Transfer to Hopkins for last 2 years of undergrad?

[BrownianMotion]

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Hey everyone, first time I'm posting here.
Here's the deal, I go to the Univ of South Florida (state school in tampa) and just finished my 2nd year, im a chem major with a 3.8, done with orgo and the other lower level classes, have done research on a publication, good leadership with involvment with SG Senate,
I'm thinking about transferring to Johns Hopkins for the Fall for my last 2 years, I got accepted and now have until end of June to decide,
My questions are:

Will I be at a disadvantage considering my Intro classes were at USF instead of Hopkins so my background with the students I'm competing with will be horrible and make it much too hard for me?

Do you know of people that transferred to JHU and how they fared?

How much harder am I going to have to study and work compared to USF (I guess I am going to have to train myself to study on Saturdays...)

I would be applying to med school right before my senior year so I would be applying to med school with 2 years at USF and 1 year at JHU with one year remaining at JHU, how much would JHU weigh in on my application...Say for example, I get a 3.8 at USF for 2 years and a 3.2 at JHU for 1 year for like a 3.6 overall, would it hurt me THAT much?

Additionally, would I need to get as involved there as at USF (I do senate, am treasurer for the whole school, research for 1.5 years, i teach SAT for Kaplan), overall my involvment at USF is good, but would the ADCOMs maybe consider what I would be doing at JHU (prolly nothing since id have to study) or would they take what I did at USF and say it is enough

and last but not least, is it really that cut throat up there in the upper level classes, im looking at takin p-chem my 1st semester there and other chem classes, i really still want to graduate in 4 years...

any feedback would be great, this forum is awesome, i always surf it, but finally im posting something!!!
thanks everyone,
Bilal

 

[frantic983]

.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

Don't transfer; you're not going to keep that GPA without significantly increasing your effort. It's not worth it.

 

[physiclas87]

just do it

 

[pballer66]

Id stay with USF sounds like you are doing very well for yourself there. Where you go to undergrad isnt as important as say your MCAT scores, gpa and ec's. Just keep up what you are doing at USF and blow the MCAT out of the water and youll have a good chance of getting in anywhere.

 

[derf]

If you're planning on only studying at JHU, then don't go. I just don't see the benefits.

However, If you can maintain the outside involvement, and maintain at least a 3.6 at JHU, then definitely go.

 

[LizzyM]

When the adcoms look at your application, you will be compared with applicants who did all 4 years at JHU. Your (hypothetical) 3.2 in junior year will be compared to their 3 yr undergrad records at JHU and you will look bad. (I can't recall ever seeing a JHU undergrad with a 3.2 & I see a few hundered appies to a top 20 school each yr). The USF grades will be overlooked and you'll be compared head to head with other JHU students & alumni.

If you stay at USF you will be compared with other USF students and, I would guess, you will look like the top of the heap. Now, there might be alittle discounting (a 3.8 at USF might be considered equal to a 3.5 at JHU, for example) but if you have a good MCAT (and if you are teaching at Kaplan you are likely to be one who tests well) you should get into the school of your choice out of USF *and* as mentioned before, the $ you save on undergrad tuition can be spent on med school (or you will go into med school with less debt - whatever).

 

[uptoolate]

I wouldn't necessarily assume you won't do as well at Hopkins. They took you as a transfer, so the adcom must think you can handle the work. My experience as a grad student is that they offer numerous resources to help you succeed-although I'm not sure what the undergrad deal is. Whether you want to trade off all you've accomplished socially and academically (in terms of recommendations and potential for research) is another question.

 

[uptoolate]

oh...and congratulations!

 

[mangotango]

Hi I did my undergrad at JHU and am currently in med school.

The kids at Hopkins are tough and the atmosphere (I'm pretty certain) won't be as friendly as it was in USF.
Actually, the harder part of Hopkins experience was the first two pre-med years with interm. Org. chem and org. chem. THe last two years are easier and you have a lot more options in avoiding the tough classes.
The kids aren't horrible, but they're not overly friendly either. The school, from my experience, didn't have that much support for undergrads. - frankly it was like survival of the fittest.
If you have the stuff to be a pre-med you made it, otherwise, you dropped out of pre-med.
BTW I personally know of somebody who did apply to top ranking schools with 3.2-ish GPA only because they knew that "Johns Hopkins" on their resume would pad them - no news on whether he made it or not...
And you'd have some really good experience doing research (for example, this kid I knew did research in Ben Carson's lab and that helped him into JHU med)I'd say that you'll make it at Hopkins if you have the drive to make it and most likely you'll be doing some extra studying on Saturday 😛 . Besides, it's only 2 more years. You sound like you're involved quite a lot - and I wasn't any more involved in extra-curric. than you were.


COngrats and good luck!!

 

[doc05]

I wouldn't necessarily assume you won't do as well at Hopkins. They took you as a transfer, so the adcom must think you can handle the work. My experience as a grad student is that they offer numerous resources to help you succeed-although I'm not sure what the undergrad deal is. Whether you want to trade off all you've accomplished socially and academically (in terms of recommendations and potential for research) is another question.

of course the OP can handle the work. But getting through Hopkins with a B average won't get you into medical school either.

There's no sense in going to JHU to finish your undergrad degree. It's a tough place to study, your grades will suffer, the undergrad prestige factor isn't really there, and Baltimore is no match for southern Florida.

 

[BrownianMotion]

Ok, heres the thing,

USF is great and all, but there is like nothing academically based about it. The faculty here in the upper-level science classes are horrible. I do expect I would finish with 3.8 here, but the thing is that I want something different. I signed up for BioChem here in the summer thinking I could save myself from taking it at JHU, but the professor here is so boring and he could care-less about his students at all, I don't care if only 5% of the class gets an A, just actually teach me something is what I want and I don't get that here. I am going to withdraw from BioChem this summer just because any professor like this kills ones interest in any field regardless of your love for it beforehand. The fact is there are many more professors here just like him.

Yeah, the research I have here is great, but I realized after doing it for 2 years, I really don't enjoy it, there is not enough interaction. I have already told the lab I am not coming back after the summer, regardless of whether I transfer or not. But say I pull like a 3.5 the last two years, do you think it would hurt my chances. I mean even I applied for transfer, it was JHU or bust in my mind b/c I were ever to leave this place, it would be for in mind, the school of my dreams.

As for the cost, to me, i think in the end it will be all worth it, regardless, b/c its only 2 years, not 4, plus if its worth anything in the end, i would be willing to put up the money for it...even if its not a huge advantage or something, i think it would be worth it for 2 years...furthermore, ima pretty outgoing guy, i've never really had problems making friends or getting along or anything so that isn't a big concern really right now..

As far as the MCAT goes, I took a practice test last week, first time I have ever seen the exam and got 6s in the sciences and a 10 in VR, so at a 22, I am hoping that most definitely, I should be able to pull myself up to around the 30 range, but as far as killing it, I don't know. I am not thinking negatively or anything, it is just I want to be sure that going there is not a mistake. Honestly, I want to do it, not for the prestige in applying, but just because its Hopkins, the school I've wanted to go to since like middle school or what not. Additionally, I've heard the intro pre-med classes are the ones that are killer, but when I transfer, I am going to have already finished the organics and all I will have left are the upper-level ones (ie. P-Chem, Cell Bio, BioChem, etc). I've heard the upper level courses they usually bell-curve around a B+ compared to a B- for lower level ones. Is this true? Wouldn't it then be a major plus for me to transfer there then? Even at a B+ bell curve, do you really see it being as cut-throat as its reputation holds? Do you guys know anyone who transferred to Hopkins for undergrad from a state school and how they fared?

Thanks for all your guys help,
I appreciate it soooo much,
Bilal

 

[BrownianMotion]

So, I called the USF College of Medicine today and spoke to their Director, Rel Larkin, and he was like well if you put about a 3.5 there and a 3.45 science, you are perfectly fine b/c that is the avg gpa for hopkins students who matriculate to medical school compared to the idea that at usf, one needs about a 3.7ish...basically he was saying a 3.5 at JHU was equivalent to a 3.7 at USF and that is how the USF COM adcom would look at it...

 

[uptoolate]

So, I called the USF College of Medicine today and spoke to their Director, Rel Larkin, and he was like well if you put about a 3.5 there and a 3.45 science, you are perfectly fine b/c that is the avg gpa for hopkins students who matriculate to medical school compared to the idea that at usf, one needs about a 3.7ish...basically he was saying a 3.5 at JHU was equivalent to a 3.7 at USF and that is how the USF COM adcom would look at it...

Just an observation- many people have told you that name doesn't matter at the same time you're getting a ton of responses implying that your GPA will go down at Hopkins even though you've done quite well as USF. I would gather that between those lines, people are telling you that, in fact, name does matter. Few of those students are actually Hopkins students, and even if they are, they've never been USF students to make a valid comparison.

If its your dream, go and be confident. Its not a necessary truth that students at the top of their class at a state school would automatically be at the bottom of the class of a well-reputed school.

An aside, I am finishing a Ph.D at Hopkins and also did a masters degree here/there. One of the most brilliant faculty members in our dept (nicknamed "Boy Genius") and a *highly* regarded young scientist in our field went to USF for undergrad, masters, and PhD. He post-doc'd at Harvard and is climbing up the faculty ranks at Hopkins at record pace.

Go kiss a$$.

 

[frantic983]

.

 

[uptoolate]

I hope you meant kick ass.

QUOTE]

oh my- I'm trying to work with my examining committee to schedule my defense at present. I think that may be a bit Freudian...

 

[fateema368]

oh my- I'm trying to work with my examining committee to schedule my defense at present. I think that may be a bit Freudian...

😀

 

[Haybrant]

i was going to transfer from cal to stanford after two years and im glad i didnt; prob the best move ive made as an undergrad. it's not worth the time or $$

 

[rugirlie]

Okay, not trying to sound offensive but really, I don't think transferring there is worth it, unless say, you're really interested in like good research because you have hopkins med faculty there you could get involved with. Otherwise, its not like hopkins ugrad is that amazing as far as prestige goes... i mean, over a state school, sure, but its not like you're spending all this time and effort to transfer to harvard or something.. Of course, I'm also biased because I'm a state school alum but I'm also going to a top ten med school.... hence, I'm a strong believer in ugrad name not mattering... In the end though, its all about what you really want.

 

[xSTALLiONx]

Ok, heres the thing,

USF is great and all, but there is like nothing academically based about it. The faculty here in the upper-level science classes are horrible. I do expect I would finish with 3.8 here, but the thing is that I want something different. I signed up for BioChem here in the summer thinking I could save myself from taking it at JHU, but the professor here is so boring and he could care-less about his students at all, I don't care if only 5% of the class gets an A, just actually teach me something is what I want and I don't get that here. I am going to withdraw from BioChem this summer just because any professor like this kills ones interest in any field regardless of your love for it beforehand. The fact is there are many more professors here just like him.

Yeah, the research I have here is great, but I realized after doing it for 2 years, I really don't enjoy it, there is not enough interaction. I have already told the lab I am not coming back after the summer, regardless of whether I transfer or not. But say I pull like a 3.5 the last two years, do you think it would hurt my chances. I mean even I applied for transfer, it was JHU or bust in my mind b/c I were ever to leave this place, it would be for in mind, the school of my dreams.

As for the cost, to me, i think in the end it will be all worth it, regardless, b/c its only 2 years, not 4, plus if its worth anything in the end, i would be willing to put up the money for it...even if its not a huge advantage or something, i think it would be worth it for 2 years...furthermore, ima pretty outgoing guy, i've never really had problems making friends or getting along or anything so that isn't a big concern really right now..

As far as the MCAT goes, I took a practice test last week, first time I have ever seen the exam and got 6s in the sciences and a 10 in VR, so at a 22, I am hoping that most definitely, I should be able to pull myself up to around the 30 range, but as far as killing it, I don't know. I am not thinking negatively or anything, it is just I want to be sure that going there is not a mistake. Honestly, I want to do it, not for the prestige in applying, but just because its Hopkins, the school I've wanted to go to since like middle school or what not. Additionally, I've heard the intro pre-med classes are the ones that are killer, but when I transfer, I am going to have already finished the organics and all I will have left are the upper-level ones (ie. P-Chem, Cell Bio, BioChem, etc). I've heard the upper level courses they usually bell-curve around a B+ compared to a B- for lower level ones. Is this true? Wouldn't it then be a major plus for me to transfer there then? Even at a B+ bell curve, do you really see it being as cut-throat as its reputation holds? Do you guys know anyone who transferred to Hopkins for undergrad from a state school and how they fared?

Thanks for all your guys help,
I appreciate it soooo much,
Bilal

Biochem is extremely boring.. period

 

[BrownianMotion]

Thanks for your input guys, I appreciate it. I'm going to go to Baltimore this week and check out the school for myself and make a decision from there.

Thanks,
Bilal

 

[mangotango]

Hey,

You're right about the lower level courses. THe killer courses are o chem and interm. O chem, and somewhat biochem (they're known as "filter courses" cause they filter out the real pre-meds from the "pre-meds"). But as someone said, the BIochem profs are GREAT and they're supportive. You work hard and you'll get the grade. ah... I sometimes flaked studying in Biochem and I still made it 😛 . Upper level courses get higher avg. grades but it's still not the easiest thing to get good grades. Actually, I think I flaked all through JHU (I wasn't ready to make the sacrifice of sitting down and actually studying seriously) 😀 and I'm for sure not as smart as other kids are and I still made it to med school. Sounds like you're doing good in USF and I think you'll get into med school one way or another (also depends on what school you're shooting for)... as long as you work at that MCATs.
If you do end up going to JHU, try some research. Just anything, even only for summer or something at like Mudd building. There are a lot of great "names" at Hopkins and working under them willl look great on your resume. And JHu is a research focused school it'll look weird if you transferred all the way to JHU and didn't do any research...

 

[BrownianMotion]

well guys, i appreciate all of your help, it looks like i am going to go for it, i sent in my deposit, i will get most of my credits transferred and it looks like in my semester there ill be takin p-chem with doctor poland, anyone know if hes any good or how the class will be there? i am suprised, the labs there are 3 credits each so p-chem lab should definitely take a chunk of my time up, hehe, also the pre-med committee also seemed awesome there, the medical tutorials is eomthin i wanna try too, ill prolly end up doin that my fall semester there durin my senior year hopefully, and i think there should still be enuff time for some fun, thanks guys for all of your help

 

[tigress]

well guys, i appreciate all of your help, it looks like i am going to go for it, i sent in my deposit, i will get most of my credits transferred and it looks like in my semester there ill be takin p-chem with doctor poland, anyone know if hes any good or how the class will be there? i am suprised, the labs there are 3 credits each so p-chem lab should definitely take a chunk of my time up, hehe, also the pre-med committee also seemed awesome there, the medical tutorials is eomthin i wanna try too, ill prolly end up doin that my fall semester there durin my senior year hopefully, and i think there should still be enuff time for some fun, thanks guys for all of your help

congratulations and good luck 👍

 

[Mixtli]

Congratulations 👍 👍 . I may see you next year as I may sign up for medical tutorial and biochem. The sciences courses are definitely doable if you have the mentality of I-going-knock-this-course-out. No one is out to cut-throat you, and the oppurtunities for student activities and research oppurtunities are boundless. However, watch out at night because a couple of students got murdered in the past year.

 

[BrownianMotion]

However, watch out at night because a couple of students got murdered in the past year.

A couple of students got murdered???? Dude, that seems like pretty scary stuff, does that mean I am not allowed get outta my apartment for like a run at 6am b4 dusk now?? I was thinkin of livin at the marylander, i liked the location, what do you think? if not, any suggestions on where to live?

 

[gujuDoc]

well guys, i appreciate all of your help, it looks like i am going to go for it, i sent in my deposit, i will get most of my credits transferred and it looks like in my semester there ill be takin p-chem with doctor poland, anyone know if hes any good or how the class will be there? i am suprised, the labs there are 3 credits each so p-chem lab should definitely take a chunk of my time up, hehe, also the pre-med committee also seemed awesome there, the medical tutorials is eomthin i wanna try too, ill prolly end up doin that my fall semester there durin my senior year hopefully, and i think there should still be enuff time for some fun, thanks guys for all of your help

Bilal,

Good luck. I wish you all the best with the MCAT this summer, and with the coming two years at Hopkins. And hopefully everything thing will turn out and you'll get an acceptance into a good school like HMS, Hopkins, or one of the other top league schools. So yah, good luck again.

 

[gujuDoc]

Biochem is extremely boring.. period

No its not. I learned a lot in biochem and it made a lot of cell bio and bio related stuff make so much more sense. I hated the first half of biochem, but when we got into cycles such as TCA, Glycolysis, etc. that was very interesting to learn. Also, I loved learning about Ox Phos from the biochemical standpoint because it brought about the details and showed me the missing links in understanding why it jumped from complex 1 to 3 and then 4. And why things were the way they were in electron transport chain, etc.

 

[bschmit]

A couple of students got murdered???? Dude, that seems like pretty scary stuff, does that mean I am not allowed get outta my apartment for like a run at 6am b4 dusk now?? I was thinkin of livin at the marylander, i liked the location, what do you think? if not, any suggestions on where to live?

Ya....I would deffinitely not run the streets of baltimore in the dark, not a good Idea. Some man tried to sell me a pack of sox for drug money the other day 1 block from campus. Good luck though man

 

[Mixtli]

A couple of students got murdered???? Dude, that seems like pretty scary stuff, does that mean I am not allowed get outta my apartment for like a run at 6am b4 dusk now?? I was thinkin of livin at the marylander, i liked the location, what do you think? if not, any suggestions on where to live?

Definitely do not go out on the streets late at nights. Lots of students get mugged and robbed. The two students who got murdered (Linda Trinh and Chris Elser) were killed in their residences that were broken into. Marylander is a safe place to live because they have security in the main entrance. The row houses, however, are constantly broken into. You can carry a knife or some pepper spray, but the school recommends to travel in groups if you want to go off campus at night.

 

[Hook17]

anyone with the name bilal is cool.

 

[byeh2004]

Definitely do not go out on the streets late at nights. Lots of students get mugged and robbed. The two students who got murdered (Linda Trinh and Chris Elser) were killed in their residences that were broken into. Marylander is a safe place to live because they have security in the main entrance. The row houses, however, are constantly broken into. You can carry a knife or some pepper spray, but the school recommends to travel in groups if you want to go off campus at night.

why is baltimore so ghetto?! it wasnt too bad when i visited hopkins last fall though fall in baltimore is humid and dreary, i think the coolest thing about hopkins is that your libraries are open till 2am.. hot fudge ! 👍

 

[willthatsall]

I think if you have taken all the prereqs and made 6's in the sciences on a practice MCAT, you are going to be a little behind the average JHU student.

 

[hnbui]

Personally i don't think you should transfer. you've got to much going for you at usf.

I am too a transfer student. I will be a cornellian this coming fall; well i'm already one, since my deposit went through. 😀

Anyway. I transfer after my freshman year from Tulane. Meaning I have 2 years before apps and 3 until i graduate. You will be at a slight disadvantage if you transfer to jhu. You will only have one year to get all the components of your application together,ie. lor's, ec's, research at jhu.

If you were going to transfer to jhu as a sophomore then i would say yes transfer, but since you're not; stay at your old school.

btw i'm envious you got into jhu. congrats. 👍

you so

 

[dkang]

A couple of students got murdered???? Dude, that seems like pretty scary stuff, does that mean I am not allowed get outta my apartment for like a run at 6am b4 dusk now?? I was thinkin of livin at the marylander, i liked the location, what do you think? if not, any suggestions on where to live?

Hey, I just graduated from Hopkins undergrad. MDer is a good choice. It's near campus and not too shabby. I have a bunch of friends over there and they like it.

And yeah, the security around campus has increased over the past year bc of the murders. Hopefully it'll be safer. But it's still a good idea not to wander around late at night, or at least take the security shuttles that run 24/7 (they say they end at 3am, but if you call, they'll pick you up 😛)

And Dr. Poland is great! He's ancient, but still has energy 🙂 Good luck at Hopkins, esp in pchem. My chem buddies said that that was the most intense class they took at Hopkins, so if you can do pchem, you'll be able to tackle almost anything Hopkins throws at you. w00t

 

[BrownianMotion]

hey guys,

so i am registering now for my classes there in the fall and i signed up for pchem and pchem lab. Now, i am thinkin about takin Biochem at jhu in the fall also, but the problem is the pchem lab lecture is during the same time as biochem, so i would miss either the pchem lab lecture or one hour of biochem a week, is this a good idea to do?

the problem is, senior year, ill be takin advanced inorganic lab whcih is required for my major which has the same time slot as pchem lab, so if i were to do it senior year, i would have the same conflict with this lab and biochem, as all 3 of these classes are offered only in the fall and i have 2 years to complete em,

bio chem is not required for me to take but it is required for applying to certain med schools in my state, the other 2 classes are required of me, ideas on how i should handle this, i think i explained it carefully,

 

[BrownianMotion]

any thoughts by anyone???
thanks guys,
bilal

 

[BrownianMotion]

maybe i should start a new thread to try to get the question answered, hehe...any thoughts?

 

[fateema368]

I wouldn't do it until you got a feel for the place, but since I'm not at JHU maybe you could PM someone who is,- just to find out how do-able the whole thing will be. 🙂

 

[DarkFark]

maybe i should start a new thread to try to get the question answered, hehe...any thoughts?

Okay, Im a JHU undergrad, I'll do my best to lend input.

- If the committee writes a letter for you at JHU, you're a near lock for acceptance somewhere. Last year, the % for committe approved students was in the 90's. Within some majors, higher (neuroscience scored 100%) The trick is getting the committee to approve you, so the key thing will be to do well on the MCAT and rolling at least a 3.5 your junior year. Having to not take the 'filter courses' will help you in this regard. The committee here (can be) very good. There are stories about them trying to intimidate people into not applying because they have substandard stats (they like keeping the % up by cutting the fat) but once you're approved they will do alot to get you in- the people writing the letters are great.

-The murders... the first one, last year, was a random act of violence involving a break-in at a frat house, off campus. The back door was left unlocked following a party, someone went in to try to rob the place, got suprised when there were people there, and stabbed one of them, which was sad. They never found the guy. The second was wierder. Also off campus, an appartment, a girl was killed (strangled i think?) by her sorority sister's ex boyfriend. There was no break-in, the guy was let in aparently. Just strange. Anyhoo, as a result of the recent tragedies, security is getting cranked up (big brother is watching). My opinion? The first one was pretty messed up, but I have no idea how the school could have prevented the second.

- Research opportunities = world class. Either stay at homewood to do academic style research (like me) or take the shuttle downtown to Hopkins medical campus, like many others. Not only will you do cutting edge clinical work there, you might also form connections that could help you into JHU med. Not a guarantee, but it has happened. Theres also a good selection of hospitals to volunteer at. Included: Union Memorial for convenience- a block away, literally. Of course there's Hopkins, which is the best hospital in the country, and also University of Maryland, which has a host of opportunities, including the Shock Trauma Center, which is the #1 emergency room in the country, and the place Ive volunteered for the last 18 months (had to plug my clinical experience, sorry).

My ultimate advice? Ask yourself how much you are enjoying your experience at USF. If you like it there, don't leave. If you really cant wait to get out, then come on over, but don't expect perfection. JHU can be a demoralizing, hard environment, and you will meet people who regretted coming here. On the other hand, if you're the right type, you will learn to work hard like never before (a common effect of this place) and you can still find time to enjoy yourself- I have, and on the whole, I'm very glad that I came here. But it's up to you. Congrats on the opportunity. And I wouldn't worry about getting murdered.

P.S.- Come here and you'll study saturday and sunday. Well some weeks anyways. PM me for any other info.

 

[tinkerbelle]

- Research opportunities = world class. Either stay at homewood to do academic style research (like me) or take the shuttle downtown to Hopkins medical campus, like many others. ... Of course there's Hopkins, which is the best hospital in the country

Bayview is also a good place to do research or to volunteer. It's a part of Hopkins and there's a shuttle that takes you from the med campus down to Bayview (it's like a 15 min ride). I actually thought it was a better place to volunteer (compared to the other Hopkins hospital) because the volunteer coordinator is nicer and gives you more flexibility with your schedule.

JHU can be a demoralizing, hard environment, and you will meet people who regretted coming here. On the other hand, if you're the right type, you will learn to work hard like never before (a common effect of this place) and you can still find time to enjoy yourself- I have, and on the whole, I'm very glad that I came here. But it's up to you.

DarkFark is right... many people hated going to Hopkins, others loved it. So just surround yourself with positive people... it'll make your 2 years at Hopkins a little more enjoyable 🙂