Hi,

I am a non-traditional student, 51 years old, first education in UK, long career in corporate America, and now in community college in Colorado. I have completed 49 credits (4.0 GPA) in the last three semesters and ready to transfer to a four year university after the spring 2011 semester. My ambition is to major in neuroscience (my passion!) and continue to a PhD program.

How does the application committee view non-traditional students ?
How many non-traditional students are there in the undergraduate programs ?
Is the career considered in the admissions decision ?
Is the first education considered in the admissions decision ?

Thanks!

These message boards are linked to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions for Johns Hopkins University's Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and Whiting School of Engineering. These schools do not offer any programs for adult students; only traditional undergraduate programs for students just graduating high school. We suggest you check-out the following degree programs for adult students:
 
Advanced Academic Programs: http://advanced.jhu.edu/
Engineering Programs for Professionals: http://ep.jhu.edu/

Yes. you are correct that a student who wants to apply for a second bachelor's degree can apply as a transfer student. This is not such a students only option though. It is extremely rare for us to accept a student seeking a second bachelor's degree, especially an adult student or former professional. The programs I referred you to in my previous posts are designed for non-traditional students, and I would highly encourage you to review those programs. You may apply for transfer admission, but from my experience your chances for admission will be very low.

I'm curios if there is any possibility of me getting into Hopkins without being in a traditional High School, and having to obtain a G.E.D. If it is possible I'm curios how GPA would play a factor in the application (considering there isn't much of a record of one) and considering I'd take the SAT's and other requirements how would I stand on the basis of acceptance?

A high school diploma is not required for admission however it is strongly preferred. A student with a GED may apply. Such students will still need to submit their high school transcripts up until the point of leaving high school, and will also need to submit their GED record. Typically students who pursue a GED still have at least three years of high school performance to be reviewed and that information will be crucial in the admission review. Though not required, it is also highly recommended that such students submit an additional essay explaining their reason for not completing high school.

Thanks Daniel. But I have no high school transcripts as when I dropped it was in middle school. Should I try and send those anyway or would they be considered useless?

You must have some record of academic study for your high school years to apply to Johns Hopkins University. You are not able to apply with just a GED record. If you did not attend high school then you must have been home-schooled. Home-schooled students need to provide a record of the academic work they did each year and some form of assessment in each of their classes.

Yea, I was homeschooled. So I might as well conclude with these questions.
Would I need an affidavit along with the course transcripts and send those in? Also would I need all of the regular course curriculum transcripts followed by regular High school students (Ex. English 1,2,3,4,) or can I just have the English 4, and the regular 12th grade classes?

The overall admission requirements for home-schooled applicants are the same. The secondary school report for home-schooled applicants must include a summary of the home-schooling program, a complete transcript with course descriptions, bibliography of textbooks, description of evaluation methods, and the actual grades or evaluations. Home-schooled applicants must meet the same high school curricular standard expected of all applicants. A letter of recommendation from an academic professional who is familiar with the individual applicant, other than the home-schooling teacher/parent, should be included with the application.

The Johns Hopkins University’s Admissions Committee does not have set guidelines or specific instructions for what information a home-schooled applicant must add to their application. Each home-schooled applicant is reviewed individually and independently and therefore there are no set standards for what application materials a student should submit. It is recommended that home-schooled students search out a regional home-schooling association and follow the guidelines set by such an association in terms of keeping academic records and forms of assessment. Many regional home-schooling associations have excellent resources for students in putting together materials for college admissions. The general rule for home-schooled applicants to Johns Hopkins University is that we prefer more information rather than less as it pertains to the courses a student has taken, the curriculum for those courses, and the overall assessment of performance for each courses.