NETI: NeuroEngineering Training Initiative: Info for Incoming Students

To see a list of questions and answers from incoming/interested students, refer to:
Incoming Student Questions & Answers

To see additional/updated information for and from the incoming class of 2007, please refer to:
For Incoming Students: 2007
Incoming Students 2007: Questions and Answers

General Infomation from Emails:

Sent on 7/7/06:

Hello, First Years! :)

Welcome to Hopkins and Baltimore! I'm a rising second year PhD student in Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins, and I'm also the "big sibling" for the neuroengineering students. If you are interested in NETI (the NeuroEngineering Training Initiative), email me (issel at jhu dot edu). This summer, we're running a weekly student seminar with free lunch, and we'll be having an introductory seminar on September 6th to showcase research opportunities for new students. (More details will be sent to those interested.)

Alternatively, if you've got questions (on residences, neuroengineering, or life in general), feel free to send me an email or IM (azngeekgirl). I emailed quite a few of you about transportation during the Interview Weekends, and am offering advice, social invitations, general guidance, etc. If you'd like to come see/play softball or soccer w/ the BME team(s), if you'd like to go salsa/swing dancing or shopping or barhopping, or if you'd like info on what to do in Baltimore, let me know! :)

Here's a list of useful URLs: http://www.aiyah.org/hopkins_urls
And a few guides to Hopkins: http://www.bme.jhu.edu/%7Ercheong/Baltimore/

Congratulations! We look forward to meeting you all soon. :)

Sent on 7/10/06:

To answer a couple of questions:

Last year, if we decided to take the medical school track, we emailed the departmental administrator, Hong Lan (hlan1 at jhmi dot edu). She'll probably send out an email or letter to you later this summer. Registration for the other courses occurs about a week before classes start. I'm also cc-ing this email to Misti Marr, a fellow second year NETI-trainee who took the alternate track, and Debbie Castillo, the current student president of NETI. Misti and Debbie, if you have any advice for choosing courses, registration, etc, please add more.

The course schedule for the fall can be found here:
http://www.jhu.edu/registrar/schedule.html
Requirements for PhD Coursework can be found here: http://www.bme.jhu.edu/academics/phd/phdstudhandbook/coursework.htm

The Neuroengineering summer seminar is at 100p on Wednesdays. To see more details, check out "Summer Seminar Schedule" on the NETI blog: http://neuroengineering.blogspot.com
We'll also be making updates to the website throughout the summer, and we are currently working on a recommended curriculum for the students in Neuroengineering. Some of the classes that most people have taken include "Models of the Neuron," taught by Dr. Eric Young, "Neuroscience" (either through the medical school track in the spring, or the year-long course in the medical school catalog), Intro to Probability and Statistics (there are a couple of versions of these; depending on your math background, you might want to consider taking the Intro to Biostatistics Class through the School of Public Health), and an Applied Math in Engineering course (the most commonly taken class is taught through the Department of Geographical and Environmental Engineering). People also take Learning Theory, Theoretical Neuroscience, Microfabrication Lab, etc. It depends on what you would like to focus on, in particular.

As for finding a residence: most of the graduate students live around Homewood campus, and take the shuttle into the medical school. Mt. Vernon is also a popular place, with shuttle stops to the med campus and to Homewood campus. Downtown (Fells Point, Canton, Inner Harbor, Federal Hill, Butcher's Hill) tends to be safe and has tons of restaurants/bars, though it's also busier, and you usually need a car to get to class. (Many people in Fells Point also walk or bike to JHMI.) Mt. Washington is super safe, but farther away. If you want to be in between Baltimore and DC, then look at Columbia or Ellicott City. When you're considering a place, look at the parking situation, whether it's got a washer/dryer in the unit, where it's located, the crime around the area, etc.

More info can be found here:
http://www.aiyah.org/hopkins_urls#Housing
and especially on the Off-Campus Housing website:
http://www.jhu.edu/~hds/offcampus/

There are tons of intramurals! :) We usually do softball and soccer in the summer, soccer/dodgeball/basketball in the fall/winter, and soccer again in the spring. Most of the summer rosters are full, but if you'd like to play sports/pick-up games, let me know when you get here, and I'll give you the contact info for the team captains.

Again, if you're interested in the seminar, NETI, or have questions, let me know.