Chances in Chemistry or Creative Writing

Colleges and Universities A-Z Johns Hopkins University
1

<p>Asian Female looking for some feedback. Not sure where my numbers/ECs/etc. put me...</p>

<p>Small, very competitive high school. Typically places students at top colleges.</p>

<p>GPA (UW) - 3.90/4.0 unweighted
GPA (W) - 4.4/4.0 weighted.</p>

<p>Class Rank - Top 15%. (One B and you're out of the top 10%)</p>

<p>SAT
Critical Reading - 770
Math - 710
Writing - 770 (12/12 on the essay)</p>

<p>SAT II
Chemistry - 750
Math I - 670</p>

<p>ACT - 31</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities
Newspaper - News editor (11th), Co-Managing editor (12th)
Literary Magazine - Editor (12th), Staff and Contributor (9th, 10th, 11th)
Tae Kwon Do (high blue belt)
National Honor Society (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th) (does this even matter?)
State Science Fair (12th) (Got 4th place in 8th grade and Won States in 5th grade - should I even mention those? They were great wins but irrelevant to high school. But the were great wins! Sad...)
Latin Forum (9th, 10th, 11th)
Journalism Conference (11th and 12th)</p>

<p>Community Service - 100 hours
- Library - Conducted children's summer reading program
- Thrift Store - Organized merchandise, cashier
- Church - Ran booths at carnivals for church fund raisers</p>

<p>Talents and Awards
- National Merit Scholarship Qualifier (Anticipated Finalist based on last year's scores)
- Journalism awards (several 1st place awards for team and individual layout and writing)
- National Latin Exam - Cum Laude
- Latin awards - Several 1st and 2nd place awards at Latin Forums
- Writing - Won countywide Short Story competition
- Art - Won 1st place nationally in DAR stamp design contest</p>

<p>Other
- Duke TIP Program (I figure a lot of people have this)
- Attended the Duke Young Writers Camp</p>

<p>AP Coursework
- US History (3 on AP exam)
- Chemistry and Lab (4 on AP exam)
- English Composition (5 on AP exam)
- Psychology (12th)
- English Literature (12th)
(Our school doesn't offer a lot of AP courses.)</p>

<p>Essay - Writing in my strength. It's shaping up nicely.</p>

<p>References - I expect very strong references from my chemistry and journalism teachers.</p>

<p>ECs - I couldn't care less about spreading myself across every activity in the school, but I have great depth in Journalism and Lit Mag that I can put on the application.</p>

<p>So here's my question...</p>

<p>My strength is writing. Would I have a better change getting into JHU pursuing writing?</p>

2

<p>uh yea, im going to say writing is obviously your best chance out of the two. is this ed or rd?</p>

3

<p>RD. Financing is an issue.</p>

<p>Anybody want to throw me a chance?</p>

<p>(Regarding ranking, our school is really small - 110-115 kids - so 1 B and you’re out of the top 10%)</p>

4

<p>I must say I’m quite impressed with all of your achievements, especially the writing ones. You have a solid list that clearly demonstrates your interest and that should give you, at the least, a decent shot. It’s much better than a random list of one-shot clubs. [I try to avoid chancing as I can’t speak for the admissions counselors who review your application.]</p>

<p>And I think you can list more than one potential major. </p>

<p>Another thing to note: when I was interviewing at another school with an admissions counselor I asked - since my extracurriculars and hobbies obviously showed an interest in music and creative writing - if my interests would decrease my chance of getting into the Computer Engineering program there. And he replied that no, it shows variety so it’s actually interesting. This may or may not be the same with you but it doesn’t hurt to try to apply to Chemistry even if your main activities are geared towards writing.</p>

5

<p>apply to what you want to study, and use undecided if you don’t know.</p>

<p>i think the writing programs at hopkins are equally as competitive as the sciences simply because the writing majors are all workshop-oriented and small.</p>

<p>good luck!</p>