<p>i was wondering how undergrad research is at JHU. i mean, i know that it is the most funded university in the nation, but how approachable are the professors and how easy are they to work with? will they make you wash dishes when you first join or do you get to actually do experiments and get thinking?</p>
<p>also, i know that JHU has the BEST hospital in the nation next to it, but can you shadow doctors/volunteer in ER?</p>
<p>oh, and only professors teach classes right? i heard a rumor that TA's sometimes teach classes. please tell me thats not true...</p>
<p>and if profs do teach classes, do they care about their classes or research more?</p>
<p>and finally, grades. are grades recorded on transcript first semester or first year? i know some places dont and some do. ive seen both views in regard to hopkins. which one's true?</p>
<p>Research is readily accessible. Mine came to me in the form of a mass email sent to all the undergrads in which a professor said he wanted undergrads to work in his lab. I have yet to find someone who wants to do research and can't find a place to do it. If you can do experiments and think then you can find a professor that will have you do that.</p>
<p>I imagine you can volunteer and shadow in the ER, I've had a friend who shadowed some other doctor.</p>
<p>Only professors teach classes -- TAs teach discussion sections.</p>
<p>first semester only: your transcript shows if you passed the class or not and no grades are given, although the university has your actual grades on file, and professors give you real grades.</p>
<p>"also, i know that JHU has the BEST hospital in the nation next to it, but can you shadow doctors/volunteer in ER?"</p>
<p>Yes, you can. My friend has been doing research in a neuro lab at the med school for a year. And I'm sure you can find a doctor there to let you shadow him.</p>
<p>But the hospital and medical school aren't quite "next to" the homewood campus.</p>
<ol>
<li>tutorials (just s/u at any time of the 4 yrs. here), 2 creds</li>
<li>Graded (obviously, graded), also "anytime", 3 creds. </li>
</ol>
<p>Max 3 creds a semester.
A word--find a good project. My first one wasn't "cleaning glassware," but I wasn't really given great opportunity or learning experience either.</p>
<p>Professor wise, it depends, some are good, some are bad, but I found great ones in the humanities depts (double majoring in anthro). They also assisted far beyond what they were required to in my study abroad search, as an example. It was a selective program in England, and they even gave some direct contact info to make the whole process easier. Anyway, again, if it's not a required course, definitely find the best fit. Makes the semester much easier.</p>
<p>thanks for the replies. im pretty happy about all of it :)</p>
<p>one more question. im researching in a lab right now and i hv been doing so for quite some time. how much does hopkins value research? i havedeveloped my own behvaioral assays and have come up with some very interesting results. i will apply for Intel and Siemens and hope to get quite far. i really love the lab and am rather addicted to it(i spend over 10 hrs a day every day during the summer). i have learned an abundance, from molecular biology to perseverance and open mindedness, and it is really an amazing experience working with, on an equal footing, with grduate students. once again, how much does hopkins value this? can this offset any problems with my application, such as rank? and also, if i come to hopkins, will professors recognize this and will i be able to start my research immediately in freshman year?</p>
<p>Given the fact that I know freshman who started without all that background, I would say you would have no problem. I think the main issue is just finding a project in the first place; there's always digging to be done.</p>
<p>As for admissions, while it's all a gamble, I would say that if you feel as strongly as you do, have the facts/evidence behind it, and convey it well, it would do a good job of filling in some holes. It's a reality, though, that more and more people come in with this sort of thing these days...but how much of a needed recovery are we talking about (from the "problems" you mentioned)?</p>
<p>well, ive shown an excellent delta from my freshman and soph years, since i sucked pretty badly then due to some family issues and so forth. however, junior year was a big turnaround with 8 ap exams and scoring well on all of the, getting 99th percentile on the ACT, really coming back up from Bs to As. major story of perseverance and hard work. im also taking multivar calc at UTAustin this year and have plenty of volunteer hrs in the ER. i have saved two peoples lives and have seen 8 people lose theirs. my expeirence at the lab is beyond words and my recs are guaranteed to be FANTASTIC. the only area of doubt is GPA and rank....</p>