<p>I hate to bring this discussion thread back up to the top, but I would be remiss in my occupational duties if I did not respond to the original post. I will ignore the majority of immaturity that exists throughout the rest of this topic, as I already posted on my personal disdain for people who comment about universities they have never actually attended and are basing judgments on hearsay, conjecture, and third/fourth party comments: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1060562082-post37.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1060562082-post37.html</a>. </p>
<p>Back to my response re: DevilKnight’s claim that Johns Hopkins University practices “Tufts Syndrome” – a ridiculous term that was born in the world of crazy conjecture of College Confidential. DevilKnight claims he has concrete knowledge and data to back up his claim. </p>
<p>Well, I have been a college admissions professional for 10 years and evaluated applications for Johns Hopkins University for 5 years and I find your post not only lacking any factual foundation but I was offended when I read it and your follow-ups. You know nothing about what you speak, and if I was a betting man I would say they only reason you posted this topic was to rile up reactions. (Anyone who looks at your other posts it is clear that you are not one of the most helpful CC posters – it even seems that some of your fellow Duke students are reacting negatively to your childish posts.)</p>
<p>I have read thousands of applications for Johns Hopkins University … I have been in numerous conversations with the Director of Admissions about our approach to evaluating applications … and I have even written about those conversations and overall approach in my Hopkins Insider blog. There has never been a single conversation in any Admissions Committee discussion where we discussed the other institution a student may be admitted to or interested in and let that impact a decision. The notion that Hopkins rejects “over-qualified” applicants assumes there is such a classification – there is not. Our decisions are holistic and are not based just on the round numbers everyone claims admissions is about (test scores, GPA, etc.). </p>
<p>It sickens me when someone claims to know how the decision making process works at Hopkins with evidence of a handful of decisions made from peers who attended their high school or neighboring high schools. Or goes on College Confidential and makes claims because they saw stat profiles for ten to twenty students. I have access to the 16000+ decisions made this past year, and the 50000+ decisions made in the time I have been on the Hopkins Admissions Committee. Claiming “Tufts Syndrome,” demeans the amount of time, concern, and energy that my colleagues put into the process of reviewing decisions THAT ARE RIGHT FOR HOPKINS. When we choose to not admit a “perfect applicant” (4.0/1600) is not because that applicant might enroll somewhere else, it is because the Committee feels the applicant is not an overall fit for Hopkins.</p>
<p>And finally, your points about the BME selection process are so far off that I don’t even need to respond. And oh yeah, I am actually the coordinator of the BME selection process for the Whiting School of Engineering and Office of Admissions so I know what I am talking about. </p>
<p>In the end, the only reason I responded here is so that na</p>