Johns Hopkins University

“I got in off the waiting list b/c itJan 26 2006Philosophy
I got in off the waiting list b/c it was one of two schools I got into I attended...it's a craps shoot

“Good grades, good SAT score, strong recs and creativeJan 05 2006Engineering Department
Good grades, good SAT score, strong recs and creative essays!
SAT: 1600 Male

“1920 SATDec 21 2005PreMed and Medical
1920 SAT
3.33 UW, 3.6 W

Hopkins is not about the stats. I don't care what anyone else says. Think about it as a bell curve in terms of stats.

They have a holistic approach, and will consider every part of your application.

Go to their summer programs, this is key. Try to get a recommendation from a professor, better yet two. This is key.

If you can, call someone, anyone, on the medical campus and get an iternship. If not that, then contact someone there and make them an aquantiance, and thus when you apply, have them write you a referral. This is key.

If you do a sport, talk to their coach. All sports are Div III except lacrosse, so it's not hard to get on to the supported atheletes list.

Finally, in your essays make everything universal. Make each essay unique, but make each essay tie into the others. This makes your person as a whole more complete. Have a consistent source of drive. This is key, Hopkins takes a lot into consideration for the essays - ESPECIALLY Regular Decision.

Finally, to improve your chances above all, apply ED. This is a great school; I would say academically it surpasses any ivy in terms of what you will learn, how much you will learn, and the quality of what you learn. This year the ED acceptance rate was 48%, it has been as high as 60% in past years. Trust me, that's a whole lot better than the RD acceptance rate of 28%.

Good luck, you won't need it: it's how hard you try that will get you in.
SAT: 1920 Male

“I got lucky with early decision and never hadDec 04 2005Electrical Engineering
I got lucky with early decision and never had to apply anywhere else but Hopkins. I would say try to get some experience in college with real-life applications of what you learn, say science olympiad or some sort of school club that competes. Hopkins is very much based upon its research, and they like to see that you've some experience working on/with a team.

Also try to be well rounded. Go ahead and take those humanities electives or act in the school play. Sing in chorus and play a varsity sport. I know that the admission staff is currently looking to round out the humanities side of Hopkins, and this could be a boon for you if you combine the best of both the academic and humanities.
Male

“Tons of volunteering, leadership in two or three clubs-presNov 20 2005Chemistry
tons of volunteering, leadership in two or three clubs-pres in one, track and field one year, speech four years-several awards and went to state once, lifeguard for three summers, pretty honest and open personal statement (talked about volunteering mostly)
SAT: 1200 Male