Johns Hopkins University Top Questions

Classes are tough, and there's no grade inflation. Students study a lot, and learn a ton. The workload is more than at other schools. It's normal to take 5 classes a semester. Professors care about their work and want you to go to office hours. No core curriculum, which is awesome.

Academics are challenging for sure, but everything is within reason. If you put the effort into it you'll get good grades. Whether or not a professor knows your name depends on a lot, such as the size of the class and how active you are in it. Students study a lot, and often work in groups to better understand a topic. Many out of class discussions are intellectually themed, and many are inspired by in class discussions. No core curriculum is very nice, as it is one less thing to worry about completing before graduation.

Academics at Johns Hopkins University are incredibly rigorous. The course work is heavy, and teachers expect you to not only keep up with assignments and attend every lecture, but also expand your knowledge through readings and other recommended activities. Students tend to study a lot at Hopkins, and the library is always full. Because of Hopkins' reputation as such a prestigious university, and because of the difficulty level of the classes, students are very competitive. Many are willing to do whatever necessary to get ahead and stand out from their peers, even if it sometimes requires questionable activities. The classes I have taken thus far have been mainly large lectures, so participation is limited, but other professors make participation a big part of the overall class experience. Despite the difficulty, Hopkins students generally feel a sense of pride with their schoolwork, and take it very seriously. It is not uncommon to hear a conversation about quantum physics or macroeconomics taking place in the cafeteria. It is this passion for learning that makes Hopkins stand out from other universities, and why students at this school tend to be better prepared for life outside of college.

The best thing about academics is that there are no core classes. I hate history, and I never have to take it again! I also really like how open the professors are. Due to the amount of office hours they hold, I know my professors personally. They teach me how to learn for the sake of knowledge, not for the sake of getting a grade.

This is where many of the stereotypes are right on. Academics are hard here, but that's what people should expect from any top 20 school. Fortunately, first semester freshmen have covered grades meaning as long as one gets a C- she receives a Satisfactory on her transcript. When employers or graduate schools look at the transcript, all that will appear is whether the student passed or not. This is a nice way to transition incoming freshmen into a more difficult learning environment. There is also no lack of learning aids -- we have the Writing Center, the Learning Den, and countless TA sessions.

Your personal academic experience at Hopkins really depends on what you study. I started out at Hopkins focusing on pre-medical studies (like many young undergrads at Hopkins), and I found all of my classes to be very large (200-300+). The quality of the professor also ranged from the cliche "focused on research and couldn't care less about students", to "truly dedicated and helpful professors that will do anything to assist you". In general however, I have found many students share a similar sentiment that it feels like most Hopkins professors do everything in their power to give you the lowest grade possible and make your academic success as difficult to achieve as possible. Students must assert themselves in order to develop a relationship with the professor and to make themselves known so that the professor might give them an easier time. Other departments have much smaller class sizes, and therefore more intimate (bad word choice?) relationships with their professors. For example, an extremely popular among freshman writing credit course offers a maximum class size of around 15 or so even though hundreds take the course each semester. Therefore class size also depends on what department the course is in. One of my majors is a new major offered by Hopkins, and one that I believe to be a relatively unique course of study. The Global Environmental Change & Sustainability (GECS) major is a multidisciplinary major that incorporates courses in political science, economics, living and non-living earth sciences and environmental science with a 'green' approach, preparing graduates for a generation that will surely revolve around ideas of sustainability and energy conservation. Matched with my other major, Economics, I hope to have a broad knowledge base to enter the world of commerce prepared to deal with the new sustainable and green business ventures that are sure to dominate the 21st century.

The simple answer is that it is Hopkins. The academics are, of course, going to be excellent. Apart from that, even from first semester freshman year you have access to your professors and can take small classes. I had three classes of less than 20 people my first semester here, while friends going to other colleges seem to have nothing but large introductory lectures where the professors don't even know your name. Even in my larger classes, our TA sections are capped at 25 people each, so you really get to know the people teaching you.

Academics are, of course, very rigorous, and professors definitely expect students to come to class prepared. That being said, there are still a wide variety of classes that include some introductory levels that are not as demanding. Students do study quite often; the general guideline is to spend at least 1 hour studying for every hour of lecture. Yet, this is really an aspect of the school that is as much as you make of it. Professors are always willing to make the time to meet with you to discuss anything, ranging from class material to your future plans. However, it's up to you to take the initiative to contact your professors. My major, chemical and biomolecular engineering, is regarded as one of the tougher, if not toughest, major. The average graduating GPA is very low (although I don't know if this is the major GPA, or overall GPA). The coursework for this major is, as expected, challenging. However, I think the training that you get, the problem-solving mindset that is instilled, is definitely worth the work you put in.

The workload, depending on your major, is definitely intense. However, it is very manageable and professors are more than willing to help you out!

Johns Hopkins has arguably some of the smartest professors in the country. We are the number one research institution, meaning our school gives more money to students to perform research than any other school in the country. Over half of the undergraduate students here are involved in some form of research before they graduate. Classes here are great, and are very interactive. Only 5{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of classes are over 100 students, which is very rare for a college! 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of classes are under 20 students, which gives students a real chance to participate and engage in classes. My favorite class so far was Introduction to Social Psychology with Professor Drigotas. Not only is he funny as ever, but he really makes psychology easy to learn and understand through his personal stories that really helped me remember difficult psychology terms. Classes like Social Psych really make me love my classes here!