Hey Trisha!
I'm from the Philly suburbs too yayy
I'm undecided between chem/bio/neuroscience and I saw a lot of the classes you took in the fall were the same as a lot ofthe ones i have been looking at.
What was it like taking Physics freshman year? Did you take it because you were using AP credits for your other sciences?
Also, what was your experience like in Calc III (I was thinking about that too)

Thanks!

A series of questions and answers previously posted to JHU_Trisha's thread accidentally were removed. Here they are now:


Posted by Kim on June 25, 2011

Hi Trisha,

I am a rising senior who will be applying to JHU ED! I am aiming to be a neuroscience major and I am curious as to whether or not you had any neuroscience background before you decided on your major. Some sort of experience or something that peaked your interest? Also, how did you become involved in SAAB and writing blogs?? Is it very competitive (there's not many people from each class who actually have their own blog, I noticed) and what is the selection process like? This site helped me learn a lot about the school and I'd like to try to have a blog if I got into JHU! so I can write about my experiences (which I am sure will be wonderful, judging by all the blogs I've read:)
Thanks!
Kim

Hey Kim!

Choosing neuroscience was a little tricky, and a couple of things went into my decision. I didn't really have any experience in neuroscience besides my AP science classes in high school. However, in my AP Bio class we watched a documentary on neurosurgery, plasticity, and neurogenesis, and the radical procedures and the delicacy of the brain sparked my interest in the field. I started doing some research on the field in general and read about doctors Ramachandran who did some really cool work with cortical reorganization. I basically tried to immerse myself in the field and loved it!

SAAB is a really great way to get involved at Hopkins- students learn more about it when they are accepted. There is an application process. There are students from each year in it, and we each regularly blog. It's not competitive at all!

Hope that helps- good luck with all your applications!

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Posted by vaishnavi5 on July 12, 2011

Hello Trisha!

I am going to be a senior this year and I would love to be able to attend JHU! I actually want to major in neuroscience in college too, and I have just a couple of questions.

So at JHU, is double majoring and/or major and minor really common among students?
And, do you do any research in any of the labs? Are there a lot of opportunities for research for freshman?

Thanks!

Hey!

Hopkins is a great place for Neuroscience- the program is incredible, especially combined with the fact that we don't have a core curriculum. It's a great way to be able to explore and expose yourself to Neuroscience.

Double majoring/ minoring is very common at Hopkins! In fact, some of the other members of this group, like Wafa and Joe, are Neuroscience and History of Science and Technology majors and Neuroscience and Psychology majors respectively. There are TONS of other combinations of majors and minors you can make once you explore the classes offered at Hopkins. A good way to try to figure this out first term if you attend Hopkins is to take a wide range of classes to see what you enjoy!

Doing research seemed to be a daunting task at first, but it's actually the easiest way to get involved at Hopkins. A simple email of interest is all that is required to get you started. I started researching my spring term last year (my freshman year) , but I think that I could have begun researching the Fall of my freshman year as well! I researched for the head of Neurology at JHMI last term and will be researching for a lab on campus and at JHMI next term!

Good luck with your college search and definitely consider Hopkins for Neuroscience or whatever major you decide on!! Feel free to ask any other questions you may have!!

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Posted by vaishnavi5 on July 12, 2011

Hello Trisha!

I am going to be a senior this year and I would love to be able to attend JHU! I actually want to major in neuroscience in college too, and I have just a couple of questions.

So at JHU, is double majoring and/or major and minor really common among students?
And, do you do any research in any of the labs? Are there a lot of opportunities for research for freshman?

Thanks!

Hey!

Hopkins is a great place for Neuroscience- the program is incredible, especially combined with the fact that we don't have a core curriculum. It's a great way to be able to explore and expose yourself to Neuroscience.

Double majoring/ minoring is very common at Hopkins! In fact, some of the other members of this group, like Wafa and Joe, are Neuroscience and History of Science and Technology majors and Neuroscience and Psychology majors respectively. There are TONS of other combinations of majors and minors you can make once you explore the classes offered at Hopkins. A good way to try to figure this out first term if you attend Hopkins is to take a wide range of classes to see what you enjoy!

Doing research seemed to be a daunting task at first, but it's actually the easiest way to get involved at Hopkins. A simple email of interest is all that is required to get you started. I started researching my spring term last year (my freshman year) , but I think that I could have begun researching the Fall of my freshman year as well! I researched for the head of Neurology at JHMI last term and will be researching for a lab on campus and at JHMI next term!

Good luck with your college search and definitely consider Hopkins for Neuroscience or whatever major you decide on!! Feel free to ask any other questions you may have!!

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Posted by vaishnavi5 on July 27, 2011

Hi! (again)

If you don't mind, I have a few more questions.

So, what type of research were you doing and will you be doing next year?
Which classes helped you most from high school to best prepare you for JHU? (I realize that college classes are not the same as high school classes though.)
How often did you go home?
And, do you plan on studying abroad? If so, where?

Thanks so much, Trisha! I really appreciate it!

Hey!

I conducted a clinical research project at JHMI on speech deficits and their biological and verbal manifestations last term (so how patients with speech deficits presented biologically as well as observing actual speech- verbs, nouns, etc). This term I will be doing research on neuroplasticity as it relates to neurogenesis and spatial mapping in mice (that just means that I'm learning about how mice with damaged brains react to new environments like mazes, etc).

I think that all my AP classes helped out just in terms of study habits- to keep studying a little every day in order to retain as much information as possible. Besides that, I don't really think that anything I learned from my high school classes really carried over to Hopkins just because they teach you EVERYTHING you need to know, even if they know you already know it. I hope that makes sense.

How often you go home really depends on how far you are from home- I live about 2 hours away (driving), so it was easy for me to hop onto a train and get home in an hour. I obviously went home for all the breaks and sometimes during long weekends. I also went home for a weekend during intersession (which is a month's time after winter break where you can choose to either take a class at hopkins or extend your winter break- i chose the former).

With my major, i don't really foresee me studying abroad for an entire term. I would however, like to go abroad for the summer or possibly during intersession- who knows!

Hope this helped answer some of your questions!

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Posted by Melissa21 on September 30, 2011

Hi Trisha-
I am a current senior and I am applying to JHU with an interest in chemistry/probably pre-med, but I'm a little nervous because I've heard that pre-med at Hopkins can be really cutthroat. Do you know anything about how it really is on campus and within the pre-med students?
Thanks,
Melissa

Hey! I can completely empathize with your worries. I know that I had heard all about the stereotypes about Hopkins Pre-Med students, but I decided to keep an open mind and see how it was (I applied ED). When I got here, I noticed that Hopkins professors fostered an environment of collaboration. Most students quickly learned that it was very important to work together in order to survive such a rigorous courseload.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that, yes, PreMed at Hopkins is hard, however, it is not impossible because students work together and are all working hard. Most PreMeds I know really enjoy what they are learning about and don't bother being cutthroat to other students. That is not to say that there are absolutely no cutthroat people here. However, I think that it really depends on how you deal with other people. I know in my high school, which was pretty competitive, I sort of just ignored the cutthroat people. That's exactly what I do here, and I am happy to say that I have yet to encounter a really cutthroat person.

Hopkins campus is surprisingly relaxed, and it is easy to both study and enjoy yourself!

I hope this helped!

Check out this other thread that discusses the same thing! http://www.hopkins-interactive.com/forums/fact-or-fiction/cuthroat-opinion/.

Hi Nicho!
Unfortunately, I do not think we have a Neuroscience minor at Hopkins, but the research you are interested in sounds really great!

Additionally, I do not actually work for Admissions, and don't really know much about the whole process, but I would definitely suggest you look at this discussion page for more information!

http://www.hopkins-interactive.com/forums/ask-admissions/wait-list-discussion-thread-(2012)/

Good Luck!!

Hey! Congratulations on your acceptance!

JHU is very rigorous, and it was certainly an adjustment with the workload. However, I am sure that you will agree that this is the case with any college you go to; college is just more work. Study skills and balancing fun and work is tough, and something we all continue to work on during our time here. I am sure that you are entirely capable of doing the work, but covered grades is a great aspect of Hopkins that makes it easier to get used to. Essentially, your grades are either S for and A-C or a U for a grade lower than a C. You still get grades, but they are not revealed on your transcript unless you choose to do so. It is a great time to take a challenging course- I took Calculus III! I used covered grades as a time to settle into college life and establish a study method.

The Neuroscience program at Hopkins is amazing, and the research opportunities are endless. Another major to consider is Cognitive Science, especially if you are interested in an integration of traditional science and psychology. I completely agree with you that it can be difficult to completely commit to Neuro. I chose it because it sounded incredibly interesting, and the field is growing on a rapid scale. I have always been interested in neurosurgery (i have no idea whether I will actually do that) and I read about Dr. Quinones-Hinojosa, a neurosurgeon at Hopkins Med. He was an inspiration, and really got me interested in learning more about Neuro. During covered grades, you can take one of many introductory neuro classes like introduction to cognitive neuropsychology, intro to neuro, etc. I took the former and loved it.

I am currently in Nervous System, one of what's called a "gateway" Neuro class known to be very rigorous, and most Neuro students take it as a sophomore or a junior (it is a prereq for many upper-level neuro classes).

As for classes to check out-head to the admitted students page of the website for a list of the pre-approved classes you can sit in on! I apologize in my earlier post I had that you could just go to any class. That is definitely not the case. You probably won't be allowed to sit in on it, and I am sure that it would be better for you to sit in on an introductory class anyways.

The clinical research I did was great! I really enjoyed it- and it was really easy for me to get the research position too! I just emailed a doctor at the med campus- she was recommended to me by one of my professors. It was a great experience and she has been more than helpful in many ways (helping me find internships, letting me shadow her, etc).

I hope this answers your questions- Good Luck with your decision!

Hey Trisha,
I think I saw that you moved from Ann Arbor, just wondering if you went to Pioneer (Go Pioneers!) or Huron. Also, Since you were able to experience two college towns, UM and JHU, I was wondering if you could tell me about any differences between the two or any similarities. If I am totally wrong and you never lived in A2, sorry about that, but could you tell me about some great aspects the JHU campus has to offer. Thanks!

Hi Trisha,

I want to major in Neuroscience as well. Do you think one should major in Biology and then specialize in Neuroscience, or do you feel that the Neuroscience course exposes you to other areas of biology as well?

Also, what are the career options for a Neuroscience major? I personally am interested in scientific research.

Thanks,
Atiriya

Hi Trisha!

I recently got recruited for fencing at JHU and decided to apply ED! The deadline's in a couple weeks, how crazy is that?!
I visited last saturday for the open campus tour and fell in love...with literally everything.

Just a few curious questions:
How rigorous is neuroscience overall?  I'm a bit scared about the work load and fencing practices (which is 3x a week for about 2 hrs) at the same time.
I see that there is also the availability of tutoring, have you used those services and did they help you?

Thanks!
~Alyssa

Thank you for answering back!

This forum is so helpful haha, I'm so glad I looked into this. :)

Quick questions:
Do you know anything about the Public Health major?  Do some premed students go there and is it as heavy as neuro with the workload?

I'm sorry for asking so many, I'm interested in a lot of the majors but I only know a certain amount of information on them! ):

Thanks Trisha! Your answer was very helpful! :)

Hi!

I've read the student blogs and some Q&A you've been doing. My question is, what is the worst thing/something you would change about JH? It seems so easy to rattle off the positives, but it's also obviously important to weigh all the pro's and con's before deciding.

Thanks,

Courtney
PS: I'm leaning heavily towards JH, so no worries about changing my mind! I just want some straight answers (:

Hey there, Neha! You certainly have taken on a lot in high school- that's great! I actually used to be in HOSA myself! Hopkins is definitely one of the best undergraduate research institutes that also prepares students very well for entering the medical field. I would say just be yourself- applications that stand out are those that don't tell admissions what they want to hear, but are a genuine reflection of your strengths and capabilities. I would say highlight what makes you different besides all your extracurriculars- those show up on your resume anyway. Talk about what you have learned from your experiences and how they have shaped you as a person!

Good luck!

Hey Courtney,

That's a great question! I would say that it certainly is very difficult to address what I would like to change at Hopkins. Once you start going here, you just seem to mesh in with it so easily. What I would say is that I wish TA's for specific classes would tutor at the Learning Den. It is very helpful, but I just wish that the people who know exactly what is going on in class would teach the sessions.

Other than that...I can't really say I would like anything else to change really. Courses are manageable, professors are approachable, campus is gorgeous, living arrangements are wonderful, resources abound- all this makes Hopkins a great place to be and certainly overshadows any negatives you may come across!

Good Luck!