Meet JHU_Dominique - Baltimore, MD, Public Health (Natural Sciences) Major

Hey there! My name is Dominique, and I am a sophomore at Hopkins. I came in as a Public Health Studies major and I still am one! Hmm, so about me...

Well, I live in Baltimore City, and I am what we call a Baltimore Scholar--a full tuition scholarship given to high school students who have lived in the city and attended a city school for at least 3 years. No, there were no special exceptions made for us in terms of earning admission--we all had to meet the same standards as everyone else who applied. At first I wasn't too crazy about staying in Baltimore for school, but I now definitely appreciate the close proximity.

On campus, I am involved in a few things: of course, the Student Admissions Advisory Board (SAAB)--we bring you these forums and the Hopkins Interactive Website, Multicultural Student Volunteers (MSV)--a group that hosts two very large overnight programs for prospective multicultural students, Hopkins Christian Fellowship (HCF)--a group I love love love! And more recently, I just got a position with this organization called Public Education Partnerships Corp. (PEPCorps), that places undergrads from Hopkins as TA's in local charter schools. I also do some things on campus with my fellow Baltimore Scholars, and I am currently looking for some research opps in Public Health, because I have no idea what I want to do within that field.

Um, so classes I have taken thus far:

Fall 2008:

-Chem I
-Chem Lab I
-African American Family
-Intro African American Studies
-Calc I

Spring 2009:

-Chem II
-Chem Lab II
-Social Psych
-Invitation to Anthropology
-Calc II
-Intro to Public Health

Fall 2009:

-Organic Chemistry I
-Public Health Biostatistics
-Spanish
-Education & Inequality: Individual, Contextual, and Policy Perspectives

From these classes I guess you can tell that I'm on the premed track; however, I don't think I will be going to med school. I did Natural Sciences rather than Social Sciences (the other Public Health track) just in case I changed my mind, and also because science offers a nice alternative to so many reading and writing classes. Well, in my opinion. tongue.gif


I think that's enough about me for now...if you have any questions, please feel free to ask, and check out my blogs!

Freshman year:
http://hopkins.typepad.com/2012ksas/dominique_d_/

Sophomore year:
http://hopkins.typepad.com/shared/dominique-d/

--Dominique

Hey guys! So here is an archive of the questions I've been asked on here and the answers I've given...the questions are in the boxes and my responses follow. Enjoy!

You are right, Hopkins offers 2 types of calc I and II...one for physical science majors [like engineering, physics, chemistry...] and one is for basically everything else, i.e. Public health majors, bio majors, social sciences/humanities majors.....

I am currently in calc 2 for Biology and Medicine. Note that the Calc for physical science majors counts for *all* majors, but the Bio calc does *not* fulfill the req. for those who are majoring in physical sciences and engineering.

I would say the bio calc is a bit less mathy and has more word problems having to do with population growth and other biology matters. It's generally accepted that the Calc for Physical Sciences majors is harder, basically because those majors need much more math than other majors do.

I am NOT good at math either, but it is very doable if you keep up with the work. A lot of it depends on the professor and how his/her class is structured [i.e. exams, homeworks, etc.]

SO, to answer your question, the vast majority of public health majors take the biology calc.

please let me know if you have any more questions!

No problem!

Yes, the book is the same for both calc 1 and 2. I actually bought mine and the solutions manual [it has the worked out answers to the odd problems] from an upperclassman for less than half of what I would have paid at B&N. You'll see as time goes on and you get closer to the school year that some people get books from upperclassmen [buying or borrowing].

Um, last semester, the same professor taught both sections of calc 1, but this semester for calc 2 there are two different professors teaching the 2 different sections [but we have the same homework and exams]. Um, you won't know who is teaching what class until you start making your schedule this summer...but what I did and still do and recommend you all to do is to ask upperclassmen which professors have been good. There is also a thread on here about great professors.

I don't know much about community college courses, sorry... Whatever works for you, I guess. Whatever you do, try to really relax and prep yourself for school. Whether you take courses or not, you'll still graduate on time.

Hope some of that helped!

Hey there!

Full ride here means that tuition is covered for all 4 years, regardless of how much it may increase. Room and board is not covered as a part of this scholarship.

However, when you fill out the FAFSA and CSS as a part of the financial aid process, you can receive additional aid to help pay for room and board if you show need. Also, you can apply for several outside scholarships to help pay for room and board.

Hope that helped!

There are so many things I could say! Well, before I answer, I'd like to direct your attention to...

What I learned at JHU Today

Why I chose to attend JHU

Your Typical Day as a Hopkins Student

My Extracurricular life at Hopkins


Now as a Baltimore scholar, JHU is great because I feel like we have a special connection with the city and more of an appreciation or more comprehensive view of it, since we live here and all. I love living close to home (means I can avoid long train, car or plane trips and get whatever I need from the house at any time). We do a "welcome to my city" fair, which has booths and things in the very beginning of the school year so that students can come check it out.

I do enjoy life here a lot! Just browse through what I posted above and then some to see how we all feel about the school.

This post has been edited by JHU_Dominique on Nov 17 2009, 03:56 PM

You provided a lot of great answers to many questions. I am trying to determine which track to pursue for PH - natural or social science tracks. Can you advise their differences?

Hi liangs4god!

Haha thanks, I try.

Social sciences vs. Natural sciences...

So lemme first say that JHU_Jessica, JHU_Lauren B. and JHU_Saznin are all Social Science Public Health students, so you can ask them any questions you have about specific classes they're taking and their concentrations and what not. JHU_Jessica is in the 2011 thread and JHU_Lauren B and Saznin are in the 2012 thread with me.


So students in both tracks take the *same* core classes: Biostatistics, The Environment and Your Health, Health Policy and Management, and Introduction to Epidemiology, because they're all integral parts of Public Health. These four classes are required of all students in the Public Health Program.

Also, both Natural and Social Science students all must take classes at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health their senior year...it's the Public Health grad school downtown near the medical school and the hospital.


The Natural Sciences track has all of the pre med requirements. So if you know you want to go to medical school or dental school or vet school or any kind of health grad school, you should take the Natural Sciences track. It has general chemistry and lab, organic chemistry and lab, physics and lab, calculus 1+2, and biology and lab included in it.

Natural science students also have to take 5 higher level humanities/social science courses, and 3 lower level social science/humanities courses, in addition to 2 English classes and 2 more writing intensive classes. So it's pretty well rounded--you get your dose of humanities and science!

The Social Sciences track doesn't have any specific science classes built into it. Those students take a LOT more humanities/social science classes than Natural science students do.

They need Calculus 1, 5 lower level humanities/social science classes, and nine upper level humanities/social sciences classes. 3 of those upper level classes must come from one department, 3 from another, and 3 are just from anywhere you'd like. They also need 2 english classes and 2 more writing intensive classes, just like natural science majors.

Both tracks also need electives to fill the credit graduation requirement.


Check this out: http://www.jhu.edu/advising/checklists.html

Find Public Health in the bottom 3rd of the right column, and click.,..it shows all of the requirements for the major for both social sciences and natural sciences.


So in a nutshell (SORRY FOR THE LONG POST!) if you're interested in med school, or if you just like science a lot, natural sciences is probably for you; if you're repulsed by the thought of calc 2, chemistry, organic chem, physics... then social sciences is probably for you.

Hope that helped!

This post has been edited by JHU_Dominique on Dec 10 2009, 04:24 PM