Transfer FAQ

If you already hold a bachelor’s degree, you are not eligible for admission to Hopkins as a first-year or transfer student. For graduate degree information, visit our Graduate Studies website.

We accept transfer applicants into our entering sophomore and junior classes for the fall semester only, and the application deadline is March 1. When reviewing applications, we consider your high school record, college GPA and program of study, extracurricular activities, recommendations, and essay responses. We’re also interested in how you’ll fit into the Hopkins community and why you want to transfer here.

For information about important dates and deadlines, check here.

Your academic performance in college/university— in addition to high school—is an important part of our holistic admissions review process. If you are a student in your first year of study at a college or university that does not release grades until the end of the academic year, we encourage you to wait to apply for transfer admission during your second year of study so our admissions committee can review your official college academic record.

Transfer applicants must have graduated high school and completed more than 12 semester-based credits at another institution. If you’ve graduated from high school and enrolled in college but don’t have more than 12 credits, or you’re enrolled in a dual enrollment or early college program, you should apply as a first-year student.

When you apply, you’ll select a first-choice and second-choice major. Transfer admissions is space-dependent, and the number of spots available in each major varies from year to year. You’ll be reviewed for your first-choice major, and if we aren’t able to offer admission to that program, you’ll automatically be considered for your second-choice major. The only major that isn’t available to transfer applicants is biomedical engineering.

Yes. However, we can’t guarantee that space in your first-choice major will become available. Changing your major may also affect your preliminary credit evaluation and estimated time to graduation. You should meet with your academic advisor before making any changes.

We don’t require transfer applicants to have taken any specific courses in the past. Instead, we offer general guidelines to prepare you for a successful transition. You can find these on our Transfer Credit Policies page.

We recommend that junior transfers wait to apply to health profession schools until after completing their senior year at Hopkins. Pre-law applicants generally apply to law school either during the fall of their senior year or after they graduate. Once you arrive on campus, you should schedule an appointment with a pre-professional advisor to discuss your individual situation.

For more information about being pre-health or pre-law, visit Pre-Professional Advising. Prospective pre-health transfers should download the Guide for Pre-Health Planning.

While we prefer letters of recommendations from faculty members, you may submit one from a teaching assistant, as long as they had the primary responsibility of evaluating your class performance.

There are no language test requirements for international transfer applicants, but these scores may help support your application. If English isn’t your primary language, or if you haven’t attended an English language school in the last three years, we recommend taking the TOEFL, IELTS, or the Duolingo English Test (DET).

March 15 is the deadline to submit your financial aid application.

Currently, we do not offer financial aid to international transfer students.

Need-based scholarships are available for domestic transfer students only. Hopkins defines domestic students as U.S. citizens, permanent residents, eligible noncitizens, and those with DACA or undocumented status.

If you’re an international transfer student and need help paying for college, you can seek out private loans to cover your college costs. Most lenders require a co-signer who is a U.S. citizen. Visit Financial Aid for more information.

To receive a bachelor’s degree from Hopkins, you must carry a full-time academic load for at least four consecutive semesters—not including summer sessions—and accumulate a minimum of 60 degree credits here.

The exact percentage varies from year to year. In recent years, it’s been around 10 percent.

Transfer admission is highly competitive and based on space availability and other factors. Applicants are evaluated on a holistic set of criteria, including academic success, engagement, and ability to contribute to campus life.

Because we base transfer decisions on space availability in a specific academic term, admitted transfer students are unable to defer their enrollment.

Students entering Hopkins with one year of college experience are required to live on campus. If you have two or more years of college experience, you can live off campus.

All admitted veteran students who transfer to Hopkins are guaranteed housing. Veterans interested in applying to Hopkins can learn more here.