<p>First of all the rankings where JHU is second to Iowa came out in 1997. USNWR has chosen not to rank creative writing programs anymore. Since DS is now teaching creative writing at Hopkins I believe the dept should be considered #1 in the country 
. The Atlantic Monthly in 2007 placed JHU in the top 10 graduate programs in the country and top 5 in selectivity. [The</a> Best of the Best - Magazine - The Atlantic](<a href=“http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/08/the-best-of-the-best/6049/]The”>The Best of the Best - The Atlantic)
I’ve commented on my son’s 4 years in writing sems here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/273875-other-johns-hopkins-no-final-exams.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/273875-other-johns-hopkins-no-final-exams.html</a>
As Tanman says the cut-throat climate is generally a myth. However please watch this before considering a career in the Humanities: [YouTube</a> - So you Want to Get a PhD in the Humanities](<a href=“So you Want to Get a PhD in the Humanities - YouTube”>So you Want to Get a PhD in the Humanities - YouTube)</p>