<p>I heard that about 5% of all the applicants to Hopkins for biology were accepted. Is this actually true and, if so, would one have a better chance applying to a more obscure science major and then change upon entering the college? I mean...5% is obviously far lower than any admissions statistic at any Ivy. What does it mean for those of us who are dying to attend Hopkins but might not be able to trump the other 95% of the biology applicant pool? Thanks.</p>
<p>Wow--rumor. Applicants are not rejected or accepted because of their prospective majors, unless of course it is BME.
Plus, all freshmen are classified as premajor, so you won't change anything. You have until the end of your soph year to declare.</p>
<p>HAHA wow that made me feel special until coolguy verified it was a rumor...</p>
<p>For the Biology PhD program that seems right. Undergrad? Never.</p>
<p>Sweet. Well thanks for clearing that up...on a side note then, is there any site (I'll check JHU's official site) that breaks down the admissions rate by prospective major? I want to take a look just to reassure myself and make sure the major I'm leaning towards isn't crowded as it is :). Btw, JHU is #1 (or close to it) for BME right? At one point, I was thinking of going in that direction until I realized it would be suicide to do BME + premed. Thanks for all the input!</p>
<p>You're going to be best off being yourself on your app and being honest about which major you're interested in. Of course they're looking for a diverse student body, but they're also looking for a devoted, enthusiastic student body. If you try to come off as interested in a major which you aren't really interested in, you're going to find yourself coming off as a weak candidate for that major, and your chances of acceptance will be equally minimized.</p>
<p>Just be yourself, justify your interests, and you've done everything you can.</p>
<p>And yes, JHU is the best for BME, according to USNews, I believe.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info.</p>
<p>You will not find admissions statistics for specific majors listed on the admissions website or any part of the JHU website because of the reasons that everyone has already given: students are classified as pre-major in Arts & Sciences, and majors are not set in stone (even BME admits can choose to switch to another A&S or engineering major at any point). </p>
<p>Your declaration of an obscure major will be pretty transparent unless you have something to back it up coursework or extracurricular wise, or talk about it in an essary or something. In general, "natural sciences" including bio/chem/neuro, etc. are all fairly similar...so applying to one or the other isn't going to make you stand out in any way that your application wouldn't already do.</p>