adamm111484

Congrats on the Fulbright. I was a Fulbrighter in 07-08 doing research in Panama. It's such a great program/experience!

I'll stick up for State College/Penn State again on the cultural front. While the student body is mostly white, that isn't to say that there is a lack of cultural things. In my time there, I went to see the Soweto Gospel Choir, a bunch of touring Broadway shows, a bunch of other singers/musicians, operas, and speakers like Maya Angelou, James Earl Jones, and Theresa Heinz Kerry. In a given year, there's a lot going on, much of it free or cheap for students. Additionally, while there is plenty of homophobia, it's not very different from what I'm getting on a given day in DC with my boyfriend.

Thanks for the great info guys. I'm getting really psyched about Baltimore. I might be taking a day trip to the city soon to get better acquainted with some areas (Hampden, Charles Village, Mt Vernon...) where I'm mostly thinking of living. For this trip I'm not so interested in seeing apartments themselves as just getting a feel for the neighborhood - anyone have any tips on must-do activities? I might also be going with a girl who is trying to decide if she like Baltimore enough to go to JHU, so things that show the best side of the city would be nice for that.

I'll be at the JHU Med campus in East Baltimore, so I definitely don't plan on spending more time in that area than necessary. I'm hoping to live in Mt. Vernon and explore a lot from there... I'm quite excited about Baltimore in general!

Thanks for the info. I'm just decided for sure that I'll be going to JHU, so I'm quite excited to experience Baltimore life.

Just thought I'd post that I made a decision! I'm going to Johns Hopkins for the Cellular and Molecular Medicine program. Anyone else make decisions yet?

Kind of silly question... does anyone know of pet stores in the city? Preferably Mt Vernon area? That's where I'd likely live and I'd be moving with reptiles and am just concerned about being able to get them food (crickets, etc...) without much issue - I'm not currently a car owner, would that be necessary to feed my guys?

I lived on campus my whole time as an undergrad (yes, I was one of those... haha) but I'm somewhat familiar with some of the off-campus options. There are some grad-only buildings downtown, or there are some places off the northern side of campus that tend to not be overrun by undergrads. Additionally, there are lots of options farther from campus that tend to be more popular with grads than undergrads, though a car is basically a necessity there are the bus system is certainly not that of a big city - your schedule options are quite limited, plus grocery shopping etc could be quite difficult. I'm sure others are much more knowledgeable but I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in from the start.

I'm a gay guy that did undergrad at PSU, and for the most part I can say that you don't have much to worry about. It's a big place and most of the people are good about things, but compared to many universities, the student body is quite conservative and the true locals of the area may not be terribly accepting, but in all honesty, you won't deal with the locals much. I don't think you have any safety concerns, but you might hear some people voicing their ignorance once in a while. I now live outside DC though and I think I've probably gotten a similar amount of comments in both places, which is to say you shouldn't be worried at PSU. If you have any questions about gay life at PSU etc, feel free to send me a message.

I actually had no clue that Mt Vernon was a popular place for gay people to live! It's just where most of the current students I met over the interview weekend seemed to live, and it was the neighborhood we stayed in... Thanks for some great tips though!

So I saw some mentions in the DC/MD suburbs thread, but I thought I'd start my own... I'm highly considering doing my PhD at Hopkins Med School, and I wanted to hear thoughts on the area. I don't know a ton about Baltimore, although I've heard what everyone wants to say about how dangerous it is around the medical school, etc, but that's not that much of a concern to me - I'm more curious about the restaurant/bar scene, the gay scene if anyone is familiar with it, and living arrangements... I'm thinking I'd most likely live in Mt Vernon, I know of a few good places there within my price range (Waterloo Place and 222 Saratoga, I think...) but more suggestions are always welcomed!

I'm not going to lie, I was a little surprised by my UW rejection, and I assume I'm waiting on a UChicago rejection as well. It's no big deal or anything, I was just surprised since I got interviews at schools that I thought were more competitive (MIT, Hopkins, Penn, Berkeley...) and have since been accepted to Penn and Hopkins. It's really for the best as I would have been interviewing more, which means missing more time in the lab and pissing my PI off... but still, rejection never feels good! I'm ready for the whole process to wrap up, as fun as interviews are... they're just too tiring.

Just got a rejection email from UWashington, but also got accepted to UPenn after interviewing there last weekend... guess you win some, you lose some, but I'm thrilled overall!

I applied because at the time my interests were slightly different than they are now... And because I've gotten a bunch of interviews at schools that are much more appealing to me than MIT. And, really, I can only interview at so many schools before my PI has a problem with me taking so much time off...

I also just got an invitation from MIT, which was nice to hear. I'm not sure if I'll go on the interview or not though... Not that many faculty members do work that really interests me.