Why is Johns Hopkins not mentioned much here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My father was a professor at Hopkins for decades and he used to say I could go to any college except Hopkins. He wasn't entirely serious but it was commonly agreed among Hopkins faculty that it wasn't the most exciting or memorable undergraduate experience.

The school is somewhat odd. It has absolutely stellar divisions and the medical school and public health are world famous and many of the academic departments even in the humanities and social sciences are first rate. But somehow it's never been able to translate that into a top notch undergraduate experience. You will get a great education at Hopkins but college is more than what you study in the classroom, and that was why my father forbade his children from even looking at Hopkins. The undergraduate component of Hopkins always had a reputation for being dull and overlooked, a place of academic grind and little more. Homewood campus isn't the most exciting place to be. It's a legacy from the founding model of the university, which was based on the German university model (heavily professional, heavily specialist, geared towards graduate students) rather than the collegiate Oxford/Cambridge model (strong undergraduate focus).

Having said that, things apparently have been changing in recent years. Hopkins has poured a lot of money in improving the undergraduate experience. Nearby Charles Village has received a big infusion of Hopkins money and has many more retail and dining options compared to twenty years ago, and the university finally got state permission to have an privately armed police force, which should help with the petty crime in Charles Village (it was never bad but you did have predators looking to mug Hopkins students and even staff). Bloomberg gave millions to improve the campus grounds. Another alum recently donated a huge sum to the Philosophy department that promises to potentially transform it into the most well-endowed philosophy department in the country.

And the location is just fine, for those who are worried. It's not as intensely urban as Penn or Chicago and I like the greenery of the campus and the surrounding area.

Fantastic post, thanks. We visited recently and were happily shocked by a lovely campus and adjacent areas of the city that were attractive. After all the talk here you’d think it was a war zone.

Step out of bubbles.

This is the context of the Homewood Campus:

Directly east is Charles Village, a late 19th century neighborhood of large rowhouses. Most off-campus undergrads and grad students live here, alongside faculty and admin and others. It's a leafy and rather attractive area of big rowhouses, many with porches. There's a retail strip about 2-3 blocks long including bookstore, cafes, coffee shop, pizza places and so forth. There's a fantastic farmer's market every Saturday morning further east. It does get rougher once you get past the farmer's market location.

Directly north is North Baltimore, which is gorgeous and affluent with beautiful homes and landscaping.

Directly west is a park with running trails alongside a creek and on the other side of the park is Hampden, a traditional blue collar white working class area that is rapidly transforming into Baltimore's hipsterville with a thriving dining scene and fun boutiques. A lot of grad students now live there.

Directly south is midtown, which is also rapidly changing. Further south you get to Mount Vernon and then downtown and the harbor. It's all part of the central corridor in Baltimore which offers a nice urbanity. Yes, some petty crime but for the most part it's fine. A bubble, sure, but why not?

[Anonymous]

Hopkins is almost all rich (70% make over $120K) and all asian/middle eastern Americans and international. I think it may be 35% white.

It is a typical international type of undegraduate school. Not a lot of partying, not a lot of sports, not a lot of socializing. The main and only goal is study and get into graduate school. That is not a bad thing, but it isn't the experience many Americans want. For my child, she was in a top rigorous private school and wanted nothing to do with the same atmosphere in college. She wants some socializing, school spirit, and lots of friends and memories. She still chose a top school, but wanted a more social feel. For kids that don't want the American fluff, chose JHU. It is no nonsense.

Also, JHU is less than 10% in-state. People around here know it is in a terrible neighborhood. Unless they truly want to be a doctor, all the other ivy's seem more appealing to kids around here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My father was a professor at Hopkins for decades and he used to say I could go to any college except Hopkins. He wasn't entirely serious but it was commonly agreed among Hopkins faculty that it wasn't the most exciting or memorable undergraduate experience.

The school is somewhat odd. It has absolutely stellar divisions and the medical school and public health are world famous and many of the academic departments even in the humanities and social sciences are first rate. But somehow it's never been able to translate that into a top notch undergraduate experience. You will get a great education at Hopkins but college is more than what you study in the classroom, and that was why my father forbade his children from even looking at Hopkins. The undergraduate component of Hopkins always had a reputation for being dull and overlooked, a place of academic grind and little more. Homewood campus isn't the most exciting place to be. It's a legacy from the founding model of the university, which was based on the German university model (heavily professional, heavily specialist, geared towards graduate students) rather than the collegiate Oxford/Cambridge model (strong undergraduate focus).

Having said that, things apparently have been changing in recent years. Hopkins has poured a lot of money in improving the undergraduate experience. Nearby Charles Village has received a big infusion of Hopkins money and has many more retail and dining options compared to twenty years ago, and the university finally got state permission to have an privately armed police force, which should help with the petty crime in Charles Village (it was never bad but you did have predators looking to mug Hopkins students and even staff). Bloomberg gave millions to improve the campus grounds. Another alum recently donated a huge sum to the Philosophy department that promises to potentially transform it into the most well-endowed philosophy department in the country.

And the location is just fine, for those who are worried. It's not as intensely urban as Penn or Chicago and I like the greenery of the campus and the surrounding area.

Fantastic post, thanks. We visited recently and were happily shocked by a lovely campus and adjacent areas of the city that were attractive. After all the talk here you’d think it was a war zone.

Step out of bubbles.

This is the context of the Homewood Campus:

Directly east is Charles Village, a late 19th century neighborhood of large rowhouses. Most off-campus undergrads and grad students live here, alongside faculty and admin and others. It's a leafy and rather attractive area of big rowhouses, many with porches. There's a retail strip about 2-3 blocks long including bookstore, cafes, coffee shop, pizza places and so forth. There's a fantastic farmer's market every Saturday morning further east. It does get rougher once you get past the farmer's market location.

Directly north is North Baltimore, which is gorgeous and affluent with beautiful homes and landscaping.

Directly west is a park with running trails alongside a creek and on the other side of the park is Hampden, a traditional blue collar white working class area that is rapidly transforming into Baltimore's hipsterville with a thriving dining scene and fun boutiques. A lot of grad students now live there.

Directly south is midtown, which is also rapidly changing. Further south you get to Mount Vernon and then downtown and the harbor. It's all part of the central corridor in Baltimore which offers a nice urbanity. Yes, some petty crime but for the most part it's fine. A bubble, sure, but why not?

It’s nicer than it used to be (when I was there it wasn’t uncommon to be mugged in Charles Village) but I also think you’re overstating its charms. It is pretty inexpensive which is nice for students. The busy roads - N Charles St and the one to the west — chop up the campus a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hopkins is almost all rich (70% make over $120K) and all asian/middle eastern Americans and international. I think it may be 35% white.

It is a typical international type of undegraduate school. Not a lot of partying, not a lot of sports, not a lot of socializing. The main and only goal is study and get into graduate school. That is not a bad thing, but it isn't the experience many Americans want. For my child, she was in a top rigorous private school and wanted nothing to do with the same atmosphere in college. She wants some socializing, school spirit, and lots of friends and memories. She still chose a top school, but wanted a more social feel. For kids that don't want the American fluff, chose JHU. It is no nonsense.

Also, JHU is less than 10% in-state. People around here know it is in a terrible neighborhood. Unless they truly want to be a doctor, all the other ivy's seem more appealing to kids around here.

65% is “almost all”? And no sports? Hopkins has one of the best D3 sports programs in the country and is elite D1 in men’s and women’s lacrosse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When is the last time folks were at the medical campus? The area's changed considerably.

I go up to the Neurology center on a regular basis. The area around the medical campus is COMPLETELY TERRIFYING. Houses which are boarded up, spray painted, full of garbage. Skinny drug addicted people shuffling down the street talking to themselves (these are the ONLY people you see on the street).

But I agree 100% that its a top institution and you don't need to walk these neighborhoods, ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopkins is almost all rich (70% make over $120K) and all asian/middle eastern Americans and international. I think it may be 35% white.

It is a typical international type of undegraduate school. Not a lot of partying, not a lot of sports, not a lot of socializing. The main and only goal is study and get into graduate school. That is not a bad thing, but it isn't the experience many Americans want. For my child, she was in a top rigorous private school and wanted nothing to do with the same atmosphere in college. She wants some socializing, school spirit, and lots of friends and memories. She still chose a top school, but wanted a more social feel. For kids that don't want the American fluff, chose JHU. It is no nonsense.

Also, JHU is less than 10% in-state. People around here know it is in a terrible neighborhood. Unless they truly want to be a doctor, all the other ivy's seem more appealing to kids around here.

65% is “almost all”? And no sports? Hopkins has one of the best D3 sports programs in the country and is elite D1 in men’s and women’s lacrosse.

+1. Also 30% Greek. Sure it's not the same vibe as UVA OR W&L, but nevertheless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopkins is almost all rich (70% make over $120K) and all asian/middle eastern Americans and international. I think it may be 35% white.

It is a typical international type of undegraduate school. Not a lot of partying, not a lot of sports, not a lot of socializing. The main and only goal is study and get into graduate school. That is not a bad thing, but it isn't the experience many Americans want. For my child, she was in a top rigorous private school and wanted nothing to do with the same atmosphere in college. She wants some socializing, school spirit, and lots of friends and memories. She still chose a top school, but wanted a more social feel. For kids that don't want the American fluff, chose JHU. It is no nonsense.

Also, JHU is less than 10% in-state. People around here know it is in a terrible neighborhood. Unless they truly want to be a doctor, all the other ivy's seem more appealing to kids around here.

65% is “almost all”? And no sports? Hopkins has one of the best D3 sports programs in the country and is elite D1 in men’s and women’s lacrosse.

NP

No one is watching or cheering for them. I am pretty sure that is what PP means. The only people who care about the sports at JHU are the kids who only got in because of their hook of a sport. Hence, the 35% white which are almost all the 30% sports, 30% greek people - all the same. It is like one crowd and another. That is it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopkins is almost all rich (70% make over $120K) and all asian/middle eastern Americans and international. I think it may be 35% white.

It is a typical international type of undegraduate school. Not a lot of partying, not a lot of sports, not a lot of socializing. The main and only goal is study and get into graduate school. That is not a bad thing, but it isn't the experience many Americans want. For my child, she was in a top rigorous private school and wanted nothing to do with the same atmosphere in college. She wants some socializing, school spirit, and lots of friends and memories. She still chose a top school, but wanted a more social feel. For kids that don't want the American fluff, chose JHU. It is no nonsense.

Also, JHU is less than 10% in-state. People around here know it is in a terrible neighborhood. Unless they truly want to be a doctor, all the other ivy's seem more appealing to kids around here.

65% is “almost all”? And no sports? Hopkins has one of the best D3 sports programs in the country and is elite D1 in men’s and women’s lacrosse.

+1. Also 30% Greek. Sure it's not the same vibe as UVA OR W&L, but nevertheless.

You are comparing UVA vibe with Hopkins?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My father was a professor at Hopkins for decades and he used to say I could go to any college except Hopkins. He wasn't entirely serious but it was commonly agreed among Hopkins faculty that it wasn't the most exciting or memorable undergraduate experience.

The school is somewhat odd. It has absolutely stellar divisions and the medical school and public health are world famous and many of the academic departments even in the humanities and social sciences are first rate. But somehow it's never been able to translate that into a top notch undergraduate experience. You will get a great education at Hopkins but college is more than what you study in the classroom, and that was why my father forbade his children from even looking at Hopkins. The undergraduate component of Hopkins always had a reputation for being dull and overlooked, a place of academic grind and little more. Homewood campus isn't the most exciting place to be. It's a legacy from the founding model of the university, which was based on the German university model (heavily professional, heavily specialist, geared towards graduate students) rather than the collegiate Oxford/Cambridge model (strong undergraduate focus).

Having said that, things apparently have been changing in recent years. Hopkins has poured a lot of money in improving the undergraduate experience. Nearby Charles Village has received a big infusion of Hopkins money and has many more retail and dining options compared to twenty years ago, and the university finally got state permission to have an privately armed police force, which should help with the petty crime in Charles Village (it was never bad but you did have predators looking to mug Hopkins students and even staff). Bloomberg gave millions to improve the campus grounds. Another alum recently donated a huge sum to the Philosophy department that promises to potentially transform it into the most well-endowed philosophy department in the country.

And the location is just fine, for those who are worried. It's not as intensely urban as Penn or Chicago and I like the greenery of the campus and the surrounding area.

Fantastic post, thanks. We visited recently and were happily shocked by a lovely campus and adjacent areas of the city that were attractive. After all the talk here you’d think it was a war zone.

Step out of bubbles.

This is the context of the Homewood Campus:

Directly east is Charles Village, a late 19th century neighborhood of large rowhouses. Most off-campus undergrads and grad students live here, alongside faculty and admin and others. It's a leafy and rather attractive area of big rowhouses, many with porches. There's a retail strip about 2-3 blocks long including bookstore, cafes, coffee shop, pizza places and so forth. There's a fantastic farmer's market every Saturday morning further east. It does get rougher once you get past the farmer's market location.

Directly north is North Baltimore, which is gorgeous and affluent with beautiful homes and landscaping.

Directly west is a park with running trails alongside a creek and on the other side of the park is Hampden, a traditional blue collar white working class area that is rapidly transforming into Baltimore's hipsterville with a thriving dining scene and fun boutiques. A lot of grad students now live there.

Directly south is midtown, which is also rapidly changing. Further south you get to Mount Vernon and then downtown and the harbor. It's all part of the central corridor in Baltimore which offers a nice urbanity. Yes, some petty crime but for the most part it's fine. A bubble, sure, but why not?

It’s nicer than it used to be (when I was there it wasn’t uncommon to be mugged in Charles Village) but I also think you’re overstating its charms. It is pretty inexpensive which is nice for students. The busy roads - N Charles St and the one to the west — chop up the campus a bit.

Err.... North Charles is the official campus border, isn't it? It's no different from most campuses with a "town" side with retail and off-campus student housing and a few university buildings that crept over, and a campus side. The road to the west is a winding drive that separates the campus from Stony Run Park, and there are trails and streets to cut through the park. I don't get your point.

I don't think I overstated any charms. Charles Village isn't a happening university town like Ann Arbor. But it has its charms and is rather attractive with the blocks of rowhouses and shady trees. It is a bit block by block, some are dominated by cheap rentals and others lovingly maintained by private owners.

[Anonymous]

I think it's a 'near home but not cheap or easy to get into' bias against Hopkins. Kids who would be academically strong enough to get in have so many options elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My father was a professor at Hopkins for decades and he used to say I could go to any college except Hopkins. He wasn't entirely serious but it was commonly agreed among Hopkins faculty that it wasn't the most exciting or memorable undergraduate experience.

The school is somewhat odd. It has absolutely stellar divisions and the medical school and public health are world famous and many of the academic departments even in the humanities and social sciences are first rate. But somehow it's never been able to translate that into a top notch undergraduate experience. You will get a great education at Hopkins but college is more than what you study in the classroom, and that was why my father forbade his children from even looking at Hopkins. The undergraduate component of Hopkins always had a reputation for being dull and overlooked, a place of academic grind and little more. Homewood campus isn't the most exciting place to be. It's a legacy from the founding model of the university, which was based on the German university model (heavily professional, heavily specialist, geared towards graduate students) rather than the collegiate Oxford/Cambridge model (strong undergraduate focus).

Having said that, things apparently have been changing in recent years. Hopkins has poured a lot of money in improving the undergraduate experience. Nearby Charles Village has received a big infusion of Hopkins money and has many more retail and dining options compared to twenty years ago, and the university finally got state permission to have an privately armed police force, which should help with the petty crime in Charles Village (it was never bad but you did have predators looking to mug Hopkins students and even staff). Bloomberg gave millions to improve the campus grounds. Another alum recently donated a huge sum to the Philosophy department that promises to potentially transform it into the most well-endowed philosophy department in the country.

And the location is just fine, for those who are worried. It's not as intensely urban as Penn or Chicago and I like the greenery of the campus and the surrounding area.

Fantastic post, thanks. We visited recently and were happily shocked by a lovely campus and adjacent areas of the city that were attractive. After all the talk here you’d think it was a war zone.

Step out of bubbles.

This is the context of the Homewood Campus:

Directly east is Charles Village, a late 19th century neighborhood of large rowhouses. Most off-campus undergrads and grad students live here, alongside faculty and admin and others. It's a leafy and rather attractive area of big rowhouses, many with porches. There's a retail strip about 2-3 blocks long including bookstore, cafes, coffee shop, pizza places and so forth. There's a fantastic farmer's market every Saturday morning further east. It does get rougher once you get past the farmer's market location.

Directly north is North Baltimore, which is gorgeous and affluent with beautiful homes and landscaping.

Directly west is a park with running trails alongside a creek and on the other side of the park is Hampden, a traditional blue collar white working class area that is rapidly transforming into Baltimore's hipsterville with a thriving dining scene and fun boutiques. A lot of grad students now live there.

Directly south is midtown, which is also rapidly changing. Further south you get to Mount Vernon and then downtown and the harbor. It's all part of the central corridor in Baltimore which offers a nice urbanity. Yes, some petty crime but for the most part it's fine. A bubble, sure, but why not?

It’s nicer than it used to be (when I was there it wasn’t uncommon to be mugged in Charles Village) but I also think you’re overstating its charms. It is pretty inexpensive which is nice for students. The busy roads - N Charles St and the one to the west — chop up the campus a bit.

Err.... North Charles is the official campus border, isn't it? It's no different from most campuses with a "town" side with retail and off-campus student housing and a few university buildings that crept over, and a campus side. The road to the west is a winding drive that separates the campus from Stony Run Park, and there are trails and streets to cut through the park. I don't get your point.

I don't think I overstated any charms. Charles Village isn't a happening university town like Ann Arbor. But it has its charms and is rather attractive with the blocks of rowhouses and shady trees. It is a bit block by block, some are dominated by cheap rentals and others lovingly maintained by private owners.

Bunch of dorms are located across N Charles. Kids used to get hit by cars while crossing every once in a while, because there was a single lane that ran in the opposite direction. They finally fixed that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Johns Hopkins is a national treasure not a local school. It is the premier medical school in the entire country. Not for spoiled kids who need coddling(aka wussies).
The only institutions in the country that are irreplaceable are
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Hopkins
USNA
Stanford.

2 of the schools are in maryland. These schools fulfill a national purposes and needs.

Not sure how the above "irreplaceable" list was "developed," but here are some glaring omissions:
West Point -- USMA
William & Mary

I like this list, but how does Berkeley get left off or CalTech, GaTech, and places like Wisconsin?

And I’m a poli sci major from a small women’s college. Hoping my girls will follow in my parents footsteps and go into a research oriented field.
UVa
Notre Dame
U. Chicago

Presuming that the list reflects historic significance and substantial contributions to American culture/educational advancement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a 'near home but not cheap or easy to get into' bias against Hopkins. Kids who would be academically strong enough to get in have so many options elsewhere.

I can see this, but the same doesn't seem to hold for Georgetown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hopkins is almost all rich (70% make over $120K) and all asian/middle eastern Americans and international. I think it may be 35% white.

It is a typical international type of undegraduate school. Not a lot of partying, not a lot of sports, not a lot of socializing. The main and only goal is study and get into graduate school. That is not a bad thing, but it isn't the experience many Americans want. For my child, she was in a top rigorous private school and wanted nothing to do with the same atmosphere in college. She wants some socializing, school spirit, and lots of friends and memories. She still chose a top school, but wanted a more social feel. For kids that don't want the American fluff, chose JHU. It is no nonsense.

Also, JHU is less than 10% in-state. People around here know it is in a terrible neighborhood. Unless they truly want to be a doctor, all the other ivy's seem more appealing to kids around here.

New poster here.
I went to public health graduate school at Hopkins and met my husband who was in medical school. I lived in Charles Village and did most of my studying on the main campus (Homewood). I agree with this poster and the one before who's dad was a professor.
While we had a great time in the greater Hopkins/Baltimore community in our 20's, I would never want my kids to go there for undergrad. It's difficult to explain but it just always felt like a pretty soulless and competitive place. Think of your typical pre-med
undergraduate organic chemistry course and then extrapolate it to almost an entire university. I came from a small liberal arts college and my husband from a large state school and both of our undergraduate colleges had about 100 times the joy and life of Hopkins undergrad.
it's just dull. And seemingly very competitive. Something like 99% of the kids are pre-med (I exaggerate but it's pretty darn high). That does not make for a fun environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopkins is almost all rich (70% make over $120K) and all asian/middle eastern Americans and international. I think it may be 35% white.

It is a typical international type of undegraduate school. Not a lot of partying, not a lot of sports, not a lot of socializing. The main and only goal is study and get into graduate school. That is not a bad thing, but it isn't the experience many Americans want. For my child, she was in a top rigorous private school and wanted nothing to do with the same atmosphere in college. She wants some socializing, school spirit, and lots of friends and memories. She still chose a top school, but wanted a more social feel. For kids that don't want the American fluff, chose JHU. It is no nonsense.

Also, JHU is less than 10% in-state. People around here know it is in a terrible neighborhood. Unless they truly want to be a doctor, all the other ivy's seem more appealing to kids around here.

New poster here.
I went to public health graduate school at Hopkins and met my husband who was in medical school. I lived in Charles Village and did most of my studying on the main campus (Homewood). I agree with this poster and the one before who's dad was a professor.
While we had a great time in the greater Hopkins/Baltimore community in our 20's, I would never want my kids to go there for undergrad. It's difficult to explain but it just always felt like a pretty soulless and competitive place. Think of your typical pre-med
undergraduate organic chemistry course and then extrapolate it to almost an entire university. I came from a small liberal arts college and my husband from a large state school and both of our undergraduate colleges had about 100 times the joy and life of Hopkins undergrad.
it's just dull. And seemingly very competitive. Something like 99% of the kids are pre-med (I exaggerate but it's pretty darn high). That does not make for a fun environment.

Doe JHU have an inordinately high success rate placing those pre-med undergrads in medical school? I mean wouldnt your odds be much better to go to, a state flagship or a 20-40 ranked SLAC and be THE kid with the great GPA? I mean there must be JHU kids who are middle to low of the pack at JHU who never get into medical school but would otherwise shine at a diff school.