I am very interested in applying to and attending Johns Hopkins. Let me give you all a little bit of background first. I did not apply in high school. My high school stats are incredibly poor. I had a 3.14 GPA and a 1990 SAT. These stats can be attributed to extenuating circumstances during my high school career. I will not tell the entire story. However, I will say that these circumstances had pushed me to work anywhere from 35-45 hours per week while taking the most rigorous courses at school.
I am attending community college this fall, but I will be starting with a survey course (History of Western Civ 1) during the summer. I will be working at my fast food job, as a manager, while pursuing other things that I really want to pursue. I am a biology major who intends to go into neuroscience and eventually medical school. This desire to attend medical school is what is pushing me to transfer, as competition is cutthroat and I simply must be prepared to handle the rigorous curriculum in med school. I want to remain level-headed and I do not want to get ahead of myself, but I still feel the need to inquire more about the transfer admissions process. If I were to do well, academically, and earn a 3.7+ GPA, if I retook the SAT and scored in the 1300+ range, and if I show great commitment to my extracurricular activities, will Johns Hopkins and other schools remain hesitant to offer me admission because of my poor high school stats?
They’ll play a significant role in your application. Schools like Stanford outright claim that if a student was accepted as a transfer then they also had the stats in high school to get in as an undergraduate. I believe, however, that once you take a certain # of units that they’ll focus on your college grade point average.
I wouldn’t bet on transfering to any top schools, but it’s worth a try since it’s pretty much your only option at this point. Maintain a 4.0, take Honors courses if your college offers them, take on leadership positions and get involved in competitions/student organizations.
The more college classes you take along with units earned, the less they will focus on HS stats. Some schools might still look at HS stats, mainly at SAT/ACT scores depending on the school, but I’d imagine they wouldn’t weigh GPA as much since there’s not much you can about it unlike SAT/ACTs.
I can’t say anything for certainty about Johns Hopkins, but I know for USC your HS stats would not be used at all after earning 30 units.
@yinuos @HeardWell Essentially, it would be wise to take the new SAT for Hopkins and other top schools (should I apply)? I can sort of see why. Perhaps it serves as another component in determining whether or not you have a. changed from high school (if your stats are poor like my own), b. whether or not you are prepared for the rigors of the given school/ if your current school’s curriculum prepares you for the rigor of the given school you are applying to, and c. or whether or not you’re competitive in the pool?
Taken from Wikipedia, “The test is intended to assess a student’s readiness for college.” Since you would be doing actual college level work at a community college, it kind of defeats the purpose of retaking the SAT. I guess you can take the new SAT if you want, if you are confident you can earn a significantly higher score. If not, I’d recommend that you should focus primarily on your actual college courses instead.
Now if you were to take only a few classes before transferring, then the SAT would be likely be weighed more since you haven’t completed as many college courses.
@HeardWell Thank you very much for the advice. It is legit. helpful. I have one more question. Let’s say that I do very well in college (I understand that hypotheticals are not the best place to obtain information from, but I just want your perspective on it and asking cannot hurt) but my HS stats (clearly) kept me out of top schools. Would they still consider me and the circumstances of the time? I still have these circumstances in my life; if I were to subsequently do well at CC with the same circumstances in place, would I be viewed seriously and will my application actually be considered?