Johns Hopkins Transfer Applicant

Colleges and Universities A-Z Johns Hopkins University
1

<p>I am going to be a sophomore at the University of Maryland College Park and I am really interested in transferring to Johns Hopkins as a junior. My main reason for transferring is my major. I am interested in international relations and international development especially in East Africa and the Middle East. Maryland does not offer any type of international relations major. I did not apply to JHU as a high school senior.
Here are my stats.....</p>

<p>HIGH SCHOOL</p>

<p>ACT: 32 (33CR, 34E, 30M, 29S)...Want to retake it and see what I can get
High School G.P.A: 4.2, 7 A.P. Classes
High School Rankingg: 7 out of 210
High School EC: SGA Pres, County VP, NHS Pres, Multiclutural Club Pres and Founder</p>

<p>COLLEGE</p>

<p>UMD HONORS PROGRAM
UGRAD G.P.A: 3.77 ( All A's non science. only B's are in sci classes I took since I was frustrated with major choices and decided to do premed since I couldn't find my major. </p>

<p>EC:
Leadership-
President STAND UMD ( Student group that works on advocacy and funding for refugees in Darfur)
President and Founder TCF UMD (Student group that works on funding for education in impoverished areas of Pakistan)
Regional Coordinator Sister Schools Program ( Provide support to Darfur Sister Schools Programs in the DC-MD-VA area)
Resident Assistant (Serve residents on campus)
Senator on Hall Council ( Assist and Represent fellow residents in dorm)
Teaching Assistant HONR100 ( TA a Honors seminar once a week)
Undergraduate Research Assistant ( Researched health disparities in PG county)
Computer Lab Assistant (Job)
Supervisor UMD Gym (Supervise Weight/Fitness Staff) (Job)</p>

<p>Volunteer Work-
Orphanage Volunteer (Traveled to Tanzania to work in an orphanage, helped teach English, worked on independent research study on health and education in the developing world)
Refugee Assistant (Volunteer 6-10 hours a week working with recently resettled refugees)
Darfur Sister Schools Program Fundraiser ( I traveled across MD and individually raised over $3,500 to help educate refugees in Darfur)
Outreach Volunteer (Worked with a non-profit to do health outreach in Harlem, NY)
HIV/AIDS Alt Break Participant (Traveled to NYC to serve HIV/AIDS patients)
Hospital Volunteer (George Washington University Hospital)</p>

<p>Awards-
University of Maryland Dean's Scholarship
Washington County Hospital Auxiliary Scholarship
Primannum Honor Society Inductee ( Society for freshman who excel academically)
Multiethnic Students Academic Excellence Award ( Award for minorities at UMD who excel academically)</p>

<p>Other Factors-
I have lived in the Middle East, South Asia, New York City, and the rural U.S. South
I can speak Arabic, Swahili, and Urdu.
I plan on getting a recommendation from one of my professors who received her PHD from Johns Hopkins and is a tenured professor at UMD.
I might try out for the Hopkins football team. I think that if I prepare I can make a D3 football team. I played in high school.
I am really passionate about global health and international development and I would love the opportunity to study at Hopkins because of its program, faculty, and academic excellence. </p>

<p>WHAT DO YOU THINK MY CHANCES ARE FOR TRANSFERRING AS A JUNIOR?
ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR A GOOD APPLICATION?
SHOULD I RETAKE ACT?</p>

2

<p>I’m surprised you didn’t apply as a high school senior!</p>

<p>I don’t know much about transfer applications, but your chances look strong. I don’t think you need to retake your ACT, but if you think you can do better, it can’t hurt.</p>

3

<p>Okay cool thanks for the help. Btw would you know how difficult poli sci classes are at JHU? Are the int realtions/poly sci classes less or more challenging than at other schools?
I noticed that UMD is 28th in US news poly sci ranking and JHU is 39 so I was just wondering.</p>

4

<p>^ Those are graduate rankings. I do know that the International Studies program at JHU is outstanding, and its affiliation with SAIS lets students get a remarkable education. From what I’ve heard, the polysci/international studies classes are about on par with most jhu classes.</p>

5

<p>Those rankings are also largely dependent upon the size of the program. Hopkins’ political science department is much smaller than Maryland’s–and hence produces fewer papers and books, a major component of the ranking. Small size also means that a department’s strengths will be more specialized, since there won’t be sufficient faculty members to adequately cover all subfields.</p>

<p>Don’t get too wrapped up in the rankings. Few if any PhD students would turn down Hopkins for Maryland. For starters, Hopkins fully funds its PhD students (i.e., tuition waiver plus living stipend). In contrast, most PhD students at Maryland are admitted without funding at all. While some of these students may have outside funding (US government, for example), it makes little sense to pay tuition and living expensives for the 5-8 years it takes to get a Ph.D. Your incremental earnings will never pay off that debt. </p>

<p>The undergraduate program in international studies at Hopkins (one of the two majors offered by the Political Science Department) is truly excellent. I know of recent graduates of the program who were hired by DC “think tanks” for research positions which had minimum requirements of an MA in international studies. They viewed the Hopkins BA as an equivilent to MA’s from other schools.</p>