Johns Hopkins University isn’t just a private research university in Baltimore; it is also considered the first research university in the US. JHU has many great programs, but it is especially synonymous with its STEM and pre-med fields. Some of the school’s most popular majors come from its Whiting School of Engineering. While JHU doesn’t publish a separate acceptance rate for the engineering school, make no mistake, JHU is highly competitive. Last year, their acceptance rate was . We would guess that the engineering school’s rate might even be slightly lower, given the popularity of its majors. The TLDR is that you need to be an elite candidate to get into JHU. If you are dreaming about going to Whiting, there are a couple of steps you need to take to be a JHU-level candidate. Let’s break them down.

Get the Grades

If you don’t have outstanding grades, you will not get into JHU. Sorry, but it's the truth. Last year, about 65% of admitted applicants had a 4.0 unweighted GPA, and 100% were in the top 10% of their graduating class (of students who submitted class rankings). The average submitted GPA was 3.93. All this is to say, you need perfect or near-perfect grades to be a serious Whiting applicant. However, excellent grades are kind of just the start. You also need a competitive transcript. Getting all As in easy classes will not impress JHU. Your transcript should have Honors, IB, AP, Accelerated, and/or Dual Enrollment courses on it. Ideally, as many as you can while still maintaining an outstanding GPA. For engineers, the bare minimum is to take the highest-level science and math classes available to you. However, most JHU-level candidates will also take high-level courses across subjects.

JHU is no longer test-optional. So on top of grades, you need to submit impressive scores. Last year, the school was test-optional and only around 68% of applicants submitted scores, so take the following with a grain of salt. The 50th percentile of accepted scores was either a 1540 on the SAT or a 35 on the ACT. You want to shoot for similar or ideally even better scores.

Build a Niche

Whiting offers 13 majors and 15 minors. It needs to be clear from your application which path you will pursue without even having to say it. You can do this by building an academic niche. For example, there should be a big difference between the resumes/applications of an Applied Mathematics major with a Space Science and Engineering minor and a dual major in Computer Science and Systems Engineering. Exploring your academic interests and intended field before you apply will build your niche. There are a couple of steps to creating a solid niche.

Courses and Reading

The first thing you need to do is learn as much as you can about your academic interests. We recommend building yourself a reading list. Yes, this means books, and before you say anything, there are a lot of great books on STEM out there. You can supplement your list with podcasts, scientific journals, tech blogs, etc. However, books need to be on that list.

We also recommend signing up for some engineering-related courses outside of your regular class day. Many universities offer pre-taped (often free) courses through third parties like Coursera. You can also look for summer programs at Universities or community college courses. Taking classes outside of your normal school schedule is a great way to show academic curiosity and build a strong academic niche.

School Extracurriculars

JHU-level applicants are active in their school communities. A way you can do this is to join clubs and activities. However, you shouldn’t just join clubs randomly. You want to make strategic decisions and join clubs that build on your academic niche. Popular clubs for hopeful engineers include robotics teams, science Olympiads, mathletes, STEM tutoring clubs, solar car teams, computer science societies, etc.. While this list changes based on your exact niche, STEM-based clubs are the right place to start. If your school doesn’t offer the right club or clubs for you, ask about starting one!

Just signing up for clubs won’t really be enough for Hopkins. You need to push yourself in your activities, just like you do in your classes. Just being a member of the Robotics team won’t impress Whiting. Being the co-captain is better. Being the co-captain who leads your team to regionals? Now, we’re starting to talk. You want to commit time and effort to the clubs that mean the most to you. Ideally, you can take on responsibilities and leadership roles in those clubs as well.

Out of School Extracurriculars

Just like your in-school clubs, your out-of-school activities should strategically build up your academic niche. While you can do this all year round, summers are especially important. Trust us, we routinely work with students as early as freshman year to make sure their summers are working for you.

There are a lot of opportunities that can help build a great summer, but JHU-level students will usually complete a mix of academic summer programs, internships, and research that all connect to their academic niche. For example, if you want to study Computer Science, the summer after your freshman year maybe you took a summer course at a university about Python. After your sophomore year, you interned at a tech start-up, and the year after, you taught programming at a local community center while helping a professor do research. This would be a solid summer resume (and honestly, you could even do more!) There are many opportunities out there; if you need help strategizing your summers, we have you covered! Contact us today!

Build Something Cool

You need to cap off your resume with something impressive. Engineering can require skills from programming to design to soldering. You can show off which ones you have by building something you would be proud to tell JHU about. Most of our students do this both during the year and the summer. We have worked with students who have built drones, computers, solar power systems, and much more. If you need to teach yourself some new skills to pull off the project, that is even better. Challenge yourself and see what you can create!

Apply Early

Earlier, we said that JHU’s acceptance rate was around 6%. However, that isn’t really the full story. That is their overall acceptance rate. Their early decision acceptance rate was more like  11.7% (meaning their RD rate is even lower than 6%). These are competitive rates. If you are a qualified candidate, ED is your best chance at getting in. Applying ED shows that you are serious about going to Whiting. Seniors, we are especially talking to you: every strategic college admissions plan includes a plan to apply early. Dates will come up fast, so get started!

JHU and, by extension, Whiting are hard to get into, but we can help. We work with students from freshmen to transfers to navigate all things college admissions. Ready to take the first step? Reach out today!