Johns Hopkins University Top Questions

The stereotype seems to be of a school with only pre-meds who spend all their time studying, but there's definitely a strong presence in the social sciences and humanities, as well as students who spend the majority of their time out partying.

That we're cutthroat, and spend all our time in the library. People do spend a lot of time in the library, but they also spend a lot of time on their extracurriculars/having fun. People aren't cutthroat, but they do definitely work hard.

The biggest stereotype is that we're all competitive, cut throat pre meds. This is very inaccurate.

People tend to think of Hopkins students as nerdy, stay-in-the-library-all-day type students. While this is may be true for 15-20{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student body, there definitely is a social life at Hopkins if you are looking for one. Those who actively get involved and are looking to have a good time, have fun. There are tons of frat parties on the weekends and there are constantly events going on around campus. Your experience at Hopkins doesn't have to be one spend in the library 24/7; it can be as good as you want to make it.

The main stereotype is that everyone is pre-med. Am I pre-med? Yes. That being said, two of the most popular majors on campus are International Studies and Writing Seminars. Sure, with Hopkins Hospital, there are pre-meds, but people forget that the hospital isn't the only resource Hopkins has. We are a train ride from DC and New York, right next to the BMA, and have centers for study abroad all over the world.

People assume that students at Johns Hopkins are cut throat students who are completely concerned with grades and not about enjoying the full college experience. And of course everyone is pre-med. Neither of these stereotypes are accurate; yes students do take their classes seriously and yes we do have a lot of pre-meds, but there is a lot more that the students have to offer. For example, I am a writing seminars major. Few people know that Johns Hopkins has the second best creative writing program in the country. Also, we do like to have a good time here. Students frequently go out Thursday through Saturday and there never is a lack of parties or frats to go to. Of course if you aren't interested in that, there is no pressure to go out. There are always campus run activities going on and a large group of students attend.

When I first stepped on campus, my notion was that the campus was going to be mainly composed of students of Asian-American or Caucasian descent, with a lack of a major social scene. I was wrong on both accounts. First of all, the student body of Hopkins is very diverse, with many different ethnicities and backgrounds represented. There are many international students as well, which adds to the diversity and creates a great blend of cultures. When I came to Hopkins, my expectations for a great social scene were very low. However, within the first week of classes, my views changed. While there are definitely a group of kids who prefer to avoid the social scene and stick to the peace and quiet of their rooms, there are just as many kids looking to have a good time on weekends. There are always parties going on, and the whole student body is always welcome. The social world at Hopkins was one of the things that impressed me within the first few weeks of attendance in that I realized that the entire stereotype about great academic schools having poor social scenes was false.

At Hopkins, everyone is smart, whether they choose to be blatantly obvious about it or mask it with excessive imbibing habits. The majority of the student body is socially awkward, thus leading to the establishment of the "Hopkins 500", or the '500' students at Hopkins that are actually social and enjoy 'going out'. The figure in reality larger than 500, but this title exists to communicate the smallness of the overall social scene. There are many premeds, and while they are definitely competitive, I have experienced a slightly less cut-throat environment than I had prepared myself for based off of rumors/stories I had been told.

Not at all. We have pre-med kids like at every school, but the school itself is pretty evenly divided with 1/3 being natural sciences, 1/3 engineering, and 1/3 humanities/social sciences.

Whenever I introduce myself to people back home and tell them that I go to Johns Hopkins, the immediate response is "Oh, so you want to be a doctor?" And, while there ARE many pre-med students at Hopkins, my personal answer is always a resounding "No". Because of the world-reknowned hospital that we have here at the Hopkins campus, the basic stereotype revolves around medicine: students here are expected to want to become a doctor, and, as such, must study 24/7. However, this isn't at all an accurate stereotype of the school. There definitely are students who spend a good majority of their (free) time in the library, studying for midterms, but there are also many many students that participate in all the other activities on campus, from using the gym, exploring the local area, to partying (yes, we do have parties). However, it's pretty safe to say that many of the students that you meet here are hard-working and academically driven. Just not everybody.