Chance Me

Colleges and Universities A-Z Johns Hopkins University
1

Can someone help me decide my chances of getting into Johns Hopkins BME? I know that it is very very competitive and need help evaluating my chances

Education
IB Program: HL Math, HL Physics, HL Bio, HL Eng - Testing later this year
SAT: 1520 (790 M, 720 R&W) - 1560 Superscore
ACT: 35
SAT Subject Test: Postponed due to COVID but planning on taking Bio, Math Physics(Probably 2 due to limited testing dates)
GPA: 4.0 Unweighted, 4.5 Weighted - will be around 4.6-4.7

Extracurriculurs:
-2 yrs JV Soccer - 1 Year varsity soccer (so far probably last year on varsity will be cancelled or postponed due to covid)
-11 Years Club soccer at state and regional level - very competitive
-President and Founder of Bio Olympiad club at school - no medals yet but studying for this year
-12 Years Science Olympiad member, captain for 2 years - Several medals at state competitions
-3 Year ICDC competitor at DECA - school president
-Piano From 2nd grade till 10th grade - teacher left country
-200+ hours community service with red cross and other organizations
-NHS member for 2 years tutoring kids in bio and math
-Several religious organizations and activities with them
-Started business that makes IB Prep material - have potential buyers and has been published

Research:
Was supposed to have research internship at University of Michigan - cancelled due to COVID - trying to get in labs again before ED date but unlikely

4 Years in U of M GIDAS - Research organization for bioinformatics, studying datasets and doing statistical analysis based research - published 2 papers (not in any magazines or databases but just within the organization and university)

Skills:
R and Python - pretty fluent

2

You’re definitely qualified & compare to my classmates, but as we know, T10 admissions are mostly a lottery. Personally, I’d recommend applying ED even if you can’t get research in, as applying ED tends to help your chances and I don’t think not having research will hurt your chances much, if at all.

3

Thanks for the response. I do have a lot of research, but it is purely bioinformatics and statistical analysis. Do you think they’d want that?

4

If you have research, put it on your application! It sounds like you spent a lot of time doing research and that can hint toward your ability to cooperate, the amount of dedication you’ll put into something, etc. Your application would have still been strong if you didn’t have research, but since you do, all it can do is boost your application.

5

For RD 2024, JHU admitted 1,922 out of 27,256 applicants. So, ~7% admittance rate. But, no doubt, more than 7% had the stellar credentials and outstanding achievements necessary for admission (i.e. SAT 1500+ club, 4.0+ GPA weighted, Science Olympiad medals, research internships, etc.). From what you posted, if you’d applied for RD 2024, you would’ve been no different from thousands of other applicants.

The scores, grades, awards, and internships only get an applicant to the threshold. It’s who an applicant is, what an applicant wants to do, whether an applicant is a good fit, etc. that carries an applicant over the threshold. JHU, the nation’s first research university, is much interested in its students collaborating on campus and making a lasting impact in the world.

It isn’t easy for a rising high school senior, especially one caught up in achieving scores, grades, awards, etc., to know who (s)he is, what (s)he wants, or why (s)he might be a good fit. The applicants who discover themselves sooner and can relay this better in their applications, especially in their essays (for essays that worked from JHU applicants, see examples at https://apply.jhu.edu/application-process/essays-that-worked/), are the ones that tend to realize their admissions hopes.

I’d suggest you ask yourself these questions:

Why do you want to attend JHU (other than it being a Top 10 nationally ranked university with global name recognition)? What do you know about JHU other than its national ranking and global name?

What is your intended major? Do your classes, grades, awards, internships, etc. support your choice of major?

What do you want do at JHU? Will you impact the campus through collaboration? What do you want to do in life? How will JHU help you achieve your goals? Will your achievement of your goals make a lasting impact in the world?

Best of luck!

P.S. Essays! Essays! Essays!

6

Really appreciate the comments. Will look more in-depth like you said and communicate my goals, aspirations, and personality in my essays. Thanks!

7

Hi, did u get admitted to JHU?

8

If you look at the BME Focus Areas, one is Biomedical Data Science and one is Computational Medicine. Sounds to me like your research will fit right in. Good luck with whatever you decide.