1) Do I HAVE to take physics in high school?

Take a look at the admissions website, and more particularly, the recommended courses for students: http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/apply.html  It does not specify which science courses, but if you are hoping to become a physician, you'll have to take two semesters of physics in college, and it might help you out to take some in high school.  It doesn't have to be AP or anything, but getting that background will definitely help you once you get here.  (Just my personal opinion)

2) What are the class sizes like in the typical "pre-med" science classes?

Many of the introductory-level science classes are large, up to around 250 students for the biggest ones (Organic Chemistry, for example), but they have one class each week that is called "section," in which you meet in a group of about 30 with a Teaching Assistant.  This is a great way to get more personalized guidance with the material.  The professors also have office hours, during which students can come by to ask any questions they may have.  So, the class sizes are big (it's in a big lecture hall auditorium), but it's really not so bad at all.

3) What are the classes like? (ex. Do the teachers lecture all class, how are the labs, etc.)

They're all pretty different (physics, biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, cell biology...).  In general, though, I think it'd be safe to say that in the big classes, the professors tend to lecture most of the time but are VERY open to being stopped for questions (many of them will periodically stop and ask if there are questions, but others just have students raise hands and ask questions as they come up).  Some professors put up problems for students to solve using a little clicker thing that sends in the answer electronically (and thus serves as a small portion of the grade and a sort of way to take attendance--like you get half credit if your answer is wrong, just for trying and being there)

I've only taken Physics lab and Organic Chemistry lab here.  They're vastly different from each other.  The Physics labs are scheduled for three hours, once a week, and the Organic labs are scheduled for 5 hours, once a week.  The labs don't always take that whole time, but they are scheduled that way just in case.  They are challenging but it's not too difficult to do well.  The labs are all very well planned and organized, though the students are all pretty independent in the procedure.  If there's questions though, there's PLENTY of help, both in and out of the lab.

4) Since I have pretty good study habits now and a very good work ethic, will I be ok at this college? (I'm nervous it will be too difficult!)

To be perfectly honest, lot of freshmen go in to ANY COLLEGE and assume that their high school study habits will get them through college. This can work for some people, but this doesn't always cut it. I'm not saying this will happen to you, but it's just something to keep in mind.  The best thing students can do is to be very aware of how they are studying and be open-minded to try new methods if their old habits just aren't working for them.

The thing with college is that you'll find you have a lot of free time.  For example, on Wednesdays, I have a class that ends at 9:50, then I have another class at 11. It is REALLY easy to just let that hour slip on by, reading news and drinking coffee, but if it's a busy week, I could get a good chunk of reading done for a class.  Time management is key, and as a second semester sophomore, I'm still battling that one.  

You will be absolutely fine wherever you end up, it's just a matter of being open to changing the way you approach your work if necessary.  That's what makes it so difficult, in my opinion.

I'm having trouble deciding between Biology and Public Health (Natural Sciences). Both fulfill the requirements for pre-med but I'm not sure which one is more suitable for me. I'm afraid that Biology will suffocate me with sciences but Public Health will only be the bare minimum. Can anyone who is currently majoring in either one offer some advice?

Someone asked about what to do if they can't decide between Bio and Public Health. I was absolutely in the same boat as you. I knew the traditional route to med school was through biology but in the end i chose Public Health.

Do remember that even though Public health is just the minimum science courses, you can always take more, nobody's going to stop you :) I know lots of Public health majors who end up taking Genetics or Developmental Biology and still get the freedom to take lots of social science courses.

If you're interested in being a researcher or being in research medicine, biology might be the place for you, if you're interested in public service and being a doctors without borders type of doctor, you might be more interested in Public Health.

But neither is exclusive. I'm a Public Health major who does research in the genetics department, and there are Biology majors that go on to be wonderful primary care or any kind of doctor and serve needy communities. Like Phil said, decide what you want from your "pre-med" degree. If I had to do it all over again, I would have taken both a biology and a public health freshman seminar so I could get a taste of what the two majors focus on and from there made my decision :) Good luck!

Just a question for advanced credits in relation to requirement for Med School. I'm currently doing HL IB English, History, and Biology at my high school, so if I get, say, 6/7, would they nullify the English and Humanities requirements, or would they not do anything at all?
 

Here are some helpful links.

First, the following link provides our AP / IB credit chart:
http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/apib.html

You will see that 8 credits are awarded for a score of 6 or 7 on the IB Higher Level Biology exam. We do not award credits for IB exams in English nor History.

As far as your other question, this section of the Pre-Professional Advising Web site should assist you:
http://web.jhu.edu/prepro/prospective.html

Scroll to the middle of the page and there is details about using AP / IB advanced credits when applying to medical school.

First off: Tanmay G., a Biomedical Engineering student who was a part of SAAB, just graduated and is at Duke Medical School. He recently answered a question about pre-med requirements on our 2013 facebook group, and I am posting his response here:

See http://web.jhu.edu/prepro/health/course_requirements.html - they have a list of requirements as well as a link to a document with courses that fill the requirements. Here's what most people take, but as the document shows, there are other options
Year of inorganic chem = Intro Chem I and II, Chem Lab I and II
Year of organic chem = Orgo I and II, Orgo Lab (it's only one semester of lab)
Year of physics = Intro Physics I and II, Physics Lab I and II
Year of biology = Gen Bio I and II, Gen Bio Lab I and II OR Biochem, Biochem Lab, Cell Biology, Cell Bio Lab
*Some med schools will require that you take Biochem even if you take other classes to fill your bio requirement
Year of English = any two English Department or Writing Seminars courses
Year of Math = Calculus or statistics

Majoring in something you're interested in will make your college life SO much less stressful, even if it isn't necessarily the path of least resistance.  It's so much easier to be motivated to get through a particularly challenging assignment when it's for a class that you enjoy, and, in general, if you enjoy your major and the track that you're on, you're more motivated and happier overall. 

To semi-answer your question, each of those majors you listed have their challenges, none is necessarily easier than the others, it's just a matter of which challenges you're most willing to take on.  Upper-level behavioral bio classes aren't necessarily easier or harder than the graduate-level classes that senior public health majors take, it all depends on which of those options you think you could get through.

Sorry if I'm digging up an old thread, but does Hopkins have anything related to Hospital Management?

 I really like the pre-med major and neuroscience major, but I'm also interested in hospital management.

Quote from: "kwang"

Sorry if I'm digging up an old thread, but does Hopkins have anything related to Hospital Management?

 I really like the pre-med major and neuroscience major, but I'm also interested in hospital management.

First of all, we love old threads.  :)  We bring them back all the time.

Secondly, I'm not entirely 100% sure what hospital management is, but I think your closest bet would be within the public health major and its classes.  There is a class called Health Policy and Management, which discusses a lot about insurance and funding, but also  a lot about different models for care (including the medical home model, which is definitely a model for hospitals).  So, while this is only one class, I think it would fit what you're looking for.

Also, as seniors, the public health majors get to take classes at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and are allowed to take pretty much anything.  I would imagine this would be more likely to have your interests.  You can take a look at their course offerings here, just to get an idea:   http://commprojects.jhsph.edu/courses/  Just do all departments, all terms, for any year you'd like to give you some idea of how awesome an opportunity Public Health majors have.

Of course, you can always consider a research project with professors or an independent study.  Basically, while there's no defined program, that certainly does not prevent you from studying it.

I have a lot of relatives and family friends who work in healthcare (in one aspect or another), and Mandy's reply is the closest thing I also could think about when it comes to something related to hospital management. :) Also, not only does the Johns Hopkins system alone provide plenty of opportunities, but also there are many community hospitals and clinics in Baltimore where you can volunteer, complete an internship, or shadow a healthcare professional.

hey,

There aren't a lot of freshman who take orgo after using their ap credits to place out of intro chem.  There definitely are some, so I'm not going to discourage you from doing that, but there are other options of sciences to take as well that wouldn't be as difficult as orgo lab and might be a better transition from AP Chem to college science classes and labs.  I came in with AP chem credits, so instead of doing orgo this year, I'm getting the pre-med physics requirements out of the lab by doing a year of lecture and lab.  Even though physics lab is all year, it's much much easier than orgo lab because you don't have to write any long lab reports, and since I'm not a big fan of math/physics, it's good to get this class out of the way.

Anyway, if you're still set on taking orgo lab, I've been hearing from sophomores that it's better to take the lab in the spring with orgo II because you'll have a better idea of what you're doing and it'll be easier to write the lab reports.  And you're right, they probably wouldn't let you have 20 credits during the first semester.  And yes, all the classes you take first term can still be counted toward your pre-med requirements and in your med school application.

There are freshmen who take orgo and lab their freshman year and have done stellar, but some don't....so that's a personal decision. I know JHU_Tanmay posted on here a few years ago about how medical schools like seeing orgo grades so some may not like the idea of you doing them under covered grades, but again that is a personal decision...but they def still do count as Sarah said  :)

But as a sophomore in orgo and orgo lab, I will say spring might better because most of the labs we have done are on orgo 2 material! So my friends who took it in fall had to look up so many things because they didn't know it.

That being said, MANY people take it in the fall and manage just fine! You just have to be motivated to learn stuff you haven't done in lecture yet. and besides, she N(Dr. Greco) gives many of the reactions. I think Dr. Greco (the lab teacher) makes orgo lab in the fall a bit more manageable to accommodate this issue.  

But if having it in the fall will make you have 20 credits, then yea spring may be a better option.

Hopkins and the pre-med program are notorious for being very competitive and cutthroat. However, even though I am not a pre-med, I'm pretty sure this reputation is false. Hopkins is a difficult school and you're going to have to work hard to get good grades. I feel that the students are competitive with themselves, but I don't think that they are cutthroat or competitive with each other. People study in groups (in fact over 1/2 of the study spaces at JHU are designated for group study) and are willing to help each other :)

I just finished my first semester of organic chemistry, arguably the most feared and important of the pre-medical classes, and it was not as difficult as people make it up to be. It requires a lot of memorization and some analytic thinking, but it is not ultra-competitive or anything else it is hyped up to be.
In fact, many of my classmates were really helpful (one of them being JHU_Sydney) and were eager to answer any questions or concerns I had about the course. Yes, it required a certain amount of studying to keep up with the coursework but it was not more competitive than any other course would be at a top-notch school.