I was an international studies major at Hopkins, and have to correct some misinformation here. Undergraduate international studies is based at the main Baltimore campus, there is no commuting. Usually a few graduate professors will teach at the Baltimore campus on a guest basis each semester. If students are interested in the five year ba/ma program, they may spend some of their time living in DC where the graduate international studies program is based, for the most part, no one is commuting between the campuses.
I also disagree with your comments about safety and “gates everywhere,” but since that is more opinion based, not going to get into it here other than to say Hopkins undergrad is surrounding by mostly high end residential neighborhoods, and crime wasn’t an issue in the four years I spent there.