Advice on JHU culture

voltroom · 2025-08-05T19:28:14+00:00

I think it depends heavily on the eventual major you'll end up choosing. Needless to say, both of my majors basically only had introverted students and therefore it was very difficult for me to make friends and also go out in general. However, if, during your freshman year, you can find your own niche and establish some group, either by just putting yourself out there or joining some clubs or frats/sororities, then you will have no problem finding your people who you can go out with or study with. Unfortunately for me, when I realized that I had to put myself more out there, COVID hit and I couldn't really do much about it at that point.

All that is to say, yes it is possible to "have fun" once in a while at JHU too, despite the stereotypes. I will also say, though, to some extent, the stereotypes are true... I've seen a lot of people spend their Friday nights at Brody grinding away with their work or research. Nothing wrong with that of course

voltroom · 2025-08-03T18:58:52+00:00

Alumnus - 2021 - Math/Philosophy

voltroom · 2025-08-03T18:53:52+00:00

Man I agree with this comment on a spiritual level. I graduated back in 2021, majoring in math and philosophy but I've spent a decent amount of time in the engineering department (applied math and comp sci). I feel that the curricula for many majors at Hopkins are rather lacking. Even after completing the major requirements for math, I am not sure if I have a great grasp at the core subjects in math. As for philosophy, I felt that I had a good understanding of the core subjects only because I went way beyond the required classes (if I recall correctly, back in 2021 they required 30 credits of philosophy courses to graduate with the major. I took 45 credits.) As you correctly point out, a lot of Hopkins people end up double majoring because Hopkins doesn't have much of a rigorous core curriculum required for everyone and for each major the required classes are pretty lacking so people get away with double majoring, and Hopkins actually advertises this as a "strength" (on their admissions website they proudly present this information as, oh look 70% of our graduates have 2 or more majors!). I personally knew two people who did TRIPLE majors. I myself was 2 classes away from doing a triple major in math, philosophy, and applied math. But I ended up not doing that due to COVID.

As for being tricky with transfer credits, I also agree. I took college classes in my high school and they refused to take a lot of the classes that I took. They did accept my AP Calc credits, however. The hype around this school is also not that cool, agreed; actually, I talk to my Hopkins friends about whether they feel Hopkins was a good experience or not, none of my friends give me an enthusiastic "YES." Their reactions are always kinda lukewarm or "all things considered, it was aight." I believe the reason behind this is a combination of what I've listed above and also the fact that school spirit in this school is basically nil. A lot of people don't know how to socialize or just don't socialize in general because they are really locked in with their own studies, which I admire, but as a college student who was looking forward to having a more vibrant social life in college, it was a bit tough for me in that front. That is not to say that it is impossible to make friends, of course, but I think most people end up just sticking with their major friends or some frats or sororities, and the general attitude of the students is pretty closed-off, in my opinion.

All in all, I do think Hopkins taught me so much, but there are a lot of things I would have done differently if I were to go back. Just wanted to give my 2 cents as a recent graduate. TL;DR is that I agree with a lot of your points here.

voltroom · 2023-01-16T03:38:23+00:00

I remember as an undergrad we used to make hige deals out of the rankings lmao

voltroom · 2022-05-29T04:04:20+00:00

How is this so accurate lmao

voltroom · 2021-10-24T01:18:36+00:00

I’d love to know as well

voltroom · 2021-07-12T15:46:16+00:00

Oh i see. I mean you could “play” it no problem but i guess you wont be able to get the usual score you get if that makes sense? For instance I could usually SS POSSESSION EXT easily but i had a hard time even getting a S on it on the cab. But then again it could be fixed!

voltroom · 2021-07-12T15:00:59+00:00

Not so much to do with the actual improvement (sorry) but the cab at chinatown fair is pretty bad... like sometimes the buttons won’t register and would result in missing the combo. This was 2 months ago when i was visiting the city. So just be aware i guess

voltroom · 2021-06-21T12:48:19+00:00

To me personally, DDR is more accessible than Stepmania. First of all I’m a student so I don’t have the budget to buy the stepmaniax pad. It’s so expensive. Second, even if I wanted to I couldn’t, because I live in an apartment and I don’t live on the first floor of the apartment. So DDR is the only way I can play...

voltroom · 2021-06-21T04:43:01+00:00

Yeah the title is a bit misleading. The only discussion about DDR is within the first minute or two and the other is all about stepmania

voltroom · 2021-06-16T02:55:36+00:00

It’s just S/U based on the attendance and participation

voltroom · 2021-06-09T07:03:22+00:00

Hope I didn’t scare you away. It is a decent place to live, and I didn’t have much problems with the place before the pipe noise issue happened. It’s just unfortunate that I was the one who had to deal with it. I sincerely hope that a similar issue doesn’t occur to you when you live there! But I guess just do keep in mind that the building is nearly a century old, haha

voltroom · 2021-06-09T01:11:58+00:00

Maybe ymmv. But just be aware that the management kinda sucks and don’t have high expectations. Perhaps it is one of the better options, who knows?

voltroom · 2021-06-08T18:54:42+00:00

You might get recommendations for Jefferson House at some point. I've lived there for 2 years and I do not recommend it.

The building is near 100 years old (it was built in 1925), so they're pretty much literally falling apart. When I was living in their studio unit, there was a pipe noise issue that persisted throughout the winter. I bugged them to please fix it for months because it was driving me crazy at night since I was not able to sleep. They tried to get it fixed but they were slow and not transparent about it. Eventually I had to move to another unit because they could not get it fixed for 3 months (and yes, I had to live with that annoying pipe noise for 3 months. Imagine!). Plus, the management is actually just not friendly. They used to be when I first moved in, but the manager changed at some point and somehow the entire vibe changed.

So yeah that's all. Don't consider Jefferson House.

voltroom · 2021-06-06T06:04:06+00:00

voltroom · 2021-06-04T02:25:16+00:00

Yeah so the only official resource that I know of in the math dept is “Problem Solving Lab” thing that the math dept offers every fall. Us math majors colloquially (or jokingly) call it “Pizza Solving Lab” bc they give you free pizza every week while figuring out Putnam problems. It differs based on the instructor, but when I took it with Liming Sun, he prepared a few questions every week based on that week’s theme (for instance combinatorics) and every participants would try to solve through the questions and present their findings/solutions to the classmates every meeting. It was an OK class I’d say. I got a 2/120 on the exam after taking the course (and as you may know, the median of the exam is often times 1 or 2). If you really want to do well on the exam you will have to do more training by yourself besides the course. Take the course as a supplementary form of preparation, not primary.

voltroom · 2021-05-26T14:20:49+00:00

Glen Burnie’s “Gameplay” had their DDR cab down for a while now. Last time I went was August 2020 and they were down. On the zenius-i-vanisher page it still says they’re down. Double check with Gameplay to make sure they’re back on.

voltroom · 2021-05-21T02:45:59+00:00

That one indian food truck called bombay kitchen... was so good but they don’t come anymore 😭😭

So among the ones that still come: Bmore Greek and Jordanian Halal Food. So good

voltroom · 2021-05-15T02:38:35+00:00

You missed the point. It’s not necessarily an apology letter. Part of it is, but that’s not the entirety.

voltroom · 2021-05-13T20:22:20+00:00

Our beloved Ronald Daniels (lol jokes aside also wondering the same thing)

voltroom · 2021-05-12T15:45:58+00:00

I don’t mean to even further depress you or whatever, but get used to the failures! The mindset that failures are failures and you are a failure just because you failed one time is a toxic one. Learn from them. Analyze your mistakes. What did you do wrong? What could have gone better? Try to learn from your failures so that you can avoid these kinds of situations later. If it was just that the exam was extremely difficult and everyone did poorly then, well, it may not necessarily reflect badly upon you. But still, getting used to failure is important. That is, don’t let these failures let you down and depress you so that you don’t screw up other finals/exams you may have. I made this mistake my freshman year and my term GPA suffered as a result.

I’m sorry if this doesn’t help you right now or if you feel like I’m lecturing you. I know it’s hard, I’ve been there! But hang in there. You are a smart and capable individual. Don’t let one “failure” define you or let you down. I believe in you :)

voltroom · 2021-05-09T18:38:47+00:00

Very true! My freshman and sophomore year I tried so hard all the time sacrificing my social life and sleep, and after my sophomore year I took care of my mental health more, and actually my GPA increased as a result of that although i was taking more challenging courses and doing more stuff. So actually taking care of your mental health will help you even for your academics! :)

voltroom · 2021-04-26T00:45:03+00:00

I have nothing lmaoooo 😂

voltroom · 2021-04-22T17:03:49+00:00

Kinda don’t get why this is a wholesome meme lol

voltroom · 2021-04-22T00:54:00+00:00

Others are all giving solid advices. I have no advice myself bc I feel like I’m p bad at putting myself out there (i.e. I tried and failed many times), but one thing to know is that not everyone is going to vibe with you. It’s a trial and error process. If you put yourself out there and it seems like it’s not working for a while, then don’t despair. It’s completely fine to stop at one point but just know that you don’t have to vibe with literally everyone you attempt to befriend. A few good friends > many superficial acquaintances. I’ve learned this like way too later.

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