2018-2019 Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

[Sagebrush]

Good luck!

You too! I'm sure with your experiences you'll absolutely kill it at the schools you're applying to.

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[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

You too! I'm sure with your experiences you'll absolutely kill it at the schools you're applying to.

We’ll see. My sGPA is decent but my overall is a little low. I guess it’ll depend on my mcat score and how much they value experiences. I hope they’re h o l i s t i c.

 

[freedoctor17]

We’ll see. My sGPA is decent but my overall is a little low. I guess it’ll depend on my mcat score and how much they value experiences. I hope they’re h o l i s t i c.

Holistic seems to have just become another buzz word thrown around by med schools

 

[PursuingHappy]

Holistic seems to have just become another buzz word thrown around by med schools

I concur.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Holistic seems to have just become another buzz word thrown around by med schools

I concur.

I appreciate the sentiment, but I actually disagree. These top schools get thousands of applications. Out of those thousands, there are easily a few hundred people who have a diverse set of ECs plus high stats. Taking high stats apps doesn't mean they aren't reviewing applications holistically. It just means they want people who have everything, and if you have you pick of the applicants, why wouldn't you accept mostly people that had high stats and great ECs?

 

[PursuingHappy]

I appreciate the sentiment, but I actually disagree. These top schools get thousands of applications. Out of those thousands, there are easily a few hundred people who have a diverse set of ECs plus high stats. Taking high stats apps doesn't mean they aren't reviewing applications holistically. It just means they want people who have everything, and if you have you pick of the applicants, why wouldn't you accept mostly people that had high stats and great ECs?

Idk. I'm not on admissions and I wont be for a while. It makes sense that they would accept the high stats people. It just seems a little fake to me at times. Also, I dont equate ECs to life experiences, so to me there is a difference between someone who has many different life experiences, which may be untintentional, and those who have intentional ECs.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Idk. I'm not on admissions and I wont be for a while. It makes sense that they would accept the high stats people. It just seems a little fake to me at times. Also, I dont equate ECs to life experiences, so to me there is a difference between someone who has many different life experiences, which may be untintentional, and those who have intentional ECs.

ECs can represent life experiences. But a lot of secondaries allow one to demonstrate their life experiences too. But when the vast majority of applicants are 23-25, how much life experience do most of them really have?

Edit: And if you have a dude with really good stats and sufficient ECs to show commitment versus someone with low scores but a lot of life experience, who are you going to put your money on to successfully finish med school and match?

And this is coming from someone with an overall GPA below the median and a **** ton of life experience lol.

 

[PursuingHappy]

ECs can represent life experiences. But a lot of secondaries allow one to demonstrate their life experiences too. But when the vast majority of applicants are 23-25, how much life experience do most of them really have?

Edit: And if you have a dude with really good stats and sufficient ECs to show commitment versus someone with low scores but a lot of life experience, who are you going to put your money on to successfully finish med school and match?

And this is coming from someone with an overall GPA below the median and a **** ton of life experience lol.

You'd be amazed at the experiences I've heard from people my age. I'm 23. I myself have had a significant life experience. It shows resilience and that I will be able to complete medical school. For my lifeexperience, I can't put an hour limit on it, so I just dont equate it to an EC, but others may be able to.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

You'd be amazed at the experiences I've heard from people my age. I'm 23. I myself have had a significant life experience. It shows resilience and that I will be able to complete medical school. For my lifeexperience, I can't put an hour limit on it, so I just dont equate it to an EC, but others may be able to.

I’m in the military. I know a number of 23-25 year olds with more life experience than most middle aged adults. But people who are that age who have a lot of life experience are not the majority, which was my point.

 

[PursuingHappy]

I’m in the military. I know a number of 23-25 year olds with more life experience than most middle aged adults. But people who are that age who have a lot of life experience are not the majority, which was my point.

Fair

 

[dodolol21]

Actually, I think Hopkins is holistic. In an interview with Kaplan, Dr. White explained that they look at the secondary first (which doesn't have your stats on it). This is also probably the reason behind making you retype your primary basically.

 

[PursuingHappy]

Actually, I think Hopkins is holistic. In an interview with Kaplan, Dr. White explained that they look at the secondary first (which doesn't have your stats on it). This is also probably the reason behind making you retype your primary basically.

Good to know. I haven't started on this one yet, but I can see it's going to be a lot of work.

 

[DrGrey1996]

Is anyone else having trouble entering their courses for this secondary? My labs are separate from my classes, so I had to enter 4 courses for each requirement instead of two, but when I go to print preview the application, my courses get cut off..

 

[Lucca]

Good to know. I haven't started on this one yet, but I can see it's going to be a lot of work.

It's not as much work as it seems. Their secondary prompts are short and sweet (mostly 600-1100 chars) and the rest of the form is pretty straightforward. Duke is proving more challenging to complete.

 

[dodolol21]

It's not as much work as it seems. Their secondary prompts are short and sweet (mostly 600-1100 chars) and the rest of the form is pretty straightforward. Duke is proving more challenging to complete.

Lol I bumped Duke, they changed the only prompts I had pre written, and frankly couldn't see myself going living in Durham for 4 years.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Is anyone else having trouble entering their courses for this secondary? My labs are separate from my classes, so I had to enter 4 courses for each requirement instead of two, but when I go to print preview the application, my courses get cut off..

I did it like this: PHYS 242/245 (4), PHYS 243/256 (4) to show that it was a lecture/lab for 4 total credits.

 

[PursuingHappy]

It's not as much work as it seems. Their secondary prompts are short and sweet (mostly 600-1100 chars) and the rest of the form is pretty straightforward. Duke is proving more challenging to complete.

Do not get me started on Duke

Edit: This is sarcasm by the way lol. Realized that may have come off a little harsh lol.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

It's not as much work as it seems. Their secondary prompts are short and sweet (mostly 600-1100 chars) and the rest of the form is pretty straightforward. Duke is proving more challenging to complete.

Yeah, I didn't think it was that bad.

 

[kmmd2018]

Where is everyone putting unpaid internships in this supplemental app? In the employment section or the comm service/volunteer section or what? I don't have room in my extracurricular section.

 

[freedoctor17]

So is it ok to just copy and paste from amcas or do we need to type out original stuff? I don't have my laptop on me and can't remember what the secondary asks for under the EC's stuff.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

So is it ok to just copy and paste from amcas or do we need to type out original stuff? I don't have my laptop on me and can't remember what the secondary asks for under the EC's stuff.

I copy pasted stuff. It only wants the title, position, hours, and dates.

 

[freedoctor17]

I copy pasted stuff. It only wants the title, position, hours, and dates.

Oh ok that's not too bad. I'll get this oit of the way this weekend

 

[ExtraEspresso]

Ahhhh why the complete rehash of AMCAS?

Like someone else said, I believe it’s because they look at the secondary first! At my interview, they definitely also had a copy of my secondary that they were asking questions from, so they might also just prefer that format for review and interview. It’s a pain, but I promise Hopkins is worth it.

Do you mind sharing why you chose JHU over other top tiers? I assume you had some great choices and something in particular drew you in here?


Thanks!

I didn’t have much of a choice because Hopkins is actually the only school I applied to! I’m here for my PhD, and I’m matriculating into the MD/PhD program. If I went anywhere else, I’d have to leave my PhD program, and that wasn’t an option for me.


But, I was 110% fine with only applying to Hopkins because I absolutely love it here! I was able to take a few medical school courses with the med students as part of my PhD, and that gave me an idea of what I was getting myself into by applying here. The med students are so supportive and friendly, and they have a great community here. I think that’s in part due to the college system and the camaraderie that it builds and also in part due to the type of people Hopkins accepts.


Everyone I met through interviews and SLW was insanely impressive, but in different ways. There were people that were passionate about global health and health care disparities, people that were passionate about teaching, research, or anything else under the sun. They seem to like to accept people that are interesting and have things that they are excited about that will contribute to a well-rounded class.


[QaUOTE="norahjc96, post: 20122878, member: 930317"]Just curious, but under academic awards/honors is anyone thinking of including publications? Not sure if I should or not, but since it seems like they want AMCAS "highlights" I thought maybe it would be good to include in addition to like Dean's List, etc. Also, for employment experiences they give so many slots are people putting all of their part-time jobs?? I've been employed every day since I turned 15, which I think influenced my academic career quite a bit, but I'm unsure if it is worth mentioning 4 years at Dunkin' Donuts lol[/QUOTE]


I just looked back and saw that I never actually listed my publications on my secondary. They were on my primary only, apparently. I did get asked about my publications in my interview, so the interviewer definitely had my primary or read through it, though! I’d say it’s fine to list them there if you have the space.


I’d mention Dunkin Donuts! I listed working at a summer camp back in high school because I thought it was still meaningful enough to me. I can’t say whether or not it was a good idea, but they didn’t reject me so it wasn’t the death of my application. 4 years is certainly a meaningful amount of time, so I’d say it’s worth listing.

I didn’t see a spot for research. Are you putting it in the volunteer and community service section? Or the extracurriculars? I have research on my primary, but it was an independent project I did outside of a lab, so I feel weird listing it since it doesn’t seem to fit in any of those categories.

I put research in extracurricular activities! It doesn’t fit great anywhere, but that was the most logical spot to me.

Should I put mine? It was a capstone project I did independently that involved coding some simulations and running some game theory experiments using the code, which ultimately made it into a thesis.

I’d say that’s absolutely worth listing on the secondary!


(I know you said you already submitted it, but in case anyone else comes by and has a similar question.)

So...what counts as humanities? Do political science courses count? Anthropology? 24 credits of humanities is a lot.

Yes, both of those things count. IIRC, it’s any humanities or social sciences course.

Would it be suspicious to talk about an EC experience in my "most rewarding experience" essay that wasn't one of my 3 most meaningful on AMCAS?

Nope, that’s what I did! I wanted to highlight how one of my research experiences shaped the trajectory I took and made me change fields somewhat for grad school. It was probably my weakest essay, but I didn’t want to write more about my MMEs because I had already written a lot about them, and I used aspects of them for the other secondary prompts.

Where is everyone putting unpaid internships in this supplemental app? In the employment section or the comm service/volunteer section or what? I don't have room in my extracurricular section.

I’d say the extracurricular section would make the most sense if you could rearrange things and make it fit. Otherwise, community service/volunteering since they specify the employment section is for paid employment.

I copy pasted stuff. It only wants the title, position, hours, and dates.

Yep, that’s what I did too. With a lot of abbreviating because those title blocks are really short.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Like someone else said, I believe it’s because they look at the secondary first! At my interview, they definitely also had a copy of my secondary that they were asking questions from, so they might also just prefer that format for review and interview. It’s a pain, but I promise Hopkins is worth it.





I didn’t have much of a choice because Hopkins is actually the only school I applied to! I’m here for my PhD, and I’m matriculating into the MD/PhD program. If I went anywhere else, I’d have to leave my PhD program, and that wasn’t an option for me.


But, I was 110% fine with only applying to Hopkins because I absolutely love it here! I was able to take a few medical school courses with the med students as part of my PhD, and that gave me an idea of what I was getting myself into by applying here. The med students are so supportive and friendly, and they have a great community here. I think that’s in part due to the college system and the camaraderie that it builds and also in part due to the type of people Hopkins accepts.


Everyone I met through interviews and SLW was insanely impressive, but in different ways. There were people that were passionate about global health and health care disparities, people that were passionate about teaching, research, or anything else under the sun. They seem to like to accept people that are interesting and have things that they are excited about that will contribute to a well-rounded class.


[QaUOTE="norahjc96, post: 20122878, member: 930317"]Just curious, but under academic awards/honors is anyone thinking of including publications? Not sure if I should or not, but since it seems like they want AMCAS "highlights" I thought maybe it would be good to include in addition to like Dean's List, etc. Also, for employment experiences they give so many slots are people putting all of their part-time jobs?? I've been employed every day since I turned 15, which I think influenced my academic career quite a bit, but I'm unsure if it is worth mentioning 4 years at Dunkin' Donuts lol

I just looked back and saw that I never actually listed my publications on my secondary. They were on my primary only, apparently. I did get asked about my publications in my interview, so the interviewer definitely had my primary or read through it, though! I’d say it’s fine to list them there if you have the space.


I’d mention Dunkin Donuts! I listed working at a summer camp back in high school because I thought it was still meaningful enough to me. I can’t say whether or not it was a good idea, but they didn’t reject me so it wasn’t the death of my application. 4 years is certainly a meaningful amount of time, so I’d say it’s worth listing.





I put research in extracurricular activities! It doesn’t fit great anywhere, but that was the most logical spot to me.





I’d say that’s absolutely worth listing on the secondary!


(I know you said you already submitted it, but in case anyone else comes by and has a similar question.)





Yes, both of those things count. IIRC, it’s any humanities or social sciences course.





Nope, that’s what I did! I wanted to highlight how one of my research experiences shaped the trajectory I took and made me change fields somewhat for grad school. It was probably my weakest essay, but I didn’t want to write more about my MMEs because I had already written a lot about them, and I used aspects of them for the other secondary prompts.





I’d say the extracurricular section would make the most sense if you could rearrange things and make it fit. Otherwise, community service/volunteering since they specify the employment section is for paid employment.





Yep, that’s what I did too. With a lot of abbreviating because those title blocks are really short.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for chiming in! Yeah I abbreviated a lot too.

 

[freedoctor17]

I'm confused on the other experiences and interests section. They say "List your major unpaid community service and volunteer activities following entrance to college, and indicate your degree of involvement. For unknown end dates, we suggest you use the matriculation date of 8/1/2018." So should I only list volunteer stuff and not anything else like leadership in organizations or research positions?

Edit: nevermind i just scrolled more and saw there were more positions for extracurriculars. My bad...

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I'm confused on the other experiences and interests section. They say "List your major unpaid community service and volunteer activities following entrance to college, and indicate your degree of involvement. For unknown end dates, we suggest you use the matriculation date of 8/1/2018." So should I only list volunteer stuff and not anything else like leadership in organizations or research positions?

Edit: nevermind i just scrolled more and saw there were more positions for extracurriculars. My bad...

Did the exact same thing lol.

 

[zimzamzoop]

When they say "For unknown end dates, use 8/1/2018", is that a typo? Wouldn't our matriculation date be in 2019? If it isnt a typo, do we not count future hours like we did on AMCAS?

 

[Lucca]

When they say "For unknown end dates, use 8/1/2018", is that a typo? Wouldn't our matriculation date be in 2019? If it isnt a typo, do we not count future hours like we did on AMCAS?

yes, it's a typo

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

When they say "For unknown end dates, use 8/1/2018", is that a typo? Wouldn't our matriculation date be in 2019? If it isnt a typo, do we not count future hours like we did on AMCAS?

Typo. Happened last year too according to the 2017-2018 cycle thread lol.

 

[zimzamzoop]

For the following prompt: "Briefly describe a situation where you were not in the majority. What did you learn from this experience?", what is the standard approach? I've been racking my brains for a bit about this essay and the only thing I could come up with was either political/ideological (which I'm gonna avoid) or about things that will make me come across as sheltered.

 

[freedoctor17]

For the following prompt: "Briefly describe a situation where you were not in the majority. What did you learn from this experience?", what is the standard approach? I've been racking my brains for a bit about this essay and the only thing I could come up with was either political/ideological (which I'm gonna avoid) or about things that will make me come across as sheltered.

I wrote about volunteering with a group of people all of a different religion, racial, and economic background than myself. What are some of the things you had in mine?

 

[freedoctor17]

Also anyone here use a waiver and still waiting on a response from the lady we were supposed to email? Holding off on submitting until then.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

For the following prompt: "Briefly describe a situation where you were not in the majority. What did you learn from this experience?", what is the standard approach? I've been racking my brains for a bit about this essay and the only thing I could come up with was either political/ideological (which I'm gonna avoid) or about things that will make me come across as sheltered.

I wrote about being one of the only Orthodox Jews on my campus and what that was like (including the antisemitism I experienced and what I learned from that).

 

[zimzamzoop]

I wrote about volunteering with a group of people all of a different religion, racial, and economic background than myself. What are some of the things you had in mine?

One of my ideas was similar to that but I feel like I've already written about that volunteer experience in my primary and mentioned it (albeit briefly) in a different essay. Might still go with it because its one of the only ideas I have :/

 

[freedoctor17]

One of my ideas was similar to that but I feel like I've already written about that volunteer experience in my primary and mentioned it (albeit briefly) in a different essay. Might still go with it because its one of the only ideas I have :/

they specifically mention not to worry about resuing stuff in the primary. They read this first so make sure it's as strong as possible.

 

[letsgetstarted1234]

did i select the wrong year or something.

It says "List your major unpaid community service and volunteer activities following entrance to college, and indicate your degree of involvement. For unknown end dates, we suggest you use the matriculation date of 8/1/2018."

But it should be 8/2019 right?

 

[freedoctor17]

did i select the wrong year or something.

It says "List your major unpaid community service and volunteer activities following entrance to college, and indicate your degree of involvement. For unknown end dates, we suggest you use the matriculation date of 8/1/2018."

But it should be 8/2019 right?

Its a known typo. Same issue happened last year.

 

[letsgetstarted1234]

Its a known typo. Same issue happened last year.

okay cool. worried i clicked the wrong thing or something.

anyone else having some trouble with hours per week? Been a while since I calculated this stuff dont want to mess it up lol.

And i feel boring. that hobby section lol

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

okay cool. worried i clicked the wrong thing or something.

anyone else having some trouble with hours per week? Been a while since I calculated this stuff dont want to mess it up lol.

And i feel boring. that hobby section lol

Just take your total hours and divide it by the number of weeks approximately in your total time span. Doesn’t need to be exact I think.

 

[freedoctor17]

Just take your total hours and divide it by the number of weeks approximately in your total time span. Doesn’t need to be exact I think.

That's what I ended up doing but some of my things came out to like a sad amount... Like 2 hours a week when I felt like I put in much more time lol. I may have underestimated my total amounts...

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

That's what I ended up doing but some of my things came out to like a sad amount... Like 2 hours a week when I felt like I put in much more time lol. I may have underestimated my total amounts...

I think 2-3 hours per week is pretty standard.

 

[med_cow_2019]

That's what I ended up doing but some of my things came out to like a sad amount... Like 2 hours a week when I felt like I put in much more time lol. I may have underestimated my total amounts...

I agree, 2 hr/wk can be plenty especially if you participated in like 5-6 activities at a time... They will understand "free time" as a student is barely a thing so even a few weekly hours can add up to a measurable contribution.

 

[freedoctor17]

I think 2-3 hours per week is pretty standard.

I agree, 2 hr/wk can be plenty especially if you participated in like 5-6 activities at a time... They will understand "free time" as a student is barely a thing so even a few weekly hours can add up to a measurable contribution.

True, I guess it just felt like so much more due to everything else going on at once.

 

[dodolol21]

True, I guess it just felt like so much more due to everything else going on at once.

Lol honestly I dont think they will put much weight in the hours. I tried to put the hours I spent per week, but that wouldnt necessarily translate to my total hours

Like for hobbies if I put 400 hours over a couple years, id put like 2 hours a week.

But for a medical camp that lasts a few weeks every year for 5 years, I’d put 10 hours/week, even though its only like 100 total on my primary.

So at the end if you look at my activites it seems lke Ive got over 30 hours commitment per week but its not all necessarily at the same time, so idk, I dont think the hours will matter much just becuase its hard to interpret. They will probably refer to what you put on your primaries for that

 

[freedoctor17]

Lol honestly I dont think they will put much weight in the hours. I tried to put the hours I spent per week, but that wouldnt necessarily translate to my total hours

Like for hobbies if I put 400 hours over a couple years, id put like 2 hours a week.

But for a medical camp that lasts a few weeks every year for 5 years, I’d put 10 hours/week, even though its only like 100 total on my primary.

So at the end if you look at my activites it seems lke Ive got over 30 hours commitment per week but its not all necessarily at the same time, so idk, I dont think the hours will matter much just becuase its hard to interpret. They will probably refer to what you put on your primaries for that

That's also a good point. I have a similar activity that I only did over summer and winter breaks but it was for a long time so it looks like I did like 7-10 hours a week when it was really more like 15 to 20 hours a week over the breaks.

 

[Richard White]

For the following prompt: "Briefly describe a situation where you were not in the majority. What did you learn from this experience?", what is the standard approach? I've been racking my brains for a bit about this essay and the only thing I could come up with was either political/ideological (which I'm gonna avoid) or about things that will make me come across as sheltered.

I'm going to write about how I don't drink, and so how I made my way through college differently than most, but still found ways to make friends and find my niche.

 

[zimzamzoop]

I know this was touched upon earlier, but should all non-service activities go under extracurriculars? Like internships, shadowing, research, conferences, hobbies, etc. This seems like an odd way to classify activities...

Edit: follow up question: can we list future activities? On my amcas, I listed how I'm a current orgo private tutor but included in the description that I have been accepted to serve as a TA for my school's course this coming year.

 

[letsgetstarted1234]

little lost on the minority question lol

thought about talking about growing up asian in a broken and violent home. hfc

I know this was touched upon earlier, but should all non-service activities go under extracurriculars? Like internships, shadowing, research, conferences, hobbies, etc. This seems like an odd way to classify activities...

curious about this too. are we including all of our activities?

 

[freedoctor17]

little lost on the minority question lol

thought about talking about growing up asian in a broken and violent home. hfc

curious about this too. are we including all of our activities?

I included just the main ones since there is only room for 6. Left off conferences/posters since I feel like that falls under research which I included as one of the 6.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I left off some stuff too. I also included a couple things not on my primary.