Hi! I'm Grace A., and I'm from Mullica Hill, New Jersey, which, contrary belief, is NOT right next to New York City (I'm actually about two hours away from the Big Apple, but only fifteen minutes from Philadelphia!). I'm a Writing Seminars major minoring in History, but I'm also a huge fan of fantasy movies, comedy, Italian food, and space. I'm really excited to be on SAAB, so if you have any Hopkins-related questions, please feel free to ask!



Why Hopkins?
I actually applied Early Decision-Hopkins was my dream school! This was primarily because Hopkins has one of the best writing programs in the world, but also due to many other factors. I loved how hands-on the professors were-when I was a prospective student, I sat in on an Expository Writing class, and the professor not only made me understand the incredibly complex topic, but actually facilitated my participation to the point where I felt wholly comfortable raising my hand and contributing! I also loved the beautiful campus (I know it's superficial, but I'm a sucker for pretty architecture), welcoming student body, and flexible curriculum. Plus, it's the perfect size-medium-and distance away from home-about an hour and a half. I couldn't be happier with my decision!



My Classes

Spring 2013
Modern British Poetry
Greek Philosophy: Plato and His Predecessors
Intro to Comp Politics
Spanish Elements II
Fiction Poetry Writing II

Intersession 2013
The Fitzgeralds in Baltimore

Fall 2012
Occidental Civilization: Europe and the Wider World
Religion and Violence in the US: 1851-2001
Intro to Fiction and Poetry I
Literature of the American South
Conversations with the Earth



My Extracurriculars
SAAB: This is why I'm posting on the forums! SAAB allows me to channel my love of Hopkins into helping recruit prospective students and show them why our school is absolutely the best (seriously though). I love SAAB because not only does it allow me to participate in the admissions process, which I always found fascinating, but it lets me give back to Hopkins and is also a super-fun and creative way to spend my time and bring the best and brightest to our school! I always dreamed about being on SAAB reading the blogs and forums as a prospective student, and now here I am-weird!
Blue Key Tour Guide: I was selected in early December to be a Blue Key tour guide, and after I complete my training at the start of spring semester I'll be eligible to give tours! Basically, the Blue Key Society is the 'official' tour guide society at Hopkins; if you're a prospective student and you register for a campus tour, the Blue Key tour guides give it. I've wanted to be an official tour guide ever since I first started going on college visits, so you can imagine how excited I am! Walking backwards, however, might be a bit of a challenge...
HOPS: HOPS stands for Humanities Organization for Prospective Students. It's basically just like a campus tour, except especially tailored to students who are interested in the humanities. I know my campus tour didn't have as much of a humanities focus as I would've wanted, and HOPS seeks to change that. HOPS is actually new this year, so I think it'll be really cool to be a part of an organization that's just starting out and to help pioneer some of its work!
JHU College Democrats: I'm also a member of the JHU College Democrats, which is a political group that meets weekly to discuss current events issues. Clearly, as you can tell by the name of the group, we have a more liberal spin, but it really is a lot of fun (have you ever watched CSPAN? It's a lot more fun than CSPAN) and, since I'm a political junkie, I'm super glad I checked it out!



Dorm Life
I live in Wolman-shoutout to 5 East! Look, guys, don't listen to what anyone tells you: Wolman is the best. I know everyone says that about their dorms, but it's true. Wolman has air conditioning (and, let me tell you, it is HOT those first few weeks), privacy, common rooms, its own private gym and computer rooms, and is conveniently right next to CharMar, which means you can run out for yummy snacks and sandwiches whenever you want. A lot of people complain that Wolman is far from other things on campus, but really it's just across the street, and besides, I don't mind a little extra walking-it prevents you from gaining the freshman 15!



Follow Me!
If you have any questions, or just want to say hi, feel free to ask me a question on the forums! I'm friendly, I promise. I also blog a lot, so you can check that out at http://blogs.hopkins-interactive.com/2016/author/grace/

Also, if you guys want live updates on what I'm doing at Hopkins, feel free to follow me on Twitter at @JHU_Grace!

Let me know! And please remember-COME TO JHU!!!!
Love,
Grace

Hi Betty! So nice to talk to someone who's super-enthusiastic about JHU! I'm sorry you don't have any alumni interviewers in your current area. However, if you'll be staying somewhere else in the near future, I don't see why it would be a problem for you to request another interview in that particular area. If it's not too far away, you could also come to the JHU Homewood campus and receive an on-site student interview, which would eliminate the problem of not having any alumni in your area. I actually came to campus for a student interview, but I do know that, whether you are interviewed by a student or an alumni, the process is handled and weighted the same.
However, if for some reason you can't arrange an alumni interview in this new area or come to JHU for a current student interview, don't worry! JHU admissions interviews are a completely optional part of the application process. It will certainly not be held against you if, just because of some geographic or other circumstance, you can't arrange for an interview. Anyway, interviews tend to be less of a "grill session" where some alumni/student pegs you with questions about your GPA and extracurriculars than an informal back-and-forth that allows you to learn more about Hopkins! So, bottom line, I'm fairly confident you can try to get another interview, but if for whatever reason it doesn't work out, please don't worry. Just focus on letting your enthusiasm for JHU shine through all of the other parts of your application! :)
Hope this helped,
Grace

Hey Janay!

I'm actually so excited right now because I absolutely do know where Buena is--my brother goes to St. Augustine Prep in Richland! I drive through Buena all the time when I'm home. Anyway, coming from a very similar atmosphere, I would say it was actually really easy making the adjustment to Baltimore. The thing to keep in mind is that though Hopkins is technically in a city, our campus is relatively isolated from the actual "hustle and bustle" part of city life. If you're on one of the quads, it's really easy to forget that you're not in the country! However, I would say that the biggest difference I found was that in Baltimore, there's always something to do. Coming from a small town in NJ, I'm sure you get bored with the lack of excitement and cool things to do on the weekends--I know I did. But, though Hopkins isn't in the center of the city, it's really easy to find transportation to all different parts of Baltimore where there's always something going on. You can explore Fells Point, go out to eat in the Inner Harbor, or thrift shop in Hampden! You really don't ever get bored here, which was definitely a big change for me. Totally a good one, though! :) Also, it's really not dangerous. I mean, there are bad parts of all cities, but I've never, ever felt unsafe. And that's not just me saying that because I work for Admissions. Our security team rocks.

Hm, advice for a fellow Jersey girl? Okay, let's see. Well first off, congratulations on your acceptance! I would tell you to really own the fact that you got in--never let your fellow students make you feel intimidated or less accomplished. You had to be pretty darn exceptional to get in, and while it may be easy to let one bad grade get you down, I think it's always important to remember that you really do deserve to be at Hopkins. Also, take advantage of covered grades and get involved--I really can't stress that enough. I chose to get involved in a lot of clubs and activities really early in my fall semester and I'm especially glad because it allowed me to befriend a lot of upperclassmen I wouldn't have gotten the chance to know otherwise (among other things, they give great advice and know all the good places to eat around campus!) and gave me an outlet to let loose when school got too rough. And don't be afraid to have fun! Contrary to popular belief, Hopkins has a great social scene, and if you take advantage of that in moderation it'll really be to your benefit.

Wow, I wrote a lot. Sorry for getting a little too enthusiastic here! But anyway, please feel free to ask me any more questions! It's not too often I get to talk to someone from south Jersey at Hopkins, and I'd be happy to do anything to make your transition to freshman year easier! :)

Best,
Grace

Wow that's so cool! I hope he likes it! And sure, just let me know if you need anything else!! :)

Hi JR!
Congrats to your son on his admission! I think you guys will love the campus--it's absolutely beautiful. I went to SOHOP last year, and while I definitely enjoyed my experience, it felt to me like more of a way to get a feel for the students who might be coming to Hopkins with you (lots of group activities, ect--though there were tours of the grounds and the dorms) than an opportunity to get a comprehensive feel for the campus. That said, if it works out that you can only come to SOHOP, you're absolutely not missing out! However, if you're really looking to get the best sense of the Homewood campus, I'd recommend you'd come during April. Since the calendar for the April visitation events won't be posted until March, I can't really give you an idea of what those days might entail, but as someone who visited the campus individually a few times--aside from any SOHOP-like program--I think that there's a huge benefit to just walking around the campus with your family and (hopefully) even talking to some current students! Definitely take some time away from the hustle and bustle of admitted students activities and really try to get a sense of the day-to-day life for Hopkins students. Who knows--maybe you'll even see me! :)
Hope this answer helped, and I wish your son the best of luck for the next four years! He's going to love it, trust me.
Best,
Grace

Hi Grace,

I was wondering if it was true that there are secret societies on campus? Male ones?

           -Kyle