Johns Hopkins University

Date: May 06 2012
Major: Public Health (This Major's Salary over time)
Please do not go here. This place ruined my life and my career.I originally came in here as a public health major wanting to be a family physician, literally that was my dream to help other people. I fell in love with my major after hearing about it from a department lecture. My freshman, first semester covered grades, I admit Hopkins was a challenge. To do well on my first chem test, I had to study everyday and do problems over and over (no life). But as the semester wears on, no one can shut themselves in all the time to get grades, its human nature to want to have fun. And thats where my grades dropped in the premedical course requirements. Because physics here isn't just physics at a state schools, its intense. Calculus is also intense. Every premed course here is intensive. Because remember getting a A is based on how high above the class's average you get. And its not like the people getting the average are stupid, they got into the same university you did. If you're someone like me, who works hard and believes hard work will get you through, this isn't the school for you. If you are someone who is naturally smart in the premedical sciences (I mean you never had to ever work to understand it) or you want to pursue a career in a particular major that JHU is known for you, then going here is acceptable and suitable. If you're a premed trying to get into a medical school and you're known even slightly as a hardworker, don't come here. It will ruin your chances of getting into any medical school, no matter how average or low it is ranked. Medical schools care only about stats, not really about the prestige of the university you went to. So if you go here and you don't do well not because you suck at science but because you are competing against smart peers, your science gpa is low that it makes you have to take 1-2 years off before going to medical school. Most of my friends who are premed had to take 1-2 years off. Isn't that kind of ridiculous, considering you went to such a hard school and tried your best. At a state school, you can get good grades and participate in extracurriculars and have good stats to get to a medical school. Honestly, if you do end up ignoring my advice and coming here and you're premed, please be strategic about what courses you take. Meaning, if I could go back over and redo it again, I would take only 1 science course a semester and flood the rest of my schedule with humanities to keep a high GPA. I would also take physics somewhere else. So please, think carefully before coming here. This is advice I wish someone had given me, if you are premed and come to JHU regardless of what anyone else tell you, only take the workload that you are sure that you can get good grades. WHo cares what medical schools think (no matter what the advisors say), because at the end of the day if you take courses to impress them and get shitty grades, you have no chance of getting in.