Why is Johns Hopkins not mentioned much here?

[Anonymous]

I went to MIT and Hopkins. Both same crime levels. Cambridge is not exactly a crime free zone. At both schools I walked home late a night. Always mindful of my surroundings. Great schools are typically in crappy areas because the non-profit status drains serious tax base from the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:JHU medical school and some graduate programs are top totch. But the undergraduate student population is so so, especially if your kid is not into sciences.

30,000 applications and 9.2% acceptance rate...how are the undergraduates, so so?

[Anonymous]

Jhu reddit doesn’t seem full of students who are unhappy about where they are. I suggest reading those threads to get a better feel for the site.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:JHU medical school and some graduate programs are top totch. But the undergraduate student population is so so, especially if your kid is not into sciences.

30,000 applications and 9.2% acceptance rate...how are the undergraduates, so so?

My anecdotal and longish-ago experience as a TA in the humanities was that I had several international students whose English was not good enough to participate in class at a proficient level or do college-level writing and a ton of science majors who weren't interested or invested (they were taking the course to fulfill a requirement). It just felt unbalanced to have so few humanities students who were interested and engaged in the material.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:JHU medical school and some graduate programs are top totch. But the undergraduate student population is so so, especially if your kid is not into sciences.

30,000 applications and 9.2% acceptance rate...how are the undergraduates, so so?

My anecdotal and longish-ago experience as a TA in the humanities was that I had several international students whose English was not good enough to participate in class at a proficient level or do college-level writing and a ton of science majors who weren't interested or invested (they were taking the course to fulfill a requirement). It just felt unbalanced to have so few humanities students who were interested and engaged in the material.

Adding in: but this was an intro course and higher level courses within a major wouldn’t have had the same issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:JHU medical school and some graduate programs are top totch. But the undergraduate student population is so so, especially if your kid is not into sciences.

30,000 applications and 9.2% acceptance rate...how are the undergraduates, so so?

My anecdotal and longish-ago experience as a TA in the humanities was that I had several international students whose English was not good enough to participate in class at a proficient level or do college-level writing and a ton of science majors who weren't interested or invested (they were taking the course to fulfill a requirement). It just felt unbalanced to have so few humanities students who were interested and engaged in the material.

I taught there in a non-science field and had some really excellent undergraduate students (a couple are now tenured profs at Georgetown and Yale, others have really interesting careers in law, media, arts — and those are just the ones I know about). Aside from these standouts, there were a lot of competent pre-professional kids and I never had a course (including the intro course in my discipline) where I encountered students who lacked the language skills to participate in discussions. Obviously this, too, was years ago. But in the past few years I revisited JHU as part of my own kid’s college search. My strong impression was that the things I valued (really excellent liberal arts faculty, scale, libraries/museums) were still there and significant improvements had been made in stuff that had been kinda substandard (dorms, study space on campus). There’s also a new 4 year undergrad research mentorship program that looks great and builds on, for me, what was Hopkins’ strong suit at the college level — the opportunity for academically-oriented undergrads to function as jr grad students. Kids we met on/through the tour were smart, well spoken, focused on the right things). Not a school for everyone, but really great for some kids. And seriously underrated by people who think of it only as a (pre-/) med school and/or who are scared of Baltimore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:JHU medical school and some graduate programs are top totch. But the undergraduate student population is so so, especially if your kid is not into sciences.

30,000 applications and 9.2% acceptance rate...how are the undergraduates, so so?

A lot of good undergrads skip Hopkins due to the (unnecessary) cut throat culture there and the deficiencies of the campus- totally crappy dorms that are only guaranteed to freshman and often lack things like AC? They need to create some positive community at that school.

The culture of competitive unpaid internships that last all year long and through the summer every year did not impress me either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:JHU medical school and some graduate programs are top totch. But the undergraduate student population is so so, especially if your kid is not into sciences.

30,000 applications and 9.2% acceptance rate...how are the undergraduates, so so?

My anecdotal and longish-ago experience as a TA in the humanities was that I had several international students whose English was not good enough to participate in class at a proficient level or do college-level writing and a ton of science majors who weren't interested or invested (they were taking the course to fulfill a requirement). It just felt unbalanced to have so few humanities students who were interested and engaged in the material.

I taught there in a non-science field and had some really excellent undergraduate students (a couple are now tenured profs at Georgetown and Yale, others have really interesting careers in law, media, arts — and those are just the ones I know about). Aside from these standouts, there were a lot of competent pre-professional kids and I never had a course (including the intro course in my discipline) where I encountered students who lacked the language skills to participate in discussions. Obviously this, too, was years ago. But in the past few years I revisited JHU as part of my own kid’s college search. My strong impression was that the things I valued (really excellent liberal arts faculty, scale, libraries/museums) were still there and significant improvements had been made in stuff that had been kinda substandard (dorms, study space on campus). There’s also a new 4 year undergrad research mentorship program that looks great and builds on, for me, what was Hopkins’ strong suit at the college level — the opportunity for academically-oriented undergrads to BE EXPLOITED as jr grad students FREE LABOR. Kids we met on/through the tour were smart, well spoken, focused on the right things). Not a school for everyone, but really great for some kids. And seriously underrated by people who think of it only as a (pre-/) med school and/or who are scared of Baltimore.

Fixed it for you.
Undergrads working at their unpaid internships to the point of not having time to do their school work, sleep or socialize does not impress me. But I see that it impresses you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:JHU medical school and some graduate programs are top totch. But the undergraduate student population is so so, especially if your kid is not into sciences.

30,000 applications and 9.2% acceptance rate...how are the undergraduates, so so?

My anecdotal and longish-ago experience as a TA in the humanities was that I had several international students whose English was not good enough to participate in class at a proficient level or do college-level writing and a ton of science majors who weren't interested or invested (they were taking the course to fulfill a requirement). It just felt unbalanced to have so few humanities students who were interested and engaged in the material.

I taught there in a non-science field and had some really excellent undergraduate students (a couple are now tenured profs at Georgetown and Yale, others have really interesting careers in law, media, arts — and those are just the ones I know about). Aside from these standouts, there were a lot of competent pre-professional kids and I never had a course (including the intro course in my discipline) where I encountered students who lacked the language skills to participate in discussions. Obviously this, too, was years ago. But in the past few years I revisited JHU as part of my own kid’s college search. My strong impression was that the things I valued (really excellent liberal arts faculty, scale, libraries/museums) were still there and significant improvements had been made in stuff that had been kinda substandard (dorms, study space on campus). There’s also a new 4 year undergrad research mentorship program that looks great and builds on, for me, what was Hopkins’ strong suit at the college level — the opportunity for academically-oriented undergrads to BE EXPLOITED as jr grad students FREE LABOR. Kids we met on/through the tour were smart, well spoken, focused on the right things). Not a school for everyone, but really great for some kids. And seriously underrated by people who think of it only as a (pre-/) med school and/or who are scared of Baltimore.

Fixed it for you.
Undergrads working at their unpaid internships to the point of not having time to do their school work, sleep or socialize does not impress me. But I see that it impresses you.

No, I’m in a liberal arts field and was talking about faculty mentorship for undergrads who wanted to take grad courses, do independent studies, undertake research projects of their own, combine BA/MA programs, etc. And also that, at least when I was there/in the departments I knew best, grad students themselves were welcoming to undergrads with similar academic interests and the fact that so many undergrads lived off campus (like grad students) made socializing easier.

FWIW, my science major kid at a different school (that shares the junior grad student vibe) has been TAing as an undergrad. TAing has always been paid. Also doing self-directed research (combination of supported by department with summer grants or for course credit). I think it can be a tricky balance between coursework and teaching/research for undergrads (all my TAs and RAs at Hopkins were grad students on fellowships), but I also recognize that different students learn in different ways and the apprenticeship model may serve some kids better than classroom instruction.

[Anonymous]

I went to Hopkins and USC and the neighborhood Hopkins is in is better than USC's neighborhood, plus Hopkins had an honest, hardworking student body, which is more than I can say for USC (even before the admissions scandal).

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's close and highly ranked...
Is it the neighborhood? Miserable student body??

Probably yes to both of those things.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

No bubble here, dummy. Just can’t visit every campus.