Johns Hopkins University Top Questions

Nobody feels out of place. I'm the biggest dork on the planet and I have friends.

no student would feel very out of place at hopkins. a lot of groups are represented. people wear jeans to class, we don't play dress up here. students tend to self segregate a lot. our students are from new jersey and california. probably a school that is predominantly left. we don't talk about money... but you'll hear a lot about medical school.

I feel that Hopkins has a very diverse student body. I have met many people from many cultures and backgrounds. I have noticed though that there is a tendency for members of certain social groups to stay within those segregated identities and seldom do they escape the traditional setting of that group to meet and interact with others on a more personal basis (because, of course, interaction occurs in the academic setting)

Overall, the student body tends to be pretty diverse and "normal". There are probably more Indian students (proportionally) than most campuses, but otherwise is a fair representation of races/ethnicities. When I describe the students as "normal", I mean that most people are friendly, decent, intelligent people who wear "normal" clothing. Students don't look like fashion models, but aren't bums either. In general, people aren't super geniuses who have accomplished ridiculous things by age 5; they are average people with above-average intelligence.

There are a wide variety of student groups on campus, some are significantly more organized or involved than others. Hopkins is full of overachievers, so those who are intimidated easily would not feel comfortable here. If you are ambitious and self-motivated, you can be successful but you have to pursue opportunities because nothing will be handed to you. Most students seem to be from the East Coast with some from the West and fewer from the middle of the country.

The only student who would feel out of place at JHU is a lazy, dumb student who doesn't care about learning. Most JHU students are from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and California. I feel that most people who go here are from average financial backgrounds, though both ends of the spectrum are found. Most students (at least the ones that are politically active) are Democrats because A. this is Baltimore and B. we're young an idealistic.

Any kind of student can be found here at hopkins, although the large majority of them are hardworking people who also like to have fun and go out on the weekends. There are people who study all weekend long, and people that party all week long. Every extreme is represented, although most students adopt a "work hard play hard" attitude here

If one is looking to be involved in a religious organization, one can easily do so no matter what their religion is.

Hopkins is a rather white-washed prep school student body. This is probably because many of the minority students will only interact with members of their own minority and what is left is a lot of rich kids who went to prep school. The fraternities are all alike, the best diversity you will get in an organization is through shared interestes, such as athletics or Residential Life.

I see a lot of sweat pants and t-shirts, sometimes pajama bottoms, in class, which one of my friends disapproves. I'm getting used to it b/c I tend to think of this as a nationwide mod. I went to several campus Christian ministries at the start of my Freshman year, and I found many of them to be somewhat not as open to "finding the sacred in the secular" as I wished them to be. For instance, I read novels like Beloved by Toni Morrison in high school and found them to be rich with moral questions for modern followers of Christ. But when I brought up the idea of a Christian book club, people tended to think of reading spiritual enrichment books written by Christians for Christians, and refrained from mentioning any canonical names. We all find our own niches at JHU. I became close with many students with international backgrounds, myself being one. I also clicked well with grad students in my lab and TAs from classes.