<p>I've heard many things about the social life at JHU. I've heard stories ranging from how horrible and dead it is to how all those stories are untrue. I went to admit day today and asked some of the students. They said the social life is great, that it's not like a state school but it's not completely dead like everyone says. After reading this forum I don't know what to think. Can anyone shed some light on this?</p>
<p>You have to keep in mind the students who you asked questions today were likely employees of the university’s admissions department (e.g. shills). Yes, there are things to do on the weekends. Last weekend I went to a Frat party. There were a handful of people there. But, it was a very lame party. The type were people just get plastered with no intent to socialize.</p>
<p>The social scene here is severely limited. After being asked to work as a chem TA next year, my lab partner informed my TA I was transferring. He asked why. I asked if he or anyone else really found this place to be happy at all. Simply, no. This is not a joyful place.</p>
<p>Social life here is like watching anime on your computer while playing neopets.</p>
<p>The students claimed they were volunteers, that they weren’t being paid. Anyways, you honestly feel that way? I understand that it’s competitive (though not cut throat according to the students), but the students seemed pretty happy. That’s just completely not true then?</p>
<p>Maybe they were volunteers, I wasn’t at the booths… so I don’t know.
Still I’m sure they screen the kids. </p>
<p>It is not COMPLETELY untrue, there are happy kids here, I would just posit that they make up a minority. And, as an aside, in my personal observations, it seems the happy seeming kids are the empty seeming kids, it just kinda seems hollow. It’s hard to describe. But that’s tangential and my opinion. So anyways, even if you are a happy-go-lucky type, you’re still gonna be in an environment that’s miserable. It’s very cyclical. There are certain aspects of university administration that foster this cycle… how they treat students and stuco, etc. It’s very “we’re the boss, here.”</p>
<p>I also know that they were showing off AMR I (on the housing tour) and claiming it to be very similar to AMR II. AMR II is not nearly as aesthetic in its common areas as AMR I. It doesn’t offer nearly as much space. FYI.</p>
<p>If you’re in town, walk around campus or the area around tomorrow night… you’ll see very little activity. I mean, it’s college… people should be on the roam!</p>
<p>Or go to JHU’s college humor page and you’ll see nothing funny. Nothing noteworthy happens here, if it did, kids in this documenting-facebook era would surely post it.</p>
<p>Even the fraternities are like that? Miserable?</p>
<p>I don’t know miserable… but definitely vapid. I mean, the frats are really just a bunch of ******bags, not people you wanna really hang with. </p>
<p>I am not in a frat, so I can’t speak for it… but there are not many parties, and the parties they do have have low attendance. They are just opportunities to get drunk as a stress release. </p>
<p>The frats are all in separate directions from campus so it’s very unlike most colleges and universities where they are together which definitely serves as a catalyst for a more genuine fraternal experience.</p>
<p>I guess I got a really wrong impression then. It seemed like a great school to spend 4 years.</p>
<p>Just walk around during the weekend if possible and get your own impression, if possible. I just wish I listened more to the rumors and less to the shills when I made my decision.</p>
<p>Oh please. Don’t listen to JHanonymous. I’m not working for the University and I’m not in SAAB or whatever. </p>
<p>I can tell you that the social life is pretty normal for the most part. You will have people for club and bar-hop every day, and you will also have people who study most of their time. However, in terms of things to do, there is always an endless supply, and there will always be kids anxious to have fun at this place.</p>
<p>Mayeb JHAnonymous just spends 24/7 using a certain anonymous website for gossip/rumors/ and Hopkins bashing instead of getting a life :)</p>
<p>and yeah, there is more to getting a life then attending some stupid frat party.</p>
<p>I’m confused…Mixed opinions flying everywhere lol.</p>
<p>glasstiger:</p>
<p>this dude you are talking to, JHanonymous, is obviously very miserable with his Hopkins experience. You will find these types of people at every school you can think of. In fact, Harvard University is perhaps one of the most miserable colleges in the nation according to surveys. However, it is all about the individual. Perhaps JHanonymous didn’t find the right crowd and/or doesn’t fit in at JHU.
There are plenty, and I mean, PLENTY of happy people at Hopkins. Most of the alumni will also agree that the Hopkins experience was some of the best years of their lives.
Undergrad life here is just continuing to get better. New Gym in 2000, New Arts center later, Completely new quad, new residence halls, new dining hall, new barnes-n-noble, etc etc. Hopkins is a changing university and the students that go to Hopkins are getting happier with every year. At one point, I imagine, Hopkins was perhaps not that strong socially, but it is today. </p>
<p>But, don’t just take my word: go visit. Stay overnight with some real Hopkins people…not just this JHAnonymous guy who obviously makes joy out of inflating every single negative Hopkins Rumor he can grab onto.</p>
<p>Just some examples of what friends of mine at Hopkins have done in the past:</p>
<p>Spend a day exploring DC and spend the night club-hopping in DC.
Going to the Inner Harbor, or Camden Yards for some B’More fun.
Shopping in Hampden, exploring Fell’s Point and Mt. Vernon, etc.
Playing Volleyball or badminton on Hopkins’ grass “beach.”
Going to the real beach.
Having Potlucks at friends’ apartments.
Going to Dinner together downtown where there are multiple venues that offer entertainment like live jazz-music along the inner harbor, etc.
Attending a Peabody Concert.
Attending Barnstormer performances.
having access to parties at Loyola, towson, etc, though quite a few of them crash the parties at Hopkins.
Attending a Lacrosse Game: the ones against Duke and Princeton are the most packed usually.
A lot of intramural sports here. Frisbee-ing, typical college stuff.
Bar-hopping or club-hopping in B’More.
There’s free movies on campus too, provided by the HOP.
+, the HOP has been bringing in a lot of fun stuff like comedians, dances, quad movies, etc.</p>
<p>There is a LOT to do. SO much to explore and do around here. If you’re more into artsy stuff, there are so many museums in Baltimore and DC, starting with the free one, the Baltimore Museum of Art, basically right on campus with a fantastic restaurant right inside it.</p>
<p>There’s no end to what you can do to pass time away/have fun at JHU</p>
<p>I’m just worried about being miserable there. I’m not the most social outgoing guy in the world but I’m not a bookworm library geek either and I know how to converse and have fun with other people. I just don’t want to get stuck somewhere I hate for 4 years.</p>
<p>VISIT. trust me, no one at JHU wants more ppl like JHAnonymous…so definitely visit and make sure you would be happy there!</p>
<p>I visited for admit day and I love the campus. There’s only so much I can find out through visiting though. The main determining factor for me right now is the social life of the campus.</p>
<p>Hope, you didn’t take my challenge in to the other thread to say what your most recent outing was…</p>
<p>Undergrad life here is just continuing to get better. New Gym in 2000, New Arts center later, Completely new quad, new residence halls, new dining hall, new barnes-n-noble, etc etc. H
OK, so you can be a happy meat head. You can pay way too much for **** at the dining hall or barnes-n-noble. You can pay way too much to be forced to love on campus. Blah blah blah. </p>
<p>When was the last quad movie? I mean, nice list and all, but I’m looking for a little more. Not just possible things, but things that actively go down?</p>
<p>*** The alumni who recall this as a happy experience were either from a generation before ours OR screened prior to completing an exit interview. ***</p>
<p>-Adam</p>
<p>glasstiger50, </p>
<p>The campus is lovely, I agree… just walk around it on a Friday or Saturday night, no one will be out having fun on it, perhaps due to heightened security. Charles St is just filled with belligerent drunks. So, there’s your social life. </p>
<p>And bar-hopping? Really? Are you ****ing kidding me? Listen, there are 2 bars near campus. Two, sweaty, lame bars. That does not constitute bar hopping.</p>
<p>Oh yah, since most freshmen or sophomores don’t have cars, and most don’t use public transit, chances are you won’t get to do very many things on that list. There is the collegetown shuttle, but that limits you to colleges.</p>