The "other" Johns Hopkins (no final exams)

[Hope2getrice]

AMTC:

If you have any other Hopkins questions, be sure to ask! Hopkins has a lot of top non-science programs and teachers that are famous, prize-winners, etc. Creative Writing at Hopkins is #2 or #1 in the country, and certainly would be great to any aspiring writer.

[amtc]

I had no idea! I know about Kenyon and Bard, Hampshire, and Sarah Lawrence but Johns Hopkins?! Both my kids are away this summer and I'm bored with so much time on my hands so I guess you just gave me a bit of a project - thanks. And I will ask questions should I have any but it's a bit premature for my younger daughter - she'll be a Sophomore in September. My older daughter will begin college in September and one thing leads to another so I'm starting the younger a little earlier, not much, but a little.

[JHS]

Apart from the creative writing aspect, Johns Hopkins also has one of the tippy-top literary studies (i.e., English) programs in the country.

My English-and-creative-writing-oriented daughter was very happy with her college, but one of the things she learned in her first two years there was that she should have applied to Hopkins, too, and seriously considered going there if accepted.

[Hope2getrice]

AMTC:

Here is the Writing Seminars website for Hopkins:

The Writing Seminars: The Johns Hopkins University

There are many famous faculty members in the department like:

Alice McDermott: Pulitzer Prize winning author
John Barth: Considered one of the most important authors of the 20th century in America
and winner of multiple National Book Awards
John Irwin: multiple-prize winning author
Brad Leithauser: Award winning author of 13 books, including 5 books on poetry.
Mary Jo Salter
Ann Finkbeiner
and Greg Williamson.

All of the above faculty have published at least two books each, and are very respected in the writing field.

You can check out interesting courses here:
Writing Seminar Courses

Hopkins also has top 10 programs in English, History, Classics, Romantic Languages (i.e. French, German, Spanish), Art History, and a lot more, with top 15-20 programs in Philosophy, politics, economics, etc.

It really is a wonderful school and option for many many areas of study. The departments are small and very focused on all students, and the faculty produce a lot of top-notch work in research/papers/articles in all fields.

[Hope2getrice]

also, the following people are famous literature/arts/media alumni of Johns Hopkins (including divisions in International Relations, Peabody, etc):

* Sidney Lanier
* Dan Ahdoot - standup comedian
* Jeff Altman - standup comedian
* Tori Amos – singer (Peabody Conservatory)
* John Astin – actor, Gomez Addams on The Addams Family
* Russell Baker – author, Pulitzer Prize winner, host of Masterpiece Theatre
* Andy Barth - Baltimore TV reporter for 35 years, retired to run for Congress
* John Barth – novelist
* Wolf Blitzer – CNN news anchor
* Paul Harris Boardman - film producer and screenwriter
* Denis Boyles - writer, journalist
* Matt Briggs - novelist
* Rachel Carson – environmentalist, author of Silent Spring
* Angelin Chang – Grammy-award winning classical pianist
* Iris Chang – author, Rape of Nanking
* C. J. Cherryh – author
* J.D. Considine – music critic
* Richard Ben Cramer – journalist, author of What It Takes, Pulitzer Prize winner
* Wes Craven – film director, producer
* Caleb Deschanel – cinematographer
* Mildred Dunnock – renowned film and stage actress
* David Hildebrand - Maryland musicologist and colonial period music performer
* Murray Kempton – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
* Quint Kessenich - ESPN sportscaster, lacrosse All-American
* Porochista Khakpour - novelist
* Rjyan Kidwell - musician
* Kevin Kilner - actor
* Alen Pol Kobryn – poet
* David Lipsky – contributing editor Rolling Stone, author of Absolutely American
* Megan Morrone - TechTV personality
* Walter Murch – Oscar-winning sound and film editor
* P. J. O'Rourke – political satirist and journalist
* Arlene Raven - author and art critic, professor
* James Rosen - Fox News Channel Washington correspondent
* Brad Rutter* - All-time Jeopardy! champion
* Laurence Shanet - award-winning commercial, film and theater director
* Howard "Chip" Silverman - author, lacrosse coach
* Gertrude Stein – feminist, author
* Susan Stewart - American poet and literary critic
* Mark Strand - 1990-1991 US Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize winner
* Bill Todman - game show producer
* Basil White – standup comedian
* James Stewart - actor and USAF Brigadier General

^^ taken from wikipedia I'm sure there are a lot more that are not listed because of how recent some of them might be and/or the less notable ones who didn't win some big awards notable of wiki

[bluebayou]

Hopkins also has an excellent classics program.

[amtc]

Thanks Hope2getrice. I did spend some time on their website today - not sure it's the best match for my daughter but it definitely is worth pursuing further.

[CIA]

Hopkins also has one of the top International Relations programs in the nation. Hopkins really is an amazing school.

[Hope2getrice]

AMTC, just to be sure, I hope you are not daunted by the size of Hopkins. It looks like it would be a large school ala Harvard, UCBerkeley, etc, but it actually is not.
The main campus, Homewood, is home to about 6000 students. 4400-4600 of these are undergrads, meaning Hopkins maintains a number of undergrads similar to an LAC/small research university like Brown. In fact, I believe each undergrad class is smaller than Brown, and thus affords the campus a lot of intimacy.
The other 1000+ are grad students and the other students are mostly post-grads who are on one of JHU's MANY campuses like East Baltimore, Peabody, SAIS (DC, Italy, China), Singapore, etc.

Being a part of Hopkins really has its benefits. a very very large proportion of undergrads undertake research of various forms. hopkins provides free shuttles to all of its other baltimore campuses like the med school, peabody conservatory of music, etc. And there is another free shuttle to inner harbor, MICA, Towson Mall, etc.
DC is a $7 train ride away and the train station is a few blocks from campus.
The campus is very pristine and park-like and has been considered the safest college campus in America. ( in terms of best campus security)

[IBclass06]

Originally Posted by amtc

I had no idea! I know about Kenyon and Bard, Hampshire, and Sarah Lawrence but Johns Hopkins?!

Johns Hopkins does indeed have a fantastic writing program. One thing to consider, however, is the environment of the school.

A mere 12% of Hopkins undergraduates major in the humanities (63% in science/engineering, 25% in social sciences). This leads to a much different and perhaps less preferable atmosphere than Hampshire, where 60% of undergraduates major in the humanities/arts.

Originally Posted by Hope2getrice

In fact, I believe each undergrad class is smaller than Brown, and thus affords the campus a lot of intimacy.

Yes, they're somewhat similar in class sizes, with Brown having slightly more courses with fewer than 20 students (71%) than Hopkins (65%).

2-9: 32% B, 26% JH
10-19: 39% B, 39% JH
20-29: 12% B, 13% JH
30-39: 5% B, 7% JH
40-49: 3% B, 4% JH
50-99: 5% B, 6% JH
100+: 4% B, 5% JH

[Hope2getrice]

^^ I don't think that 12% number is true because I actually go to school there and have seen the actual students....

by FAR, the actual largest major at Hopkins is International Relations. Period.
And even if there ARE less people majoring in the humanities, that just means smaller classes in those departments than at other schools where a lot of kids are majoring in the same things

and for class size, i was talking about CLASS SIZE, not less than 20 students or whatever. As in, Hopkins has 1,200 or so undergrads per year-level while Brown may have 1300-1500.

[IBclass06]

Originally Posted by Hope2getrice

I don't think that 12% number is true because I actually go to school there and have seen the actual students....

I got the numbers directly from the registrar's website at Hopkins, so I would assume they're correct.

The largest major at JHU is actually BME, but you are correct that IR is second. Chem E, Public Health, and Neuroscience round out the top 5.

[amtc]

Hope2getrice - it's not the size of the school that's a mismatch but my daughter is dyslexic and while her grades are within the ballpark for JHU I don't think her SAT/ACT will be high enough. She's not classified so she doesn't get any extra time and given that she's looking for a writing major I pretty sure the test scores will matter!

As I said, it's a bit early for these thoughts and I am interested in pursuing this further. Whether she will be or not is still premature. Thanks for all the info though!

[Hope2getrice]

She should still go for it, AMTC. What's the harm in trying? I'm sure your daughter has many great qualities to add to JHU!

[achat]

JHU does have one of the best Creative Writing programs in the country, hands down!! I completely agree with the OP here....