Hey everyone! I wanted to start a discussion for applicants to post their credentials and qualities in the JHU application process for Early Decision. Here is the general format:
SAT Score:
ACT Score:
SAT Subject Tests & Scores:
AP Exams & Scores:
GPA and Rank:
Extracurriculars:
Distinctions/Awards:
Essays (rate yourself from 1 to 10):
Recommendations (rate from 1 to 10):
Gender:
Ethnicity:
Income bracket:
Also, feel free to stress out or vent on this page, ask questions or get help. Admissions results come in less than 20 days! Good luck to everyone! May the force be with you all!
is it true that JHU doesn’t look at freshman grades???
@Liveontheedge I’ve never heard or seen that on anything official or even unofficial.
@Liveontheedge I think JHU looks at everything you have done in your high school years, including freshman year. But it’s probably better if you have shown improvement over the years so if your freshman grades aren’t as great as the later years, then I wouldn’t worry so much. Hope that helped!
SAT Score: Did not report
ACT Score: 34
SAT Subject Tests & Scores: Did not report
AP Exams & Scores: AP World History, AP US History, AP Gov, AP Chemistry, Biology AP/DE, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Lang, English 12 DE, Independent Science Research DE
Did not report any scores
GPA and Rank: top 15%
4.32 Weighted
4.0 Unweighted
Extracurriculars:
-Shadowing doctors at the NICU of Georgetown Hospital for a week
-4 years of working at KUMON (a math and reading help center for students K-12)
-4 years of being in a mission orchestra (first chair)
-spent 4 summers in the Dominican Republic teaching underprivileged kids how to play instruments
-during school year, performed in retirement homes and churches
-3 years of being a member of Science National Honors Society (group leader)
-4 years of being in Tri-M Music Honors Society (Vice-Pres)
-4 years of being first chair in school’s highest orchestra
Distinctions/Awards:
Essays (rate yourself from 1 to 10): 7
Recommendations (rate from 1 to 10): 6.5
Gender: female
Ethnicity: Korean
Income bracket: Was earning a lot of money prior to 2017, but less than 25k as of 2017
I found this but it’s kinda old
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1267498-colleges-that-dont-look-at-your-freshman-year.html
The admissions decisions come out in a week! Good luck everyone 
You can do this!
Does anyone have any info regarding the academic culture at JHU?
@LindseyStirling what kind of info are you looking for? I have 3 kids who are current students. The programs are rigorous and the kids who want to go there are the type that work hard. There is a decent amount of academic support (free, provided by the university), and the professors encourage the kids to take advantage of all of these programs. If you are the type of person who likes to work in a group, there are many like-minded people. FYI, my kids are all in different engineering programs, none are premed.
@LindseyStirling current student here! lmk any questions you may have!
@4togo4 Thanks for your response! I am wondering really how competitive is JHU’s environment. Is there room for friendships and relaxation or do people just study all the time?
Hi @jhusenior! How’s it like at JHU? What is the social life like there for a freshman?
@LindseyStirling , here’s my 2 cents on the “room for friendships” part of the question. I think it depends on the person and what’s important to you. My oldest is a good student but not crazy competitive about getting any particular grade and finds time to be involved in 2 clubs and greek life. She has found the balance that works for her.
And, yes, she has a social life, is not obsessed with grades and still had a wonderful paid internship last summer.
My others are a little bogged down with the work, but again, i think that’s personality.
I think that you need to make the effort to do things that make you happy, like meeting people, clubs, etc. There are some great people at Hopkins. Hopefully, @jhusenior will chime in, but there are a lot of clubs, fraternity/sorority, cultural/religious organizations, etc., that people manage to fit in with their workload.
As far as how competitive it is, @jhusenior can probably better answer that.
I was deferred to JHU. But I was wondering: is it mandatory for students to attend classes there? Are the professors really strict when it comes to class attendance, or can I just study at home instead of attending lectures?