Attend interview at Johns Hopkins?

[BurnEmUpBears]

Hey yall I need some advice:

I was recently offered an interview at Johns Hopkins, scheduled for 3/13. My letters sent in August had been lost en route, they only let me know a month ago and I resent them (probably my bad for not confirming I was complete).

My main question is do I still have a reasonable chance for admission? They are rolling, and I'd definitely wouldn't go for just a waitlist shot.

Does anyone have some opinions about JHU they can share with me? I'm not really feeling Baltimore, but I think I'm just stereotyping it; I really have no idea what it's actually like. I heard its hardcore competitive and I'm not into that; but other people have said it's not like that anymore. JHU has a great repuation, but is there anything really special/tangible that makes it stand out from other schools say in the top-15?

I've interviewed at 10 schools total, all back last semester. I'm 4 for 5 on the ones I've heard back from, and will likely hear back from 3 of the others a week or two before my interview. I'd probably choose Hopkins over most of the ones I've been accepted to, but not over 4 of the 5 I still need to hear from.

The flights for my interview date are fairly expensive (I'd stick with refundable ones though), and for some reason my Southwest free tickets are blacked out on the return flight.

Thanks!

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[etf]

i'd go just to see what kind of kids hopkins invites for interview. i'm sure you'll be seeing some of them delivering lectures in stockholm in the not too-distant future...

 

[Isoprop]

Hey yall I need some advice:

I was recently offered an interview at Johns Hopkins, scheduled for 3/13. My letters sent in August had been lost en route, they only let me know a month ago and I resent them (probably my bad for not confirming I was complete).

My main question is do I still have a reasonable chance for admission? They are rolling, and I'd definitely wouldn't go for just a waitlist shot.

Does anyone have some opinions about JHU they can share with me? I'm not really feeling Baltimore, but I think I'm just stereotyping it; I really have no idea what it's actually like. I heard its hardcore competitive and I'm not into that; but other people have said it's not like that anymore. JHU has a great repuation, but is there anything really special/tangible that makes it stand out from other schools say in the top-15?

I've interviewed at 10 schools total, all back last semester. I'm 4 for 5 on the ones I've heard back from, and will likely hear back from 3 of the others a week or two before my interview. I'd probably choose Hopkins over most of the ones I've been accepted to, but not over 4 of the 5 I still need to hear from.

The flights for my interview date are fairly expensive (I'd stick with refundable ones though), and for some reason my Southwest free tickets are blacked out on the return flight.

Thanks!

sounds like you're less than enthusiastic. but you might regret it down the line if the 3 others you are waiting for don't accept you. for that reason alone, i would go.

 

[hra87]

Someone said that one of the deans or admissions staff at Hopkins said that he didn't get why people are so worried about getting their applications in early, since it doesn't have any bearing on their results. Something like that. So I suspect Hopkins is still handing out admissions.

And btw, 40% or so of their class is in off the waitlist.

 

[TheRealMD]

Hey yall I need some advice:

I was recently offered an interview at Johns Hopkins, scheduled for 3/13. My letters sent in August had been lost en route, they only let me know a month ago and I resent them (probably my bad for not confirming I was complete).

My main question is do I still have a reasonable chance for admission? They are rolling, and I'd definitely wouldn't go for just a waitlist shot.

Does anyone have some opinions about JHU they can share with me? I'm not really feeling Baltimore, but I think I'm just stereotyping it; I really have no idea what it's actually like. I heard its hardcore competitive and I'm not into that; but other people have said it's not like that anymore. JHU has a great repuation, but is there anything really special/tangible that makes it stand out from other schools say in the top-15?

I've interviewed at 10 schools total, all back last semester. I'm 4 for 5 on the ones I've heard back from, and will likely hear back from 3 of the others a week or two before my interview. I'd probably choose Hopkins over most of the ones I've been accepted to, but not over 4 of the 5 I still need to hear from.

The flights for my interview date are fairly expensive (I'd stick with refundable ones though), and for some reason my Southwest free tickets are blacked out on the return flight.

Thanks!

Until you get into those 4 or 5, suck it up. $400 is not worth a life full of regret when they already gave you an interview.

 

[Jolie South]

don't want to scare you about the competitive thing but. . .

at my gw interview, i met someone that interviewed at hopkins the previous day. it sounded like the most intense interview ever. she was saying that they had people observing you and noting your behavior for the ENTIRE day. she also said that her interviews were pretty stressful and difficult. i don't remember any of the specific questions she was asked though.

anyways, i don't know this chick so she could be a total pansy incapable of accepting criticism or dealing with stress, but i just remember it sounding like nothing i would ever want to do.

however, if you feel like you might regret not going, just go. it's better to have gone and known the truth. i've been feeling a little bit of remorse for spending a lot on my OOS interviews, but then i go back and think that i'm glad i did it at least for the sake of comparison. i wouldn't have known otherwise that the school i chose is the best for me.

 

[LovelyMD]

Well, people aren't watching you for the entire day. In the afternoon (which is when interviews are held), all the interviewees will be sitting in the waiting area, waiting to be called for their two interviews. The 4-5 student interviewers scheduled for the day are also there, and you sort of just converse with them. Technically the student interviewers as a group are evaluating the way everyone interacts, but I think the one-on-one interview with a student matters far more. I didn't think the waiting area thing was stressful. I just acted the way I normally act, and we all just asked the student interviewers questions about the school. But I guess if you think about it too much, you'd be nervous for the entire time you're in the waiting room.

I thought my Hopkins interviews were the some of the most enjoyable ones on my interview trail. The student interviewers were cool people. In order to be a student interviewer there, you have to be elected by your classmates, so these are people that their class thought highly of.

OP, if I were you, I would go, especially since you haven't yet heard from the other schools that you would choose over Hopkins.

 

[Flake0006]

Hopkins interview was fun. People were cool and easy to talk to. Interviewers did not ask anything probing. The day is long but enjoyable if you actually talk to the other applicants. To the OP...go, have fun, meet some new people, maybe you'll get in!

 

[Jolie South]

Hopkins interview was fun. People were cool and easy to talk to. Interviewers did not ask anything probing. The day is long but enjoyable if you actually talk to the other applicants. To the OP...go, have fun, meet some new people, maybe you'll get in!

geez, what was the chick at my interview talking about?

 

[Flake0006]

I dunno they said that some days people just clicked and were really talkative and other days people were just nervous and silent. It was hit or miss. I got lucky and everyone wanted to be vocal.

 

[BigRedder]

Haha, to me the idea of getting an interview at Hopkins and turning it down is just so ridiculous I can't even imagine it.

 

[bcat85]

I'd give it a shot.. I loved JHU when I interviewed there, but it was also my top choice from the start.

 

[Vihsadas]

I vote attend. You said that you would go to hopkins over the schools that have currently sent you an acceptance. Well, if the other schools (for some reason) don't return you a favorable result you might end up kicking yourself for not going to this opportunity! Do it.

 

[[pj]]

Heck, why not?

 

[omgmedschool]

Everyone is going to have an opinion on JHU and whether to go there or not for the interview. Ultimately you will just have to way your options...do you think you will regret it? If so just go and check it out. but if you can honestly not go to the interview and be content then don't go. If you would like my interview experience at JHU well I also attend the undergrad. So I was really excited about my interview there last semester and I had heard about the sitting in the room thing and being watched so I was prepared. I was surprised that a lot of the students interviewing with me came from random schools I had never heard of. A lot of them were a little socially awkward but we made the best of it. The student interviews were chill but my faculty interview was kinda mean. he spent the entire time asking me why i wanted to go to such a prestigious school and how i thought i was good enough to get in. He made me feel really stupid and I wasn't a fan of him or the air of "omg we are so much better than everyone else." Needless to say I was really happy I went to the interview because it showed me that prestige doesn't mean everything and Hopkins was not a good fit for me. I recently go into baylor last december and it was my top choice from the get go. If I would have been accepted before my jhu interview i think i wouldn't have gone to it...even though its right down the street.

 

[LovelyMD]

I was surprised that a lot of the students interviewing with me came from random schools I had never heard of.

This is so true. Hopkins had a lot of people coming from a wide range of schools (unlike some of the other highly ranked schools I interviewed at, where there were a lot of people from the Ivies/Stanford/[insert well known undergrad here]). The student interviewers also came from a wide range of schools. That was something else I appreciated about Hopkins.

 

[BurnEmUpBears]

Thanks everyone for your input. I've actually decided to not attend the interview. I've got one of the schools I was waiting out for (UCLA) and probably need to use the credits for Second Look flights. If the whole problem with the letters hadn't occurred and I'd gotten an earlier interview, I would have definitely interviewed at Johns Hopkins instead of another school.

Thanks again.

 

[Cegar]

Baltimore is just as bad as you imagine it is.

 

[JHopRevisit]

Baltimore is just as bad as you imagine it is.

Current student here. People have mixed opinions on Baltimore, I actually think there's a lot to like. Like with all schools, I'd hope people would go to the interview/revisit and check things out for yourself. One of the main things we'll try to do for re-visit is take you around and let you see if its somewhere you could spend four years

The main reason I thought I'd post is because of the competitive thing. We get that a lot, I don't really know why, but it's not like that at all. I won't waste too much breath trying to convince you since it's one of those things you shouldn't really believe if it comes from a current student, but if any of you come to an interview or re-visit you can see what the students are like and make up your own mind.

And it's not that stressful. Medical school is hard, I spent a lot of time studying today, but I'm also in DC right now and about to go out despite the fact I have a psych and neurosci test this week. So you can still have fun.

As far as being evaluated all day during your interview, that's not really true. Students come in and talk to you while you wait, but its more to see if you can be a little friendly and sociable, its not really meant to be a stressful thing. The admissions committee has this weird idea that since you'll spend the rest of your professional life talking to strangers in high pressure situations a ten minute chat with a current med student should be cake.

 

[Maxx4]

I think you're crazy.

 

[1956Goldtop]

OP I think you made a wise choice. I declined a washU interview for the very same reasons you did. At this late point in the game, its not worth it to spend the large sum of money to make the interview for what may or may not be an alternate list spot. Like you, I probably would have attended my washu interview if it came earlier in the year, in which case I would have just not gone to one of my other interviews.

 

[Ella Shepherd]

Thanks everyone for your input. I've actually decided to not attend the interview. I've got one of the schools I was waiting out for (UCLA) and probably need to use the credits for Second Look flights. If the whole problem with the letters hadn't occurred and I'd gotten an earlier interview, I would have definitely interviewed at Johns Hopkins instead of another school.

Thanks again.

Hey, UCLA! That's great! I hope you get in.