Anonymous wrote:I'm an alum and wouldn't send my kid there. It's a definite slog with little school spirit and historically the students are incredibly intense because so many are pre-med. There was a decent amount of cheating, hiding of source documents in the library, etc. (Back in my era when there were required textbooks or readings on-loan in the library kids would check them all out and keep them/destroy them so their classmates couldn't read them). Basically--weird, super competitive stuff was not abnormal.

Also, historically kids would enter having had years and years of advanced high school science and math. My kids are on the "calculus in 11th grade track" at a non-magnet and if you had asked me if I'd feel like they would be prepared for Hopkins my gut would say "no way! They'll be really far behind many of their peers." Interestingly, I don't know how this jives with the heavy minority enrollment because many of these kids will be becoming from under resourced high schools that may not even offer AP classes, Calc BC, etc. How does this group jive with large percentage of kid coming from STEM magnets etc. who are 2 or 3 or 4 years beyond calculus in high school?
Hopkins would seem about the last school on the planet that's a good fit for some of these kids. And lest you say I'm a racist--I work daily with these kids. We have a bunch from very poorly resourced schools in DC and Baltimore who are heading to Hopkins this fall. They're smart but most have never had math beyond pre-calc. How are they going to jive with the 30% of the class that took linear algebra in high school? I'm sure many will do great but some will not. They'll realize that a STEM heavy, slog of a university is a terrible fit. It's just all a bit odd but I'm not the one making decisions at Hopkins.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm an alum and wouldn't send my kid there. It's a definite slog with little school spirit and historically the students are incredibly intense because so many are pre-med. There was a decent amount of cheating, hiding of source documents in the library, etc. (Back in my era when there were required textbooks or readings on-loan in the library kids would check them all out and keep them/destroy them so their classmates couldn't read them). Basically--weird, super competitive stuff was not abnormal.

Also, historically kids would enter having had years and years of advanced high school science and math. My kids are on the "calculus in 11th grade track" at a non-magnet and if you had asked me if I'd feel like they would be prepared for Hopkins my gut would say "no way! They'll be really far behind many of their peers." Interestingly, I don't know how this jives with the heavy minority enrollment because many of these kids will be becoming from under resourced high schools that may not even offer AP classes, Calc BC, etc. How does this group jive with large percentage of kid coming from STEM magnets etc. who are 2 or 3 or 4 years beyond calculus in high school?
Hopkins would seem about the last school on the planet that's a good fit for some of these kids. And lest you say I'm a racist--I work daily with these kids. We have a bunch from very poorly resourced schools in DC and Baltimore who are heading to Hopkins this fall. They're smart but most have never had math beyond pre-calc. How are they going to jive with the 30% of the class that took linear algebra in high school? I'm sure many will do great but some will not. They'll realize that a STEM heavy, slog of a university is a terrible fit. It's just all a bit odd but I'm not the one making decisions at Hopkins.

I'm not a Hopkins grad, but I live a few blocks from campus and I see students all the time. For what it's worth, all the ones who live near me seem to be standard preppy white kids. Your take is very interesting. My impression is that Hopkins is not much fun, but the description of kids hiding resources in the library takes things to another level. I wonder if perhaps a more diverse student body will alter some of the culture in a good way?

Anonymous wrote:I'm an alum and wouldn't send my kid there. It's a definite slog with little school spirit and historically the students are incredibly intense because so many are pre-med. There was a decent amount of cheating, hiding of source documents in the library, etc. (Back in my era when there were required textbooks or readings on-loan in the library kids would check them all out and keep them/destroy them so their classmates couldn't read them). Basically--weird, super competitive stuff was not abnormal.

Also, historically kids would enter having had years and years of advanced high school science and math. My kids are on the "calculus in 11th grade track" at a non-magnet and if you had asked me if I'd feel like they would be prepared for Hopkins my gut would say "no way! They'll be really far behind many of their peers." Interestingly, I don't know how this jives with the heavy minority enrollment because many of these kids will be becoming from under resourced high schools that may not even offer AP classes, Calc BC, etc. How does this group jive with large percentage of kid coming from STEM magnets etc. who are 2 or 3 or 4 years beyond calculus in high school?
Hopkins would seem about the last school on the planet that's a good fit for some of these kids. And lest you say I'm a racist--I work daily with these kids. We have a bunch from very poorly resourced schools in DC and Baltimore who are heading to Hopkins this fall. They're smart but most have never had math beyond pre-calc. How are they going to jive with the 30% of the class that took linear algebra in high school? I'm sure many will do great but some will not. They'll realize that a STEM heavy, slog of a university is a terrible fit. It's just all a bit odd but I'm not the one making decisions at Hopkins.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm an alum and wouldn't send my kid there. It's a definite slog with little school spirit and historically the students are incredibly intense because so many are pre-med. There was a decent amount of cheating, hiding of source documents in the library, etc. (Back in my era when there were required textbooks or readings on-loan in the library kids would check them all out and keep them/destroy them so their classmates couldn't read them). Basically--weird, super competitive stuff was not abnormal.

Also, historically kids would enter having had years and years of advanced high school science and math. My kids are on the "calculus in 11th grade track" at a non-magnet and if you had asked me if I'd feel like they would be prepared for Hopkins my gut would say "no way! They'll be really far behind many of their peers." Interestingly, I don't know how this jives with the heavy minority enrollment because many of these kids will be becoming from under resourced high schools that may not even offer AP classes, Calc BC, etc. How does this group jive with large percentage of kid coming from STEM magnets etc. who are 2 or 3 or 4 years beyond calculus in high school?
Hopkins would seem about the last school on the planet that's a good fit for some of these kids. And lest you say I'm a racist--I work daily with these kids. We have a bunch from very poorly resourced schools in DC and Baltimore who are heading to Hopkins this fall. They're smart but most have never had math beyond pre-calc. How are they going to jive with the 30% of the class that took linear algebra in high school? I'm sure many will do great but some will not. They'll realize that a STEM heavy, slog of a university is a terrible fit. It's just all a bit odd but I'm not the one making decisions at Hopkins.

*jibe

Anonymous wrote:I'm an alum and wouldn't send my kid there. It's a definite slog with little school spirit and historically the students are incredibly intense because so many are pre-med. There was a decent amount of cheating, hiding of source documents in the library, etc. (Back in my era when there were required textbooks or readings on-loan in the library kids would check them all out and keep them/destroy them so their classmates couldn't read them). Basically--weird, super competitive stuff was not abnormal.

Also, historically kids would enter having had years and years of advanced high school science and math. My kids are on the "calculus in 11th grade track" at a non-magnet and if you had asked me if I'd feel like they would be prepared for Hopkins my gut would say "no way! They'll be really far behind many of their peers." Interestingly, I don't know how this jives with the heavy minority enrollment because many of these kids will be becoming from under resourced high schools that may not even offer AP classes, Calc BC, etc. How does this group jive with large percentage of kid coming from STEM magnets etc. who are 2 or 3 or 4 years beyond calculus in high school?
Hopkins would seem about the last school on the planet that's a good fit for some of these kids. And lest you say I'm a racist--I work daily with these kids. We have a bunch from very poorly resourced schools in DC and Baltimore who are heading to Hopkins this fall. They're smart but most have never had math beyond pre-calc. How are they going to jive with the 30% of the class that took linear algebra in high school? I'm sure many will do great but some will not. They'll realize that a STEM heavy, slog of a university is a terrible fit. It's just all a bit odd but I'm not the one making decisions at Hopkins.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm an alum and wouldn't send my kid there. It's a definite slog with little school spirit and historically the students are incredibly intense because so many are pre-med. There was a decent amount of cheating, hiding of source documents in the library, etc. (Back in my era when there were required textbooks or readings on-loan in the library kids would check them all out and keep them/destroy them so their classmates couldn't read them). Basically--weird, super competitive stuff was not abnormal.

Also, historically kids would enter having had years and years of advanced high school science and math. My kids are on the "calculus in 11th grade track" at a non-magnet and if you had asked me if I'd feel like they would be prepared for Hopkins my gut would say "no way! They'll be really far behind many of their peers." Interestingly, I don't know how this jives with the heavy minority enrollment because many of these kids will be becoming from under resourced high schools that may not even offer AP classes, Calc BC, etc. How does this group jive with large percentage of kid coming from STEM magnets etc. who are 2 or 3 or 4 years beyond calculus in high school?
Hopkins would seem about the last school on the planet that's a good fit for some of these kids. And lest you say I'm a racist--I work daily with these kids. We have a bunch from very poorly resourced schools in DC and Baltimore who are heading to Hopkins this fall. They're smart but most have never had math beyond pre-calc. How are they going to jive with the 30% of the class that took linear algebra in high school? I'm sure many will do great but some will not. They'll realize that a STEM heavy, slog of a university is a terrible fit. It's just all a bit odd but I'm not the one making decisions at Hopkins.

Which makes me wonder, and the article doesn't address, how many of these diverse students actually graduate. The article talked a lot about those being admitted, and lots on the freshman class, but I didn't see anything on how many make it to the finish line, with a degree.

Anonymous wrote:I'm an alum and wouldn't send my kid there. It's a definite slog with little school spirit and historically the students are incredibly intense because so many are pre-med. There was a decent amount of cheating, hiding of source documents in the library, etc. (Back in my era when there were required textbooks or readings on-loan in the library kids would check them all out and keep them/destroy them so their classmates couldn't read them). Basically--weird, super competitive stuff was not abnormal.

Also, historically kids would enter having had years and years of advanced high school science and math. My kids are on the "calculus in 11th grade track" at a non-magnet and if you had asked me if I'd feel like they would be prepared for Hopkins my gut would say "no way! They'll be really far behind many of their peers." Interestingly, I don't know how this jives with the heavy minority enrollment because many of these kids will be becoming from under resourced high schools that may not even offer AP classes, Calc BC, etc. How does this group jive with large percentage of kid coming from STEM magnets etc. who are 2 or 3 or 4 years beyond calculus in high school?
Hopkins would seem about the last school on the planet that's a good fit for some of these kids. And lest you say I'm a racist--I work daily with these kids. We have a bunch from very poorly resourced schools in DC and Baltimore who are heading to Hopkins this fall. They're smart but most have never had math beyond pre-calc. How are they going to jive with the 30% of the class that took linear algebra in high school? I'm sure many will do great but some will not. They'll realize that a STEM heavy, slog of a university is a terrible fit. It's just all a bit odd but I'm not the one making decisions at Hopkins.

Anonymous wrote:From the WaPo, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/29/john-hopkins-legacy-racial-diversity/

Over the past decade, Hopkins has wildly succeeded in increasing its racial diversity. It’s freshman class is 34 percent black or Hispanic, among the highest percentage of any selective school and higher than any of the Ivies.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if this is a reflection of Hopkins; reputation as a miserable grind for undergrads as well as a school focused on graduate students. Kids with parents who know the reputation and who attend schools with good counselors are likely avoiding it. That leaves the uninformed (who the post praises them for targeting) and kids who want that kind of a college experience.

Oh please, with a 6.5% acceptance rate JHU is swamped with applications from white and Asian kids. They just find it far more challenging to get in.

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if this is a reflection of Hopkins; reputation as a miserable grind for undergrads as well as a school focused on graduate students. Kids with parents who know the reputation and who attend schools with good counselors are likely avoiding it. That leaves the uninformed (who the post praises them for targeting) and kids who want that kind of a college experience.