Author Topic: 2011-12 Application Essay Policy Explained (Read 3158 times)

Admissions_Daniel · « **on:** August 29, 2009, 10:41 AM »

We have a new essay policy for the 2011-12 application cycle. Students applying as freshmen to Johns Hopkins must use either the Common Application (http://app.commonapp.org ) or the Universal College Application (http://www.universalcollegeapp.com/ ) and must also submit the Johns Hopkins Supplement. Our essay policy is explained in the Johns Hopkins Supplement (Question #8):

Essay Policy if Applying with the Common Application:
Students applying as freshmen to Johns Hopkins using the Common Application plus the Johns Hopkins Supplement must submit: (1) one of the Common Application essays AND (2-3) both of the short answer questions on the Johns Hopkins Supplement.

For the Common Application essay, the topics you get to choose from include:
1) Evaluate a signiﬁcant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
2) Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
3) Indicate a person who has had a signiﬁcant inﬂuence on you, and describe that inﬂuence.
4) Describe a character in ﬁction, a historical ﬁgure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an inﬂuence on you, and explain that inﬂuence.
5) A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
6) Topic of your choice

The Johns Hopkins Supplement short answer essay topics are:
(remember you must answer both questions)

1. Johns Hopkins offers 50 majors across the schools of Arts & Sciences and Engineering. On this application, we ask you to identify one or two that you might like to pursue here. Why did you choose the way you did? If you are undecided, why didn’t you choose? (If any past courses or academic experiences influenced your decision, you may include them in your essay.

2. Tell us something about yourself or your interests that we wouldn’t learn by looking at the rest of your application materials. (While you should still pay attention to sentence structure and grammar, your response is meant as a way for us to get to know you, rather than a formal essay.

Essay Policy if Applying with the Universal College Application:
Students applying as freshmen to Johns Hopkins using the Universal College Application plus the Johns Hopkins Supplement must submit: (1) the Universal College Application essay AND (2-3) both of the short answer questions on the Johns Hopkins Supplement.

For the Universal College Application essay, you need to write an essay on a topic of your choice that demonstrates your ability to organize your thoughts and express yourself. Some ideas include writing about: a person you admire; a life-changing experience; or your viewpoint on a particular current event.

The Johns Hopkins Supplement short answer essay topics are:
(remember you must answer both questions)

1. Johns Hopkins offers 50 majors across the schools of Arts & Sciences and Engineering. On this application, we ask you to identify one or two that you might like to pursue here. Why did you choose the way you did? If you are undecided, why didn’t you choose? (If any past courses or academic experiences influenced your decision, you may include them in your essay.

2. Tell us something about yourself or your interests that we wouldn’t learn by looking at the rest of your application materials. (While you should still pay attention to sentence structure and grammar, your response is meant as a way for us to get to know you, rather than a formal essay.

Admissions_Daniel · « **Reply #1 on:** August 29, 2009, 10:55 AM »

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS RE: APPLICATION ESSAYS

How long should our essays be?
As is our traditional policy we do not set specific word limits for the application essays. We do provide the following suggested lengths:

Common Application Essay: 250 words minimum
Universal College Application Essay: 500 words or less

JHU Supplement Short Answer Question #1: 250 words maximum
JHU Supplement Short Answer Question #2: 250 words maximum

Am I allowed to submit my essay(s) in another medium?
Yes it has always been the policy of Johns Hopkins University's Admissions Committee to allow applicants to present their essays in any format and using any medium they choose.

When submitting my essays online the formatting I used did not come out right. How can I fix this?
Don't worry about the essay formatting. In 99% of the time when the applications are downloaded by our Operations team all the formatting is there. For some odd reason the online system removes the formatting when you submit, but it reappears when we print them out.

As an aside, the Admissions team has no concern about the formatting of essays. We just care about the content.

JHUHopeful2015 · « **Reply #2 on:** October 16, 2010, 07:53 AM »

AdmissionsDaniel,

My question is about word counts for the Hopkins essays. The supplement says a maximum of 250 words for each question. However when I looked over the Essays That Worked page on the admissions site those essays are clearly over 250 words. So what is the proper word count?

Thank you.

Admissions_Daniel · « **Reply #3 on:** October 16, 2010, 08:21 AM »

Quote from: "JHUHopeful2015"

My question is about word counts for the Hopkins essays. The supplement says a maximum of 250 words for each question. However when I looked over the Essays That Worked page on the admissions site those essays are clearly over 250 words. So what is the proper word count?

The essays presented on our "Essays That Worked" site ( http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/essays.html )are in response to the required Common Application / Universal Application required essay and not in response to the short answer essay questions on the Johns Hopkins Supplement. Applicants to Johns Hopkins University must submit three personal statements with their applications:

1) Major essay answer to one of the Common Application / Universal Application essay prompts (no word count requirement)

2) & 3) Answers to short answer questions on the Johns Hopkins Supplement (maximum 250 words for each answer)

BlueJay2015 · « **Reply #4 on:** October 24, 2010, 10:45 AM »

I am applying ED and have completed my essays. But the lengths might be too long and Im worried.

My common App essay is 600 Words long, while the two supplements are 300 words long each. I know it says about 250 words, but is there a leeway of a few words. Perhaps 275 words?

thx

Admissions_Daniel · « **Reply #5 on:** October 26, 2010, 05:39 PM »

Quote from: "BlueJay2015"

My common App essay is 600 Words long, while the two supplements are 300 words long each. I know it says about 250 words, but is there a leeway of a few words. Perhaps 275 words?

There is no word count restriction on Common Application essays, though we do prefer students keep their essays between 500-750 words.

As far as the two short answer questions on the Johns Hopkins Supplement, we explicitly state that both answers have a 250 word count maximum. That means 300, 275, or even 251 words is too much.

arandomguy · « **Reply #6 on:** November 01, 2010, 01:39 PM »

Hello. I just applied ED yesterday but realized today that I accidentally forgot a word in one of my supplementary essays. Is there any way to correct this, and how serious of a problem is it? Thanks!

Admissions_Daniel · « **Reply #7 on:** November 01, 2010, 04:13 PM »

Quote from: arandomguy

Hello. I just applied ED yesterday but realized today that I accidentally forgot a word in one of my supplementary essays. Is there any way to correct this, and how serious of a problem is it? Thanks!

To provide a correction, change, or update to a previously submitted application you must either fax it to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions (410-516-6025) or mail it to:

Application Coordinator
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
Johns Hopkins University
Mason Hall
3400 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21218

This includes any changes to a submitted essay. Please make sure that any correction includes the applicant's full name, birth date, and school (social security number is helpful but optional). We do not process correction requests submitted through e-mail.

PetahR · « **Reply #8 on:** November 23, 2010, 12:23 AM »

Hello,

I applied ED to Johns Hopkins and have a question regarding the supplement short answer length. While my essays(including titles) did not exceed the 250 word limit, the additional information (last four digits of SSN, name, and birth date) brought the word count to over 250 words. At the time I didn't feel this would matter, but after reading the replies to this threat, I am slightly worried. Will the admissions officers take into account that my actual response does not break the limit or will they see just a word count read out and immediately disregard the essay for being over 250 words?

Thanks,
PetahR

Admissions_Daniel · « **Reply #9 on:** November 23, 2010, 07:26 AM »

Quote from: PetahR

I applied ED to Johns Hopkins and have a question regarding the supplement short answer length. While my essays(including titles) did not exceed the 250 word limit, the additional information (last four digits of SSN, name, and birth date) brought the word count to over 250 words. At the time I didn't feel this would matter, but after reading the replies to this threat, I am slightly worried. Will the admissions officers take into account that my actual response does not break the limit or will they see just a word count read out and immediately disregard the essay for being over 250 words?

The word count relates only to the words used in response to the essay question; not any titles or contact information included on the page.

Anna · « **Reply #10 on:** December 26, 2010, 03:53 PM »

Hi,

My Common App essay is about an experience I had within a particular field of study, and completely answers the supplement question "Why do you want to major in __________?"

What would the Admissions officers prefer to see in my supplement essay, given that I've already thoroughly discussed this topic? Would it be better I wrote my supplement essay on what I would like to minor in, with the possibility that I could end up double-majoring?

Thank you for your help.

Anna

oyhu · « **Reply #11 on:** December 27, 2010, 05:14 AM »

Currently I have two versions of my essay for the "A Typical student at Johns Hopkins spends less than 15 hours each week in a classroom..." prompt. One is written in a traditional essay format while the other is written in a well, not-so-traditional essay format.

For the supplement, is Hopkins looking for a straightforward response? Would it be too risky to write an essay in the form of say, an interview (not what I'm doing, but just an example)?

Thank you in advance for your help. :)

Admissions_Daniel · « **Reply #12 on:** December 27, 2010, 10:56 AM »

Quote from: Anna

My Common App essay is about an experience I had within a particular field of study, and completely answers the supplement question "Why do you want to major in __________?"

What would the Admissions officers prefer to see in my supplement essay, given that I've already thoroughly discussed this topic? Would it be better I wrote my supplement essay on what I would like to minor in, with the possibility that I could end up double-majoring?

Applicants to Johns Hopkins University are required to submit an application essay and two short answer responses for review by the admissions committee. It is the strong preference of the admissions committee that all three personal statements reflect on different topics that answer different questions. If the essay you have written for the Common Application answers one of the short answer questions on the Johns Hopkins supplement, you are strongly encouraged to answer one of the other common application essays and submit that with your application to Johns Hopkins University.

Admissions_Daniel · « **Reply #13 on:** December 27, 2010, 10:58 AM »

Quote from: oyhu

Currently I have two versions of my essay for the "A Typical student at Johns Hopkins spends less than 15 hours each week in a classroom..." prompt. One is written in a traditional essay format while the other is written in a well, not-so-traditional essay format.

For the supplement, is Hopkins looking for a straightforward response? Would it be too risky to write an essay in the form of say, an interview (not what I'm doing, but just an example)?

We do not provide such advice. We leave our essay and short answer prompts pretty vague to allow each applicants the opportunity to answer the questions in their own manner. The role of the admissions committee is to evaluate not only the content of a student's application but the direction they took in the information they provided. Therefore we do not provide advice on how to respond to questions on the application. It is ultimately your choice how you want to respond to the essay and short answer prompts.

snehabhagwat · « **Reply #14 on:** December 29, 2010, 03:24 PM »

I submitted my essay today. Probably a common thing, but my Essay comes across as very bold. I t has not explanation going into the main body, Even the title is just a sentence strong and clear. I also want to clarify that i intended it to be exactly this way.

My only concern is whether or not the admission officers would take this well. It is very proper and strong but not in the least bit 'flowery', if i may say so. Am i in trouble?

hopkinsplease15 · « **Reply #15 on:** December 30, 2010, 12:22 AM »

I submitted a supplemental essay with a typo! I accidentally left out a letter, which changes the meaning of the word significantly. My guidance counselor told me not to email the admissions officer for our region because it was such a small typo, but I'm still worried. I saw you posted an address to where I can mail corrections - do you think leaving one letter off is serious enough to mail a correction? Thank you!

Admissions_Daniel · « **Reply #16 on:** December 30, 2010, 09:34 AM »

Quote from: snehabhagwat

I submitted my essay today. Probably a common thing, but my Essay comes across as very bold. I t has not explanation going into the main body, Even the title is just a sentence strong and clear. I also want to clarify that i intended it to be exactly this way. My only concern is whether or not the admission officers would take this well. It is very proper and strong but not in the least bit 'flowery', if i may say so. Am i in trouble?

As I have said previously, we leave the essay/short answer prompts short and vague and do not provide extensive instructions as we want to allow each and every applicant the latitude to respond to the questions in their own manner. There is no one tone, no one direction, no specific content that we are looking for (or prefer); rather we want each applicant to answer the questions in their own way.

There is no way to pre-assess one's response to an essay or short answer question as the responses must be taken into context with one's entire application. You took a risk and now you just have to wait and see if it worked.

Admissions_Daniel · « **Reply #17 on:** December 30, 2010, 09:36 AM »

Quote from: hopkinsplease15

I submitted a supplemental essay with a typo! I accidentally left out a letter, which changes the meaning of the word significantly. My guidance counselor told me not to email the admissions officer for our region because it was such a small typo, but I'm still worried. I saw you posted an address to where I can mail corrections - do you think leaving one letter off is serious enough to mail a correction? Thank you!

A typo never looks good especially when it changes the meaning of the word. I would suggest you submit an error correction.

To provide a correction, change, or update to previously submitted application materials you will need to compose a letter of update and either fax it to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions (410-516-6025) or mail it to:

Application Coordinator
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
Johns Hopkins University
Mason Hall
3400 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21218

Please make sure that any submitted materials include the applicant's full name, birth date, and school (social security number is helpful but optional).

guest1 · « **Reply #18 on:** January 03, 2011, 05:45 PM »

Is it okay if I faxed the whole corrected version to the address above?

Admissions_Daniel · « **Reply #19 on:** January 04, 2011, 11:04 AM »

Quote from: guest1

Is it okay if I faxed the whole corrected version to the address above?

As the response just above your question states:

To provide a correction, change, or update to previously submitted application materials you will need to compose a letter of update and either fax it to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions (410-516-6025) or mail it to......

So yes it is alright if you faxed the corrected version of your essay.

hello123 · « **Reply #20 on:** January 07, 2011, 06:13 PM »

If changes are made to the application, will the previous information be removed?
As in, would admissions read both the old and new versions of essays or application materials?

Admissions_Daniel · « **Reply #21 on:** January 07, 2011, 07:38 PM »

Quote from: hello123

If changes are made to the application, will the previous information be removed?
As in, would admissions read both the old and new versions of essays or application materials?

No item is ever removed from an application. When application changes are submitted, admissions evaluators will see both the old and new versions.

arahimi · « **Reply #22 on:** January 03, 2012, 10:07 PM »

I have submitted my application and all the essays however, I forgot to put my name, date of birth, and social security number on my submitted work as it was instructed. Is there a way for me to go back and correct it.

Admissions_Daniel · « **Reply #23 on:** January 04, 2012, 09:36 AM »

Quote from: arahimi on January 03, 2012, 10:07 PM

I have submitted my application and all the essays however, I forgot to put my name, date of birth, and social security number on my submitted work as it was instructed. Is there a way for me to go back and correct it.

There is no way to go back and change a submitted online application. The application instructions to include name, birth date, and last four digits of one’s Social Security number on each page of one’s essay and short answer questions responses is a suggestion not a requirement. This suggestion assists with the processing of application materials. However, if you submitted your Common Application / Universal College Application and the Johns Hopkins Supplement online and included your essay responses at the time of submission then everything will be tracked correctly. There is no follow-up step necessary if all documents were submitted online and your admission will not be impacted by this omission.

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Author Topic: 2011-12 Application Essay Policy Explained (Read 3158 times)