<p>Okay, so. Everyone whom I've spoken with (friends, parents' colleagues, etc.) who either are attending or did attend JHU for undergrad said that they absolutely hated it. My dad's friend's two sons both go here and want to leave immediately. They say the environment is awful and competitive, and the social life is something awful.</p>
<p>Now, I want to be a chem major, meaning I'd be mixed in with the premeds. Can any current chemistry major, or anyone really, shed some different light?</p>
<p>Maybe they're big time partiers or something. From what I've read on these boards it seems that those people are the ones who would most likely dislike the place. I'm also a prospective student so I wouldn't mind more definite answers to this myself.</p>
<p>Maybe they're big time partiers or something. From what I've read on these boards it seems that those people are the ones who would most likely dislike the place. I'm also a prospective student so I wouldn't mind more definite answers to this myself.</p>
<p>Of course you're going to hear people who hated JHU and people who loved it. There's always someone who will give you a different perspective. I can just predict what current students are going to say: "You're going to find competition at every school. That's a part of college. But you will find PLENTY of people who are willing to work with you and help you throughout this process." The only way to find out if the environment is for you is to go visit. </p>
<p>And I can just imagine AdmissionsDaniel popping in here with links for the Hopkins forum. =]</p>
<p>Idk... I don't know anyone from JHU really, but I have friends from Loyola who say they go out with JHU boys all the time and that JHU has fun frats. The only remark they have to make is that the girls are apparently not very good-looking. But they're extremely critical of people :-P and I tend to disagree with them on a lot of things... so again, idk. This is just what I've heard.</p>
<p>I could see competitiveness, being a top school and all---but I believe I saw some similar threads on this, floating around this forum somewhere. "And I can just imagine AdmissionsDaniel popping in here with links for the Hopkins forum. =]" << so I second that, haha.</p>
<p>Honestly, if you're going to let the opinion of those people influence you to such an extent, then I don't really think I would want you to come join the Hopkins community. If this is your opinion now, you might as well not even apply, because that could be one less potential spot for a student who truly wants to attend JHU (i'm not trying to sound mean...just trying to be truthful).</p>
<p>At any college you're going to look at, there is going to be a bunch of people who hate it...there are also going to be 1000x more students who genuinely enjoy it, and just like in the real world, there are people who hate certain environments and others who thrive in them.</p>
<p>Personally, I love Hopkins. I had a bunch of concerns before heading over to big ole Baltimore, but I didn't let the opinions of others dissuade me. Now, I am so glad I'm attending. Amazing education combined with amazing facilities and atmosphere makes it a win in my view.</p>
<p>And to be truthful, the academic atmosphere is competitive...OF COURSE it's going to be! You're competing for grades and GPA against the best of the best of student quality! And honestly, the most important thing you should get out of college is life experience and education...if you make an attempt to learn the material and learn what your professors are teaching you, you won't feel as if there is a cutt-throat environment, because your mindset is in a different state.</p>
<p>Any top tier school is going to be competitive! Also, competitiveness is different from cutt-throat. At Hopkins, you will find a small number of people trying to get the best grade possible no matter what (even if it means not participating in study groups or not helping other students out), but there is a huge majority of students that thrive on learning together. There are so many kids who form study groups and even groups to go and meet professors during office hours!</p>
<p>The social scene also depends on what kind of social life you're looking for. There are past threads here that have described the social scenes...go look for them (basically, there's a wide range of social activities such as frat parties with heavy drinking and drugs, clubbing at the Den, classical concerts at Peabody, plays put on by students, community service events, etc).</p>
<p>Honestly, college is what you make of it. I have friends who are at every coast, every prestigious level of colleges as well as friends overseas, and I know many who dislike their surroundings. I have friends who hate/love USC, people transferring out of UCLA 2nd semester, are looking to transfer out of Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Stanford as well as kids who are looking to transfer out of Puget Sound, Santa Clara, Rutgers, etc.</p>
<p>toastmaster: I think that if you pay hopkins a visit, say an overnight or weekend visit, that will go very far to allay your concerns. Hopkins is an interesting and fun place. As far as your dad's sons go, you should try to assess if the problems lie within them, rather than with hopkins. It just might be that hopkins is not really a match for them, either academically, or socially. My bet, from my own experience, would be the former. If you are a bright, interested and interesting person, who is also balanced enough to have fun while you are gaining a first rate education, you will love hopkins.</p>
<p>I completely agree with the aforementioned posts. </p>
<p>I strongly dislike chocolate covered strawberries. Does that mean you shouldn't even just try one out to see if you like it? You're not going to automatically write off chocolate covered strawberries now, are ya? I hope not - a lot of people really like them. See my point?!</p>
<p>Often if a student doesn't like their particular college - it means they didn't do a good college search or selected a school based on incorrect criteria. I think the fact that they dislike such an amazing place like Hopkins, reflects poorly on them, not the institution. </p>
<p>Follow the best advice: go visit, do some personal recon on the place and formulate your own opinion. Chocolate strawberries may not be so bad after all... =)</p>
<p>I second what phu08 says. If you're a partier and/or looking for an easy ride for 4 years then JHU isn't for you.</p>