I applied to JHU early decision. I understand from another post on this blog that we should send in our first quarter grades before Dec. 1. My school only has two semesters a year and the first grades are not going to be available until mid-Jan/early-Feb time. Any advice? Thank you!

It is not a requirement for applicants to submit first quarter grades, just a strong request. If you school does not provide quarter grades than clearly that is not an option and something you can not send in. Do note, that if the Admissions Committee does want assessment of your early senior year performance a confidential phone call may be placed to your guidance counselor.

A couple weeks ago, I received an email stating that the Early Decision Agreement (counselor's component) was missing. I faxed it in, but never received an email confirming its arrival. Should this be a reason of concern?

No reason to be concerned. We are not able to confirm the receipt of individual application items due to the vast amount of documents our office must process. If you were not contacted again about a missing document that you can safely assume it was received, processed, and your application is complete.

I was wondering if admissions chances are affected based on when the application is submitted.
Are decisions made after all applications are read, or is it made as they were submitted?

One's admissions chances are not in any way impacted based on when the application is submitted. An application submitted seconds before the deadline will be reviewed in the exact same manner as an application submitted months in advance. When applications are reviewed by the Admissions Committee there is no information listed regarding when an application was completed.

Just make sure you don't miss the deadline.

Hi! My last name on the transcripts and SAT report is spelled differently from what is on the application (which is like what's written on my passport).. Does that affect my application process? Should I notify someone about this?

Yes this could definitely be a problem. It is quite important when applying to Johns Hopkins University that you use your full legal name on all documents. Students need to use only one consistent full name in the application process, or there is a chance all application materials will not be processed correctly. It is the responsibility of the applicant to make sure all application materials are submitted using a consistent full legal name.
 
If you feel that you have submitted application materials under different spellings of your name, you will need to fax (410-516-6025) a letter of explanation detailing the different names used for each specific part of your application materials.

I was sent an email reporting a missing document in the application.
Would I have gotten another email if the newly submitted document was incomplete or did not reach the university?

We do not send e-mail confirmation when we receive application items. If you did not receive an additional e-mail stating that you still had missing items, then you can safely assume the missing items were received and processed.

Hello I just recently decided I wanted to apply to Johns Hopkins. Due to this fact, my guidance counselors said they could not get my transcript in by the January 1st deadline. Does that mean that my application will be invalid? Will it be okay for them to send in my transcript after the January 1st deadline?

We request that all application materials be submitted or postmarked by the application deadline of January 1. We understand though at times school-related application materials such as the secondary school report, transcript, and letters of recommendation cannot be sent by that date. We will be flexible with the application deadline for those parts of the application; however the student portions of the application must be submitted online or postmarked by the January 1st deadline.
 
The school materials of the application may be sent after the January 1 deadline, but not later than January 15th. If your school materials are going to be delayed longer than that, your guidance counselor needs to call the admissions office to request an extension.

Has the release date been firmed up?

The most up-to-date information about the release of Regular Decision notifications can be found via the Hopkins Insider Admissions blog: http://blogs.hopkins-interactive.com/. The last update was posted on March 14, 2012: http://blogs.hopkins-interactive.com/blog/2012/03/march-admissions-madness/. There have been no additional updates at this time.