<p>I am considering applying for JHU's Economics major next year and really love the school. I "have" a legacy and was wondering if that played a role at all in JHU admissions. I am remotely confident that I am more or less competitive (I hope I am not being too cocky here) for their econ program but I know that it is a really competitive school and every point matters. For this reason I was wondering if having a legacy to the school played a significant role in admissions</p>
<p>My "stats"</p>
<p>Race: Indian
State: California
Fin Aid: Need it (very average household income not rich but not poor)
High School Type: Remotely Competitive Public School</p>
<p>Schedule: Will take 6 out of the 8 offered APs in my school ( all the other APs are like Art and language). I was the only sophomore in my class who was in a math course higher than pre-calc honors ( I took Calc BC). My senior year schedule includes
AP lit
AP bio
AP econ
AP Spanish
Honors Advanced Drama (3 hour class that puts out large scale productions)
Multimedia design
Hooks: NONE..second generation college attendee, Asian..all that fun stuff</p>
<p>GPAs
UW GPA: 3.8/4.0
WGPA:4.3/4.4
TESTING
SAT
M: 770
W:700
Cr:730p
Total:2200</p>
<p>SAT II
Math II : 730
Chem: 740
USH: 770</p>
<p>APs
Calc 5
Stats: pending
Apush: pending</p>
<p>ECs:
President of FBLA local chapter ( VERY active member)
Shift leader of Volunteer shift in local hospital ( only 6 of us are chosen out of over 200 members) I have some 480+ hours here and it will probably be close to if not over 600 by the time I apply
Serve as Financial Adviser to Hospitals Junior Auxiliary
Captain of school soccer team
Played school and club soccer for all my high school years
Treasurer of Mock Trial club
Member of Schools Improv Team
Acted (through schools drama company) in productions (audiences of 200-300 people)</p>
<p>Awards
9th nationally FBLA in Virtual business challenge (345 competitors)
7th nationally FBLA in virtual business challenge (400 competitors)
1st in state FBLA VBC
1st in state FBLA VBC
4th in state Business Ethics
3rd in section Entrepreneurship (qualified for states)
6th in section Job Interview
1st in region wide Tech Challenge ( 250 competitors)
Couple of district wide soccer awards (not sure if they are worth mentioning)</p>
<p>With a legacy do you think I can get in?</p>
<p>there’s a pretty exhaustive explanation somewhere on here [Hopkins</a> Insider](<a href=“http://blogs.hopkins-interactive.com/]Hopkins”>http://blogs.hopkins-interactive.com/) that explains how the admissions committee chooses students. as i remember, they look for 1. strong academic record 2. extracurriculars and 3. “FIT” as in how you as a student will fit into the hopkins community and class they are trying to mold. many good students are turned away because they don’t “fit”. i know several of my friends with better grades/sats/extracurriculars that were turned down or waitlisted while i was accepted.</p>
<p>the only reason i can see any admissions committee giving preference to a legacy is because that kid might have a higher chance of going to the school - aka yield protection. i don’t think hopkins cares. </p>
<p>your stats are good enough that you won’t need to worry about being a legacy, anyway. just write some great essays and have good recs and you should be ok. :)</p>
<p>I think your stats are average through and through and you would do yourself a favor by going ED if you really want to go to Hopkins. I think you look similar to the thousands of students who were WL’d or denied in RD based on the stats profiles. </p>
<p>I think a legacy in ED is a smart move, I think in RD - it won’t do you any good, especially being in an incredibly competitive state (California). You can get in ED - but I still think you should consider Hopkins a reach in RD… even with the legacy…</p>
<p>Overall:<br>
Early Decision - you’re in.<br>
Regular Decision - you’re out.</p>
<p>i disagree with wealth here. you still have a fair shot regular decision. only apply ED if you are positive you want to go to hopkins. </p>
<p>you mentioned that you need fin aid; i think there is a clause in the ED contract that lets you opt out if you are accepted but hopkins does not offer enough aid for you. you should look into that. if that clause doesnt exist and money is a significant concern, do not apply ED anywhere, and wait for your financial aid awards to roll in so you can compare schools that way.</p>
<p>retaking your SATs would help, especially your subject tests.</p>
<p>Legacy (parent or sibling) helps but it is only a very minor factor. Think of it as a tie-breaker. Some schools (e.g., Penn) only consider legacy for ED but Hopkins is not one of those; it will help RD as well.</p>
<p>My rationale for saying that you face a huge hurdle is the following:</p>
<ol>
<li> You’re applying from a very popular “over-represented” state - tons from Cali @ JHU</li>
<li> You’re an “over-represented” minority group (Indian/Asian)</li>
<li> Based on your SAT, your at the Hopkins 50%ile.</li>
</ol>
<p>Overall, I still think you’re IN if you apply ED and you’re out if you apply RD, or at the very best a waitlist, which still means you’re out basically…</p>
<p>I am a white guy from California. if anything >>I<< am the overrepresented one. I got a 2100 on the SAT, significantly lower than yours. I got in. I’m going.
what i’m saying is: don’t feel pressured to do ED unless you’re sure about it.</p>
<p>You can always put “decline to state” in the race part of the common app; lots of people do that.</p>
<p>I am white and ethnically Jewish from the south shore of Long Island. I applied with lower SAT scores. I was admitted and will be a senior this fall.</p>
<p>It’s a total crapshoot.</p>
<p>First off thanks for all the posts. To the two posts above, that actually helps me breathe a bit easier. Will the fact that I am applying to their econ major instead of their highly competitive bio/chem/bme major help at all. In California all the people I know are crazy about the science majors at hopkins but not too many know about the amazing econ/Ir majors the school offers. Would this help me in admissions?</p>
<p>Your major has no bearing except if you apply BME. The only difference it makes is if you apply for history, say, but all of your essays and extracurricular activities and classes are in biology or something.</p>
<p>As a current econ major who be applying for graduate school in econ in the fall, I say go for it.</p>
<p>legacy definitely counts at hopkins but you have nothing to worry about, you have top scores with a competitive course load-props</p>