<p>After much deliberation and thinking, I was finally ready to send in my SIR to Hopkins over UPenn. And then I happened to stumble the Princeton Review's site of "The Best 368 Colleges" and immediately pulled back. </p>
<p>Hopkins was ranked #6 as the school where "Professors get Low Marks" and had a very low quality of life rating of only 68/100 (I even cross-checked the 2009 version with the 2008 version of PR's guide and it was also a 68/100). Why is this? I thought the school prided itself as a place where professors genuinely care about students are willing to help them excel in the classroom. To me, these two disturbing factoids are reaffirming the rumors that Hopkins is a cutthroat and student-unfriendly place. </p>
<p>UPenn's rankings on the other hand do not reflect any major qualms within its student body. It received a quality of life rating of 88/100 (up from 75/100 in the 2008 PR Guide) and was listed as a "College with a Conscious". The only negative rating was that its "Town/Gown" relationship was strained. </p>
<p>I was honestly very disappointed when I came across these ratings. The Princeton Review, in my eyes, is a reputable source, making it hard for me to shift aside these low marks. Can anyone shed light on why Hopkins is receiving such low marks in these two critical areas? I would greatly appreciate any input.</p>
<p>That professor comment is kind of shocking to me. I know a girl who got into grad school at JHU from a community college and she told me that although was initially arduous, she got a lot of personalized attention. Now she is working for HYP.</p>
<p>Ratings are ratings. Rarely they fully reflect everything about a school. What matters is the experiences that people experience there. My suggestion to you is read through previous threads about what people thought of JHU here. Talk to any former alumini from your high school that went to JHU (best if you find a current JHU freshmen and JHU senior in a related field to what you hope to study). Look through sites like ***** (read most of the reviews). While a college experience will be different from everyone, there usually will be some shared good points and bad points. Look at these shared points, and evaluate how you will fit in.</p>
<p>***** is <a href=“http://www.un%5B/url%5D”>www.un</a> igo.com (without the space). Seems like CC blocks out sites with similar purposes to CC.</p>
<p>Anyways, while I didn’t choose JHU BME in the end, I had my reasons which might be completely different than that of yours. The main reasons had nothing to do potential problems with professors or student competition. Now, I don’t know as much about JHU as I do about my final choice or as much as a current student at JHU would know, I’m pretty sure that based off how you’re trying to base your decision on a ranking, I know more than you. Hence, go research more (a bit late, but better than never).</p>
<p>If after more research, or if you truly have other reasons to base your change of mind besides Princeton Review’s rankings, you decide JHU is not the place for you, it would be a worthy decision and one you should never second guess again. But, no offense, it’s simply stupid to make a decision based on some ranking. </p>
<p>And no - asking on CC is not enough either. Check un-igo, read through reviews there and at other sites (not rankings - reviews; reviews = lists out what ppl think are wrong while rankings are generally just a #; you should be able to tell what reviews are blatantly false, while at the same time if reasonable reviews all generally list something as a problem - then most likely that is a problem), talk to JHU students - best would be if its someone from your school or someone you have some connection to as they would most likely give you more truthful information, etc.</p>
<p>the only reason why the professors get low marks is that they are more research oriented and to get the funding from the school, they are required to teach. there are professors don’t get paid to teach, but being the number 1 research university Hopkins is, there are more professors that get paid to do research. anyway ratings are very subjective and biased.</p>
<p>Props to Jooter - I’m a current Hopkins senior and while I do volunteer for admissions, my posts here are entirely on my own, done in my free time to try to help out anyone considering Hopkins. I’ve really enjoyed my time at Hopkins, but I try not to ever tell anyone that they have to come to Hopkins. Hopkins (or any other college) is not the perfect environment for everyone. That said, I agree completely with Jooter that you should make your decision based on your own impressions, not on rankings. Read through CC, check out the [url=<a href=“http://apply.jhu.edu/forums]Hopkins”>http://apply.jhu.edu/forums]Hopkins</a> Forums<a href=“run%20by%20a%20group%20of%20students%20volunteering%20for%20the%20admissions%20office”>/url</a>, read sites like the one Jooter mentioned. but when you read information online, take everything with a grain of salt - I’ve found that the only people who post reviews or comments online (about anything, whether is a book on Amazon or a college) are those who really like it or really hate it, so keep in mind that you’re likely to loose a lot of the more “middle-ground” opinions</p>
<p>As to the OP’s question, I think skp put it really well. I’m a biomedical engineering major, and all our professors are required to teach undergrads (at least from what I understand). I’ve had a few professors who seem like they just don’t want to teach, and another handful who are enthusiastic about teaching but unable to do it well, but the vast majority have been engaging and interested in helping you learn. Granted, the academic environment is not going to be the same as at some much smaller classes - your professors are not going to be live on campus or be highly involved in student activities (though there are a handful that do each of these). However, if you make the initiative to meet your professors, either after class or during office hours, you’ll find that most of them are more than willing to go above and beyond to help. To give one example. I had a new math professor who realized a few weeks into the semester that the textbook we were using (picked by her predecessor) was completely worthless, so she would write out 5-6 page long packets of notes for us before class to guide us through the lecture. The notes didn’t cover all the material, but they gave us the basic structure through which to learn the material. In summary, The professors here are not going to hunt you down and make sure you do your homework or study for a test, but if you ever have a question or concern, they’re easily reachable and accessible to help you out.</p>
<p>Like Tanman, I am also a student at Johns Hopkins. I think the rankings in books and magazines like the Princeton Review really don’t do Hopkins justice. I spent the last 3 years on this campus and I can honestly tell you that I am very close with a number of my professors. A number of my profs have held classes at their homes to create a more relaxed environment and almost always supply us with food when they do so. I’d also say that the vast majority of my professors give me their cell numbers and home phone numbers as well so the undergrads can get in touch when they need to. I have absolutely no complaints about any of my professors. I’ve found them to be extremely accessible. That being said I am a Humanities and Social Sciences double major, so I don’t have much experience with the Natural Sciences and Engineering. I’ve maybe only taken 5 classes in Nat Sci/Engineering, but I wouldn’t say anything any different about those professors either.</p>
<p>I was getting a B- in a History of Art class and I walked up to a professor who I barely knew and asked if she could sponsor me for the Technology Fellowship worth up to $3000… she blew me away and set up me up with the coordinator and director of technology services in the History of Art department, we chatted about it for two hours and was VERY supportive along the way… I’m no longer History of Art btw, but that is the kind of help and support you can expect if you go to office hours. They really try to help you out, I honestly believe that. Just don’t go in and whine about grades. Professors had that… They value learning and experimentation far more than 90 vs. 91 on a exam…</p>
<p>Since you posted this question on the Hopkins Forums as well, I thought I would share the link with those who are just following this discussion on CC:</p>