I really hate to do this, but please chance me

Colleges & Universities A-Z Johns Hopkins University
1

<p>Hey...I just got my ED rejection letter from Dartmouth :(, so JHU is now my first choice. How do I stack up to the others?</p>

<p>Gender: Male, White
Location: Massachusetts</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.68 (probably what kept me out of Dartmouth...)</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>SAT I: 2220 (Math: 800, Critical Reading: 680, Writing: 740) (took them on Dec. 4th, waiting on those)
SAT II Math Level 2: 800
SAT II Physics: 800
SAT II Biology - M: 710
SAT II Chemistry: 710</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Significant Extracurriculars:
Varsity Math Team (9,10,11,12)
Freshman Math Team (9)
School Newspaper Copy Editor (12)
Improv Society (11,12)
Academic Decathlon (12)
Leadership positions: Math Team Captain (12)
Learn-to-Skate Coach (9,10,11,12)
Senior Leader (for freshmen) (12)</p>

<p>Athletic Status - list sport and your level:
Town
Ice Hockey (all my life)
Lacrosse (7,8,9,10)</p>

<p>JV
Lacrosse (9)
Ice Hockey (9)
Cross country (11,12)</p>

<p>Volunteer/Service Work:
Special Olympics (9,10,11,12)
Learn-to-Skate Coach (9,10,11,12)
School Service Day (9,10,11,12)
Local Parish Clean-Up (10)
Religious Retreat Associated Service (10,11,12)</p>

<p>Honors and Awards:
Academic Decathlon Superquiz Gold Medal (12)
Freshman Math Team Highest Scorer (9)
National Merit Commended Student (11)</p>

<p>Other: Ultimate Frisbee Club (10, 11, 12)</p>

<p>Interests: Physics/Mathematics</p>

<p>I wrote my essay about my Polish heritage...the three teachers I had read it said it was excellent, so I will probably stick with that. Great teacher recs, etc.</p>

<p>Feedback?</p>

2

<p>oops…forgot AP’s </p>

<p>Scores:
5 Physics B
5 European History
4 US History
4 English Language</p>

<p>Taking this year:
Chinese (I am one of two students selected to be in this, the first class offered at my school)
BC Calculus
Physics C
Chemistry
English Literature</p>

3

<p>oh, and I have travelled overseas every year since 7th grade. I have stayed extensively in England, Scotland, Wales, Poland (where I have family), and Italy. My family has as an apartment in Venice that we rent out during the year, so we go there quite often.</p>

<p>sorry…i’m kinda off today…</p>

4

<p>Haha, your GPA’s exactly the same as JHU’s average, so you definitely have a shot! I’m sorry that Dartmouth rejected you (perhaps because of GPA). What is your weighted GPA?</p>

<p>To be honest, I thought you were another anxious ED-er, haha. I’d say you’re competitive for Hopkins but this year’s so chaotic I don’t know what to expect. Wish me luck on ED day and I wish you the best of luck in all your applications!</p>

5

<p>Sorry to hear about Dartmouth :(</p>

<p>IMO, your GPA is hurting you, but it is somewhat validated by the fives and fours on the AP exams. JHU is becoming more and more selective each year with more and more applicants (20% with 18000+ applicants [apply.jhu.edu/facts], but I still think you have a chance. </p>

<p>Oh and for Physics, the APL at Hopkins sounds so legit!</p>

6

<p>@R3d3mpti0n</p>

<p>My school doesn’t actually do a weighted GPA or class rank…I don’t know if that would hurt me or not. And best of luck to you with ED! I’m starting to regret not doing it at Hopkins. I was originally going to, but fell in love with Dartmouth when I went to visit :confused: oh well…</p>

<p>@Anouchi</p>

<p>Yeah I figured GPA was a factor. And the physics program is one thing that I seriously like about Hopkins. There are very few schools (except perhaps MIT or Harvard) that I’ve gone on the physics department page and just said “wow” haha :D</p>

<p>Just a general question, do you know if Hopkins reviews applicants by school? There are a few other students from my school who are applying that are slightly higher than me in different areas…would they overshadow me or do I have just as good a chance?</p>

7

<p>@jsreding - There’s not necessarily “review by school” but if you’re competing against someone from your own school, of course they’re going to look at how those applicants measure against each other. Other than infamously competitive schools like TJHSST, most colleges have little gauge of how difficult a school actually is. If most of the applicants from your school who apply are in the 3.7GPA range and have high SAT scores, they’re probably going to get a rough sense of how difficult the school is.</p>

<p>Objectively, your CR and GPA are a little on the low end. They usually would look for one to offset the other if one is low. Good luck on with your SAT score.</p>

8

<p>Yeah I’m pretty sure my CR score was brought up (the Dec test seemed reeeally easy), and my school has a fairly decent record with Hopkins. I think probably 6 or so have been accepted in the last few years and two are attending now. As for the other students from my school, the ones I am referring to both have around a 4.0 GPA and SATs aren’t that different, but I heavily outweigh them in extracurriculars (and there are others with lower stats applying as well). Could that make me (slightly) more favorable? Thanks for the advice :)</p>

9

<p>They don’t necessarily review applicants by school. But if you said you wanted to do East Asian Studies and your entire EC and coursework point to Bio-Nuclear-Chemical Engineering (I wish that existed), then your chances are probably slim.</p>

10

<p>OP: that would be more favorable if your grades were better. Excellent ECs can’t necessarily make up for a fault in grades. I’m sure they don’t review by school so your classmates are just going to be a few more applicants out of over 15k to compete with :p</p>

<p>But hey, your ECs look excellent. Write a great essay and you’ll be a strong candidate for Hopkins.</p>

11

<p>Sounds good! Thank you all for your help :D</p>

12

<p>I would have to say that the 2340 (740 cr, 800 m, 800 w) I now have with my December SAT is going to help me A LOT :D</p>

13

<p>I got in ED with like a 3.53 UW and 2300, so you seem to have a good shot.</p>