Hey everybody!! My name is Brian Lo from Vancouver, Canada and I am a freshman here at Johns Hopkins University! I have lived in Canada my whole life and this is the first time I have spent an extended period of time in the United States. To say the least, it's been an awesome experience so far! I plan to double major in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Psychology. I'm excited to be here and talk to prospective students and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I will definitely do my best to answer them. :)

Why Hopkins?

I chose Hopkins because it provided me with so many opportunities academically and athletically. But beyond that, it provided me with the chance to do research with many prominent professors in their respective fields. Something I never realized about Hopkins until I attended the SAC Fair (Student Activities and Clubs Fair,) were the incredible amount of clubs you can be a part of here. There's a club for everything and if there isn't, you can just create one! Moreover, Hopkins has, in my opinion, the most beautiful college campus. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to visit Hopkins before I submitted my application; but I have to say that when I stepped foot on campus during SOHOP I was amazed at the beautiful brick buildings and greenery on campus. But the biggest reason for why I decided to attend Hopkins was me wanting to become part of this nurturing and supportive community. During SOHOP, everywhere I went there were always people asking if I needed help or just willing to talk about their experiences..

My Classes:

Spring 2013:

• Calculus II (For Biological Science Majors)
• General Physics II (For Biological Science Majors)
• General Physics Lab II
• Introduction to Social Psychology
• Professional Communication for Science, Business, and Industry
• Freshman Seminar: Microbes in the Media

Fall 2012:

• Calculus I (For Biological Science Majors)
• General Physics I (For Biological Science Majors)
• General Physics Lab I
• Foundations of Brain, Behavior and Cognition
• Phage Hunting
• Freshman Seminar: Tuberculosis
• Freshman Seminar: From Genes to DNA and Back

My Extracurriculars

Student Admissions Advisory Board (SAAB): SAAB is a select group of students who help the admissions department reach out to prospective students through blogging, forum posts, working at the open houses, and other admissions projects. Currently, I am a blogger on the Class of 2016 Freshman Blog which is great because I am able to tell students about my experiences, triumphs, and struggles throughout my freshman year. Hopkins Interactive helped me so much throughout my application process and I am glad I have the opportunity to help others by writing about my own personal experiences.

Hopkins Hosting Society: I am on the leadership board for the Hopkins Hosting Society. As you can probably tell, I love working with the admissions department to recruit new students and this is just another way for me to help students fall in love with Hopkins. As a group, we help with the Fall Overnight Open Houses and SOHOP in the Spring by organizing and carrying out activities during the day. Along with this, I also hope to get involved with the Blue Key Society (Tour Guides) later in the semester.

Hopkins Swim Club: I have been a competitive swimmer for the past 10 years and wanted to continue my passion for swimming throughout college. We practice three times a week and attend around two to three meets every semester.

HOPE: HOPE stands for Hopkins Organization for Pre-Health Education. This organization brings in speakers ranging from current medical students to doctors in the field who come in and speak to us about opportunities that lie in the medical field. In addition, we sometimes go on volunteer trips around Baltimore a few times per semester. The goal of this group is to increase exposure of various health professions to current students, regardless of major.

Dorm Life:

I currently live in a single room in Building A. During freshman year, I really wanted to be on campus near the freshman quad and all the buildings. All my classes are within a 5 minute walk from my building, which is incredibly convenient and I live right above the FFC! One of the great things about the Buildings are that they are climate controlled. Coming from Vancouver where the weather is nothing spectacular, I consider Baltimore weather to be incredibly hot, so air conditioning was at the top of my list when I was choosing my housing. I have to say, I'm really loving my choice of choosing Building A as my residence. I've met some of my best friends here and since it is suite style, you have the choice of being incredibly social or keeping your room quiet to study.

Follow Me!!!

So if anyone has questions about any aspect of Hopkins, please feel free to ask! You can read all about my experiences at http://blogs.hopkins-interactive.com/2016/author/brianl/

All the best,
Brian Lo

Hey Alyssa!

I'm so happy to hear that you will be applying ED to Hopkins!!! I'm also really glad that you enjoyed the open house last saturday! Hopkins is an amazing school and I love it even though I've only been here for just over a month. In my opinion, the greatest thing about Hopkins is the abundance of extracurricular activities on campus; it's really easy to find something you like, and if you can't find it you could always create your own club! Another great aspect of Hopkins is that almost all of the classes are taught by professors who are incredibly approachable if you ever need help. They all want you to learn the material and understand it, which is great because it gives you a strong base for future classes. Without a doubt, Hopkins is in no way "cutthroat" or "antisocial." I personally have never done a problem set for physics or calculus by myself. Normally, a group of my friends and I work together on the problem sets and teach each other aspects of the course we don't understand. We all try to help each other do well on the homework and the same goes for tests. We all want each other to succeed. Moreover, Hopkins is definitely not "antisocial." There are many things to do on campus and you can always see people just hanging out in the dorms, playing frisbee on the beach, or going out to the Inner Harbor on weekends. Baltimore is an amazing city and there is transportation to and from most places in Baltimore from Hopkins, which makes a quick trip to downtown really convenient. I mean, I have visited many different places, including the Inner Harbor (which if you haven't visited yet, it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to,) and I've only been here for a month. I'm loving my experience at Hopkins so far, it is a great school with so many opportunities for its students.

Best of luck!   

Haha no problem! I'm glad I could help :). If you have any other questions, feel free to ask... Best of luck with the application process!

Hello!

First off, congratulations on being accepted into the BME program!! That's truly an incredible accomplishment!

I personally never attended the April visit days but I did have the opportunity to attend SOHOP. The main difference between the two is that SOHOP normally has more students and parents attending as it is centered around the admitted new students and giving them the opportunity to get a sense of what college life is like. Though there are more people there, around 600 at each of the two SOHOP's, it's still a great chance to get a detailed look at campus. There is a lot of freedom in terms of what you want to do... like you can go on tours, attend panel discussions, talk to current students, and even attend classes that interest you. Basically, SOHOP provides you with a glimpse into what college life is like and a chance to really speak to current students about what to expect in college and what to look forward to.

April visit days are quite similar in terms of the daytime events that occur in that you still will get to experience what college is like. There will be less people here compared to SOHOP. Both are incredible opprotunities to visit and I really encourage you to attend at least one of these programs. I attended SOHOP and it only got me more excited at the prospect of attending Hopkins in the fall.

Best of luck!!

Brian Lo

Hi Brian,
         I am an International student presently studying an undergraduate course in a college in New York. I want to transfer to Hopkins and study Environmental Engineering, could you please tell me what the requirements are for a successful transfer and also the GPA i need to have acquired from my present school.

                                                                                                                                                Thank you.