Looking at Hopkins?

Introduction
I am interested in Biology, and also in attending medical school, and Johns Hopkins is well-renowned in these areas. Most students at Hopkins are incredibly hard-working and intelligent. There is a pervasive myth that competition at JHU is cut-throat, which I believe is unfounded. Never have I heard of a student actively trying to sabotage another. However, the school is extremely competitive; students should expect to have to work hard here to earn an A. For many larger classes, your grades are determined by how you do in relation to the rest of the class, which means that you must be the cream of the crop to actually get an A. You will do better here if you are very self-directed. Help, guidance, and research opportunities are readily available, but you must have the impetus to ask professors for them; they will not come to you. I think those who have it easiest are those who come in with an idea of what they want to do with their lives, which is most of JHU, because most students pursue advanced degrees e.g. med/law/business school.

Campus Life and Social Life
For freshmen, most of their social life will be spent hopping from frat house to frat house. Some will go on to join sororities or fraternities. Sophomores tend to have formed their social groups and don't tend to go to frats. Because most juniors and seniors live off campus, their social life tends to be limited to their close friends. Baltimore is a great city for people over 21, so many many people go into the city more as upperclassmen. Hopkins has a MTW and ThF class schedule, meaning it is possible to schedule classes such that you have a very light courseload on thursday and friday. Because of this, there are many things going on starting thursday night. The entire community is united through JHU LAX, and going to the games is a lot of fun. Advertisement
Academics
Biomedical engineering is the best program in the nation. International relations, biology, neuroscience and writing seminars are also some of the strongest majors here. A myth is that Hopkins has "no humanities". This is not true. The humanities departments are smaller than those in the hard sciences, but still fantastic. I have never had a class taught by a TA, excluding sections and review sessions. Professors are very approachable.

Student Body
The student body is very diverse. It is very mixed in terms of political views, perhaps slightly more liberal, but definitely not an NYU or Brown. There are many student groups, including various ethnic interest groups, a visible GLBT group, and other less serious, fun groups.

In Closing...
Hopkins is a phenomenal school. There are certain aspects in terms of fostering a community that JHU might need to work on, but its quality of academics are alongside all the top universities. Come here if you want a great education.
Quickly on housing: JHU has recently offered housing to juniors and seniors who want it, but most tend to move off campus anyway, simply because it is cheaper, and you don't have to abide by university housing policies. JHU has an off campus housing office, and owns two of several local apartment buildings, so there is really not a lot of work you need to do if you want to find housing, unless in the rare instance that you want to rent a townhouse or condo with friends.