2022-2023 Johns Hopkins

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wysdoc

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Thanks to @Health Policy Nerd for sharing this year's questions!

2022-2023 Johns Hopkins Secondary Essay Prompts (1st 5 Required) 2500 Characters Max each

1. Briefly describe your single, most rewarding experience. Feel free to refer to an experience previously described in your AMCAS application.

2. Are there any areas of medicine that are of particular interest to you? If so, please comment.

3. Briefly describe a situation where you had to overcome adversity; include lessons learned and how you think it will affect your career as a future physician.

4. Briefly describe a situation where you were not in the majority. What did you learn from the experience?

5. Wonder encapsulates a feeling of rapt attention … it draws the observer in. Tell us about a time in recent years that you experienced wonder in your everyday life. Although experiences related to your clinical or research work may be the first to come to mind, we encourage you to think of an experience that is unrelated to medicine or science. What did you learn from that experience?

6. Optional: The Admissions Committee values hearing about each candidate for admission, including what qualities the candidate might bring to the School of Medicine if admitted. If you feel there is information not already addressed in the application that will enable the Committee to know more about you and this has influenced your desire to be a physician, feel free to write a brief statement in the space below. You may address any subject you wish, such as being a first generation college student, or being a part of a minority group (whether because of your sexual orientation, religion, economic status, gender identity, ethnicity) or being the child of undocumented immigrants or being undocumented yourself, etc. Please note that this question is optional and that you will not be penalized should you choose not to answer it.


Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview feedback:
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Secondary Received.
Edit: Not received, but got email from them that they received my application.
 
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So just received an auto email confirming that they have received my verified application from AMCAS and will be sending a separate email with the secondary and other application details. Looks like things are in motion folks!
 
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Hey everyone! Just want to introduce myself :) I'm a med student at Hopkins currently taking a research year between M3 and M4! I am here to act as your friendly neighborhood "upper year" lol
I remember how high stress this process can be and how grateful I was for the med students on my thread, so I'm here to pay it forward.
Feel free to PM me to reach out with any questions or advice. Anything at all! I'm just here to help :D
 
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Verification received too. Good luck to everyone this cycle.
 
Just received new email @ 1:21 EDT inviting me to “take the next step” aka probably secondaries lol (although I haven’t had the chance to open the link yet)
 
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Secondary Questions: @wysdoc
All 2500 characters or less

Short Essay Questions​


Briefly describe your single, most rewarding experience. Feel free to refer to an experience previously described in your AMCAS application.

Are there any areas of medicine that are of particular interest to you? If so, please comment.

Briefly describe a situation where you had to overcome adversity; include lessons learned and how you think it will affect your career as a future physician.

Briefly describe a situation where you were not in the majority. What did you learn from the experience?

Wonder encapsulates a feeling of rapt attention … it draws the observer in. Tell us about a time in recent years that you experienced wonder in your everyday life. Although experiences related to your clinical or research work may be the first to come to mind, we encourage you to think of an experience that is unrelated to medicine or science. What did you learn from that experience?

Optional: The Admissions Committee values hearing about each candidate for admission, including what qualities the candidate might bring to the School of Medicine if admitted. If you feel there is information not already addressed in the application that will enable the Committee to know more about you and this has influenced your desire to be a physician, feel free to write a brief statement in the space below. You may address any subject you wish, such as being a first generation college student, or being a part of a minority group (whether because of your sexual orientation, religion, economic status, gender identity, ethnicity) or being the child of undocumented immigrants or being undocumented yourself, etc. Please note that this question is optional and that you will not be penalized should you choose not to answer it.
 
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Has anyone received the same email from them multiple times? I have like 3 copies of the same email inviting me to submit secondaries.
 
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Dumb question, but where it says on the secondary:
"Please note that AP or IB credit acceptable to your college or university and listed on your AMCAS transcript may be used to fulfill the requirements. If using AP Biology and AP Chemistry credit, you must supplement these with one semester of an advanced Biology or Chemistry, whichever applies."
If I used credit for Bio 1, under the section for biology, would I select the AP credit, the classes for bio 2, and the advanced class I took to "replace" it? Or just bio 2 and the supplemental class? And if I do input all three, would I list every bio class I've taken or just pick one? Which one should I pick, like anatomy, physio, genetics, or microbio?

Sorry for so many questions within a question lol, I really don't want to mess anything up
 
Dumb question, but where it says on the secondary:

If I used credit for Bio 1, under the section for biology, would I select the AP credit, the classes for bio 2, and the advanced class I took to "replace" it? Or just bio 2 and the supplemental class? And if I do input all three, would I list every bio class I've taken or just pick one? Which one should I pick, like anatomy, physio, genetics, or microbio?

Sorry for so many questions within a question lol, I really don't want to mess anything up

Definitely a question for their admissions team!
 
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hey quick q, on their second prompt where they ask about "areas of medicine," are they specifically asking for a particular speciality / field, or can i keep it generic and talk about (for example) wanting to get into medical education?
 
hey quick q, on their second prompt where they ask about "areas of medicine," are they specifically asking for a particular speciality / field, or can i keep it generic and talk about (for example) wanting to get into medical education?
Either interpretation works
 
Could someone do me a favor and look on the home page to see if there is a support number or email? I got an error message when I hit submit that said to contact support but I don't really want to leave the application page and have all the answers reset
 
I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to approach the 'not in the majority' prompt as opposed to the optional statement. I have a diversity statement that I was going to use for the optional essay, but I think that anything I have to say about being a minority would fit in the required prompt. Are people treating the 'not in the majority' essay like a diversity essay? Thanks!
 
What is a better option for the wonder prompt?

Cherry blossoms - I like coming at dawn and seeing them during spring. Feel a sense of wonder at their beauty and fragility, and as a symbol of globalization.

FaceTiming with grandma in India - technology making connections to faraway family easy. Feel a sense of wonder at how close the world is now.

Also, what works better for the not in the majority prompt?

- I went to a camp during high school that I didn’t realize had a religious focus. Most of the other camp members were Christians and some of them tried to convert me and looked down on my religion (Hinduism).

- During 6th grade, I went to a majority Hispanic middle school. Many of the other students didn’t speak English. I was one of a handful for Asian students.

- I was at a South Asian community event, and people there were speaking badly of people with mental illness and neurodevelopmental disorders. I challenged their beliefs during the event.

- Several of my South Asian “aunties” were making colourist remarks and recommended that I use fairness creams to lighten my complexion. I stood up for myself and refused.
 
I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to approach the 'not in the majority' prompt as opposed to the optional statement. I have a diversity statement that I was going to use for the optional essay, but I think that anything I have to say about being a minority would fit in the required prompt. Are people treating the 'not in the majority' essay like a diversity essay? Thanks!
I didn't interpret the "not in the majority" prompt as meaning "how are you a minority". I interpreted it as meaning "when have you disagreed with or stood out from others?"
 
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I didn't interpret the "not in the majority" prompt as meaning "how are you a minority". I interpreted it as meaning "when have you disagreed with or stood out from others?"
I agree, that's also how I interpreted that prompt.
 
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Current student here - I actually wrote mine more along the lines of ladylasa's ideas, but I think that writing it as disagreeing/standing out from others would make for a great essay as well. I think that just goes to show how there really isn't any one way to interpret what the secondary prompts are asking
 
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Hi everyone! Incoming M1 here happy to answer any questions. Feel free to shoot me a DM and good luck to those applying!
 
Dumb question, but where it says on the secondary:

If I used credit for Bio 1, under the section for biology, would I select the AP credit, the classes for bio 2, and the advanced class I took to "replace" it? Or just bio 2 and the supplemental class? And if I do input all three, would I list every bio class I've taken or just pick one? Which one should I pick, like anatomy, physio, genetics, or microbio?

Sorry for so many questions within a question lol, I really don't want to mess anything up
Did you end up getting a response on this? Thanks!
 
Anyone hear anything back after submitting their application and required materials?
 
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For the single most rewarding prompt, would it be smart to choose an experience from my W/A section that I did not designate as most meaningful? I just feel like if i choose a MME it would be too repetitive.
 
For the single most rewarding prompt, would it be smart to choose an experience from my W/A section that I did not designate as most meaningful? I just feel like if i choose a MME it would be too repetitive.
I think that would be fine, and it lets you expand on something new they haven't already read in your application.
 
Hey guys, I have terrible tech literacy. When they are asking for a 3x3 image of ourselves, what size is that?
That basically just means a square image. 3x3 refers to the aspect ratio (16:9 or 16x9 is the common rectangular monitor size).

I'd just open the default image editing software on your phone/computer and there might be a crop option, and sometimes they'll even has present aspect ratios. You can then select 3x3 or 1x1 or whatever gives a square image.
 
JHU says to submit two letters from science faculty who taught you. Can this include the PI of my lab although he was never my professor for a class?
 
JHU says to submit two letters from science faculty who taught you. Can this include the PI of my lab although he was never my professor for a class?
I opted to be conservative and went with two profs I took science classes with.
 
I haven't received a secondary yet but I was only verified by AMCAS on 7/5. How long was the lag for everyone?
 
I haven't received a secondary yet but I was only verified by AMCAS on 7/5. How long was the lag for everyone?
verified 6/22, received 6/24 with the first wave. You should receive soon; they don't screen!
 
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Just got confirmation (Finally!) that they received all materials, which will be sent to the Committee for review. They indicate that decision notifications can vary from December through March...thus appears that its rolling admissions. Good luck everyone.
 
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Just got confirmation (Finally!) that they received all materials, which will be sent to the Committee for review. They indicate that decision notifications can vary from December through March...thus appears that its rolling admissions. Good luck everyone.
+1
 
Just got confirmation (Finally!) that they received all materials, which will be sent to the Committee for review. They indicate that decision notifications can vary from December through March...thus appears that its rolling admissions. Good luck everyone.
I got that too, maybe we're just skipping interviews all together this year 🤷‍♂️
 
Just got confirmation (Finally!) that they received all materials, which will be sent to the Committee for review. They indicate that decision notifications can vary from December through March...thus appears that its rolling admissions. Good luck everyone.
Just to clarify, Hopkins is not rolling admissions. They do it in "phases" so people who interview before a certain date (before December or early December) will get decisions at some point in December. Then there is another round of decisions sent in February-ish, and usually a final one around late March-ish (sorry exact dates vary). This does not include waitlist movement, which continues through to a few weeks (or so) before orientation week :)
 
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I submitted all my documents (picture, secondaries, letter of rec), and the application says FINISHED, but I haven’t received a confirmation email… did people receive the confirmation email immediately or in the following days?
 
I submitted all my documents (picture, secondaries, letter of rec), and the application says FINISHED, but I haven’t received a confirmation email… did people receive the confirmation email immediately or in the following days?
Many many days later.
 
MSAR says max of 3 letters allowed (2 science, 1 non-science), however the school website says that a letter should be added for 1 year or more of postgrad work experience.

Do I cut a letter from a professor or send 4?
 
MSAR says max of 3 letters allowed (2 science, 1 non-science), however the school website says that a letter should be added for 1 year or more of postgrad work experience.

Do I cut a letter from a professor or send 4?
I emailed them about this a few weeks ago, they're response is below:
...we do say that you may submit a fourth letter if you have graduated or have been employed for a year or more, but this is in addition to the required academic letters, not in lieu of those letters.
 
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II, OOS, submitted 7/11, interviewed last year too
 
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II submitted 6/24
 
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