2007-2008 JHU Application Essays Revealed - Page 3

*AdmissionsDaniel* · 12-20-2007, 07:45 AM

I personally prefer reading the JHU essays, but there is no official preference between the communities essay versus the common app. essay choices. EACH APPLICANT HAS THE CHOICE. There is no edge of increased chance of admission dependent on which essays you submit.

AMD · 12-20-2007, 08:00 AM

AdmissionsDaniel:

Just a general question. Do you have any point scheme for the selection process. How much weight given to Test scores, GPA, Rank and Essay. Is that a fair question to ask?

Just curious. I feel that too much emphasis on essay is somewhat unreasonable for science majors. Perhaps it fits other majors where writing is the most important thing. But, why is it same for kids who plan to do science? Appreciate if you could shed some light. Thanks!

P.S. Essay writing is not my strength. I do okay, but won't pretend to be a super writer. Besides, some kids I know use paid essay writing services to fine tune their essays. Perhaps you have seen certain TV programs about how some got into IVY's with essays written by others.

*AdmissionsDaniel* · 12-20-2007, 09:08 AM

Hopkins does not use a point system, nor do we formally rank the importance of each application factor. Our review process is holistic and comprehensive. Everything matters.

I actually disagree with you on your comments about essays. I think essays should be a very important factor in the admissions review process, as it is the only part of an application where the student speaks for themselves. Everything else is a record of accomplishments or others writing about the applicant. The essays are the only time the student's voice is used, and therefore that should be very important in the review of ALL APPLICANTS.

The importance of the essays is not to determine an applicant's writing ability, but rather to assess who the student is, who they want to be, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and how they see themselves. Some students can write quite eloquently and still have poor essays. Whereas others can write simplistic essays but they turn out to reveal so much about the applicant.

I specifically disagree with your statement that essays should not play as much of a role in applications for science students. Science students first will have to write in college, so clearly that is important. But more important is that as an application reader, I want to know as much about a "science" student as I do a humanities student, social science student, engineering student, or someone undecided.

And as for students who don't write their own essays ... don't worry about that. In the majority of those cases it is clearly obvious and it will hurt the applicant.

AMD · 12-20-2007, 09:48 AM

AdmissionsDaniel:

Thank you for replying to me. I am okay as long as you value only the message in the essay in terms of getting to know the student. I was only complaining about the artistic part of essay writing which makes your essay stand out.

You also said that you can catch professionally written essays. I am very glad to hear that.

hiall · 12-23-2007, 12:02 AM

Can we refer to an essay from another essay? Like in my community JHU essay, I wrote "If you read my commonapp essay, you would see that..."

Thanks in advance

*AdmissionsDaniel* · 12-23-2007, 06:39 AM

There is no rule against referring to an essay in another essay, but my suggestion would be to make each of your essays stand alone. Each essay prompt is specific in nature and therefore in my opinion you should compose an answer that can be read separately from the rest of your application and still make sense.

hiall · 12-23-2007, 08:40 AM

Another question:
What about overlaps? Like a paragraph that appears on the commonapp essay reappearing on the JHU community essay. Would that hurt my chances in any way?

Thanks!

*AdmissionsDaniel* · 12-23-2007, 01:45 PM

Once again, your essay responses should stand alone. Though duplicating paragraphs in essays will not hurt your chances, it doesn't make much sense.

As well, why are you writing an answer to the Common Application essay and the JHU Communities essay if they are going to have similar responses. You need to only submit one of these essays. You don't want to submit multiple essays that reveal the same information.

fluxxii · 12-23-2007, 03:22 PM

I was too excited to get my JHU application in that I feel like I submitted it too hastily. : ( I keep reflecting on my #2 essay and wishing that I had added more!

aurorad12345 · 01-09-2008, 01:12 PM

Are these essay prompts going to be the same ones in 1 1/2 years? Or do you change them up every year?

My daughter's dad graduated from Hopkins in 1976. How much will that help her?

Also she will be National Merit finalist due to her PSAT score, I know the cutoff for our state year after year and she is 6 points above the usual cutoff--I know she will make it. But I know I was told GPA is really the most important. She goes to a great school at present and has a good GPA (3.7 or 3.8). Oh, and so far she is taking their hardest courses (is in trig, had to repeat although got B in her old school but didn't pass the new school placement test, and calculus 1--in 11th grade, and the new school's hardest chemistry class (she had chemistry 1 in 10th grade), and in the past has always been in gifted classes).

But she doesn't know what she wants to do, and she prefers reading novels to anything else and is a bit lazy. She is not clerical in the sense that she doesn't know what's going on around her. She just isn't focused at all, although she lately, in the last 9 months, has given up reading for an Internet website that allows you to re-write the endings of your favorite novels, and she is enthralled (literally) and spends all her time doing this when not in school and not doing homework. she doesn't socialize much, even though she is now in a boarding school to get her to socialize! I see other gifted kids who are on the ball, planning their lives, and my kid seems like mush. She doesn't care about all the college planning or lining up references or any of it.

Do you admit this kind of person? She has all the other requirements, I suppose, but just doesn't seem that motivated, except that this writing of story endings and communicating with others on this website seems to have taken over her life this past year, an improvement of sorts in that she would read and re-read Tamora Pierce fiction all the time, and now is writing instead.

Any suggestions, also?

Great, I just browsed upwards and saw that you want students to tell about themselves thru these essays. Not much to tell about my kid, she's not extending herself except in this writing website. So that could do it, right, keep her out of JHU because she's not tuning in and exploring other things?

*AdmissionsDaniel* · 01-09-2008, 05:46 PM

Welcome to College Confidential ... let's see how much I can help:

(1) No way to tell what the essay prompts will be for Fall 2009 nor Fall 2010 admissions. We will periodically change the essay prompts and such decisions are not made until the early summer before a student's senior year. We release our new applications every August.

(2) Legacy matters, but it is only a minor factor. A student still needs to be academically competitive and a good fit to be admitted. Legacy reflects a student's connection to Hopkins.

(3) "Do you admit this kind of person?"
Sorry but I can't answer that question. First, it is a policy of mine to not comment on what types of students we admit or what a specific student's chances for admission might be. The reasons for this is one can not summarize nor predict the admissions review process based on a couple of paragraph's description of a student.

Second, our application reviews are comprehensive, holistic evaluations of everything about a student provided in their application. All academic factors matter in relation to all non-academic qualities. We also look at a student's personal qualities, and whether they are a fit for what our University is looking for. As much as grades, test scores, activities, recommendations, etc. matter ... it is also a question of what the student will contribute to our school.

(4) Suggestions. Help your daughter but let her discover her own passions. Work with the school's college counseling office to discover types of colleges and universities to look at. Have her explore the various extracurricular and academic enrichment experiences available to her in her school and community.

(5) There is no one reason why we will not admit students. As I said above, we look for students who best fit our school and will contribute the most ... and there are many different types of students who fit that criteria.

Best of luck.

zfox001 · 02-19-2008, 07:42 PM

I really like the fact that the essays don't have to be just ink on paper. I think by giving students more creative license it will show more character and creativity. The communities essay would be awesome for me though....i have lots of things i could put into it.
I can't wait to hear what next years essays will be!

*AdmissionsDaniel* · 02-19-2008, 08:00 PM

I can't wait for next year's essays either ... I am hoping for some tweaks and changes. I personally like new essays each year, as they keep things fresh ... especially since I read about 3000+ essays per year.

zfox001 · 02-19-2008, 10:56 PM

How creative have people actually gotten with the communities essay prompt?
I can imagine some people would have done very cool stuff.

*AdmissionsDaniel* · 02-20-2008, 07:34 AM

Actually this year unlike previous ones, very few applicants have presented their essays in another medium. Most of the communities essays have been standard written essays. We have gotten a few creative ones, but not as many as in previous years with our "$10 question" or "day's adventure" question.

Unfortunately since the admissions review process is on-going I can not share any specific examples.