“How To” … Plan An Event

We all go to college to get an education.  But trust us: the most memorable parts of your college experience will undoubtedly occur when you take a break from studying and make time to enjoy on-campus events!  From listening to your peers sing in a cappella concerts to bidding at date auctions for charity to seeing a theatre group perform their latest play, getting yourself out of the world of academics for a short time and relaxing with friends at an event is not only a good idea – it’s healthy, too. But what do you do when the event you want isn’t already scheduled: what do you do when you need to play a role in a group that is planning an on-campus event?

Here are some helpful tips on how to do so!

1. Meet to figure out the logistics of your event. Estimate how many people you think would attend  your event. Determine possible locations of the event. Would it be outdoors? Would you need an auditorium or a lecture hall? Both your estimated number of attendees and the nature of the event are factors to keep in mind when selecting a location. For instance, a general information meeting intended to recruit new club members could be held in a classroom, conference room, or multipurpose room. In contrast, an event having a prominent political figure come to Hopkins (like a guest speaker for the MSE Symposium) is best held in Shriver Hall, which has the largest auditorium on campus. Figure out what equipment you’ll need (e.g., tables, chairs, a sound system, et cetera). If necessary, start contacting people from whom you’ll need to buy and/or rent equipment. Also, determine if you need the assistance of outside personnel and/or if you need to hire security guards for your event. Furthermore, make sure that your budget could accommodate everything you’re planning for your event!

2. Choose a date and time for your event. Look at the JHU online calendar and Events Calendar to make sure your projected date and time don’t clash with other major events on campus. You want people to be able to attend your event! Also, don’t forget you must have enough time between the start of your planning and the date of the event to get everything organized! Don’t plan an event so soon that you can’t prepare for it adequately. Last, but not least, don’t forget to choose a date and time on which most or all of the people planning the event could also attend the event. It wouldn’t be fun to plan an event you couldn’t attend, would it?

3. Reserve a space that accommodates the projected number of attendees, and that is appropriate for the type of event you’re planning. Keep in mind that Steps #2 and #3 may have to be interchanged, depending on which is more important for your event: holding your event on a certain date and time or holding your event at a certain location. Depending on which on-campus space you need for event (e.g., an outdoor venue or an indoor auditorium), you may have to contact offices such as the Office of Residential Life (for meeting rooms inside on-campus residence halls and apartments; ), and the Department of Student Development and Programming (for other on-campus indoor locations, such as the Glass Pavilion or the Great Hall, both of which are in Levering Hall.

4. If necessary, contact potential “special guests” (e.g., guest performing groups or event attendees from other colleges in the Baltimore area) ahead of time, so that they can plan accordingly to attend your event. Make sure these guests are informed of all plans for your event. If they’re from off-campus locations, make sure their travel to and from Hopkins is covered. If your guests will need to stay at Hopkins or a hotel in Baltimore overnight, make sure their accommodations are covered.

5. If you’re planning this event with another group, meet often with this group. In addition, create committees that would take care of the different aspects of planning and executing the event–and make sure that everyone involved in the planning process has a task to complete!

6. ADVERTISE YOUR EVENT! Since many college students use Facebook, create a Facebook event invitation and invite your friends with it. Also, since even more college students–not to mention faculty members–check their e-mail frequently, you can submit an announcement to Today’s Announcements, which sends a daily e-mail with announcements about various on-campus events to Hopkins faculty and students. You can also send an e-mail announcement to various individuals on campus who have e-mail listservs (e.g., the Center for Social Concern for community service organizations, the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs for cultural organizations, and the Office of Student Activities for all student-run organizations at Hopkins), so that they could e-mail your announcement to their numerous e-mail contacts.

Breezeway during filming of the Social Network

Want to make sure even the students who don’t use Facebook and who barely check their e-mail hear about your event? Then place an ad in The News-Letter, the weekly student-run newspaper at Hopkins! To make an even bolder statement, you can hang a banner at the Breezeway (that’s a picture of the Breezeway on the left!) and/or paint one of the giant display boards behind the Mattin Center. You can also distribute miniature fliers to the students passing through the Breezeway during the day. But you don’t have to stop there: you can also hang fliers all over campus! (However, keep in mind that to hang fliers in on-campus residence halls and apartments, you must have your fliers approved by the Office of Residential Life beforehand.) You can also create an electronic ad to be displayed on plasma screens at the library and the “HAC Lab.”

Last, but not least, tell your friends about the event! Word of mouth works wonders.

8. Make sure the event runs smoothly. At all times during the event, there should be a contact person whom you could reach if anything goes wrong.

9. Clean up your event’s venue after the event is over. Make sure you leave the venue the same way it was before you set up the event.

10. Send thank-you notes to those that helped with planning. Don’t forget to mention in these notes how the event went–and hopefully it was a success!

“How to” …. Use the Career Center

So, you’re not in need of Pre-Professional Advising because you’re not intending on a health or law profession.  What can Hopkins offer you? What office space — full of books and a helpful staff — has Hopkins devoted to you?  Well, the Career Center is overflowing with important information which encompasses graduate and professional schools, jobs, internships, and recruitment.  As a student at Hopkins, you’re entitled to a plethora of valuable information.  Here’s how to tap into the gold mine known as the Career Center:

1. Start an Account
A Career Center account will allow you to see what jobs and internships are available, not only those that recruit on campus, but also smaller groups that have grants or internships available. You can upload resumes, writing samples and cover letters that companies might request. A database of all types of jobs is at your disposal to peruse. Some companies offer “resume drops” where you can just click to apply. It’s that simple! They will also sign you up for a newsletter to stay in touch with opportunities out there.

2. Get career advice
Many people don’t know how to make a resume. A resume is one of the most important tools a young person can have. Already have one? The Career Center can make it better with an information session. Someone will sit down and go through your resume with advice and helpful suggestions like how best to phrase your experience and what to leave out. Ten minutes could make a huge difference in getting that job! Also, creating a “4-year plan” could put some ideas into action.  If you’re completely at a loss for potential career paths, someone will sit down with you and help to sort it out.  You can take various “professional tests” to narrow down your interests and match them with your strengths and weaknesses.  Or just follow the Career Center Decision Making Model!  They’ll guide you as you explore careers and majors.  Here, you can even network with alumni and speak with them to see where their undergraduate degrees led them.

3.  Mock interviews
Have a job interview coming up? Think you have a cool head and good answers? Are you willing to bet a job on it? Get a mock interview. It’s free and can be customized to whatever field you are going into: consulting, finance, etc. Can you describe who you are and what you’re about in thirty seconds? When have you worked in teams? A mock interview is one of the best ways to prepare for any type of interview, especially a “stress interview.” That is an interview when they ask you questions to make you feel uncomfortable or to get under your skin to see how you react.  Read Phil’s blog entry, “East Coast Efficiency with Midwest Charm“, of personal interview tips gathered after his string of interviews in the real world.

4. Learn job searching etiquette
The pamphlets they have available will teach you about everything from time management to thank you letters. Resume, cover letter, correspondence, letters of recommendation, research and marketability. Download them for free!

There are pages upon pages of information, so be sure to browse through the websites and visit the Career Center.  From four-year plans to bullets on how research can help you (no matter what career path you choose), the Career Center will be your faithful source of guidance.

“How to” … Meet People at Hopkins

“Work hard, play hard” is the motto of most of the top universities in this country. Johns Hopkins is no exception. While academics are our top priority, we also like to (and know how to) have fun. Hopkins students even find ways to socialize in the library when they should be studying…but please don’t tell our professors that! The following is a “how to” guide we have prepared to show you the steps you can take to ensure that you have both an active social life and a great time at Hopkins.

1. Make lots of friends
During Orientation, go out and introduce yourself to as many people as you can.  Get to know the other kids in your dorm since you’ll be neighbors all year!  Get involved in activities by going to the Student Activities Fair.  Talk to your classmates.  Many of them may be completing the same major as you so it’s good to get to know them since you are likely to be in classes with them all four years.  Don’t underestimate the power of Facebook!  Seriously, that person you saw on Facebook? Go up to them and start a conversation (since they definitely saw you on Facebook, too).  Even if your group of friends changes drastically from what it is during the beginning of freshman year, it’s nice to have a core group of people that you can hang out with in the beginning as you all get used to college life.

2. Meet older students
Older students can provide you with all the knowledge you need of what’s going on around campus.  Upperclassmen are a great resource in terms of academic advice, but they are even better for helping you navigate the Hopkins social scene and introducing you to even more people. You can meet upperclassmen through your student groups and your Resident Advisors.  You will get a Peer Ambassador during Orientation as well, and they can also be a great resource for information. They will frequently be sophomores so they are only one year above you (not scary like seniors … just kidding!).  Upperclassmen are also likely to have a car on campus so for all your faraway needs.  Thus, they can be a huge help!

3. Get to know Charles Village
You can go out to dinner at the many restaurants in the area such as Tamber’s (diner and Indian food), Donna’s (“American bistro”), Eddie’s Market (sandwiches—famous for their “Smokin’ Jay” sandwich in honor of Hopkins), Cold Stone (better for dessert most of the time), Subway (sandwiches, obviously), Chipotle (cheap and filling burritos), Gertrude’s (great for brunch—try the crabcakes), Carma’s Cafe (neighborhood cafe), Paper Moon (24 hour diner), Ambassador Dining Room (Indian food), Hopkins Deli (pizza, subs, wings), Uni Mini (subs), Brasserie Tatin (French food), Chocolatea (coffee, tea, and pastries)—just to name a few! Especially when the weather is nice out at the beginning and end of the school year, all of these places have outdoor seating—grab a table and people-watch.  This is a great way to get to say hello to all your new friends, both other freshmen and upperclassmen!

4. Get to know Baltimore
Baltimore is known as the “Charm City.”  During your time at Hopkins, hopefully you will go out and discover all the charm it has to offer.  While certainly not a large city, Baltimore has a rich history and culture which is seen through its many diverse neighborhoods.  Each area has its own distinct character—some are more commercialized like the Inner Harbor and some, like Little Italy, feel very historic. The area around JHU is known as Charles Village (which we discussed above).   Once you have learned your way around here, hop on the free CollegeTown Shuttle or take a cab to easily get to many other places.

Downtown is home to the Inner Harbor, which offers a mall with many clothing stores as well as a Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, etc.  Orioles Park at Camden Yards is by far one of the most amazing ballparks in a America so make sure to catch a game with your friends while you’re in the Harbor!  There are many restaurants here as well like P.F. Chang’s (great Chinese food), Cheesecake Factory, and ESPN Zone.  If you want to avoid chain restaurants like these, head over to Canton and Little Italy.  Canton has Baltimore favorites like Pazo (a tapas restaurant) and Mezze (Mediterranean food).  Both of these have incredibly good food and are great for a date night or if your parents are in town.  Little Italy is fairly self-explanatory.  In addition to its wonderful restaurants, it is home to Vaccaro’s, the famous dessert place (all you can eat on Mondays).  Also downtown, you can find Fell’s Point which is known for its annual Halloween party where people come dressed in all kinds of costumes.  There are great food vendors and live music—it’s always a fun time!

If you want to go on a big shopping trip, Towson is the place for you. It’s north of campus and you can get there on the CollegeTown Shutle (which is free!).  The Towson Town Center is your typical suburban mall and it’s great to have it so close by.  If you have access to a car — another reason for befriending upperclassmen — you can drive to the Wal-Mart, Trader Joe’s and Target that are also in Towson and grab a bite to eat at Panera.  Towson is great for weekend errands—your RA may even reserve a JHU van and drive you all up there if you want.

Last but not least, the neighborhood called Hampden is

Cafe Hon in Hampden

within walking distance of campus (or a short ride in aHopkins van away).  Hampden is a cute, artsy area with a lot of interesting stores (there are some great vintage places) and fantastic restaurants.  Favorites like Holy Frijoles (Mexican food) and Café Hon are places you must go while at Hopkins.  So grab your friends from your dorm, call a Hopkins shuttle, and head over to Hampden for dinner!  This is a picture of the Hampden holiday lights display that the residents organize every year.

Another interesting thing about Baltimore is its vibrant music scene.  You can read all about that in Andrew’s guest blog entry here!

5. Learn about Greek Life

Greek Life at Hopkins is a vital part of the social scene; however, it is certainly not the only thing!  There are many things to do aside from Greek Life, but for those who are interested, it is certainly there for you to participate either by going through recruitment for a fraternity or sorority or merely by befriending those who are in Greek organizations and supporting their social and philanthropy events.  Greek organizations sponsor events both at their houses and on campus.  They are also a vital part of the community service effort at Hopkins.

For guys, there are nine fraternities: Alpha Epsilon Pi, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Alpha Delta Phi, Pi Kappa Alpha, Beta Theta Pi, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Gamma Delta, Sigma Chi, Lambda Phi Epsilon, and Phi Delta Theta.  Recruitment for fraternities will likely begin during the second or third week of your second semester and you can go to as many houses’ recruitments as you would like.

For girls, there are four sororities: Alpha Phi, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Phi Mu, and Pi Beta Phi.  Recruitment for sororities is much more formal than that for fraternities.  It will begin during the first week of your second semester and there are events every other night for one week.  You must go through recruitment for all four sororities, but this is great since you can keep your options open.

There are also several multicultural and service Greek organizations: Alpha Kappa Delta Phi, Sigma Omicron Pi, Delta Xi Phi, Lamda Pi Chi, Iota Nu Delta, Alpha Phi Alpha, and Sigma Gamma Rho.

6. See what’s happening on campus
There are plenty of things to do on campus on a given Saturday night that do not involve the party scene as well.  There are frequently concerts in Nolan’s (in Charles Commons) from student bands and performance groups, theater plays in the Arellano and Swirnow Theaters from the Barnstormers, Freshman One Act plays during the fall, Dunbar theater productions, and Witness! Theater.  The Peabody Conservatory is not exactly on campus, but it is easily accessible by the JHMI Shuttle and always has a concert going on.  One of the best places to be on a Saturday night, though, just may be your own dorm.  Some of the most fun nights you will have are in your dorm with your neighbors playing games, watching movies/TV and all that fun stuff.

By now you should be so busy, you can barely handle it (if only they made the spaces in the Freshman Planner bigger)! We may have given you a big list of steps, but do not feel the need to follow them.  Switch up the order or only choose one of the steps … or none, it’s up to you!  Your social life in college is one of those things that happens naturally and changes all the time.  When you look around during your junior and senior years, the faces you see may be totally different from the group of people you hung out with freshman year.  The important thing is that you enjoy the people you surround yourself with.  Your friends should support you but challenge you, accept you but make you consider new paths, and move forward with you past the gates of campus and onto the real world.  So get out there and make friends!

“How To”… Plan Your Schedule

So you’ve been accepted into Hopkins. That’s great! But…what now? A huge part of your experience at Hopkins will be the academic environment. (Don’t worry, it’s not as cut-throat as you’ve heard). As well as discovering the quirks of Baltimore City, meeting some of the most interesting and inspiring people you’ll come across, and striking it out on your own for the first time, you will probably spend quite a few hours each week in class, and even more preparing for exams and doing homework. It sounds tough at first but, once you get the hang of it though, Hopkins life will be much more fun! Here are some tips from the seasoned pros to make the most of academic resources on and off campus and get the most out of your classes.

1. Pick your schedule wisely
Look through the course schedule and pick classes that look interesting.  Don’t just look at courses listed in departments you THINK you’d like; check out Theater Arts, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Near Eastern Studies, History of Art, Biology .. and take a course you’d never consider taking. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone because you never know what you’ll discover!

2. Space your classes out
While it may sound great to have “four day weekends” every week, it’s going to mean that the rest of your week is absolutely crazy. Work with your academic advisors to make sure you’ll be able to handle your course load. There’s no need to “course overload” (which means to go over the credit limit of 18.5 for Arts & Sciences and 19.5 for the School of Engineering), and you really shouldn’t unless you’re sure you can handle the work.  Just don’t forget the added stress that can come with taking extra credits.

Also, look through the ACE Guide, which has course and professor evaluations from former students of those very classes. Professor “ratings” websites only seem to have comments from students on the extremes (who either loved or hated a professor), but the ACE guide surveys get a really high participation rate, so they represent a more average and accurate opinion of a particular class. While upperclassmen might be a good resource to find out about a particular class, the ACE guide is probably the best source to see how everyone — not just your upperclassmen friends — felt about the course.

3. Go to every class
Seems simple enough, but some people decide to skip class when they realize that lecture PowerPoints or Podcasts are posted online. Unfortunately for them, professors often discuss (and test) content that’s not directly in their slides; they’ll even throw you a few hints about what’s going to be on that upcoming midterm exam during lecture. Plus, going to class allows you to ask questions and hear the answers to questions other people have. When you’re in class, pay attention. That doesn’t mean you have to sit in the front row — just sit somewhere where you can actually read the board and hear the professor clearly. The farther you are from the professor, the more distracted you tend to become: when you’re out of the professor’s range of sight, there’s a much higher chance of texting, gossiping, or even falling asleep!  Also keep this in mind: you might not think your professors take attendance but, if they see you often enough to recognize your face and you attend to office hours every so often (see below), that might just be what is needed to push your A- to an A at the end of the semester.

4. Talk with your professor
All professors hold weekly office hours, during which they are in their offices to meet students. If you have questions, go ask! The professors are there waiting for anyone to come in, so take advantage of office hours. Even if you don’t have any questions, it might be worth dropping by office hours to introduce yourself. If you ever want to get a recommendation letter from a professor who you had for a large class, it’s probably a good idea that they know who you are. If you’re shy, you can always go to office hours in a group with other people in your class. Bottom line: most professors love when their students come to their office hours!

5. Get help when you need it
There are a ton of resources available to get academic help if you’re struggling in your classes. They range from departmental help rooms to tutoring services. The Math Department runs the Math Help Room, where grad students are around from 9am-9pm, 5 days a week – you can drop by anytime with questions about your problem sets or upcoming tests.  The Office of Academic Advising also offers a bunch of different tutoring services: Economics, Physics, Chemistry and Math included. There is free drop-in tutoring available 4 nights a week in Levering Hall, where you can get one-on-one help in almost every major subject at Hopkins. You can also arrange for small group or individual tutoring from a peer (who received an A in the class and is well qualified) for a one time fee of $30.  These are just a FEW opportunities to get help/tutoring through the Office for Academic Advising. For a complete listing, check out the Tutoring page of the Office for Academic Advising or go see Ms. Marsha McCormick, who coordinates all of these services, in Academic Advising. Also, if you are having trouble with time management or procrastination (it’s a problem we all have to overcome!), you can get a Study Consultant, an upperclassman who helps you figure out how to take notes in class, how to time manage, and how to write papers and take exams. Great resource!

Read Mandy’s entry titled “Live and Learn” where she discovers the wonders of getting help at the end of her freshman year!

6. Study with friends
The people you meet here at Hopkins will probably be your best resource. Worried about that killer midterm in Organic Chemistry? Form a study group and study with people in your class. It’s not only a great way to make the topic interesting, but different perspectives undoubtedly lend to better understanding of the material. Plus, one of your friends may be a genius at creating acronyms to help you remember material for your science exams; without him/her, you would have to remember each step of the metabolic pathways–from glycolysis to electron transport– alone without clever memory triggers! As the professors from Biochemistry wrote in their “Hints for Success” section of the course website: “Students who form study groups tend to perform much better in this course than those who routinely study alone. The more of you working on a problem, the more likely that you’ll gain insight. Verbalizing a concept during a study session makes it easier to produce the correct wording to an answer during an exam. Participating in a study group that meets regularly also means that you’ll be studying regularly.”

7. Get sleep!
You don’t want to pull all-nighters at Hopkins. While the prospects of staying up past 4am in the library to cover all of the material in your notes might sound good, you will definitely feel the effects the day of your exam. It’s better to study the material regularly (your study group will help with this as you will all keep each other accountable) and be able to get enough sleep during the nights leading up to your exam! Most of the information we learn is useless if we don’t get enough sleep and allow our brains to sift through it all to find common trends. Plus, without your beauty rest, you’ll start looking zombie-like … which is not good.

8. Go beyond the classroom
It’s no myth that a lot of students at Hopkins do research. While this might be intimidating coming in (especially if you have never done research before), there are so many research opportunities at Hopkins that it’s kind of impossible not to find something that intrigues you. Programs like the Provost Undergraduate Research Awards and the Woodrow Wilson Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program are good places to start, but they are by no means the end. Once you find an area that interests you, and once you are willing to find a faculty member to support these interests, you’ll be well on your way to writing grants to conduct original research–in the U.S. and abroad.

Read Michelle’s entry of her Woodrow Wilson Research on Epilepsy and Jermaine’s unique research experience in South Africa!

9. Have fun!
Although we’ve stressed (no pun intended) the academic aspects of Hopkins, there is so much to discover beyond what you learn in your courses. Choosing an interesting course load, getting to know your professors, mastering time management and studying well in advance for your exams are only the factors in the beginning. Once you get acclimated, you’ll find that Hopkins is pretty darn fun! Hopkins, after all, is what you make it.

“How To”… Adjust to Dorm Life

Living in a dorm situation can be stressful, but a positive living experience is crucial to adjusting to college life.  Most situations turn out well, but you have to play a part in making it work.  Here are some tips:

Getting along with your roommate:
Meeting your roommate can be an exciting experience, but getting along with him or her can sometimes be tricky.

a. COMMUNICATION IS KEY! Talk to your roommate before you get here.  Figure out who is bringing what (refrigerator, TV, stereo, printer, etc.), what their sleeping habits are, what they like and don’t like, etc.
b. Set boundaries. You need to have your own personal space even though you are sharing the same room.  Make sure to respect your roommate’s side.  Remember the Golden Rule and don’t expand past your boundaries.
c. Keep your room clean. There are no maids!  Make sure to tidy up because there are health and safety inspections twice a year!  Also, make sure not to leave any food out or in the fridge too long.  Beware of Bugs!  (Building A had a fruit fly infestation for two weeks after winter break because trash was left in people’s rooms over the break.)  Each hallway has a place to throw out your trash and housing has vacuums available for use so there are no excuses!
c. Be courteous of other people’s sleeping habits. People work on different schedules so figure out a way to work around them.  Having a desk light for those nights that you stay up while your roommate needs to sleep will allow you to get some work done.
d. Don’t let your visitors overstay their welcome. There is a 3 day limit, but make sure your roommate approves of it beforehand.
e. Get out of the room every once and a while! Sometimes people need alone time.

If a problem does arise, talk to an RA (Resident Advisor) about it.  They have been trained to deal with conflicts.  Your RA can schedule meetings to talk it out, suggest solutions because they have been there before, or they can say something to your roommate that you don’t want to say.  If worse comes to worst, they can help you switch rooms.

Finding a Place for All Your Stuff:
In tight quarters, it may be hard to fit all that stuff you loaded in the car for the big move.  Finding creative solutions for storage is a must!
a. Lofting your bed can provide some extra floor space.  Space under the bed is good for suitcases. Fully-lofted beds can fit desks and drawers. For more information about lofting, click here.
b. Get storage bins to put clothes, shoes, food items, etc. under your bed.  Things that you don’t use often can be stored under there.  Bring some hangers to hang your clothes up in the wardrobes provided.  Clothing that isn’t seasonal can be left at home and picked up or shipped over the course of the year.  The top of your wardrobe can be used as an extra shelf to store things.  You can put clothes or boxes up there.  As a last resort, you can store things in the trunk room.

Making the dorm your own:
The rooms can be bland when you first get there, but here are some suggestions on how to liven up the place.
a. When picking out a bedspread, get something comfortable that shows off some of your personality and flair.  This can be a fun bonding experience with your parents before you head off for college. Check out JHU_Lauren’s reflection on choosing a bedspread/sheets here.
b. Bring photos of friends and family, posters of your favorite movies or bands, calendars, or other things to cover your walls.  When the holidays come around, seasonal decorations, like window decorations, are fun to have.  Unless you like white walls, you’ll need something to make the room brighter.  Buy poster tape to prevent getting a fine for damage.
c. Even if your room has carpeted floors, some people choose to get a rug. It makes things much cozier!
d. A dry erase board for your door is a must! Leave notes for others or have other people write messages on your door when you’re out.

Sharing a bathroom:
There are two types of living styles at Hopkins: dorm style where you share a common bathroom and suite style where you typically share a bathroom with 3 suitemates.

1. Dorm style – AMR Bathrooms:
a. SHOWER SHOES are very necessary! When sharing a bathroom with so many other people, you need to be safe.  You don’t want to be walking around in the dirt that comes off of other people.
Make sure you have a shower caddy to carry your stuff from the room to the shower.  Be careful that it is something that doesn’t fill up with water!
b. Find a good time in your schedule to get ready or shower. Sometimes the showers are busy at peak hours.  Make sure to shower quickly during these times to be courteous to others.
c. Make sure you have your key! You don’t want to be locked out after a trip to the shower looking for an RA! But investing in a bathrobe/really big towel – just in case – isn’t a bad idea.
d. Don’t make a mess (even though staff comes in to clean up). Bathrooms don’t get cleaned every single day, so do your part and don’t make any extra messes. Don’t forget that other people have to use the bathroom too!

2. Suite style – Wolman and Buildings A&B
a. Usually one shower per suite works out fine. Make sure you discuss at the beginning of the year when you will usually take showers. It is also important to know when your suitemates’ first class of the day is, to control morning traffic.
b. Have a communal location for all of the suite’s toiletries. It keeps the bathroom organized.
c. No one wants to walk to the toilet only to end up with wet feet! Make sure to dry up the water on the floor after you have taken a shower.
d. Trash cans in bathrooms fill up quickly, so take turns taking out the trash.
e. Hand soap is necessary for the bathroom; there are tons of germs around campus! Soap can be purchased at the Charles Street Market with your dining dollars or cash.
f. Make sure you buy cleaning supplies for the bathroom. Toilet cleaning supplies are worth the money because, once again, there are no maids!
e. Some people can wake up from showers or blow dryers. If you are a night owl or morning bird, make sure you ask your suitemates before hand if it is okay to make these noises.

Doing Laundry:
You need clean clothes to survive in college.  Keeping them clean involves doing laundry, unlike how some people think it is magically done at home.  Here’s how to manage keeping clean:
a. Take a lesson in doing laundry. Your parents should be helpful here.  Learn how to separate clothes, add detergent and fabric softener, and dry clothes (don’t forget the dryer sheets!).  And find out how to fold the clothes if you don’t already know.
b. Esuds– an online laundry notification service – tells you when your clothes are done.  It lets you know if there are washers and dryers available, and gives you the time left in your wash and dry cycles. There is now no excuse for leaving your clothes sitting there when the machines are done!  When your clothes are done, especially from the dryers, make sure to remove them.  During busy times, such as the weekends, people will remove your clothes if you aren’t careful. It will be helpful to bring a hamper/laundry bag that can hold all of your stuff.  You don’t want to have to make multiple trips!
c. Know which of your clothes are machine washable.  A dry cleaning place is located close to campus.
d. Load up your JCard with money to pay for laundry.  No quarters needed like when your parents or Admissions_Daniel went to school!

Staying healthy:
Being around so many other people, you have to make sure to stay healthy.  In close quarters, sickness spreads like the plague!
a. Limit your late night snacks to avoid the dreaded Freshman Fifteen!  It’s hard to do with care packages coming from home and freedom to eat when you want, but be responsible with your eating habits.
b. Take a trip to the Recreation Center.  Keep in shape by running on the indoor track, lifting weights, climbing the rock wall, or take one of the weekly classes.
c. Take daily vitamins.  They will keep you healthy and Vitamin C will prevent sickness.
d. If you feel like you are getting sick, head over the Health and Wellness Center.  Make sure to get treated before it spread to the whole dorm!

Use this advice and you’ll be ready to live on campus.  Your Freshman dorm experience will be a memorable one, so make the best of it!

“How To”… Select a Major

If you’ve come into Hopkins undecided (or even if you think you have a pretty good idea of what you’d like to study), choosing the major (or majors) that you’ll graduate with can seem at first to be a daunting process. Luckily, there are a lot of ways that you can explore all of the offerings available and find an academic department that’s right for you.

1. Talk to Your Advisor: The Office of Academic Advising (for Arts & Sciences) and the Engineering Advising Office (for Engineers) are the best places to start looking for information about majors that might be of interest to you. They can show you what courses are required in each major and give you an idea of what kinds of courses a student considering that major might want to take (this information will also be in a handbook of information sent to you over the summer before your freshman year). For a list of major and minor requirements, check out these web sites for Arts and Sciences and Engineering.

2. Take a Variety of Courses: During your freshman year, you should take advantage of the opportunities available to you in a bunch of different courses. In high school you probably took an English course, a math class, a foreign language, some sort of social studies, and a science class each and every semester. Thanks to Hopkins’ academic flexibility, and lack of a core curriculum, if you really wanted to, you could take multiple science courses in a semester and never step foot in an English classroom again. But it might be overwhelming and might get a little (gasp!) boring. Don’t rule anything out from the beginning; courses you hated in high school might become your favorites.

3. Don’t Forget the Smaller Departments: Think about signing up for an Anthropology, Classics, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Civil Engineering, or Cognitive Science course. They’re subjects that you probably didn’t take in high school, so you might not know what they are all about. But that also means you haven’t had a chance to fall in love with them yet! Small departments can be a great place to get your academic footing, because there are relatively smaller class sizes and more opportunities for personal interaction with professors and other students.

4. Ask for Recommendations: Don’t go around saying, “I don’t know what to major in! Help!!!” Instead, ask upperclassmen friends or your resident advisor about what courses, professors, and departments have been their favorites. Don’t enroll in the classes just yet, though; find out WHY those are their favorites. Were the lectures crystal-clear? Was the topic thought-provoking? Is cutting-edge theory in a groundbreaking field thrilling to them? You can also check out the ACE guide (a student-generated book of class and professor reviews) for more general guidance. (You can always ask the Hopkins Interactive students for thoughts too … plug, plug, plug.)

5. Look at the Catalog, and Shop Around in Class: The few days after the course listings come out for the following semester are some of the most exciting on campus, because everyone begins to pour over the options. Check out the cool descriptions and interestingly-titled courses, of course, but also look for courses that just seem interesting or those that fall in line with passions you may have forgotten about. Go through the catalog and highlight anything that seems interesting to you. Then go to a number of different classes during the first two weeks of the semester (“add/drop period”) and see what it’s like. Even if you’re *good* at chemistry, if sitting in the lecture makes you want to cry, you might want to try something new. Look in the catalog to see where you highlighted a number of courses and where you stayed engaged in class- you may have found a good academic home.

6. Don’t Get Caught Up in “Shoulds:” What you “should” major in has largely become a thing of the past, especially for Arts and Sciences students. Professional schools, including medical school and law school, care more about your passion and dedication to academics than the choice of a specific, stereotypical major (Pre-meds don’t have to major in Biology! Future lawyers don’t have to focus on Political Science!) Of course, you should talk to your advisors about your plans, but generally, it’s more important to do well in a subject you enjoy than it is to major in something just to make your resume look better.

7. Be a Little Daring: Mix it up! Think about adding a minor, or even a double major, if you’re having a hard time deciding between a few different areas of interest. Many majors are extremely flexible with only minimal requirements and many options for fulfilling them, meaning it’s easy to combine your interests to create something that “fits” you best. You can also declare a general “area” major in things like “Natural Sciences” and “Social Sciences”, if you prefer a wider variety of academic offerings. If even that doesn’t suit you, you can design your own major too. A senior this year graduated with a “design your own” major in Social Justice, combining History, Sociology, Political Science, and ‘Women, Gender, and Sexuality’ classes. There are lots of options so you can be sure to find something that works for you.

8. Don’t be Afraid of Change: It’s ok, even expected, that you will change your major at least once, if not many times, during your college career. New, interesting classes and summer internship experiences can open your eyes to new opportunities you may not have thought about. In most cases, it’s quite easy to change your major, both within and across the two undergraduate schools. Just talk to your advisors and let them know what’s going on; they can work with you to make a plan that will aid in your transition to a new department.

9. Don’t Define Yourself by Your Major: Though your major (along with your home state) was probably how you introduced yourself to everyone during Freshman Orientation, you’re not bound to define yourself that way for the rest of your life. Your extracurricular activities, your other interests, your work experiences, and your general personal goals will help to shape you into a complete person instead of just a department name. Don’t be afraid to take an acting class or try out for a play if you’re a BME major, and don’t shy away from a materials science guest lecturer just because you’re an art historian. College is a time for new experiences, and that requires a little initiative on your part to make yourself interesting!

10. Follow your heart: In the end, there are many factors that go into making a decision about what to major in, but if the classes don’t make you happy or you’re not engaged, it’s pointless. College shouldn’t be about what your parents want you to major in or about impressing those kids from high school- it should be about enriching your knowledge in a subject you enjoy. After all is said and done, make sure you’re happy and everything else will work out too.

Academic Advising

“How To”… Find a Research Position

“How To”… Avoid the Freshman 15

“How To”… Experience Baltimore

BALTIMORE: It’s not so much a place as an experience … Get in on it. Check out the Baltimore Tourism Web site for an overview, and enjoy this unique video look at other city.

WELCOME TO BALTIMORE!!!

Charm City. BMORE. Crabtown. A city of Neighborhoods. BALTIMORE!

No matter what Baltimore comes to represent for you over the upcoming years, there’s no way of getting around it. If you decide to attend Johns Hopkins, Baltimore--or “BMORE” as locals call it—will be your home (away from home) for the next four years. While at first “The City” might be enigmatic, and somewhat overwhelming, after living, breathing, and eating like a true Bal-TI-morean, you’ll realize too that this City is anything but. From the quirky beats of modern-day Baltimore Club music to the vast history strewn across this great City, once you’ve experienced THE CITY, you’ll never be the same! Dare to scratch the surface of BMORE and find out what lies beneath this concrete jungle? Come on…

1. FIND OUT WHERE YOU ARE

Baltimore is comprised of various neighborhoods (“Cities”  within the City): Mt. Vernon, Westside, Fell’s Point, Canton, Camden Yards, Federal  Hill, Inner Harbor/City Center, Little Italy, Harbor East, Historic Jonestown, Hamden,  and our very own Charles Village/Homewood. Each of these areas has its own  personality, their own sub-culture, their own style. If you are lucky, and adventurous enough, you’ll be able to experience the many sides of BMORE while at Hopkins.  Baltimore’s “official” tourism website has a lot of great  information about all of these areas.

2. DISCOVER WHAT’S HAPPENING- EVERYTHING!

As you’ve probably realized, Baltimore is one of  the most eclectic cities you’ll ever come across. There is literally something to do for  everyone! Into Art? We got it. Into Music? We got it. Into history? One of Baltimore’s  greatest (and often underestimated) assets is its history—history that is strewn all over  the City. Undoubtedly, though, what makes Baltimore great is its ART. Here’s a brief  list to whet your artistic appetite: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra,  The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Walters Art Museum,  CENTERSTAGE, American Visionary Art Museum. And guess what? As a college student in  Baltimore, you can  often get in for free! Check out this site for more info on how to brush up on your Mozart, Matisse, your Tanner and your Tchaikovsky.

3. FIND THE GOOD EATS!

Steamed Crabs. Curried crabs. Crab stir fry. Once you live in  Baltimore, you’re bound to have crabs. (Tongue-in-Cheek). But seriously, with  numerous restaurants offering everything from traditional Ethiopian  specialties to a midnight serving of pancakes and eggs, you’ll have no problems gaining those dreaded FRESHMAN 15 you heard about. From Mediterranean delights, to  the spiciest Thai you’ve ever had, many of these places are within either walking  distance, or on the COLLEGTOWN SHUTTLE’S route. I’d recommend Akbar’s for Indian, Waverly’s Thai Restaurant. If you still have a  craving  for crabs, there are plenty of places to get your fix.

4. GET YOUR BEARINGS

Baltimore, as part of the “D.C. Metro Area,” is within close-proximity of the nation’s capitol, Annapolis, Virginia, and Pennsylvania to the North. With all of these opportunities at your fingertips, I’d recommend you learn about the best ways to get around. Want to escape to D.C. for the weekend? Hop on the Marc Train or the AMTRAK for as little as $7.00! The Penn Line will bring you where you need to go: D.C.! (D.C.’s metro system is another story…). There are also Amtrak stops at both Baltimore’s Penn Station and Washinton’s Penn Station. The Amtrak train runs every day of the week, but students only tend to take it on weekends because it is more expensive than the MARC, which only runs on weekdays. If you are taking an outing to Fell’s Point, or any other part of BMORE, you can take the Light Rail, but you’re safest bet is to simply take a cab.

5. SEE THE GAME

Baltimore’s got you. Baseball: Baltimore Orioles. Football: Baltimore Ravens. Plus, the Washington Nationals, the Washington Wizards, and Washington Capitals are bound to make you patriotic.

6. ROCK OUT

Like everything else, Baltimore has an eclectic mix! The Ottobar is just south of campus and offers live music (almost) every night of the week. Many don’t know that Baltimore is the cradle for many genres breaking through at the moment, such as Baltimore Club. Additionally, D.C. nearby is home to the funky rhythms of GO-GO…You are either a Baltimore Club or GO-GO fan. Point blank…And yes, if you, like my roommate, are into Classical music, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera House are your havens. Needless to say, Baltimore’s music scene is almost schizophrenic in its variety. But, if Baltimore just isn’t cutting it, D.C.’s 9:30 Club will quench your musical thirsts. Fun Fact: Dru Hill—you know, Sisqo…what about the popular hip-hop/R&B group from back in the ‘90s?--hail from DRUid Hill Park, near the Homewood Campus.

7. KNOW THE LOCALS

Hey, Hun! Wanna go Downey Owe Shin? Last, but certainly not least, if you ever hope to make this city your own, you’ll have to get to know TRUE Balmoreans. One of the City’s secrets is its citizens: denizens who are just as quirky and diverse as the many faces of this Charm City. So, once you get in, once you’re within these hallowed halls of Hopkins, try to step out once in a while, look around, and be amazed! (You can start by volunteering…one of the many (unofficial) traditions of Hopkins students).