Hi everyone! I noticed it was really quiet here. In the past, there has been some extensive results thread that really helped me out, so I have created one so we can help future Blue Jays out as well. To everyone out there, I hope this helps! Please comment your results below!
Decision: Accepted
Objective:
- ACT (34, N/A, 35, 32, 36, 33):
- Weighted GPA (out of 5.0 *AP Weight: +1 Honors: +0.5): 4.422
- Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
- Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
- AP (place score in parenthesis): AP World History (4), AP Calc BC (3), AP Calc AB Subscore (4), AP Comp Sci A (3), AP Physics 1 (2), AP Lang (4) *Note I forgot to include all of my AP scores so that wasn’t considered. Got A’s in all of them except for an A- in Physics.
- IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
- Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP US Gov, AP Biology, AP Stats, Post-AP Comp Sci, Multivar Calc/Linear Algebra, Adv. Comp (writing elective)
- Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 7th Place Nationals 2019: Future Tech Teacher (TSA), Nat. Certificate of Nomination (NCTE Achievement Awards for Writing), 2X Honorable Mention: Scholastic Regional Writing Awards, Governor’s School of Agriculture @ Virginia Tech Honors, President’s Volunteer Service Award: Silver (175+ hours), HOBY Leadership Award
Subjective:
*Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Technology Student Association (TSA): (10-12) Created a teacher portfolio and lesson plan to win 7th Place at Nationals out of 300 competitors and 2X State Finalist. About 1 hour a week. (Chapter Reporter)
Piano:(9-12) Play and compose regionally-featured music. 6X Nat. Guild Winner, 2nd Place Regionals: Music Composition (PTA Reflections). About 3 hours a week.
Tennis: (9-12) plays tennis for the school team. MVP and all district team. About 10 hours a week during the season. (Co-Captain)
- Job/Work Experience:
Mathnasium:(11-12) I tutor kids ages 4-17 for about 12 hours a week and I love my job! - Volunteer/Community service:
Student Ambassador Program:(10-12) Welcomed 400+ students to school with new student tours, etc. Presented at Nat. Conference for activity. Also created new student brochures and distributed them to every high school in my county. 1,000 copies distributed. 2 hours a week. (Treasurer, Senior Advisor)
Writing Center:(11-12) Tutored 20+ kids in writing. Recruited 70 new tutors (increased # by 700%). Presented at the nat conference. About 6 hours a week. (Recruitment Chair, Tutor Manager)
Science Honor Society:(11-12) Organize school science fair for 120 projects and science fair mentoring for 50 underclassmen. About 1 hour a week. (President)
- Summer Activities: Governor’s School of Agriculture @ Virginia Tech Honors: Selected as 1 of the top 100 agriculture students in VA to study and research agriculture with VA’s top ag experts. Summer after my sophomore year. UMD CS Internship: Code/classify 500 files by the type of data visualization they contained to create a machine learning algorithm. Summer of junior year.
- Essays: Common App (9): It was a powerful piece about me accepting who I am as a disabled person (I have severe hearing loss). It made people cry and was used as an example for other classes. JHU Collaboration Supplemental (6-7): A quirky piece about how I transformed from a prickly cactus to a responsive chameleon as I learned to listen and adapt when I began tutoring writing.
- Teacher Recommendations:
Writing Elective (Writing Center) Teacher (8): Reading her letter made me cry. It highlighted my collaboration and people skills. Highlighted me as “one of the best ever” in terms of positivity and self-awareness.
BC Calc Teacher (9): Used to be a college professor, so his letter was great! Highlighted me as one of his best students in the past 40 years in terms of “pure joy of learning”, so I took that as a good sign. Made me cry too.
- Counselor Rec: Counselor (8): He had to use 8 point font to fit everything he wanted to say, so I guess it must’ve been good.
Other
State (if domestic applicant): Virginia
School Type: Public (2,000 kids total)
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 250,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Disability??
Why you think you were accepted/not accepted and general comments:
Strengths: Essays!! I believe my essays set me over the edge. They were heartfelt and really showed a different side. Potential Hook (Disability) and National achievements/presentations in four activities.
Weaknesses: Forgot to submit AP Scores and bad AP Scores in general, no SAT Subject Tests
Why you think you were accepted: I’m a relatively normal kid. I have accomplished stuff, but I haven’t founded nonprofits and won science fairs. I’ve just tried my best to be the best version of me as a friend and as a leader in my community, and I guess the admissions committee saw that in me and decided I would be a good fit for the Hopkins community.
Where else were you accepted/rejected/deferred: University of South Florida (accepted), George Mason (accepted)
Where else did you apply: UVA, Virginia Tech, Temple
Final Thoughts: I have been in denial for the past four months, expecting a rejection from JHU because I got intimidated by everyone’s stats on Reddit and College Confidential. I never believed I was outstanding enough for JHU, despite the fact that my teachers and friends all believed I would easily get in. When I opened that decision, I just bawled so hard because I was in disbelief and so happy. I’m so grateful that the admissions committee saw something in me and decided to admit me the class of 2024!
Decision: Accepted
Objective:
- SAT: 1540 *SAT Subject: Math 2 720
- Weighted GPA (out of 5.0 *AP Weight: +1 Honors: +0.5): 5.3462
- Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
- Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/865
- AP (place score in parenthesis): AP World History (4), AP Calc AB (5), AP Psych (5) AP Human Geo (4), AP Stats (3), AP Bio (3) AP Lit (4) got As in all of them
- IB (place score in parenthesis): no scores received yet
- Senior Year Course Load: IB Orchestra, IB English 4, IB Contemp. History, IB Calculus and Descriptive Statistics, IB HL Chemistry 5, IB Theory of Knowledge (philosophy), IB Spanish 5
- Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar w Distinction, IB Scholar Award, Partnership Walk Fundraising Award 2nd place, All County Honors Orchestra, MPA Solo and Ensemble score of Excellent x2
Subjective:
*Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
- ICERV non profit youth empowerment organization: (team leader) member since i was 8, find and organize volunteer events for my team of youth to participate in, raised $2500+ for poverty alleviation w my team via Partnership Walk 2017 (2.5 hrs/week) 9-12th grade
-Orchestra: (2nd chair 2nd violins) started playing in 9th grade, grew from beginners to advanced class w/in 4 years of playing, perform at nursing homes/benefit concerts, help peers w music, won awards see above (4 hrs/week not including class time) 9-12th grade
-Amnesty International Youth Chapter: (founder) advocate for human rights, organized first ever Write for Rights global letter writing campaign at my school, spread awareness on ending gun violence and protecting individuals at risk (1.5 hrs/week) 12th grade
-Early Childhood Development Center: (teacher/mentor) teach children from ages 3-6 about STEM, research lesson plans to suit their developing minds that are age appropriate, connect w parents (1 hr/week) 11th-12th grade
-Piano: been playing for 5 years, perform at nursing homes/benefit concerts
-basic ones: NHS secretary, VP of mock trial club, ISA member, YELL club officer
- Job/Work Experience:
- Volunteer/Community service:
- my 1st and 4th activities are community service along w NHS and YELL -volunteered at a hospital for 45 hours one semester
- Summer Activities: -travelled to Pakistan and Europe in 2018 -attended a summer camp that brought me out of my comfort zone in 2019
- Essays: Common App (8.5-9): it was pretty personal i wrote about overcoming my self doubt (happened at that summer camp i went to) and how it shaped me into who i am, i made it creative by using the metaphor of a chess game
JHU Collaboration Supplemental (7.5): i wrote about Write for Rights and the various levels of collaboration associated w it, i thought the last line was pretty funny lol
- Teacher Recommendations: Chemistry Teacher (7-8): i havent read the letter but she likes me alot and always says i was one of the smartest and most hardworking in her class
Theory of Knowledge Teacher (9): havent read the letter but she used to teach at a college, she saw the creative side of me that most teachers dont see bc of the things we did in her class, she is very sweet and assured my the letter was fantastic
- Counselor Rec:
Counselor (6): i go to a big school and i dont know her personally
Other
State (if domestic applicant): Florida
School Type: Public (3200 kids total)
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 250,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
Why you think you were accepted/not accepted and general comments:
Strengths: i think my essays were pretty strong i wasnt afraid to be vulnerable in them and i think they showed my creative side
Weaknesses: math 2 subject test score, didnt win major awards or start a nonprofit or donate a library
Why you think you were accepted: i framed my ECs and whole application really around how i am an advocate for youth empowerment and i think hopkins also appreciated my honesty in my essays,
Where else were you accepted/rejected/deferred: USF
Where else did you apply: UCF, UM, UF, Vanderbilt (supposed to find out in march)
Final Thoughts: i literally think im so average and i even memorized the hopkins rejection letter that i found on google cuz i was soo sure i wasnt gonna get in. when i saw my acceptance on the portal tho i literally started CRYING haha. so dont worry because u never know what can happen, try your best to be u! ik its cringey but its true
Decision: Accepted
Potential Major: Neuroscience and behavioral biology (premed)
Objective:
- ACT single score (33: 36, 35, 34, 28); SuperScore (35: 36, 35, 34, 35) Writing
- SAT Subject tests: Bio M 750; Math 2 710 (DID NOT submit either)
- Weighted GPA (out of 5.0 *AP Weight: +1 Honors: +0.5): N/A
- Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.00 *CGPA: 3.97
- Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
- AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
- IB (place score in parenthesis): predicted 43
- Senior Year Course Load: Biology HL (6); Chemistry HL (7); Psychology HL (7); Math SL (7); French B SL (7); English Literature and Language SL (7); TOK+EE (2)
- Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Vice Student Council Coordinator, Queen's Commonwealth Essay Writing Competition (Twice Silver); Honor roll, Subject Awards
Subjective:
*Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Leadership: Vice student council Coordinator, CAS events coordinator, CAS Project leader; Best senior administrative assistant (MUN)
I also maintain a blog and a bullet journal, which I love!
- Job/Work Experience: Observed at a radiology lab; Observed at a children’s hospital; Observed neurosurgeons and neurologists at a large multispeciality hospital
- Volunteer/Community service:
I started an initiative wherein I taught students of an NGO about health, hygiene, nutrition, and civic awareness. Then I conducted research on the causes and consequences of iron deficiency in rural and urban locations, which was published in a local medical journal, and in a science newspaper.
- Essays: Common App (9): It was a moving piece about my battle with my grandmother's Alzheimer's. JHU Collaboration Supplemental (8.5): About my community service endeavor and the challenges and learning outcomes.
- Teacher Recommendations: (Waived FERPA, so all anonymous) Chemistry Teacher (10): He was really fond of me and my school counselor said he wrote a very moving letter, the best of them all Psychology Teacher (9): She generally has a very insightful opinion on students and personalities and hence I believe her letter would be quite good
- Counselor Rec: Counselor (8.5): I had really tried to develop a rapport with her so that she could write a good rapport. Plus she had 'testimonies' from some of my other teachers to back her up
- External Rec: A doctor I worked with for community service and observerships (9): She's known me forever, so she probably wrote a powerful and moving rec.
Other
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
School Type: Private (1,500 kids total; 102 in the graduating class)
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
Gender: Female
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): International applicant? But I’m Indian so I don’t think it counts
Why you think you were accepted/not accepted and general comments:
Strengths: Essays!! I believe my essays demonstrated my identity– as much as is possible in 650+400 words!
Weaknesses: Forgot to submit SAT Subject Tests and I’m kind of a cliché species– international, Indian, pre-med…
Why you think you were accepted: Honestly have no idea, THIS WAS MY DREAM SCHOOL (FOR LIKE 7 YEARS) and god I’m so grateful
Where else were you accepted/rejected/deferred: This was my first decision that was released (one and done!)
Where else did you apply: Columbia, Duke, UPenn, NU, WashU, UCSD, Emory, UMich, UNC Chapel Hill, UWash, URochester
Final Thoughts: I have been in denial since I received my acceptance from JHU. Just believe in yourself, and present your true authentic self. To all the other Indian/brown/Asian kids out there, and everyone else– don’t be pressured into going to some expensive counselor– I really never went– and try to make sure your essays aren’t conversational– talk about what really matters to you. Make sure that while you showcase yourself as a multifaceted individual, you remain true to your roots, and that you present your thoughts clearly in an organized manner.
And always wish the best for those applying with you– three from my school ED’d, and two of us were accepted!!
Decision: Accepted
Potential Major: Mol Cell Biology / Neuroscience
Objective:
- SAT: 1580 (800 R/W, 780 M)
- ACT: 36 (36/34/36/36)
- SAT Subject tests: Bio M 780, Chem 760
- Unweighted GPA (out of 100): 96
- Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/199
- AP (place score in parenthesis): 4s on world, APUSH, seminar, human geo, environmental science, chem. 5s on bio, research, lang
- Senior Year Course Load: ap physics C mech, ap calc AB, ap literature, ap microeconomics, ap government
- Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): commended merit, USABO semifinalist
Subjective:
*Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
- Scioly secretary, biology focus with 10 regional awards, NY states qualifiers breaking a 10+ year district record
- National science bowl / 1st place at regionals, biology focus, vice president
- USABO chapter founder + two time semifinalist
- Summer research on effects of artesunate + quercetin on features of alzheimer’s
- Orchestra violin since 4th grade, concertmaster, Tri-M society, some high NYSSMA scores
- Schoolnova, STEM classes taught at stony brook
- Quiz Bowl
- Self taught drawing with one minor contest award
- Job/Work Experience: N/A besides summer research
- Volunteer/Community service: assisted and shadowed at a medical clinic, unpaid
- Essays:
- Common App (6): blegh. I tried to write something about my discovery / transition from art to biology, and how biology was artistic to me, but ultimately I think though it was well written it suffered from too much revisioning and was disorganized.
- JHU Collaboration Supplemental (5): tried to connect a science olympiad experience to information exchange, and talked about how information exchange was my type of collaboration. The first half talking about info exchange was probably some of the best writing i've ever done and i'm extremely proud of it, but then I had to totally rush the second half about scioly and it was quite poop. Write your essays far far in advance guys.
- Teacher Recommendations:
- 9th grade bio teacher (9): although it was a really old teacher they really liked me, someone told me they saw the letter and it was good
- 11th grade AP chem teacher (7): I really have no idea since this teacher probably hated me to some extent, but she knew me extremely well in my extracurriculars and from what she's said afterward I think she wrote something good.
- Counselor Rec: Counselor (6): I actually saw this one, it wasn't very outstanding, seemed rather cookie cutter but spoke a lot about how I was very talented and dedicated and all that
- External Rec: My research mentor (6): I saw this one, it was also somewhat cookie cutter but did provide a perspective on me from the lab which probably helped. I think it was the letter coming from the mentor that probably helped more than the letter itself
Other
State (if domestic applicant): NY
School Type: Public (199 in my class, ~750 total)
Ethnicity: Asian (Taiwanese / Chinese)
Gender: Female
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Girl in STEM i guess
Why you think you were accepted/not accepted and general comments:
Strengths: My resume and scores. I think I showed a lot of dedication and passion about my extracurriculars. Research might’ve been the biggest plus.
Weaknesses: Essays were probably the worst part, they were really blegh since I didn’t have any interesting things to say about myself! No big major awards, just a lot of small ones. Somewhat generic recs. Probably also blended into a large population of applicants to JHU - female, asian, going into bio lol. Barely any community service
Why you think you were accepted: Activities and scores
Where else were you accepted/rejected/deferred: N/A
Where else did you apply: N/A
Final Thoughts: I feel I was a middling ED acceptance for JHU, I got in with faith in myself but not outstandingly, and I likely would’ve been stomped if I had done RD. I’m super hype tho since this was my top school!! I know lurking these results threads helped me a lot so hopefully this helps someone. Also please keep in mind - these threads skew towards the top percentage of applicants! I personally know that a couple of applicants I’ve seen from some past threads have also qualified for crazier schools from RD so don’t feel like you have to totally line up with them to get in