White Hispanic Female
3.7 UW 3.9 W, upward trend
33 ACT without studying- predicted 35
Middle-Upper Class: can pay the tuition, discussed w/ parents
Private HS
Honor Society
No hooks except for maybe the fact that my dad has no college degree
Great Essays
Great Recommendations
All honors + AP
Why JHU? Love the location, opportunities, proximity to my house, campus, courses, and “vibe”
From the looks of that, my stats are fine. I know, im not saying they are bad in any way. However the problem comes in my ECs. I feel very mid compared to everyone else. I suffered a lot with various different personal stuff freshman and sophomore year and while I completely grew from it junior year, it leads to a somewhat visible “gap” in my resume as well as a lower GPA during those years. I did not mention it in the current draft of my JHU essay, as I didnt want them to think I still struggle and haven’t moved on from it. But I also don’t want them to think I wasn’t motivated/didnt try. I had to speedrun doing stuff my Junior year. Did I genuinely enjoy the things I do and did I think they were impacting and important? Absolutely yes. Can I tell a story? Absolutely yes. But seeing the extracurriculars of people who get rejected made me seriously doubt myself.
Heres my current Ecs. As a junior, i started HS in 2021
-Varsity Tennis 2021-present (no leadership pos but will probably get an award next year)
-Biomedical Club 2021-present (raised a lot of money, possible leadership nxt year)
-Campus Ministry 2021-present (No leadership position because there is no leader but I have led multiple events)
-Clippers in Action (Key Club) 2021-present (same as campus- no leadership except for being a HR representative one year but led multiple events)
-HOSA 2024-present (currently trying to set it up w some other people)
-200+ service hours as of 2024
-Got credits for taking a course at Adelphi College for Science Medicine and Society 2023
-Tried to start a club, couldn’t unfortunately
-Peer Tutor for science, biomed, and time management 2023-present
-Teaching Biomed Courses to middle schoolers as part of a summer camp for kids, summer of 2024 so upcoming. I do not get paid.
-Family bakery worker 2020-present
-Resturant Worker 2021-present
-Local Babysitter 2021-present
-Tennis Camp Coach 2022
If you don’t apply, you can’t get in. So, if you’re interested in JHU and your parents can afford it, you should apply. Why wouldn’t you?
Just make sure you have a mix of matches and safeties that you like so that if JHU doesn’t work out, you have other places you are happy with. Good luck!
Your ECs look fine. If JHU is your top choice and it appears affordable (run net price calculator) then apply and give it your all. This way you will never have to wonder “what if.”
Just understand that JHU should be considered a reach for any unhooked applicant. Be sure to apply to a mix of reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable and that you would be happy to attend.
You need one, preferably two schools that are surefire admission safeties and surefire affordable.
In other words, these are your most important schools because they give you a place to land if either admission or anything else fails.
After that, your list is - whatever you desire.
If you don’t apply to JHU, I know you’re not getting in. If you do apply, I don’t think you’re getting in - but what I think isn’t relevant. What JHU thinks is.
As far as wasting money applying - most every kid applies to more than one school and you can only go to one - so in that sense everyone is wasting (unless they apply to only free to apply schools or get a fee waiver, etc.).
I would find the right list - but make sure that right list includes those schools you know you can get into and afford.
Why JHU? If you share the why, maybe others can label similar, less competitive schools you can use as backup.
You may have mom/dad fill this out - right now JHU is about $350K but heading up. Is it affordable? Or do you qualify for aid? This will tell you.
Some folks have a dream school their parents can afford - but don’t want to afford - meaning, sure I have the $$ to pay for JHU but no way am I spending that much on college - hence you need a budget.
So before you emotionally attach yourself to any school, make sure it’s even plausible for you. This could be a reason not to apply…but not because you’re afraid of being rejected - hence wasting money on the app.
Of course you should apply. Your GPA is a little low, but not a deal breaker, especially with an upward trend. I would highly recommend applying ED1 if it is your first choice!
Only recommend applying ED if JHU appears to be affordable (run net price calculator) and the family has no need/desire to compare financial offers from different colleges.
If full-pay at JHU is affordable, the incremental cost of the application fee shouldn’t loom large in deciding whether/where to apply.
Looking at your more general thread… are you still considering an undergrad nursing major? (Wanting to keep that option open could be a factor, if you’re considering an ED application to JHU.)
Are you applying to Carnegie Mellon? (You mentioned applying to Pitt, and I see CMU as sort of Pitt location + JHU vibe.)
Your GPA will be viewed in the context of your school. From your other thread, it sounds as if weighted GPAs at your school top out at a level not much higher than yours. So even though you don’t have an official class rank, it sounds as if the context available to AO’s may frame you as a top-10%-level student. This is an important distinction where “chancing” you at JHU is concerned. Their Common Data Set shows that class rank is one of the factors they consider “very important,” and that 99% of entering students were in the top 10% of their class. Given that you aren’t a “hooked” applicant, I would assess the chances of your getting in, if you are not perceived as a top-10% student, as near-zero. But if you are seen as a top-10% student at a competitive, grade-deflated school, then you’re in the running, and the decision will tip whichever way it does, based on other factors.
FYI, FWIW, if you’re still interested in a BSN program and love JHU in part for location, Loyola Maryland will be admitting the inaugural class for its new direct-admit BSN program this coming year. This is also in Baltimore, only about 2 miles from JHU, and consortium cross-registration is available (if the BSN schedule allows time).
As for nursing, im still completely torn between Doctor and Nurse. Im doing research and setting up shadowing (which i forgot to mention in my ECs I shadow a doctor). Hopefully i can figure myself out soon because that will definitely have an impact on where ill end up
As for my GPA, our school has a very low curve. You cant get more than a 4.0. I take the hardest classes available (except missing one ap) and the weight is only 0.2 points. In fact I think honors and ap actually have the same weight. I see people here with “UW 3.5 W 4.5” and im just like ■■■ lol
We have grade deflation in honors classes and grade inflation in academy (not-honors). I maintain a 96 ish average by studying my ahhh off and putting heart into all my projects when we do something interesting. And then i have friends in academy who have the same average by showing up on time, passing tests and not getting caught using AI. There’s nothing i can really do about it and I don’t wanna screw other people over either.
We have no class rank and i tried asking for an estimate and they couldn’t tell me. But if you had to ask me, taking out all the academy kids id say top 5-10%. I had a teacher doing a rec tell me he thought i was easily top 2%, but that was in a subject (Physics) i absolutely cook in and doesn’t reflect the broader range of classes
Thx. We are still looking at other possibilities. They want me to ED at least somewhere and ironically its me not them who’s bringing up price and affordability.
Gpa was my biggest worry. Mentioned in another comment; it’s impossible to get anything over a 101% and the weight is only 0.2 points when i see some other posts and the weight is like 0.5+. Its crazy.
The emotional attachment is real, lol. Thankfully I really like Pitt (likely) SUNY Stony Brook (likely) and Providence (safety) as well. Beautiful environment, nice people and decent opportunities.
You should look into Saint Louis Univeristy. They have direct admit nursing and also have a medical scholars program where they admit small number of students and if you get the grades and a survive an interview you get a spot in the SLU medical school during your junior year. You have to take the MCAT but as long as you try on the exam you get into the medical school essentially without regards to your test score.
My D21 applied to direct nursing and got into medical scholars program but opted to go elsewhere. But it seemed like a great program for those like yourself who aren’t sure nursing or medicine. You should check it out.
Yes, of course, but OP said in their original post that they could afford the tuition. JHU gives a big bump for ED (around 20% ED acceptance rate vs 6% RD), so if OP’s family can afford it and it’s the top choice ED is definitely the way to go!