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.