Chance me please! ED @JHU

Colleges and Universities A-Z Johns Hopkins University
1

Strongly considering EDing to Johns Hopkins, but am naturally a little apprehensive. Any and all advice / feedback is appreciated. I also have a ton of questions (which I have starred). Anything helps.

Objective:

SAT I: 1510 (750 Reading & Writing, 760 Math) (took in school because it was required, there was no writing component) **Should I send this? Or, should I take the SAT again in the fall?

ACT: 34 (35 English, 35 Math, 33 Reading, 33 Science, 34 Essay) (avg for students accepted to JHU from my school is 33)
**I took it once earlier and got a 33, but had a 35 for Reading that time. Should I superscore so I can have a 35 for reading?

SAT II: Math 2 (790), Chemistry (720)
**Chem score is deff weak. Do I send it? I could retake in October but score would not come in time for ED…

GPA: 4.32 (I don’t know the unweighted… the average for students accepted to JHU from my school is 4.31)

Rank: Top 10% (all I know)

AP: Stat (5), Lang (5), US History (5), Chem (4), Calc BC (3, AB subscore was 4)
**Calc was very weak, do I send it?

Senior Year Course Load: AP Bio, AP Phys 2, AP Gov, AP Lit, Multivariable Calc, Orchestra

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Science Bowl (Founder & President of in-school club, also Team Captain), Newspaper (Editor-in-Chief), Debate (Team Captain), CT HOBY (it’s a youth leadership organization, I’m VP of the Alumni Association), Greater Bridgeport Youth Orchestra, High School Chamber Orchestra

Job/Work Experience: None

Volunteer/Community service: Volunteered at the Yale-New Haven Hospital for the past 2 summers (100 hours total), Tutored for local program thing (400 hours), Other small events (**do I include these?, 20 hours)

Summer Activities: Attended the HOBY World Leadership Conference summer before Junior year. Currently doing computational biology / bioinformatics research at the Yale University Department of Hematology.

Essays: Still working on them.

Teacher Recommendation: Asked AP Lang & Calc BC teachers, both knew me well and liked me. Headmaster also offered to write me a rec as I know him pretty well/

Counselor Rec: Uhhh… counselor just retired so I’ll have a new one as a senior. No idea what to expect.

Additional Rec: Headmaster’s rec could fit here I suppose. Also the doctor who I am doing research with @ Yale.

Interview: Nope.

Other

State (if domestic applicant): CT

Country (if international applicant):

Intended major(s): Comp Sci (pretty sure)

School Type: Public, ~1200 kids, ~300 in my class

Ethnicity: Male

Gender: Indian (so basically Asian)

Income Bracket: ~150k

Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nope

Reflection

Strengths: Rigor of my courses, leadership, research @ Yale. The research is comp sci / bio based, so hopefully that will help.

Weaknesses: SAT II Chemistry score. AP Calc BC score. Struggled first semester of junior year & GPA dipped as a result, performed MUCH better 2nd semester. Hopefully recs will mention this as both are from junior year teachers.

I feel like I’m on the border as a candidate for JHU. It’s not a super super reach, but would still be difficult to get in. My thinking is that if I early it will give me a little push and help me get in. I could be wrong though as this is mostly my intuition.

2

What do you feel will make you stand out in the applicant pool at JHU?

3

Possibly the research I am doing right now or the leadership stuff (in terms of what is on my resume). Beyond that there are certain personal qualities & experiences that I will be writing about in my essay.

4

Best shot is definitely ED. You can retake your subject tests also as Hopkins accepts them even after the ED app is due. I applied without subject test scores but sent them in after the October test date and perhaps it got my application a second look through so I would definitely recommend doing that.

5

Quantitatively you are a competitive applicant. At this point your ECs, recs, and essays will be what push you over the edge so make sure you have those nailed down. Hopkins generally likes research as an EC, so you have that going for you.

A few notes regarding your worries/questions

  1. ED vs RD
    While the admission rate in ED is significantly higher than RD, it is skewed by the number of hooked applicants who apply ED. So don’t expect ED to compensate for a major weakness in your app. Additionally don’t apply ED unless you’re sure you can afford the tuition - ruin an NPC to get an estimate of the financial aid award.
  2. SAT
    Your SAT and ACT scores are great. Stop worrying about them.
  3. SAT2s
    Your Chem score is fine. You can retake it if you want, but a 720 won’t break your app.
  4. APs
    AP scores are a very small part of the admissions process, so sending vs not sending Calc BC should have very little impact on your app. HOWEVER a 3 in Calc BC doesn’t bode well for your future in university classes - the Calc BC exam is much easier than most STEM exams at Hopkins. You should study up on the Calc BC material this year and (maybe) try to retake in May to get the credit for Calc 1 and 2.
6

You’re a competitive applicant, so JHU won’t be too much of a reach. The research and ECs look good. Also, just send everything. I’m pretty sure the policy is just to look at only the things that could help you