●School Profile●
School Name: Johns Hopkins University
Location: Baltimore
Establishment Year: 1876 AD
Strengths in Disciplines: Medicine, International Relations
International Ranking: 11 (2020 US News World University Rankings)
In August 2016, during the beautiful midsummer, I entered the Finance program at Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School.
Speaking of our Carey Business School, it received AACSB accreditation in 2016. Less than 5% of business school programs worldwide can obtain this accreditation, which fully demonstrates the quality and strength of the business school.
My program consists of 5 terms, with 4 courses in each term. The courses are highly specialized, leaning towards science, technology, engineering, and computer science. Therefore, it can be quite challenging for students who switch to finance during their studies.
Academic Life: Surrounded by Academic High Achievers
Most Chinese students at JHU come from top 985 and 211 universities in China. There are even many outstanding students from prestigious domestic institutions like Tsinghua University, Peking University, Fudan University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. In addition, there are international students from world-renowned universities such as the London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Toronto, and the University of Washington. Some of our classmates are already CFA charterholders. If they find the studies tiring and arduous, one can only imagine the academic pressure!
However, I consider myself fortunate to be able to study alongside so many excellent classmates. This has motivated me to work even harder to keep up. (PS: JHU is a private university, and tuition fees are relatively high. But I truly feel that every penny is worth it.)
Course Arrangement
We have approximately 4 courses per semester, with each course lasting 3 hours per week, and each term is 8 weeks long. Time is really tight, which means both the courses and assignments are packed closely together (I'm constantly exhausted). To be honest, even though I always thought I was good at studying and could handle the pressure, I've never before felt how difficult it is to excel in my studies.
Most courses require extensive pre-class preparation. There's usually a quiz in the second week, a mid-term exam in the fourth week, and a final exam in the seventh week. Without further ado, here are the relatively easier courses I took in the first semester.
Course Selection (Based on My Own Experience)
First Semester: Accounting and Financial Reporting, Business Statistics in Practice, Economic Decision Making
Second Semester: Business Communication, Corporate Finance, Investment, Macro Economics
Third Semester (Free to Select Courses): Corporate Governance, Derivatives, Fixed Income, Advanced Corporate Finance
Fourth Semester (Tending towards Quantitative Analysis, Involving Models and Computer Skills such as Advanced Excel and Python): Modeling, Manage Financial Risk, Financial Institution, Entrepreneur Finance
Fifth Semester (Increasing Difficulty, Preparing for the Real World): Hedge Fund, Business Leadership, Wealth Management, Merge & Acquisition
For the course selection in the later semesters, it can be based on personal interests. If you have any questions about course selection or quizzes, feel free to message me privately.
Faculty
JHU has top-notch faculty in the United States. In the first few semesters, the professional academic tutors are generally Ph.D.s from Harvard or Stanford, and they also have rich teaching experience at Ivy League universities. In the middle semesters, the practical tutors are usually presidents of well-known enterprises such as S&P 500 companies, Lehman Brothers, and Blackstone. In the final semester, the tutors include the former Minister of Finance of Ecuador and current officials of the US Treasury Department. This shows the strength of the teaching team.
Teaching Methods
A significant difference between postgraduate and undergraduate studies lies in the teaching methods. Undergraduate teaching follows the textbook to impart knowledge, and each class mainly focuses on explaining the content in the book. However, postgraduate teaching typically involves students or professors raising questions and then guiding the thinking process to solve those problems.
For example, Advanced Corporate Finance is a very practical course taught by a highly intelligent and professional female professor. Before each class, the professor would first ask if we have any questions. After answering our queries, she would select some interesting topics to discuss. Each class focuses on a case study of a large company (such as General Motors vs. Ford; DHL vs. FedEx). After each class, there is a project that requires extensive research on the two companies' information and analysis of their financial statements over the past 10 years. Without exaggeration, in our group of 4 people, with 2 accounting majors from US undergraduate programs and 1 statistics major from a US undergraduate program, we almost had to hold 3-hour meetings every day for this course. In the last two weeks before the final exam, we spent almost all our time from noon to evening in the library.
The Hedge Fund course is also highly specialized. As someone who didn't major in finance in China and isn't proficient in computer skills, I felt extremely pressured to quickly learn Python before class. But knowing how practical this course is, I had no choice but to spend time finding resources and teaching myself, which was really overwhelming!
Derivatives is a course that evokes both love and hate. The teacher gave each group $10 million in simulated funds, and we could buy stocks, go long, or short. With some outstanding teammates in the group, we were quite adventurous. We predicted that the US would face a shortage of oil and natural gas that year, so we went long on natural gas. However, the weather changed, and it was a warm winter in the US, so our team didn't perform well. Nevertheless, it was really interesting, and it felt like experiencing virtual stock trading!
The University:Campus Distribution
JHU's finance program also has a campus in Washington, and now JHU has purchased the entire building there. It is also well-known for its majors in medicine, public health, political science, etc. To be honest, except that the business school was established relatively recently, the other majors are all quite good.
The main campus of JHU is in Homewood, Baltimore. There is a shuttle bus between the main campus and Carey Business School, which runs approximately every 15 minutes. The main campus houses high school students taking summer courses, all undergraduate students, as well as graduate and doctoral students from other majors. Almost everyone here is an academic high achiever!
Distinguished Alumni
US President Woodrow Wilson, former Prime Minister of Iceland Geir Haarde, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, former President of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim, former US Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Frans Timmermans, former Minister of Finance of the Netherlands Jeroen Dijsselbloem, former Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai, former Deputy Managing Director of the IMF Zhu Min, Shi Yigong... These are all well-known alumni of JHU.
The City: Work hard，play hard
Talking about studies can be a bit serious. But I still recommends that everyone eat well, have fun, and fall in love. After all, when you get old and start working with overtime, you won't have the energy to do these things anymore.
JHU is located in Baltimore, the largest city in Maryland. The harbor view here is simply amazing. Even the famous actor Eddie Peng has come here to live, eat, and have fun.
In your spare time, you can also invite some friends to watch the games of the four major North American sports leagues. Compared to just watching the live broadcasts on TV in China, watching the games live is an incredibly exciting experience. You will be infected by the enthusiasm of the audience and the intense competition among the players. Trust me, you'll love it here.
Although Baltimore has always been well-known on the list of the most dangerous cities in the United States, as long as you don't wander around aimlessly at night, it's relatively safe.
At the same time, Baltimore is also the wealthiest city in Maryland. There are buses and private cars available to go to New York, which takes about 3 hours and costs around 20, passing through Philadelphia.To go to DC,there is a commuter train that costs 7, which is very convenient. For further destinations like Boston, Seattle, the Grand Canyon in the American West, Las Vegas, and even Mexico, work hard and play hard! Have a great time!
Overall, during my time at JHU, I learned a lot, gained a lot of experience, met many outstanding people, and even learned how to have fun, play Werewolf, and cook... Whenever I recall the moment I received the JHU acceptance letter and the firm decision I made without any hesitation, I still feel a sense of gratitude. Dream it possible, and the future is full of promise!
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