Year: Class of 2014

Majors: Earth and Planetary Science, Physics

Minors: Space Science and Engineering, Math

Hometown: Smithtown, NY

If you were anything like me as a child, you fantasized about going to exotic places to discover the inexplicable, amazing secrets of our world. If you’re anything like me now, you’ll still working towards discovering or inventing something that will revolutionize science and engineering as we know it. I may not be able to help with everything, but I’d like to turn your attention to the area above your heads that is called the atmosphere, and, far more importantly, the cosmos that extends far beyond our imagination. In one word: space.

Johns Hopkins has had a good relationship with the final frontier since NASA was started on July 29, 1958. Between the Applied Physics Lab (APL) in Laurel, MD and the Space Telescope and Science Institute (STScI) right across the street from the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy, Hopkins has been on the cutting edge of breathtaking experiments and novel technological devices for years. Despite the depth of our professors’ collective works and understandings, the Hopkins students were only vaguely familiar with current research. Only those who had completed internships through the physics or mechanical engineering departments were involved with space projects.

Michelangelo, a huge piece of equipment that used to be attached to the International Space Station (ISS). We even saw the Discovery shuttle still in the hanger before it was flown to DC.

Three professors sought to change this, so in Fall 2011 Professors Warren Moos and Steven Murray taught the first class of Introduction to Space Science and Technology (171.321). The class was an overview of space project management, balancing scientific and engineering requirements to achieve a goal, and general rocket science. The class requirements were straightforward; a semester to complete a group project, one midterm, weekly homework, and a final. To accomplish these goals, the class was broken down into six groups of five on the very first day and assigned a task, which they could complete with any materials and tools they wanted, so long as it was under $100 million. The professors took care to assign people from different majors in the same group, so everyone could have an area of expertise on the team. The homework and finals were like those of any other class at Hopkins.

The best part of the class, by far, was the guest speakers who came in to give their talks on their backgrounds in space and atmospheric science. We welcomed John Mather, a Nobel laureate in Physics; John Grunsfeld, former astronaut and current NASA Chief Scientist; Elizabeth Turtle, a computer scientist at APL; and Benjamin Zaitchik, an extremely accomplished atmospheric scientist right here on the Hopkins campus in the Earth and Planetary Science department. Professors Murray and Moos also have experience in the field, specifically on the Chandra X-ray Observatory satellite which has allowed us to understand black holes on an entirely new level. The talks were inspirational and motivating, if not absolutely mind-blowing.

A total of 30 students rode the Cosmic Mayflower, becoming pilgrims for what is known today as the Space Science and Engineering minor. As one of those pioneers, I am pleased to present it to you here. The requirements are unique in that you are able to choose four out of five of your classes for the minor, as long as they form a cohesive program oriented towards space research or aerospace engineering. My classes are in the Earth and Planetary Science department, where I’ve taken Remote Sensing of the Environment, Planetary Surface Processes, and Isotopic Geochemistry, and will be taking Past and Future Climates. These classes will allow me to understand the data I will see in the context of known planetary systems, and notice when an anomaly appears.

just a few of us in front of the giant NASA logo they had on their property

Despite the freedom to choose your own classes for your concentration, there are some non-negotiable aspects. Any student pursuing the minor must take the Introduction to Space Science and Technology class, and it is suggested you do it first so you can submit a plan for your space minor track. Other departments that are included as acceptable for the minor are: Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, and Biology. You must also plan to have an internship in a space-related field to gain the work experience necessary to the field after graduation. For more information about the minor please contact Joseph Katz or Charles Bennett, and see this website: http://physics-astronomy.jhu.edu/acad/ugrad/minor_ss_eng

My interest in physics and space sent my friends and me to Florida last March to get a behind-the-scenes look at the NASA Kennedy Space Center. I plan to go somewhere equally amazing in the future, and perhaps one day launch a satellite or walk on Mars. It is certainly not something I will give up. I’m very excited to see this program take shape at Hopkins, and I am proud to be the first person approved for this minor. I know I won’t be the last. If you’re anything like me, then you know what it feels like to look up at the stars and wonder what more we have to learn. I hope we never stop.

Year: Class of 2013

Hometown: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Majors: Molecular & Cellular Biology, Applied Mathematics & Statistics

Minor: Entrepreneurship & Management

JHUBio – The Rigor and Flexibility to Explore Possibilities

 I am a somewhat unusual Biology major: I’m NOT premed. Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against premeds. It’s just not the route that I’m interested in. In this blog post, let me introduce you to the Biology major at Johns Hopkins University and what you can expect.

I actually applied to Hopkins as a Biophysics major. First semester freshmen year, I realized I was not particularly interested in many of the courses from the Biophysics department. I wanted a major that would give me a lot of flexibility yet provide a rigorous training in basic science – and I’m glad I declared my major as Molecular & Cellular Biology (MCB)!

The Biology Department offers two majors: the B.A. in Biology and the B.S. in Molecular & Cellular Biology. There is not much difference between both majors, but the B.S. requires more upper level electives and research experience. It is common for a Biology major to be involved in research (and I strongly recommend that if you’re thinking about grad school!), and hence about 60% of our undergrads are doing the B.S. in MCB pathway. You can read more about the Biology department here: http://www.bio.jhu.edu/

As you would notice in the requirements section, the Biology major is rigorous yet flexible. Its series of core courses provides a strong foundation for the MCATs or GRE subject tests. I interned at the JHMI (Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions – we LOVE acronyms here!) last summer, and my Cell Biology knowledge proved to be very helpful: I had the language of Biology to communicate with world class researchers. It is also very flexible: you get to choose your upper level electives from a variety of related field. As I am doing a second major in Applied Mathematics & Statistics (AMS), I was able to double count my AMS core courses for my upper level electives.

Dr Schildbach (Director of Undergraduate Studies) holds a meeting for the Undergraduate Student Advisory Board once a semester. In fact, I’m going to it later today! Student representatives from all classes can, and are encouraged, to provide feedback about the major. Last year, a student representative voiced out concerns over the grading of a core class – that was taken into consideration seriously, and the grading of the class was made more transparent and fair at the end.

As you might already know, we also have world class faculty in the department. They are all either pioneers or great contributors to their respective fields, and they are passionate about research. As I mentioned earlier, Hopkins IS a great place to do research, because of the plethora of opportunities available. The “downside” to having world class faculty is that many of my classmates have expressed that their faculty advisors rarely respond to emails.

I am lucky enough to have a great advisor who cares a lot about undergraduates: Dr Wendland, Department Chair, one of the most amazing ladies in Science I have been lucky to know on a personal level. Nevertheless, I have had experiences with professors not responding to emails… The most general advice is to be persistent, persistent, and persistent!

First Time Seeing Snow (Freshman Year)!

Scarlett (read blogpost below this) mentioned about the Tri-Beta honors society and the PURA (again, acronyms, read her blogpost to find out more!). Nevertheless, you can always initiate an effort, for example, study groups. For example, Scarlett herself has a Biology (Science) blog, where she posts lecture notes from the classes she take. Last semester, I hosted weekly review sessions for Genetics, which turned out to be one of my favorite classes in the department. Some of my good friends who are Biology majors started student groups such as Medlife.

I hope to go to graduate school for Epidemiology or Biostatistics after graduation. Most Biology undergraduates I know want to go on to medical school or graduate school in the biological sciences. Wherever your heart lies, Biology CAN bring you there.

Click here to access more information about the Molecular and Cellular Biology Undergraduate Program of Study.

To further your exploration of this academic program and ask any question you may have of current students, be sure to visit the Hopkins Forums’ Academics: The Insider Perspective as well as the Biology question thread.

Year: Class of 2013

Hometown: Unionville, PA

Major: Classics

Coliseum in Rome Credit: http://heavenspot.us/coliseum-rome-italy.html

Course Offerings:

The study of the classics offers many interdisciplinary options to the student who wishes to have a secondary major, minor or use the courses as distribution credits. For these reasons every student at Hopkins can find at least a course or two, offered by the department, which are not only interesting to the student intellectually, but also help advance the student toward graduation in their Major. Whether you are a Pre-Med Student who is looking to use Latin to improve your understanding of medical terminology; an Archaeology Major interested in delving into hands-on field work in Greece or Italy; a Philosophy Major looking to gain an understanding of the beginnings of the Western Philosophical Tradition; an English Major looking to delve into the origins of Epic, Tragedy, or the Ancient Novel; a History Major looking to read Herodotus or Thucydides; an Engineer interested in Roman Engineering; an Art Major looking to better understand the intense realism of Classical Greek Sculpture; or an International Studies major looking to understand the Thucydides, and Aristotle’s  theories about International Politics, there is something for everyone in the department. The Classics department offers courses that are as wide and varied as the majors at the school.

Laocoon Pio Clementino Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laoco%C3%B6n_and_His_Sons

Study Abroad options:

Unlike most majors, not only is there an option to study abroad, this option is actively encouraged by the faculty. Studying abroad can take the form of a semester, year, summer intensive language and culture work, summer archeological digs, or intersession studying abroad. The department’s flexible major and minor requirements allow for many varied ways at incorporating the Study abroad option. Particularly great study abroad options are opportunities in Rome and Athens, as well as archaeological digs that take place all across the Classical world. As I said before, Studying abroad is not just an option it is actively supported and is well worth the student’s efforts.

She Wolf Suckles Romulus and Remus Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laoco%C3%B6n_and_His_Sons

Advantages of Being a Classics Major:

The Classics as a major is one of those stereotypical majors that many people will look at you and ask “Well, What are you going to do with that major?” The implication is that The Classics is not a worthwhile major because the perceived career route is too narrow and doesn’t prepare students for the ‘real world’. However, nothing could be further from the truth. In my opinion, students who use Classics as a major can give themselves quite a leg up on other students. There are many reasons for this. The first is that the Classics is such an interdisciplinary study, encompassing Philosophy, Literature, Linguistics, Political Science, Archaeology, Engineering, Art History and other disciplines. Therefore, this field can be used to bolster another passion that you have, if that is what you desire. Unlike many other majors Classics is so flexible that the major becomes what you want it to become. Consequently, it is very easy to major in the Classics and have another major or minor. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the courses it happens that many courses are cross listed with other departments and students can get credit for those other departments in this fashion. However, if the student has their heart dead-set on studying the Classics and wishes to pursue a career in the field they are in luck because the major offers very small class sizes with a lot of direct one-on-one attention from professors. As well as independent research opportunities, to help direct the student’s passions in a much more focused way then is possible in some of the larger majors. This is the beauty of the Classics at Hopkins. Because the classes are small and professors care about not only your progress in class, but also about you as a person. You develop a relationship with many of the professors, and they guide you toward what you are really interested in studying. That is the biggest advantage of the Major- great faculty that want to see their students succeed in the classroom and grow as people.

Achilles and Hektor Credit: http://www.sikyon.com/mykinai/homer_eg.html

My Journey with a Classics Degree:

My journey to the Classics was a circuitous one. I knew that I wanted to come to college and Study Philosophy, and I knew that I loved Greek Philosophy and I also had an interest in Homer and Classical Athens. Further, I intended to study Philosophy and Psychology and just take a couple courses offered by the Classics department in order to have some fun. After my first semester, taking two courses in the Classics department, I knew that I wanted to major in the Classics. So I switched my Psychology Major to a Minor and double Majored in Classics and Philosophy. Since that switch, I have been taking Latin and Greek, as well as Ancient Philosophy Courses, courses on Greek Heroism, Ancient History Courses, and Ancient Gender Studies. Every course has been both interesting and exciting in its own way. I have enjoyed my time at Hopkins as a Classics Major so much that I have decided to apply to Graduate school for the Classics. I intend to apply for many competitive National and International Scholarships in order to get funding to study specific aspects of Classical History at one of the top Classics Graduate Programs in the world.

Acropolis Credit: http://www.greece-athens.com/place.php?place_id=1

Click here to access more information about the Classics Undergraduate Program of Study.

To further your exploration of this academic program and ask any question you may have of current students, be sure to visit the Hopkins Forums’ Academics: The Insider Perspective and the Classics question thread.

Year: 2014

Hometown: Chelmsford, MA

Major: Neuroscience

Minor: Entrepreneurship and Management

Entrepreneurship at JHU

         I, like many students entering JHU, have always been interested in the sciences.  My early exposure to neurochemistry in high school drove my fascination with the brain and various aspects of neuroscience.  Although I was always confident in my decision to become a neuroscience major, I had never seriously considered minoring in anything business related.  It was not until the second semester of my freshman year, after taking the course Introduction to Business in order to complete my distribution requirements, that I contemplated minoring in Entrepreneurship and Management (E&M).

            One aspect of the Entrepreneurship and Management minor that cannot go unmentioned is the strength of the faculty. In addition to their real-world knowledge of the field, E&M professors are extremely student oriented. Whether you have a question concerning a business case brought up in class, a recent news event, or a business idea, E&M professors are always more than willing to spend large amounts of time to answer questions.

            In addition to a great selection of courses and professors, JHU is also a great place for business and entrepreneurship extracurricular activities. It was during this same semester that my business partner, Ian Han ’14, and I started our first business venture, The Blue Jay Cleaners (http://www.thebluejaycleaners.com).

The Blue Jay Cleaners’ most recent advertising campaign included pictures of the Blue Jay, JHU’s mascot, at many popular locations on campus

As the name suggests, The Blue Jay Cleaners is a dormitory and apartment janitorial service catered towards serving the Johns Hopkins community.  Although The Blue Jay Cleaners began as a Maryland state business, we have since merged with the university by joining Hopkins Student Enterprises.  Hopkins Student Enterprises, or HSE, is a non-profit umbrella organization that assists student entrepreneurs as they grow their businesses on campus.  Being part of the Center for Leadership Education, which houses the Entrepreneurship and Management Minor, HSE offers unparalleled guidance and opportunities for those students who embrace entrepreneurship.  In addition to weekly meetings with HSE faculty advisors and the managers of the other ventures that make up HSE, all CLE professors of eager to answer any questions one might have.  HSE also allows ventures to have full advertising rights on campus and other advantages in order to fully allow each business to become integrated into the JHU community.  One wonderful aspect of HSE is that it truly allows student entrepreneurs to manage their own business and make their own decisions, while offering support when support is needed. In addition to The Blue Jay Cleaners, I also manage Hopkins Student Creative Services (http://web1.johnshopkins.edu/hse/hcs/), a web development and design venture.  My current goal is to improve name recognition for HSCS on campus in addition to the Baltimore community in order to increase the amount of clients served.

The Kairos Summit 2012 was held at the NYSE. It was here that I met Dr. Daniel Kraft (middle of the picture on the right), a leading expert in emerging medical technologies

Another great entrepreneurial extracurricular activity is the JHU chapter of the Kairos Society (http://www.kairossociety.org/). The Kairos society is an international entrepreneurship society dedicated to solve the world’s greatest challenges in order to ensure a better future through domestic and international collaboration.  This past year I traveled with members of the JHU Kairos Society Chapter to both the White House and the New York Stock Exchange to discuss ways to solve world issues including healthcare, education, and the environment. It is truly amazing to be surrounded by hundreds of individuals from different countries around the world, all focused on the same goal.

JHU is an amazing place when it comes to fostering both business and entrepreneurship on campus. No matter what your major, I encourage you to take a few classes in the Entrepreneurship and Management minor or attend a few extracurricular events in the Center for Leadership Education.  You, as I was in my freshman year, will be truly excited by both the business and entrepreneurial opportunities provided by JHU.

Click here to access more information about the Entrepreneurship and Management Undergraduate Program of Study.

To further your exploration of this academic program and ask any question you may have of current students, be sure to visit the Hopkins Forums’ Academics: The Insider Perspective and the Entrepreneurship and Management question thread.

Year: Class of 2014

Hometown: Stewart Manor, New York

Major: Applied Mathematics and Statistics (AMS)

Minor: Computer Science

Welcome to the admissions blog! I hope my story helps you to learn more about the Applied Math program and the opportunities available for students in that department.

Why Applied Math?
In high school, I was lucky to have a wonderful math teacher. His class made me love learning about math and showed me the beauty of math, of all the patterns present in equations. The television show NUMB3RS sealed the deal of me pursuing math in college. Obviously, that show is a romanticized version of the role math has in fighting crime. But, at places like the National Security Agency and the FBI, mathematicians are hired to work in the field of cryptology and coding. For me, that seemed like an exciting and interesting way of using math to help others.

Campus at Night, on my way to work (tutoring)

Why Hopkins?
During the college hunt, I looked at many engineering schools. Hopkins stood out since there were opportunities to study cryptology in the Applied Math and Computer Science departments, as well as the Information Security Institute. The core classes in the AMS department were vigorous and provided a strong foundation for whatever area you chose to concentrate in: Probability, Statistics, Optimization, Discrete Math, Scientific Computing, and Financial Math. The courses on the website sounded interesting. If you are going to be spending most of your time studying for those classes, you should genuinely want to learn the material. I had never been exposed to these subjects before, and I was excited to explore those courses.

HUSAM Event- Art Benjamin's Mathemagics

When I came to visit Hopkins, the people in the applied math department, faculty and students, made us prospective students feel at home. One of the girls I met was a junior and an officer in HUSAM, the Hopkins Undergraduate Society for Applied Math. She was very welcoming and spoke well about the department. I ended up meeting her again when I joined HUSAM as a freshman, and we still stay in touch. Coming to Hopkins, I was also pleasantly surprised at the number of girls in my engineering classes. While most students will be guys, they do not dominate my classes. I like learning in this more balanced environment.

HUSAM Shirt

Aside from math, other factors drew me to Hopkins. Most of the other colleges I saw seemed to have programs made for people married to math and science: there was little time to explore other areas. I knew that kind of environment was not right for me since I enjoy creative writing and music. Hopkins engineering required at least six classes to be taken in the humanities or social sciences. I have been taking classes in the writing seminars department (which is well known and has a great faculty) to pursue my hobby and to fulfill the requirement. Having these classes exercises a different part of your brain and is a nice break from problem sets.

Peabody, where I take lessons

Finally, Hopkins had a wonderful relationship with Peabody Conservatory. Students could cross-register for lessons or music classes with Peabody faculty. I was so excited to continue pursuing music at the university level. I had been playing the clarinet and writing music on my own for a long time. Having that opportunity has been fantastic. I have been taking private lessons at Peabody since freshman year with a wonderful teacher, and I even took a music theory class at Peabody last year. Walking into the building and being surrounded by music is such a great feeling. Taking the shuttle downtown is an adventure, and I enjoy having the change of scene. The concerts at Peabody are a must-see as well!

The Applied Mathematics Major
Here is a link to the undergraduate advising manual with details. One of the strengths of the Applied Math major is its flexibility. Compared to other engineering majors, we have a lot of freedom in choosing our classes. There are a total of 15 courses required for the major. Of those, we can choose many of the courses to satisfy the requirements from selections in different categories. In all the courses I have taken, the professors are extremely knowledgeable and really want the students to learn the material. Definitely take advantage of office hours with the professors, the knowledge of the teaching assistants (TAs), and the applied math and math help rooms, where a TA will always be available to answer questions, for these courses.

PILOT math work

• All majors are required to study single and multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations. These courses are offered through the math department. One of the most helpful resources for calculus was PILOT, Peer Led Team Learning,  which is a program run by the engineering school. A group of students meets with an upperclassman once a week to work on extra problem sets from the professor. It helps to solidify the material you are learning and to build teamwork skills.
• Usually during freshman year, we study Discrete Math. Many different types of mathematical proof techniques are taught in this class. I found it to be a great foundation for more difficult math courses and introduction to applied math.
• Since computers are necessary for many calculations, there is a scientific computing requirement. There are many courses to choose from to fulfill this requirement, offered through the Applied Math, Environmental Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering departments. I decided to take a class in the Environmental Engineering department. So far, it has been useful and interesting since we are learning to use VBA and excel to solve “real world” problems.
• The upper level AMS classes are: Probability, Statistics, and Optimization. Majors are encouraged to take the graduate level Probability and Statistics classes. I took Probability last semester, and it was a great class. The professor truly cared about the students learning the difficult material, and the TA’s office hours were helpful. Now a statistics student, I am lucky enough to have the same TA and to be taught by the chair of the Applied Math department. It is one of the hardest classes I have taken here, but we are learning a great deal of theoretical and practical statistics, including some R programming. Next year, I will take Optimization, which I have heard nothing but good things about, so I am excited for that!
• We can choose the remaining two upper level classes from the AMS department’s large variety of courses. We are encouraged to choose these courses to create a concentration for ourselves. A concentration consists of three upper level courses in one of these areas: Probability, Statistics, Optimization, Discrete Math, Scientific Computing, and Financial Math.
•  The final three courses come from an area of application and must be taken in other departments outside of Applied Math. The natural sciences, economics, psychology, sociology, and many engineering departments would qualify as possible areas of application. I am minoring in computer science, so my area of application is in that department. I really like using the math I have learned in the computer science classes. Since computer science is based on logic and math, the departments go hand in hand. For me, computer science has been a way to make the math I am learning more concrete.

Campus Adventures
There are many opportunities for Applied Math students on campus. I am a teaching assistant for the department this semester, which has been a great experience and insight into the behind-the-scenes of a university class. I am also a tutor at the Learning Den, which provides free tutoring for all Hopkins students. Helping these students has been one of my favorite experiences in college. I have also attended tutoring. The tutors are knowledgeable and understanding – it is a fantastic resource for all students.

HUSAM, the Hopkins Undergraduate Society for Applied Mathematics, is active on campus, and I am an officer. We plan events where prominent guest lecturers in the applied math field come to share their work, research experience, and advice with Hopkins students. This exposes students to different career opportunities and helps them to network with possible employers. We run an Interactive Course Description Night prior to course registration period where faculty members describe classes for the next semester and answer questions to help students make informed decisions while selecting courses. The department also sponsors teams in an international math modeling competition for upperclassmen.

Purple JHU, just because it's my favorite color! :)

Aside from math activities, I am involved in the Hopkins Catholic Community and regularly play music with my friends. I have been attending free workshops at the Digital Media Center on campus for audio and video recording as well. My friends and I recently made a music video for our arrangement of a song! The rec center offers classes in yoga, zumba, and other activities, which has been a great way to have fun. There are many student organizations on campus, more than I can count. Whatever you are interested in, you will find people who pursue similar interests.

Jobs
Last summer, even though I had only finished my freshman year of college, I was able to get a meaningful job for the summer. Since I had taken many quantitative courses, I was hired at a medical complex in my hometown. I worked in a team setting in the Electronic Medical Records Department to expand their system according to the government mandate. This meant learning a new computer language, being trained in the current system, and figuring out how their software worked. Soon, I was working on projects with the team, and the summer flew by. The background from my courses definitely helped over the summer.

ID Tag from My Summer Job

Onward!
Applied Math was right for me since it has many different areas of focus you can pursue. Having been exposed to just some of these, I am now a computer science minor. In addition, I am now looking forward to exploring topics besides cryptology, such as computer graphics and statistical image analysis. In the future, I am hoping to combine my skills in math and programming with my interest in the arts to work on digital animation. I love the flexibility of the applied math program: you will get an outstanding mathematics education while learning about different subjects you can apply it to and pursuing your interests.

Plus, if you want to just do math, you can do that too! While most Applied Math majors are double majoring or minoring, some choose to concentrate on math alone. By the nature of the program, you can focus on math and will receive an excellent education which will prepare you for your future goals. Many different courses are offered each semester, and you will always find subjects that interest you. You can also do research with faculty – all undergraduates can participate in research projects.

In the future, having this quantitative foundation will provide you with the opportunity to find jobs in nearly any area you are interested in. Everyone needs mathematicians who can work a computer efficiently, whether it is in industry or academia. The Hopkins program in applied math will prepare you by teaching you how to think quantitatively. You will come out of these classes with the mindset to solve problems and the background to help you do it.

The professors in the department are excellent teachers who care about the students. My classmates are talented, motivated, and great people to study with. Most of my friends are applied math or computer science majors, and there is really great camaraderie in class. My experience at Hopkins has been wonderful. I strongly encourage you to come to Hopkins and to come learn in the Applied Math Department!

Whitehead Hall, the AMS building

Click here to access more information about the Applied Mathematics and Statistics Undergraduate Program of Study.

To further your exploration of this academic program and ask any question you may have of current students, be sure to visit the Hopkins Forums’ Academics: The Insider Perspective as well as the Applied Math and Statistics question thread.

Year: Class of 2013

Hometown: Cockeysville, Maryland

Major: Biology

Bio-logy: study of life.  And why not study life?  I initially chose a Biology major because I had a relatively fun experience in my AP Bio class in high school, and-yes-because it covered a lot of premed coursework anyway.

I am entirely satisfied.

Some of my most enjoyable classes include Development Biology, and a lot of the lab classes.  Many of the core biology courses are taught by multiple professors, so you can experience various teaching styles (and have more than one option for recommendation letters :D).  The labs give great exposure to the most common and most useful lab techniques to give you a heads up when looking for research positions.  I also took one of my electives abroad: Human Health & Disease was offered through DIS (Danish Institute of Study Abroad) and gave me more clinical exposure than any undergraduate offering in the US–we were able to practice history taking on actual patients!

Mother Booby and Babies, Galapagos, Ecuador

My major is awesome not in and of itself but that it provides a foundation that gives me something to work off of and I can reach out to all sorts of opportunities. January of my sophomore year, I jumped on the intersession study abroad to Ecuador to study evolution.  The following summer I attended a summer internship with the Noble Foundation in Oklahoma–my work there is pending publication in the Hopkins Undergraduate Research Journal (which is not limited to biology), and the following Fall semester took place in Denmark.  I do research at JHMI (whose campus is a convenient shuttle ride away).  Other opportunities include Beta Beta Beta–the biology honor society–and PURA, the Provost’s Undergraduate Research Awards (which also isn’t limited to biology) that funds proposals of independent research.

Blue Wing Tanager, Mindo Cloud Forest, Ecuador

Reading SkyMagazine with Galapagos Tortoise

Some neat things about the biology department at Hopkins are the people–-postdocs keep dogs in the lab (the undergrads have the duty of walking them :D), Dr. Norris lets students take lab embryos home to raise pet sea urchins or axolotls, while Dr. Edidin is an immunology professor and a professed watch collector–he specializes in English watches dating from the few scores prior to the 1840s.

For me, my major is carrying me to medical school, but there’s no limit to where you can go.  Don’t ever feel limited by whatever major you choose–undergraduate school is for exploring, graduate school is for career pondering.

Fame and Publicity on the Noble Foundation Website

Click here to access more information about the Molecular and Cellular Biology Undergraduate Program of Study.

To further your exploration of this academic program and ask any question you may have of current students, be sure to visit the Hopkins Forums’ Academics: The Insider Perspective as well as the Biology question thread.

Year: Class of 2015

Hometown: Los Alamitos, CA

Majors: International Studies & History of Art

Minor: Museums and Society

Coming into freshman year, I was completely bewildered by the process of picking a major; I wanted to study everything Hopkins has to offer.  I was ecstatic to find this unique interdisciplinary Program in Museums and Society, because museums classes have made my Hopkins experience exciting!  In one place, I can pursue all my favorite subjects, from economics to biology, art history to political science, by studying the world through the distinctive lens of the museum in society.

Some have asked me, “Ryan, why is the museums program only a minor, is it because they don’t have enough professors, or is there just not enough to study?”  To that, I always reply most definitely not!  After participating in museum theory classes, practicum courses, and museum internships at Hopkins, I fully support this program as a minor.  The museum minor adds an enriched dimension and perspective to any major, be it political science, chemistry, or mechanical engineering.  The museums program teaches students how the museum industry taps the individual expertise of professionals from all fields, which is why there are so many types of museums to visit in the world.  I was excited to learn that jobs within the scope of the museum industry range tremendously and include artists, lawyers, businessmen, scientific researchers, art curators, and preservationists.  All in all, the program offers a valuable education to any student at Hopkins who is seeking a niche in the professional world.

It is the unique classes in the museums minor that make the program sensational.  Two required survey courses, “Intro to the Museum: Past and Present” and “Introduction to the Museum: Issues and Ideas”, give students an introduction to the world of museums.  I was lucky enough to take the first of these courses with the head of the department, Professor Elizabeth Rodini.  The class had fewer than thirty-five students.  Because of the small size, the class was a perfect combination of lecture and in-class discussion, a gem among usually large-scale intro courses at Hopkins.   Honestly, I was worried that because I didn’t want to be a curator, the program and its classes would not be for me.  Luckily, Professor Rodini took the time to sit down with me and show me some alternate career paths in the museum industry that I had never thought about, including intellectual property law, the business of art auctioning, and museum marketing.   Professor Rodini’s intro class was outstanding!  I learned about the historic role of museums as the first scientific laboratories, as pioneering centers for public education, and as showplaces for royal power among the monarchies in Europe.

The four other courses required in the minor indicate the program’s interdisciplinary nature.  At least two of these four additional courses must be cross-listed with a department outside of Museums.  There are classes in History of Art, Near Eastern studies, and International Studies, among others.  Classes which qualify, such as “Heaven on Earth: Art, Culture and Wonder in the Vatican Museum and Library” give students a way to see the museum on a global scale.  One of the required courses is a “practicum” course, a hands-on introduction to the museum industry.  In this class, museum staff from different Baltimore museums take students through both the theoretical and material process of setting up a museum exhibit.  My practicum course, “Staging Suburbia”, was taught at the Jewish Museum of Maryland.  During the semester, I was involved in putting together a traveling exhibit which documented the historical migration of Baltimore Jews from the city to the suburbs.  I took memorable field trips to Baltimore suburbs, and researched pop culture magazines and artifacts from the 1940s and 1950s, including Life magazine and the Baltimore Sun newspaper.  This class was an amazing opportunity to learn how to create an exhibit from start to finish, and to network with key players in the Baltimore museum industry.

My favorite museum class so far is one which I took during intersession 2012 with Professor Rodini.  “Paris: Museums, Monuments and Cultural Memory” was a three week study abroad course taught in Paris, a mecca for museums of all kinds.  With seven other students, I made it to twenty-two Parisian museums, including the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Palace at Versailles, and even the Perfume Museum!  Our class walked the streets eating crepes, and talked about the importance of museums in making Paris the cultural center it is today.  We studied the role of the museum in telling Paris’ rocky immigrant history, and the use of museums as a proponent of the French Revolution after the fall of the French monarchy.   The trip was a blast; a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tour Paris with a renowned art historian and museums scholar, learn about the history of the city outside of the classroom, and eat delicious French pastries, all while earning three credits in the museums minor.  During the class, I was both immersed in and studying Parisian history, culture, and society, an unmatched approach to examining a very specific case study in the museum field.

Within the university community, the museums department has been helpful in obtaining a rare internship.  As an intern through the JHU Department of Cultural Properties, I will be helping to set up a cabinet of wonders installation in the Brody Learning Commons, the newest building in the JHU library system.  A cabinet of wonders, or a wunderkammer, incorporates the most fascinating and unusual objects from every field of human study, in this case including each department at JHU.  In conjunction with the Department of Cultural Properties, I will be creating and publishing a field guide for the special exhibit, and documenting the history of Johns Hopkins as the first dedicated American research university.  This internship has provided me a unique publishing opportunity for an undergraduate in the humanities, and serves as an example of the fascinating doors the museum program can open.

A high interest academic springboard, the museums program has offered me a niche to focus on in my broader Hopkins education.  I hope to use my JHU education to go on to law school to study intellectual property law, before moving on to work as a lawyer within a major art museum.  I am sure that my experience in the museums field will connect me to the inner workings in the field of art law.  Whether or not I end up working in a museum, I know that my education in the museum field will have given me a better understanding of how people interact in the public sphere, and will help me in whatever career my future holds.

No matter what major you plan to focus on during your time at Hopkins, the Program in Musuems and Society is a great supplement.  I have developed unbelievable strong connections during my short time in the program, with professors, other students, and industry leaders.  If you want to develop a unique way to market yourself in a competitive job market, and have a great time while doing it, the Program in Musuems and Society is the minor for you!

Click here to access more information about the Museums and Society Undergraduate Program of Study.

To further your exploration of this academic program and ask any question you may have of current students, be sure to visit the Hopkins Forums’ Academics: The Insider Perspective and the Museums and Society question thread.

Year: Class of 2013

Hometown: Upper Dublin, PA

Major: Environmental Engineering

Dear Friends…Best, DoGEE

Hello prospective environmental engineers! My name is Andrea Berlinghof, I am a junior here at Hopkins.  The Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, affectionately called DoGEE (pronounced like the animal) has been around since 1968.  It is a relatively small major, with each grade having less than 25 total students.  I have never experienced the “cut-throat” stereotypical Hopkins culture in my department, in fact, the opposite is true.  The 24ish other people that you have in most of your classes become your friends and lifelines, as you collaborate and working together to solve particularly grueling problem sets.  The professors in DoGEE are all extremely knowledgeable in their prospective fields and very interesting people on top of that.  Having a professor who has a PhD yet insists on being called by his first name and begins his emails with “Dear Friends,” and ends them with “Best, Hedy” is one of the many endearing and surprising qualities you can expect from some of my favorite environmental engineering professors.  DoGEE has more requirements than most majors at Hopkins, but it has the flexibility to focus on different areas within the major.  See attached pdf link for course requirements. (http://engineering.jhu.edu/~dogee/undergraduate-programs/Undergrad%20Advising%20Manual%20FINAL%202011-2012%2011-10-11.pdf).  My favorite class has been Emerging Environmental Issues, in which we learned about the chemistry of acid rain, ozone depletion, climate change, and geoengineering.

My research group last summer having a breakfast at our professors house after a group run

I originally stumbled into the environmental engineering major because I could write a good college essay about it (not kidding).  Once I actually began researching the major, I decided it was for me.  Environmental engineering is a relatively new field that is guaranteed to grow in the future because of an increased demand to go green (aka job openings).  I have always loved the outdoors and want to have a job where I can help people and not be stuck behind a desk, which I believe I can find in the environmental engineering field.

Two girls in my major at a Hazardous Waste field trip

Although being a Hopkins engineer is very time consuming and work-intensive, I am also able to participate in lots of other activities on campus.  Last summer, I did research with Professor Guikema working on point source target tracking of cocaine within a sewer system (I was writing codes in MATLAB, not handling cocaine or traipsing around in the sewers).  I am a captain of the women’s varsity tennis team (currently 13^th in the nation, Go Hop!), an outdoor pursuits leader for hiking and sea kayaking and a member of Alpha Phi.  With outdoor pursuits, I am a pre-orientation backpacking leader, which means the last week of summer, I hike the Maryland section of the Appalachian Trail with a group of freshmen before school starts.  I highly recommend going on Pre-O! Anyway, back to DoGEE… My favorite part about my DoGEE is the “family feel” you get from the extremely small department.  We have a lot of events such as our annual crab feast, happy hours or potlucks that bring everyone together.  So far, I have loved being a DoGEE and I am extremely glad that high school Andrea wrote her college essay about environmental engineering.

Two of my classmates conducting a lab for fluid mechanics

Click here to access more information about the Environmental Engineering Undergraduate Program of Study.

To further your exploration of this academic program and ask any question you may have of current students, be sure to visit the Hopkins Forums’ Academics: The Insider Perspective and the Film and Media Studies question thread.

Year: Class of 2014

Hometown: Rockville, MD and Flushing, NY

Major: Neuroscience

IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD (MOSTLY)

Can you guess that organ?

It is more powerful than the world’s biggest supercomputer, belying its fragility. It contains every key to success any motivational speaker has ever discovered. It’s a control freak. More intricate than the most complex works of art, it has created and brought the finest dreams and aspirations of humanity to fruition.

Granted, different people have had different perspectives about this organ throughout history. Ancient Egyptians considered it so inconsequential that when they mummified their dead for the afterlife, they scraped this organ out through the nostrils and discarded it as excess snot. Aristotle, in one of his more questionable revelations, portrayed this organ as a convenient built-in air conditioner that cooled the blood.

I’m talking about the brain, of course! Your brain is the party in your head, the cranial stuffing that seethes with one hundred billion neurons that daily form an estimated five hundred trillion connections with each other. The reliability with which the brain operates, and the horrible consequences to a person when something does go wrong, is what first captured my interest in Neuroscience. How could something that weighs two to three pounds do so much?

Consider the following. Your brain’s slowest speed of message transmission, 260 miles an hour is faster than a race car… The blood vessels in your brain stretch 100,000 miles, or 4 times around the Earth… On average, your brain thinks around 70,000 thoughts a day… Science rules!

When I came to Hopkins as a Neuroscience major, I learned that understanding what makes us who we are inside and how we interact with our environment is not only about the brain. The brain is just a (very important) part of our nervous system, which looks a whole lot like we do:

It is composed of nervous tissue that includes the brain and spinal cord, puppeteers every single area of your body, and is actually responsible for everything you do. You want to know why you’re so smart? Thank your Maker, your mother, and your father, but also thank your nervous system. Through the Neuroscience major at Hopkins, you will obtain a broad foundation in understanding the nervous system, as well as advanced training in one of three concentrations – Cognitive, Systems, and Cellular/Molecular – because there is so much to learn about Neuroscience and so little time.

Who, me?

If you become a Neuroscience major, I promise that you will also sharpen your sense of wonder about the world around you. During the course of learning about Neuroscience, it gets very difficult to take your neighbor for granted. You will look at them and begin to see what a miracle it is that they are talking to you, that they have a unique personality, even that their visual system and judgment circuitry can coordinate to perceive the dishes piling up in the sink and not do anything about them (just kidding, I have great roommates). It does get intense fast. A deeper understanding of the glory of others will challenge you to consider them before yourself. With great brains comes great responsibility…

There is no doubt that it takes a lot of studying. It’s most certainly worth it – a detailed understanding of how our bodies are able to interact with our environments is the biggest joy of being a Neuroscience major. Relationships with dedicated faculty, friendships with passionate peers, and the opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research in a structured and mentored environment also rank among the greatest benefits of Neuroscience at Hopkins. Below, I’ve highlighted some of the most important features of the Neuroscience major, along with some things I have learned in Nervous System I, one of the core Neuroscience classes. Going into the second semester of my sophomore year, it is one of the classes that I have enjoyed most. Hope you enjoy this taste of Neuroscience too! Thank you for reading what I have to say, and have a blessed rest of the year. See you in Baltimore soon!

Click here to access more information about the Neuroscience Undergraduate Program of Study.

To further your exploration of this academic program and ask any question you may have of current students, be sure to visit the Hopkins Forums’ Academics: The Insider Perspective and the Neuroscience question thread.

Year: Class of 2012

Hometown: Santa Monica, CA

Major: Public Health Studies

Minor: Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies

I happened to fall into my minor without realizing it at first. My sophomore year, I took two classes within the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department (WGS), and pretty much felt like my entire worldview had changed afterwards. I was sold. I know that’s a bold statement – but trust me. Every WGS class I’ve taken has provided me with an awe-inspiring way to look at the way our society works. I think it’s because our gender and our sexuality is so intertwined in every aspect of our world – politics, medicine, culture, entertainment – that a theoretical background in this field is important for any student of any subject.

The coolest thing about the WGS minor is that it is interdisciplinary, meaning that a variety of classes count towards the minor.  A very typical WGS minor schedule includes courses in history, psychology, biology, anthropology, humanities etc! Every WGS class I take is different, it just applies fundamental theories to a breadth of subjects. I’ve found it very exciting to look at everything from science to literature with the tools that I’ve learned as a WGS minor. When I went abroad to Paris as a junior, I enrolled in a French university that allowed me to gain an international perspective on my minor.

As my major is very practical and applicable – Public Health studies – I have used my minor to pursue a more theoretical and philosophical education. One of the best classes I’ve taken at Hopkins was a “core” class for the minor (you only need one!) called Feminist and Queer Theory. It was a class of about fifteen students, and we grew really close throughout the semester. Once, we were reading a book on how the media portrays women and gays, and one of our assignments was to watch episodes from Will and Grace and Six Feet Under. I loved how interactive the course was, and how it felt like the other students and I were tackling these difficult issues together.

The program is small, but really flexible. I’ve found my minor advisor to be one of the most interesting people at Hopkins, and he teaches a few classes in the department too. I definitely would encourage anyone to check out at least a few WGS classes – the majority of them are cross-listed within other departments – so you might stumble upon one without even realizing it, like I did!

Click here to access more information about the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Undergraduate Program of Study.

To further your exploration of this academic program and ask any question you may have of current students, be sure to visit the Hopkins Forums’ Academics: The Insider Perspective and the WGS question thread.