<p>hi, I am narrowing down my RD scools and would like to get insights from CC users. </p>
<p>I posted similar thread in the forums of schoolsI am intrested in, and hope to get unbiased(hopefully but maybe not so likely? lol) opinions from diffrent ppl.</p>
<p>As the title suggests, what's special about Johsn Hopkins? What sets JH apart from other schools? Please tell me regarding school atmospheres and any special thins besides academics. From my research, I have already learned very well that JH is an academically great school.</p>
<p>Is JH really that competitive and largely GPA deflated? Well, competitieness is good as long as it's not hurting ... say relationships with other students.</p>
<p>We have arguably the greatest lacrosse program in history and Homewood Field is often called the Yankee Stadium of lacrosse.</p>
<p>The Space Telescope Science Institute, the place that operates and controls the Hubble Space Telescope is ON campus and some of the faculty in the Physics and Astronomy department work there.</p>
<p>We have one of the most expansive underground libraries in the country.</p>
<p>Gomez Addams from the Addams Family is the head of our theater department.</p>
<p>There are a dozen other colleges in the area and there’s a convenient shuttle system that connects us all.</p>
<p>Hopkins students get $6 tickets to any Orioles home game :)</p>
<p>MANY undergraduate students are involved with research (and that includes the humanities)</p>
<p>Every spring Hopkins hosts Spring Fair – four days of eating, drinking, music, gaming, partying, etc…and it’s one of the biggest outdoor festivals in the area drawing thousands of people from DC/Virginia/Maryland.</p>
<p>The Social Network was filmed here last year (and I was in it, for about half a second)</p>
<p>What’s more important and special than anything I’ve listed here though is the fact that Hopkins professors, advisors, and administrators really stress the value of freedom. Freedom to explore your academic and social interests without interference, freedom to act the way you want to without being judged, freedom to learn who you are and who you will become. That sounds really sappy but so far I’ve found it to be true. They really really stress that this is YOUR life and whatever you want to do – whether it’s introduce a new club or change majors on a dime halfway through sophomore year – it’s possible and perhaps even encouraged.</p>
<p>not in any particular order…
~ Charm City Cake is literally only a couple minutes away from JHU
you do know abiut Charm City Cake, do you? that cool cake creation features in Food Network:) </p>
<p>~ 3.99 for a grill cheese sandwich…they make it for you when you order.</p>
<p>~ JHU has an awesome & very active Hopkins Insider, a blog post by the admin & Hopkins Interactive, a blog post by students who write about all the things at JHU. GOOD READ:)</p>
<p>~ Visitor Parking cost 9.00 for 2 hours , under Mason hall, the admin bldg</p>
<p>Tilamonate, to put it plainly, the “cutthroat” thing just doesn’t exist. People are competitive, but mainly with themselves. No one is trying to sabotage anyone else, people aren’t out to get each other, none of that. Students study together and collaborate ALL THE TIME. In fact I just walked by my floor’s common area where a group of 4 or 5 kids are all studying for a test together. </p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t know how we got the label…maybe it has something to do with the medical school, but it really does not exist. That’s the truth.</p>
<p>And even the medical school has adopted pass/fail to get rid of the cutthroat notion. Everybody on Hopkins-insider has talked about their collaborative experiences; I have heard nothing about Hopkins being cutthroat from the actual students there.</p>
<p>About the cut-throat thing. I have heard that like a million times too, but always from people who didn’t go to Hopkins. I have become kind of a stalker to the Hopkins Forums site that hopkid mentioned and there is a really helpful discussion there that helped clear me of my fear of this idea that everyone at Hopkins is ulta competitive. Maybe it will help you too.
[Competition:</a> Does it exist?](<a href=“http://forums.hopkins-interactive.com/topic/563106/1/]Competition:”>http://forums.hopkins-interactive.com/topic/563106/1/)</p>
I’ve been told it’s from some book about Hopkins that was written in the early 80s. Perhaps Hopkins was like that back then, but it most certainly is not anymore</p>
<p>thanks for the feedbacks guys, it’s good to hear JH is not so cutthorat shool as the rumors say. May I ask one more question? What’s your three favorite things about Johns Hopkins?</p>
<p>Hopkins has had the reputation of being “cutthroat” for a very, very long time. I’m not sure it was ever really true except for a few bad apples. When I started Hopkins a long time ago (late 60’s), the term “throat” was commonly bantered about and applied–mostly as a joke to anyone who did better than you on an exam. I only met one person at my time at Hopkins who truly earned the handle. Even then, as today, most students were friendly and cooperative. The few jerks were quickly identified and ostracised. </p>
<p>As an undergraduate, I served on the “Honor Commission.” In those days, Hopkins had an honor code which every student signed upon matriculation in which one took an oath relating to both academic and personal integrity. Exams were unproctored; you could actually take your exam out of the examination room if you wanted and complete it on the Beach or wherever. The honor code was enforced by the Honor Commission–which investigated and prosecuted alleged violations and made recommendations to the Dean on sanctions for those found to have violated the code, up to and including expulsion. </p>
<p>During my 3 years on the Honor Commission, we had numerous instances of alleged violations (mostly plagerism or copying from someone else’s exam) but only one instance of cutthroat behavior. This one instance was a student ( a pre-med of course–almost all instances of cheating was by pre-meds) who broke into a professor’s office and found the gradebook (this was well before personal computers). This fine individual not only raised his own grade, but randomly lowered grades of some of his classmates. This guy was a THROAT!</p>
<p>BTW, he was expelled. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, Hopkins did away with the honor code in the 1980’s. Today there is an ethics commission made up of both students and faculty that makes recommendations to the Dean on issues of academic intregity ( I guess that faculty involvement is supposed to add credibility to the process but in my experience the Honor Commission was pretty tough). The sad thing is that unproctored exams were eliminated. I’m not sure why; I assume that it was felt by some that the temptation to cheat was too great. I think it’s too bad, however. While the temptation to cheat was surely there, there is something to be said about overcoming that temptation. It felt good to be trusted, and there are always going to be some cheaters, regardless of proctoring or other safeguards. </p>
<p>AS an aside, we found that most instances of academic cheating was the result of pressure by parents to get good grades. While the competition to get into medical school has always been rather intense, I never understood why instances of cheating seemed to be so much more prevalent among pre-meds than other students. It’s often much harder to get into a top Ph.D program (they are much smaller and usually fully funded) than medical school (Hopkins has always had a very high med school placement rate) yet we rarely had problems with aspiring academics or researchers.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the people. I love them. it’s so diverse, and it’s actually a tight knit community. everyone is so friendly and not once have I experienced anything close to “cutthroat competition.” Instead, everyone actually wants to help you, as well as professors and TAs who are available to help you.</p></li>
<li><p>the campus. I still can’t get over how beautiful it is. It’s beautiful all seasons, and the buildings are gorgeous. Especially check out Mason Hall (admissions building) and Gilman (recently renovated - it’s gorgeous and even better, green).</p></li>
<li><p>the majors. there’s so much to choose from. so many classes to explore in. and we have intersession, which takes place in january. it is optional, and students take 2 or 3 credits total of classes. so either students can expand their horizons or enjoy a very long break (classes don’t start until the very end of january).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>one thing though - be aware of getting opinions from CollegeConfidential. it sometimes can be misleading. i would look to Hopkins Interactive ([Hopkins</a> Interactive | Home](<a href=“http://www.hopkins-interactive.com%5DHopkins”>http://www.hopkins-interactive.com)) instead, in which you can actually talk to current students and get feedback and your questions answered.</p>
<p>Absolutely the best: Covered Grades for Freshman Fall! </p>
<p>I loved that Hopkins emphasized my transition to college as being multi-dimensional. Covered grades made studying and socializing way easier… This was a while back though.</p>