Social Scene At Hopkins

<p>So now that I'm in, I was curious as to a few things.</p>

<p>So my friends (Who got into UPenn and Pton) are trying to annoy me, telling me the social scene at Hopkins is non existent.</p>

<p>so...</p>

<p>1: Hows the social scene?
2: How are the woman? (Or the guys if your into that?)
3: School Spirit?
4: Parties?</p>

<p>Yea, I know. Hopkins is known for it's academics, still it would be nice to know that I would have some life outside of class...</p>

<p>i was accepted ED and my friend who got in Penn ED is telling me i'll have no fun too! of course, he's exaggerating but ther is a stereotype. </p>

<p>collegeprowlr rates the women a C+ (i think-depressing right?) though i thought my tour guide and interviewer were both very attractive. I hear the parties as freshman sophomore go are frat-centered and very crowded but the parties you'll be going to later on get better. school spirit is most apparent during lax season (when homecoming is too!). Some of the DIII teams are pretty good (i know tennis was centennial confrence champs last year) but their games aren't very well attended. </p>

<p>most of this post is hearsay and shouldnt be taken at face value. I know i got a lot of it from posts in CC so use the search tool and you'll find some good threads. </p>

<p>I think many would appreciate some current JHU students posting (and maybe some that aren't currently working for the admissions office. You guys are great and always truthful, but definitley biased ;))</p>

<p>If you have spent just a few minutes searching you would have found all of these past college confidential threads:</p>

<p>(1) <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/314697-jhu-09-life-hopkins.html?highlight=social%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/314697-jhu-09-life-hopkins.html?highlight=social&lt;/a>
(2) <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/246894-social-scene-jhu.html?highlight=social%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/246894-social-scene-jhu.html?highlight=social&lt;/a>
(3) <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/10515-life-jhu.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/10515-life-jhu.html&lt;/a>
(4) <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/71895-jhu-social-life.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/71895-jhu-social-life.html&lt;/a>
(5) <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/397787-students-happy-jhu.html?highlight=Life%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/397787-students-happy-jhu.html?highlight=Life&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>...and that is just scratching the surface of old discussions.</p>

<p>I would also strongly encourage you to check out the Hopkins Forums (Hopkins</a> Forums) as there are over 20 current students at Hopkins who are answering every type of question, including many about social life. Also, if you have already been admitted then you should be part of the student-run Class of 2012 Facebook group where probably you can get a lot of details about student life. </p>

<p>Despite what critics like fragaholic say about the Hopkins Forums, these students are volunteers (NOT PAID) and do not "work" for admissions. The site is their site even though it is hosted by Admissions. They say what they want, and are not instructed on what to say. The only "censorship" is that cursing and talk of illegal activities is not allowed. If you actually spend some time on those forums you will see that the students are not always positive, and they share honest opinions about their time at Hopkins. </p>

<p>It really bothers me when people criticize the students who post on the Hopkins Forums and Hopkins Interactive. They don't need to be doing this ... they don't need to spend their precious time helping prospective students out. They choose to do it because they like their school and want to help dispel the mass of myths that are out there about Hopkins. More importantly, at least these students choose to use their name and post a picture next to all their comments ... they are no some anonymous person posting on some confidential message board. </p>

<p>Sorry, but it really gets to me when people question the legitimacy of the work that the students at Hopkins in conjunction with the Admissions Office have done in creating a transparent forum that allows prospective students to connect with actual (and not anonymous) current students.</p>

<p>AD, i'm sorry if the wrong sentiments came across in my post. I have used the hopkins interactive forum and resources and value the info that i've learned. Not once did I imply that these students are paid/coerced/slaves. There is no doubt in my mind that these students are genuine in all of what they say. In my personal experience, an overwhelming majority of what these students say is positive. I have seen very few negative posts. I can't wait to come to Hopkins but I don't believe every thing is perfect there (as with every other college in the world). Plus, i've heard all the opinions of those on hopkins interactive so it would be nice to hear some random students also. I apologize if it came across as a detraction from the service provided. Hopkins truly does go above the call of duty.</p>

<p>im a current hopkins freshman, haven't been on CC since about this time last year when i was accepted to hopkins.</p>

<p>let me tell you that after almost two semesters at hopkins, what your friends are telling you about a "non-existent" social life is complete bs, it's all rumor.</p>

<p>the social life at hopkins is great, really</p>

<p>1: Hows the social scene?</p>

<p>I'd say it's relatively split, you have about half of the class that you see at a lot of social functions, really involved in a lot of campus activities, you regularly see them out partying on weeknights. Then there's the other half of the class that you rarely see out unless by out you mean the library.</p>

<p>Thing is, any top private school is going to get its fair share of students that don't do much other than study. But at hopkins, there really is a great balance of students that do that, and students that are smart but also smart enough to know that you only live once.</p>

<p>I have friends at the Ivies, I have friends at other top privates - our social life is, comparably, GREAT. our night life is, comparably, GREAT. campus involvement outside of night life is, comparably, about the same as the other privates.</p>

<p>overall, i love hopkins, i love my social life there, i couldn't recommend it more.</p>

<p>2: How are the woman? (Or the guys if your into that?)</p>

<p>it all depends where you come from :) and if you come from a school with very attractive women, you'll get used to it.</p>

<p>in all seriousness, the women aren't that bad but aren't that great IN GENERAL. we have quite a few exceptions, trust me. and the thing is, you see girls from other colleges and universities and colleges in baltimore all the time. they love the social life at hopkins (largely because we have greek life and they don't) and come over all the time.</p>

<p>3: School Spirit?</p>

<p>i personally feel it's a little lacking at hopkins, it's not common to see students wearing apparel from other top private schools.</p>

<p>that said, you should really check out a lacrosse game - great time, great fans, i love my school.</p>

<p>4: Parties?</p>

<p>all the time! seriously, there are parties EVERY friday and saturday night, and a lot of week nights. i'm pledging currently, and can tell you the greek parties here are just as good as any other school. and if there isn't a party, there's plenty of other night life being in baltimore. the city has a lot of hot spots that are 18+ for those that can't pull off 21.</p>

<p>this said, those that don't party also have their crowd here. honestly though, hopkins and baltimore social life is great, don't listen to the rumors.</p>

<p>and our rumor on campus is that the social life gets better every year.</p>

<p>so i too am a freshman at hopkins, and the social scene here is underrated
you can almost always find something to do, but the frat parties and local bars get old after a while
that being said, it is a real asset to get to know some upper classmen...they will help you find things to do outside of this scene
even get to know some frat guys, certain houses have upper floors with smaller parties, and they are better...trust me
with looks, i would say (and all of my guy and girl friends agree with this) the girls at hopkins are not bad looking...in fact, there are more good looking girls than guys
either way, there are some majorly antisocial people at hopkins, so if you are interested in a romantic relationship, you should prob be prepared to look</p>

<p>school spirit/ student involvement is really lacking
my only advice to that, get involved
join a club and actually go to meetings, rush even if you aren't going to pledge, do anything just to meet more people and get more involved
the "hopkins 500" does exist, although its a little bigger than 500...don't let yourself become one of the depressed antisocials who are never seen out after orientation</p>

<p>another freshman at Hopkins here.</p>

<p>Hopkins is, in all honestly, not as bad as others will say. I will even exaggerate sometimes and my friends and I will just whine constantly about how much Hopkins sucks.. but it's a charming place to be sometimes. I don't think it's as great as the previous two freshmen have said in this thread, but I think I can chalk that up to expecting so much more. I'm from California and my friends back home are all at UCs living it up with events and opportunities to go out galore. So I guess I'm feeling rather stuck here without really anywhere to go in comparison to how it is back home, where I could just hop into my car and drive to somewhere fun whenever I wanted.</p>

<p>But yes, the party scene is pretty good. There are parties every Friday/Saturday at the frats, for the most part, and I am in a sorority so there are plenty of opportunities to go out and socialize. Thing is, after a while, it's kind of tiring going out and partying every weekend, and so I would love it if Hopkins and the surrounding area would have more things to do besides that. i.e., shops, restaurants, etc.</p>

<p>However, this is how I feel personally. I know some people absolutely love it here. I'm hoping I can learn to love it too. (Though it's hard just getting back from spring break and having to return to Hopkins food.)</p>

<p>Congrats, btw!</p>

<p>I'm a current junior at Hopkins, and here's my opinion:</p>

<p>First, the answers you get to the "social scene" will vary <em>drastically</em> depending on who you ask. Everyone will give you their own opinion, and those opinions may not match what you or your friends think when you actually come here. It depends on your personality, the people you meet, your major, etc. A premed will give you a very different response than a non-premed. Usually though, from my experience, admissions people would rate the social scene at Hopkins very highly, after all, if they didn't like Hopkins, why would they dedicate their time to getting future students here? The reason why I'm not giving you my own personal opinion of Hopkins is because, like I said, what I think of it may not be what you will experience. But, I can tell you that if you can manage your time correctly, you can have fun and probably the phrase "work hard play hard" can describe most students here. Overall though, don't expect to party at night then skip class the next morning and still get A's...in fact, unless you're some natural born genius, you'll most likely fail. (Keep in mind too that you may be a genius at your high school, but it may not be true here at JHU.) If you want your undergrad to be more of partying, doing crazy things, Hopkins probably isn't the place for you. Everyone here works REALLY hard. Sorry for my ranting, but like many people probably have said, the social scene here is what you make of it. If you can, I would suggest doing one of those things where you stay with a student for a weekend or so, and judging for yourself.</p>