo, etc. the residential life office is really putting effort to having a variety of things for students to partake in. </p>
<p>outside of campus, baltimore is filled with events, shows, sights, and things. the art culture in baltimore is outstanding and whether it's a rap or rock concert or art viewing, etc. there is really tons of things to do. while the shuttle system can take you do downtown and other college campuses, it's generally difficult to get transportation to certain places, there are a lot of cabs, but they are very expensive.</p>
<p>My daughter attends JHU, and I'm very impressed with every aspect of the college. My husband and I visited her twice, and we left thinking what a great choice my daughter made--she turned down 2 full scholarships (at some very good colleges) for her spot at JHU. The food is outstanding, her dorm is very clean and spacious. During parent's weekend, we ate breakfast and lunch in one of the dining halls and the food was delicious. As far as academics, my daughter is in awe of her professors. Although Baltimore is not a safe city (are there any truly SAFE cities?), the campus is very safe, and security appears to be top notch. All cities can be dangerous--common sense is needed. My daughter uses the shuttle occasionally to visit stores and Inner Harbor, but she goes with a large group, and feels quite safe. Stay on campus as there is plenty going on. Visit JHU, spend the weekend, visit the Inner Harbor, you'll see what I mean. Good Luck</p>
<p>I couldn't have said it any better...</p>
<p>Gold star for jennsmom's post!!!</p>
<p>And really, the best piece of advice you can get from her post --
VISIT JHU!!! Make the decision yourself.</p>
<p>I went to JHU last thursday and it was amazing. Not only is the campus gorgeous, I went to the library cafe and the strawberry smoothies and brownies were wonderful.</p>