<p>I plan on applying to JHU. I want to go into medicine, however as an undergraduate I don't want to major in a science. I heard JHU pre-screens its pre-med students? What does this mean exactly? Does it mean that as an undergraduate there, if you can't make the grades, they won't give you a commitee letter? Any one have any idea of what this involves? </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>The committee is there to assist students in gaining admission. But part of that process is for the committee to maintain an excellent reputation among medical schools by guiding good students toward them and not misleading them about marginal or poor candidates. This is why Hopkins has such an incredible placement rate (averaging 85-95% placement every year). The committee maintains this reputation by being honest not only with medical schools but with students. So if the committee believes that you are not a strong candidate--yes, they will tell you so and they will be honest about you in their communications with medical schools. Schools that do otherwise have poor placement rates because medical schools don't trust their recommendations. </p>
<p>This is not as scary as it might sound. If you are granted admission to Hopkins, you can be sure that you have the necessary intellectual capability to do well. The rest is up to you. If you have good study habits (or develop them if you don't) and work diligently--you are very likely to succeed and the committee will recognize that. Admission to medical school under those circumstances, while not guaranteed, is a pretty sure bet. </p>
<p>Sadly, not everyone lives up to their potential. There will always be some underachiever who gripes that the committee "screwed him" (and is almost always a "him") by not offering a strong recommendation. Invariably, the underachiever blames his predicament of the "cutthroat" nature of his classmates--arguing that if he only went to [insert name] university instead of Hopkins, his grades would have been better because Hopkins students study too much and work too hard, thus bringing down the curve. In reality, the underachiever screwed himself but fails to recognize or admit to it. The fact is that the medical profession requires hard work and diligence--which is why the system is designed to weed out those who lack the necessary commitment. </p>
<p>The dirty little secret is that it is not necessary to be brilliant to achieve success at Hopkins, nor to be admitted to medical school. In fact, you really don't have to be all that smart. It is, however, necessary to work hard.</p>
<p>Read this thoroughly:
Hopkins</a> Forums -> Future Interest in Medical School</p>
<p>Further details here:
JHU</a> Pre-Professional Advising</p>
<p>The "screening" or "weeding" out of applicants is a myth created by students who don't understand the intricate pre-professional advising process at Hopkins.</p>
<p>How does the committe figure out who is a good candiate for medical school from the ones that arent? Is it based on gpa or mcats or a combination of both?</p>
<p>My other question is, what is the average gpa at Johns Hopkins?</p>
<p>I guess I am worried that even after putting in hours and hours of work in a class or for a test, I might be that 1 kid that has low grades. I hear that college work is supposed to be harder and requires a lot more work than in high school. I have also heard that kids who never made Bs in high school, end up trying to work really hard to make B's in a class.------I guess this can only happen if you end up studying the wrong thing.</p>
<p>I also have heard that Johns Hopkins introductory science classes tend to be very grade deflated. Any other thoughts?As a pre-med, I don't want to major in a science, just take the basic pre-med classes.</p>