<p>I know the positive stuff. I want to know the bad stuff so...spill the beans lol</p>
<p>Its near a really bad neighborhood</p>
<p>No it isn’t.</p>
<p>I heard it was…</p>
<p>My brother told me it was…</p>
<p>it was 10 years ago. it’s not anymore.</p>
<p>Oh okay well so what are the negatives of going to JHU?</p>
<p>One thing that always got to me was JHU always being seen more of a medical school/hospital.</p>
<p>@klstylez01 Yeah, definitely one of my pet peeves. It doesn’t happen too much but I definitely cringe when I hear “Ohhhh so you want to be a doctor?” or “Isn’t that a medical school?”</p>
<p>If you’re in one of the smaller departments, undergrad research opportunities are scar to nonexistent. And it’s difficult, and becoming increasingly so, to get upperclass housing.</p>
<p>well i am an incoming freshman and I am not a sciencey person…most of the people i’ve met via facebook at Hopkins fall into these three perspective majors: public health, biomedical engineering, neuroscience…or a science like chem or something.
not a lot of you know right brained people.
if the dept is small in my area…history, english, etc (also top rated) then i am hoping for the individualized attention that many non-science/math people claim they get. </p>
<p>if i am unhappy still, then i am transferring out</p>
<p>You’ll get the individual attention, don’t worry about that. It’s just that they don’t have the same amount of money or resources.</p>
<p>Hopkins itself is in Charles Village, which, by the standards of Baltimore, is a great neighborhood. It’s bordered by Roland Park, which is one of the nicest Baltimore neighborhoods, and Waverley/Coldspring-Homestead-Montebello, which are two of the worst (yes) neighborhoods in Baltimore in terms of murder/crime rate.
However, I am a small, white female and I went alone to the grocery store/thrift store/restaurants and ran in those neighborhoods plenty of times without incident – during the day. I wouldn’t go there alone at night.</p>
<p>I would say the worst of Hopkins is the elitism of some students and the inaccessibility of some professors. Overall, though, if you make an effort to get to know your professors, they are incredibly helpful and interested in undergrads.</p>
<p>Howdypal, one of my best friends at Hopkins was a Writing Sems major. That department is great and pretty strongly represented on campus. </p>
<p>English department – honestly wouldn’t suggest majoring in this. Take a couple classes (with Doug Mao if you can!!) and see what you think, but I didn’t think my classes in that department were of the best quality.</p>
<p>History – is actually great at Hopkins. They have some of the top professors in their respective fields, including Franklin Knight in Latin American/Caribbean history (PLEASE take a class with him if you are interested in history). </p>
<p>I wouldn’t say undergrad research opportunities are scarce. You just have to be creative. For example, I got credit for interning at Baltimore’s NPR affiliate. If you are interested in a professor’s work, JUST ASK and they will usually help you find someone to work with, if not take you under their own wing. I started research/interning the second semester of my freshman year and had help from multiple professors along the way. Many don’t post/publish opportunities but you can usually work something out if you are persistent and dedicated.</p>
<p>How does Greek life come into play?</p>
<p>Son is a rising sophomore. I think the second year housing options are not good for 1/2 the students. High likelihood of not getting a room at Charles Commons, or even if you do, ending up with 11 month or 12 month contract which one may not want. Son ended up with a crappy suite (with NO living room, just shared bedrooms with TINY kitchenette) and is paying almost as much as others who got a large living room, private bedrooms and much better kitchen facilities.</p>
<p>cons are definitely outweighed by tho pros, but here are some bad aspects of the school
-mild claustrophobia: it’s easy to get stuck in the campus bubble, especially as a scared little freshman. upperclassmen, especially those with cars, get around the city much more easily. until then, get comfortable with sticking to a narrow block span of charles/st paul streets, with the occasional expedition to the inner harbor/fells/fed hill/hampden
-elitism/mild chip of shoulder: people are proud to go here, but are conscious that it’s not quiet an ivy league school. that said, I LOVE how smart (nearly) everyone is, especially compared to high school - wow.
-for your social life, either be prepared to go greek or work hard to have one. I’m in a fraternity and love it. Others aren’t and love being GDIs, but they definitely have to work harder. Being in a frat means you can either work hard to put on events or sit back and let them be served to you by the more contributing members of your fraternity/sorority
-occasional lack of study seating. the library and gilman can get crowded, especially during finals. This will be fixed when the beautiful brody learning commons opens summer 2012.
-weight room (which is well equipped but a bit small) can get fairly crowded. this means either deal with the crowd or go during off hours. and if you’re a girl or skinny guy, be prepared to stand out.
-shallow, 6 lane pool. I’m a swimming/recreational water polo player and have felt rather stilted. We seriously need to get an olympic pool. Our water polo team has only 3 out of like 15 games at home because our pool sucks so much.
-lacrosse is boring (but others love it). regardless, it’s the only real spectator sport we have. having a good football/basketball team would be amazing
-relatively small campus. this can be good and bad - it means your commutes are short. but it also means there’s not much to see. thankfully, what there is to see is beautiful
-as above poster mentioned, sophomore housing can suck. it’s based on a lottery, and you’re required to live on campus. so some people -about 1/4, get really nice charles commons rooms. 1/4 get decent commons rooms or bradford apartments. 1/2 are stuck in mccoy.
-food/meal plans are a bit expensive. but that’s why subway and unimini are open 24/7
-lack of food/retail in area. subway, unimini, chipotle. get used to it. and if you want to shop, catch the 20-30minute shuttle to towson mall (once you get there, it’s awesome).</p>
<p>all this said, as a rising sophomore I cannot wait to get back to school! I’m fairly involved, have loved all my classes, love the people I’ve met, and am generally content with the school. This should tell you something: being a tour guide here is pretty competitive because so many kids want to rep the school.</p>
<p>Hmm that’s not to much. JHU doesn’t have a drug problem right?</p>
<p>Drugs exist, like they do at pretty much every school in the country, but it’s definitely not a problem…no.</p>