Frequently Asked Questions

As a university rooted in collaboration and discovery, Hopkins is invested in harnessing the power and promise of artificial intelligence (AI) responsibly both within and beyond the classroom. While AI platforms can be helpful tools in the college search and application process, they must be used in accordance with university policies. As part of the admissions process, Hopkins adheres to the affirmation statements and policies issued by the Common Application for all applicants.

By submitting your application to Hopkins, you affirm the following statement: “I certify that all information submitted in the admission process — including this application and any other supporting materials — is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented, and that these documents will become the property of the institution to which I am applying and will not be returned to me. I understand that I may be subject to a range of possible disciplinary actions, including admission revocation, expulsion, or revocation of course credit, grades, and degree should the information I have certified be false.” 

It is Hopkins’ policy that you may use AI tools for brainstorming or refining ideas before the writing process begins and for basic proofreading of your own writing, such as spelling and grammar review, but all material submitted within the application must be your own original work. Submitting “the substantive content or output of an artificial intelligence platform, technology, or algorithm” is not permissible and is considered an instance of application fraud in accordance with Common Application policies. 

Your application—especially written portions including the essays and activity list—is your opportunity to share your most authentic story. We want to get to know you as an individual: your personality, your interests, and what matters most to you. Think of this essay as a personal conversation where you can go deeper into your story and connect directly with the admissions committee. For this reason, writing in your natural voice positions you to craft your most effective essay. For helpful resources on writing your personal essays, check out our Essays That Worked or one of our application workshops. 

Hopkins is committed to helping students and their families move forward in the face of natural disasters. Please reach out if you need support and flexibility when completing your application.

The overall admissions requirements 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 and 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/guardian, should be included with the application.

We are committed to recruiting and admitting the best students from all backgrounds to create a community of diverse perspectives and ideas. While we value our alumni’s commitment to our university, legacy has no bearing on the admissions process.

Fee waivers are available via the Common Application or Coalition on Scoir. In whichever application platform you use, you will be asked questions to gauge your fee waiver eligibility. If you do not meet the eligibility criteria but the application fee presents a financial hardship, fill out this Fee Waiver Request Form.

Please do not submit a payment as we are unable to refund it. We must receive fee waivers or fee waiver requests by November 15 for Early Decision I applicants and by January 15 for Early Decision II and Regular Decision applicants.

The application fee is not refundable.

Yes, standardized testing is required to be considered for admission to Hopkins. See our standardized testing policy.

Our exam credit policy is set by our academic departments and evaluated annually to ensure students have a strong foundation for their Hopkins education, while also allowing flexibility for students who have mastered certain material. Certain departments may choose to administer an online placement exam during the summer, so students enroll in courses at the appropriate level in their first semester. Academic advisors will be available to assist you with your course registration beginning in mid-July.

Regarding credits from Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or similar exams, please see our External Credit Policies for our Krieger School of Arts & Sciences and Whiting School of Engineering.

TOEFL, IELTS, the Duolingo English Test (DET), or the Cambridge English Exam are recommended but not required for applicants whose primary language is not English or students who have not attended an English language school for the last three years.

See Standardized Testing for guidance on whether you should submit your scores.

Visit our resource page for international applicants for specific information.

Schoolhouse is a free, globally available platform offering guided SAT prep, peer-to-peer tutoring and engagement opportunities in a variety of academic subject areas. Your portfolio provides an overview of your Schoolhouse certifications and how you’ve engaged on the platform.  

As a partner university, Hopkins accepts the Schoolhouse portfolio as an optional, additional component of the application. This is just one of many ways to demonstrate your academic character through your application, in addition to your transcript, essays, activities list, and letters of recommendation. Students who do not use the platform or who choose not to upload their portfolios are not at any disadvantage in the admissions process. 

After applying to Hopkins, you will get instructions to set up your Hopkins applicant portal account. To add your Schoolhouse portfolio to your application, download the PDF from Schoolhouse and upload it to your Hopkins applicant portal. We encourage you to submit a single PDF once all of your certifications are complete. 

Early Decision (ED) is an option that allows students who feel Hopkins is the right college for them to apply and receive their admissions decision and financial aid information early. Unlike Regular Decision, it is a binding agreement, which means you cannot apply to any other school under an Early Decision plan. You, your parents/guardians, and your high school counselor will be required to sign an agreement stating that you will enroll at Hopkins if admitted and withdraw any Regular Decision or Early Action applications to other schools.

Early Decision is binding while Early Action is non-binding. Hopkins does not offer an Early Action plan.

No. Admission is only offered through the Early Decision and Regular Decision plans.

Two Early Decision options are available: Early Decision I and Early Decision II. Visit Application Deadlines & Requirements for a list of required materials and dates.

Primarily, the deadline and notification dates. More information can be found about the differences here.

No. Because Early Decision I and II are binding agreements, students can only apply Early Decision to one college at a time. The binding agreement means if you are admitted to Hopkins in Early Decision I or II, you must withdraw all pending applications to other schools and enroll at Hopkins.

If Hopkins is your top college choice and you want to make the commitment to enroll if accepted, we encourage you to apply Early Decision.

Watch our When to Apply video for more information.

As an Early Decision candidate, you are eligible to apply for all types of need-based aid offered at Hopkins. Choosing Early Decision will not limit your financial aid options or consideration for need-based and merit scholarships. All applicants are automatically considered for merit scholarships and no separate application is required.

See How to Apply for Financial Aid for more details.

Submit the Admissions Plan Change Request Form in your applicant portal, and we’ll roll your application over to the Regular Decision pool.

If you are not admitted during Early Decision I, you can be deferred and re-evaluated as a Regular Decision candidate, or you can be denied.

If you are not admitted during Early Decision II, you can be waitlisted or denied.

You are not required to submit any additional materials. However, if you would like to, you may submit supplemental materials to your application file for review during the Regular Decision selection process. This information could be additional standardized test results, your senior-year semester grades, additional letters of recommendations, an updated resume, or another written statement of your interest in Hopkins.

After you submit your application, you can no longer edit it. However, you may email the link to or document of your supplemental materials to applyhelp@jhu.edu. Please include your full name, birth date, and application ID number. Do not submit hard copy items via mail.

Visit Application Deadlines & Requirements for decision release dates.

Note: Decision release dates can vary slightly from year to year. Updated dates are made public on our website in August each year.

All applicants view their admissions decision in their applicant portal. Our Office of Undergraduate Admissions will send an email with a link to the applicant portal and instructions on how to set up your account prior to the decision release date.

On the day of decision release, visit the applicant portal and enter the username and password you created to log in. When logged in, you’ll see your admissions decision. If you applied for financial aid and are admitted, you will also be able to view your financial aid offer in your applicant portal.

We are unable to release admissions decisions over the phone, so it’s important that all applicants follow the steps above to ensure they will be able to access their admissions decision once it has been posted. If you have questions about logging in, note we are only able to share information with the student, parent/guardian, or high school counselor if the caller’s identity has been reasonably confirmed.

If the admissions decision release date is approaching and you have not yet received an email from us with instructions on how to set up and log into your account, follow these steps:

• Check all your email accounts, including your parents’ and any others you may have used throughout your college application process. All official communications are sent to the email you provide on your application.
• Check your spam/junk folders. Sometimes (rarely, but sometimes) our emails get caught in spam filters.
• For Gmail users, check the “Promotions” or “Updates” tabs.
• If you still can’t find the message, email us at gotojhu@jhu.edu.

Instructions for how to submit your Reply Form and enrollment deposit (if applicable) are in the applicant portal where you received your admissions decision. Both forms must be submitted by the reply-by deadline.

If your address, phone number, email address, or intended major changes between the time you submit your application and the start of classes in the fall, email these updates to applyhelp@jhu.edu.

Follow the directions in the applicant portal after choosing to remain on the waitlist.

Admissions committee decisions are final, and we do not accept appeals. We understand the disappointment from receiving a deny decision from any university. Unfortunately, we are not able to admit all the talented students who apply for admission each year.

If you would like to defer your admission, you must first accept your spot by submitting the Reply Form in your applicant portal and paying your enrollment deposit (if applicable). You will then be able to complete a deferral request form.

Deferrals are granted on an individual basis and are not guaranteed. They are for one-year or two-year periods only. Students are not permitted to study at another institution for credit during their deferral year(s) and must begin their studies in the fall semester upon their return.

Transfer applicants are unable to defer their enrollment because we base transfer decisions on space availability in a specific academic term.

Admitted first-year students have until May 1 to accept their spot. Admitted transfer students have until June 1 to accept their spot. If we have remaining spots available in the class, we will go to our waitlist to admit additional students where we have room.

All you need to do is complete the Waitlist Reply Form and it indicates to us that you would like to remain on (or be removed from) the Johns Hopkins University waitlist.

The only requirement to remain on the waitlist is completing the Waitlist Reply Form in your applicant portal by the deadline. You are not required to submit any additional materials, but you may send updates you would like to add to your application. If you choose to submit updates to your file, it is important you make sure they will contribute in a substantive way or provide new information.

Students on the waitlist may provide additional information to assist the admissions committee in the event that we review candidates for admission.  We suggest the following if updating your application:

• Letter of interest: A one-page letter to the admissions committee that states why you continue to be interested in Hopkins and why you feel it is the right school for you.
• Updated resume: Let us know what you’ve gotten involved with during your senior year. This should include updated information not found in your original application.
• Updated transcript: Your most recent grades, even beyond the mid-year report, can be helpful. Ask your guidance counselor to submit them if possible. In addition, a final transcript when it becomes available is requested. (If you are admitted from the waitlist, a final transcript will be required.)

Please do not send items such as: Additional letters of recommendation, writing samples, research or term papers, or other supplemental materials like CDs, slides, or portfolios.

All updates should be sent to your regional admissions counselor. Include your full name, birth date, school name, and a note that the materials are to be used as a waitlist update on any materials you send.

The waitlist is not ranked. We reevaluate waitlisted applicants who chose to remain on the waitlist if spots become available in the class.

Admission from the waitlist depends on available space and the needs of the class. Because of this, we are unable to provide information about an individual’s chance in any given year.

The decision of whether we will admit students off the waitlist will not be made prior to May 1 (June 1 for transfer applicants). We strongly recommend you submit your deposit to a school where you have been admitted. If you are later admitted to Hopkins from the waitlist and choose to attend, you may withdraw your enrollment from the other school and forfeit the previous deposit.

Check out all event options under Tours & Events.

Please note we do not have programming specific to waitlisted students.

We are unable to grant interviews or meeting requests for waitlisted students. Instead, we ask you email applyhelp@jhu.edu with any information or updates to add to your application file. If you have a specific question, you may email your regional admissions counselor.

If you completed your financial aid application by the deadline and are admitted off the waitlist, you will receive financial aid information with your admissions decision.

No. If we offer places in the class to students on the waitlist, those students may choose whether they want to enroll at Hopkins or stay with the other university they had previously selected. Students who are admitted from the waitlist must respond to our admissions offer within the designated time frame noted in their applicant portal. Choosing to remain on the waitlist is not a commitment to enroll at Hopkins if admitted.

Yes! Visit your applicant portal for all our admitted student events on campus this spring. You can also take a self-guided tour of campus or join one of our admissions tours.

The University Registrar will reach out via email in late spring with your JHED ID (the username you use when you log into Hopkins tools and platforms) and instructions on how to activate your new university email address.

In May, you’ll receive instructions from On-Campus Living on how to access and complete your housing application via the Birdhouse—your housing portal.

Hopkins is committed to building a diverse student body, facilitating connections with peers from different backgrounds, and creating a strong and inclusive community. First-year housing assignments are made through a matching process.

You’ll complete your housing application, including the lifestyle questionnaire, where you’ll share information like your study habits, when you wake up in the morning, and building preferences. You can also indicate interest in options like gender-inclusive housing.

On-Campus Living uses an automated room assigning system that refers to your questionnaire and preferences to assign you to an available space, matched with a roommate (if applicable). While the office does its best to accommodate your top building and room preferences, it cannot guarantee placement in your top choices.

Class registration for incoming first-year students begins in late July.

In June, you’ll be assigned an academic advisor who will help you understand the requirements for your major (if you have already decided on one) or help register for classes that will allow you to explore and develop your interests.

In late spring, you’ll gain access to Canvas, the student portal where you’ll find your list of to-dos to help you prepare during the summer before arriving at Hopkins. It includes information related to health forms, housing, dining, and New Student Orientation.

You can read more about New Student Orientation here.

When you applied to Hopkins, you applied to the full university, and not to a specific school or major (except in the case of biomedical engineering, see below). Upon matriculating, you can choose any major you’re interested in pursuing across the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences and Whiting School of Engineering. You are not bound to the major you listed on your application.

The one exception to this policy is our biomedical engineering (BME) major. Applicants must apply and be admitted to the BME program during the application period. Applicants not admitted to the BME major, or applicants that didn’t apply for the BME program, are not able to select that as their intended major.

In some cases, students can defer their enrollment for up to two years to pursue a travel, work, or family experience. Deferrals are granted on an individual basis and are not guaranteed. They are for one-year or two-year periods only. Students are not permitted to study at another institution for credit during their deferral year(s) and must begin their studies in the fall semester upon their return.

If you would like to defer your admission, you must first accept your spot by submitting the Reply Form in your applicant portal and paying your enrollment deposit (if applicable). You’ll then be able to submit the deferral request form.

Campus parking is unavailable to undergraduates, but they may find parking options close to campus. This includes street parking in nearby residential neighborhoods, which often require residential permits or are time-restricted or metered spaces.

Students have access to many free transportation options to get around the city quickly, easily, and safely, from Hopkins shuttles to the Baltimore Collegetown Shuttle and the Charm City Circulator.

Find more information on parking and our accessible transportation services.