Johns Hopkins is a private university located on an urban campus in Baltimore, Maryland. There are about 6,200 undergrads at Hopkins and five schools, among them, the acclaimed Bloomberg School of Public Health. There are a ton of opportunities for research and development for Hopkins students. So long as they can get in. With an acceptance rate of 10%, it’s a competitive one. Is it your dream to attend JHU? Here’s how we recommend you tackle the supplement:
Founded in the spirit of exploration and discovery, Johns Hopkins University encourages students to share their perspectives, develop their interests, and pursue new experiences.
Use this space to share something you’d like the admissions committee to know about you (your interests, your background, your identity, or your community), and how it has shaped what you want to get out of your college experience at Hopkins. (300-400 words)
This is a relatively short supplement with just one question. Really, you can read this one as “Why Johns Hopkins?” First and foremost, we tell our students to hone in on an academic area of expertise. Schools like Johns Hopkins are interested in building a class of experts in various subjects. The best path forward in impressing a school is to identify a very specific niche. The more specific, the better. History is too broad. Think Ancient Civilizations. Start of your response by identifying the origin story of your area of expertise. This shouldn’t be a huge existential moment. It can be really simple. Maybe you did a report on the Aztecs in 8th grade that got you fascinated.
Next, you’ll need to make a connection between your area of expertise and the majors offered at Hopkins. Once you ID the major you’re going to pursue (at least for the purposes of the essay…), talk about upper-level courses offered in that major and why you’re interested in taking them. You should also identify a professor within that major and talk about their research or relevant accomplishments. You should also spend some time talking about the extracurriculars offered that are relevant to your major at Hopkins. Maybe there’s an archeology club that takes trips to go excavate. Finally, write a conclusion and discuss the location of the school. If you can further draw a connection between the location of the school and you are of expertise, great.
While great grades and test scores are pertinent for applying to college, the supplement is a great way to jump off the countless pages the admissions counselors are stuck reading. You really want to, not only let your personality shine, but also make it clear to the university that you and it are a perfect match. The way to do this is by drawing connections in a very specific academic field.
Need some help writing your supplement? Reach out to us. We’re experts at getting students to stand out above the competition in their writing.