Johns Hopkins University Top Questions

I wish I had known that I would have the time to get more involved in my first semester here. I thought I had to wait to join clubs until second semester, but I could have gotten more involved in my first semester. I was so worried about getting good grades that I only made myself more stressed than I had to be. I wish I had known it was OK to relax.

I wish someone had told me to take more advantage of covered grades. At Hopkins, the first semester of grades are covered, so they never show up on your transcript. I ended up working really hard when I didn't need to!

How intense it is.

I wish I had known more of the places around campus, and how to access them. There are a lot of amazing things to see around Baltimore, and although a lot of them can be introduced by fellow students and the faculty, some of the best are discovered on your own.

I wish that I had known not to listen to the stereotypes and negative comments often found on the internet about every college. Mine was stereotyped as a place where everyone would be willing to sabotage others to get ahead, but that is far from true! I'm glad I didn't indulge these rumors too much and let them affect my decision heavily.

I wish I had known that I'd be alright: it would have relieved so much worry!

I wish I had known that there are hardly any freshman commuters and that unless the first semester teachers aren't the greatest as intro classes are huge. This makes it difficult to ever know your teachers on a more one on one basis or even clarify confusing information.

I wish I had known that the workload would be as heavy as it is. I work harder in college than I did in high school. I have adjusted to the increased workload but it took a semester to get used to.

How much work and reading was necessary in order to do well in my classes.

Much of the social life is based on Greek life, and that college is much easier than high school.

That they don't give nearly enough financial aid.

I wish I had known how to study. I have had a difficult time mutlitasking between sports and school, but having finally made the awful decision to give up something I love, I have been able to get much better grades the last semester not playing soccer. It's been an amazing transition, I've had time to study and am finally getting good grades. I just wish I could have learned to multitask or at least have learned to study much better.

The school has many friendly people, but many, many people are also very cut-throat and competitive.

I wish I knew...about Baltimore. If Johns Hopkins was in San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Miami...I would have never left school. I could NOT live in Baltimore. I knew I would be out and only back to visit for Alumni Events.

I wish I had really fully understood the negative atmosphere here. People are bitter and pretentious, and it is wearing to live with day in and day out for several years. This school can be a pain until you find some people worth spending time with.

That it was very cut-throat.

I wish I had known more about the financial aid and the majors and minors available

That the social scene isn't all that impressive. I also wish I had known more about the courses offered, and the different majors

that the social life revolved around greek life

That 70% of my time outside of class would be working on school work (or sleeping)

It is more competitive than I thought it would be, in a friendly way though. Students help each other study and are never cut-throat, but when it comes down to it, I am in a class with 100 other BME's who all got crazy SAT scores like I did (2290), and the class is graded completely on a distribution. Only a certain number of A's are being handed out and you have to really work for it.

I wish I knew more about the classes and majors offered.

I wish I had known that everyone, everywhere has trouble fitting in at school, especially during the first few weeks. Good friends aren't in the picture, and you're petrified and/or depressed. This applies to all schools, and most people. I was able to harness my individuality and push for a change in the mindset of the average hopkins student. This advice is for all freshmen, not only hopkins'.

The level of commitment required to do well at this school surprised me and so I wish I had known that before hand.

I wish I would have known more about the financial situation.

Nothing. I was pretty well informed from information sessions, hopkins literature, and the various advisors asigned to me by the school (both academic and students).