How to Get Into Johns Hopkins Medical School: Requirements and Strategies
/Learn the Johns Hopkins Medical School acceptance rate, admissions strategies, and read sample Johns Hopkins secondary essays
LEARN HOW TO GET INTO JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICAL SCHOOL
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Part 1: Introduction
When you think of top medical schools, Johns Hopkins Medical School is likely one of the first institutions to come to mind. As a bastion of unparalleled research and world-renowned physicians, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHU SOM) has always had a sterling reputation. It’s currently ranked #2 for research by U.S. News and World Report. Further, Johns Hopkins Hospital was ranked #1 by U.S. News and World Report for 22 straight years and, while U.S. News and World Report no longer ranks hospitals in this way, it is currently recognized as one of the top hospitals in the nation.
Graduates from Johns Hopkins Medical School go on to serve as leaders in medicine. They develop cutting-edge treatments, conduct life-changing research, and win Nobel Prizes. It should come as no surprise then that JHU’s admissions process has high standards. If you’re a talented premed with excellent test scores and grades, Johns Hopkins might be a real possibility, but you’ll need something more than an impressive MCAT and GPA. You’ll also need a qualitative strategy for conveying who you are in order to stand out from the pack—something that can be accomplished in strong answers to the Johns Hopkins secondary essays.
Here, we’ll discuss how to get into Johns Hopkins Medical School, from writing strong essays to acing the Johns Hopkins Medical School interview.
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Part 2: Johns Hopkins Medical School MD programs
There are several different paths you can take to earn an MD at Johns Hopkins:
The traditional, four-year MD program
The MD/MBA
The MD/MS in Health Care Management
Other dual degree programs (MD/MPH, MD/MBE, and many more)
Johns Hopkins Medical School tuition and scholarships
In the 2024–2025 academic year, Johns Hopkins’ first-year tuition and fees costs $70,112. With the addition of room and board, books, travel expenses, and other indirect costs, they estimate a total first-year cost of attendance of $102,068.
While this is steep, Johns Hopkins has over 150 need-based scholarship and loan opportunities and gives 85 percent of its students some kind of financial aid package. $40 million of financial aid is administered to medical students each year.
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Part 3: How hard is it to get into Johns Hopkins Medical School?
Johns Hopkins Medical School admissions statistics
The Johns Hopkins Medical School acceptance rate is just 6.3 percent, making admissions highly competitive. Let’s take a closer look at admissions statistics for the class of 2027:
Applications: 4,213
Interviews: 591
Accepted: 266
Matriculants: 120
Average GPA: 3.92
Average MCAT score: 521
(Suggested reading: Average GPA and MCAT Score for Every Medical School)
Johns Hopkins Medical School admissions requirements
To apply to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, you will need to have completed the following coursework:
Biology: One year (8 semester hours) with lab; a course in genetics is recommended
Chemistry: One year (8 semester hours) of general chemistry with lab; one semester (4 semester hours) of organic chemistry with lab; 3 semester hours of biochemistry
Regarding this chemistry requirement, they write: “The student should have knowledge of chemical equilibrium and thermodynamics, acid/base chemistry, the nature of ions in solution and redox reactions, the structure of molecules with special emphasis on bio-organic compounds, reaction rates, binding coefficients, reaction mechanisms involved in enzyme kinetics and other applications to the understanding of living systems. Also important is a basic understanding of the structure of nucleic acids, including how they store and transfer information.”
Humanities, social science, and behavioral science: 24 semester hours including two writing-intensive courses
Math: 6 semester hours in calculus and/or statistics
At least one semester of statistics or epidemiology is strongly recommended.
Physics: One year (8 semester hours) with lab
In addition, applicants must have taken the MCAT within four years of expected matriculation and no later than September of the application year. So, if you are applying in the 2024–2025 application cycle, you must have taken the MCAT between 2021 and September 2024.
Applicants with degrees from foreign language institutions must pass a TOEFL examination.
(Suggested reading: Medical School Requirements: The Definitive Guide)
Johns Hopkins Medical School application timeline
You’ll use the AMCAS application to apply to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Below is a timeline of relevant dates and deadlines you’ll need during the application process:
May 2, 2024: AMCAS application opens
May 30, 2024: AMCAS application can be submitted
June 30, 2024: AMCAS applications transmitted to JHU
July 5 2024: Verified applicants will begin to receive access to JHU’s secondary application portal
Mid-July 2024: Application review begins
Late August 2024–Late February 2025: Interviews conducted
October 15, 2024: AMCAS application deadline
November 1, 2024: JHU secondary application deadline
December 2024–April 2025: Admissions decisions sent in three rounds
First round of decisions: mid-December
Second round of decisions: late January
Final round of decisions: late March/early April
April 15: Admitted applicants must must narrow acceptances to three medical schools
May 1: Admitted applicants must choose a single medical school to attend
While you can submit your AMCAS and secondary applications as late as October and November, submitting these materials as early as possible can only be to your advantage due to Johns Hopkins’ rolling admissions policy. If possible, you should have your medical school personal statement and supplemental essays ready by June or July.
(Suggested reading: The Ideal Medical School Application Timeline)
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Part 4: Johns Hopkins Medical School secondary essays (examples included)
After submitting the AMCAS application, you’ll turn to the Johns Hopkins secondary essays. Though the prerequisites and requirements we outlined above are important, it’s often the less tangible traits and qualifications that set candidates apart.
Top-tier medical schools want to know that you have a cohesive story and something to offer their institution beyond high test scores. They want to know you’ll be a future leader in healthcare, that you’ve overcome challenges, and that you have a history of compassionate service. Furthermore, they want to see that you are capable of articulating these qualitative aspects. This means demonstrating your communication skills—skills, of course, that are essential to being an effective physician.
Below, you’ll find examples for each secondary essay prompt, as well as pointers for how to craft essays that make your application stand out. These examples are based on composites of students we’ve worked with in our nearly 20 years of medical school admissions advising.
Question 1: (Optional) If you have already received your bachelor's degree, please describe what you have been doing since graduation and your plans for the upcoming year. (2000 characters)
This is a classic ‘gap year’ essay topic, frequently used by many medical schools. Essentially, they’re asking for a recounting of how you’ve maintained your interest in medicine and improved upon your qualifications for medical school in a non-academic sense upon completing your undergraduate studies.
One way to begin answering this question is to start with the facts. What precisely, did you do? What is/was your reasoning behind taking a gap year? What did you achieve? How have these experiences prepared you to succeed in medical school? If you’ve just graduated and haven’t started your gap year yet, how will your plans prepare you for medical school?
Here's an example:
After receiving my bachelor’s in science from Williams College in 2022, I moved to Costa Rica to volunteer my time as an educator for Global Health Volunteers (GHV). The pandemic forced the organization to shift gears in terms of health education, and our primary goal became vaccine education. Every day I helped administer COVID-19 tests and vaccinations to hundreds of patients. As a member of the local academic administration team, I also helped coordinate educational events to inform locals about the importance of COVID testing and inoculation. While this work provided me with invaluable experience on a technical and administrative level, the personal connections I made with patients will stick with me for the rest of my life. One of these connections was with Miguel, a 35 year old, former heavy smoker who was deeply conflicted about receiving the vaccination. He was terrified of contracting the virus, but his history of smoking made him reticent about the vaccination as well. I assured him that the vaccine, although it might make him feel sick for a day or two, would not put him in any danger, regardless of his co-morbidities. After extensive conversations, he agreed to take the vaccine and responded very well. Two weeks after becoming inoculated to COVID, Miguel returned to the GHV clinic, this time with a dozen friends and family members. He requested to see me specifically, and I provided vaccines and COVID tests for the entire party. Working with individuals like Miguel has taught me the importance of tailoring care to individuals, as opposed to merely their symptoms or concerns. It is only through developing relationships with patients that a healthcare provider can truly begin to address their concerns at a deeper level, and thereby form genuine connections with them. For the upcoming year, I will be returning to Costa Rica to continue assisting the local population in the battle against COVID, which is so much more pronounced in developing countries.
Why does this response work well?
This student comes across as very intentional about how they planned to spend their gap year and they are specific about what they did. They found a program where they could make an impact in an underserved community and they related the ways in which this experience changed their outlook on medicine. The student’s relationship with Miguel was much more than merely giving a vaccine—it became a story where the student learned about the human side of delivering medicine. Knowing how to effectively interact with patients is a crucial skill for doctors that is not often taught in a classroom. This essay highlights how the student will bring these lessons to Johns Hopkins.
Question 2: (Optional) If you interrupted your college education for a semester or longer, please describe what you did during that time. (2000 characters)
Question 3: Briefly describe your single, most rewarding experience. Feel free to refer to an experience previously described in your AMCAS application. (2500 characters)
Question 4: Are there any areas of medicine that are of particular interest to you? If so, please comment. (2500 characters)
Question 5: Briefly describe a situation where you had to overcome adversity; include lessons learned and how you think it will affect your career as a future physician. (2500 characters)
Question 6: Briefly describe a situation where you were not in the majority. What did you learn from the experience? (2500 characters)
Question 7: Wonder encapsulates a feeling of rapt attention … it draws the observer in. Tell us about a time in recent years that you experienced wonder in your everyday life. Although experiences related to your clinical or research work may be the first to come to mind, we encourage you to think of an experience that is unrelated to medicine or science. What did you learn from that experience? (2500 characters)
Question 8: (Optional)The Admissions Committee values hearing about each candidate for admission, including what qualities the candidate might bring to the School of Medicine if admitted. If you feel there is information not already addressed in the application that will enable the Committee to know more about you and this has influenced your desire to be a physician, feel free to write a brief statement in the space below. You may address any subject you wish, such as being a first generation college student, or being a part of a minority group (whether because of your sexual orientation, religion, economic status, gender identity, ethnicity) or being the child of undocumented immigrants or being undocumented yourself, etc. Please note that this question is optional and that you will not be penalized should you choose not to answer it. (2500 characters)
Gain instant access to med school secondary essay examples for every single prompt required by every medical school in the United States and Canada. Subscribe today to lock in the current investments, which will be increasing after May 31 for new subscribers.
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Part 5: Johns Hopkins Medical School interview
Let’s say you submit all your materials and Johns Hopkins invites you to come in for an interview. How should you prepare?
First of all, know that If you’ve been invited to interview, it means that the admissions committee liked what they saw in your application. You’ve made it through a significant hurdle in the process. Out of applicants to the class of 2027 only 14% were invited for an interview.
Johns Hopkins uses a traditional medical school interview format so they can see if they like you as much one-on-one as they do on paper. All invited applicants will have two interviews, one with a faculty member and one with a fourth-year medical student. In the 2024–2025 application cycle, interviews will be held in-person, but a Skype interview can be requested if an applicant is out of the country.
Above all, remember to do your research and prepare responses that are consistent with what you discussed in your primary application and secondary essays. We find this approach works best in tandem with reviewing the commonly asked questions at Johns Hopkins. According to our research, the following questions have been asked recently:
What was a mistake you made?
Tell me about a time where you worked as a team, and what you learned from it.
What can you bring to the table at Johns Hopkins?
What are the ethical concerns when prescribing a medication for a homeless man?
Why medicine?
How would you treat an end-of-life patient?
Is the situation of Baltimore (crime reported in media) a detractor?
Describe your life in three acts.
How could you reconcile different views with another person?
How would you answer one of these less common questions such as “Describe your life in three acts” or “How would you treat an end-of-life patient?” Make sure you have clear, reasoned responses to these types of questions. And while you may, of course, receive an unexpected question, make sure to prepare a few anecdotes highlighting positive personal qualities that you can adapt to various questions.
Furthermore, if you were enthusiastic about a particular program or branch of research in your essays, make sure that enthusiasm carries over into your interviews. You should consider when you write your essays and mention certain fields or areas of research whether you would be able to talk about them at length in an interview setting. In other words, pick things that actually interest you so that your answers come across as genuine.
Finally, if you have some personal connection to Johns Hopkins, you can elaborate on this connection during your interview or during the downtime and small talk surrounding your interview. (Don’t worry, however, if you feel a bit nervous about this. Interviewers expect applicants to display some level of nervousness—nerves demonstrate, in fact, that you are invested in the process.) The constraints on JHU’s secondary prompts limit the level of depth you can get into. Maybe you mentioned a personal connection in one of your essays but didn’t really get a chance to explain it fully. The interview process gives you a space to do that.
Final thoughts
Applying to medical school can be daunting, and applying to the Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine, one of the top medical institutions in the world, can seem even more so. Though their expectations are high, earning your white coat from Johns Hopkins can be a life-changing experience, one that opens doors and pays lifelong dividends. More importantly, it can give you the opportunity to further the field of medicine, as it has for many other renowned alumni. By emphasizing the qualities that will make you a compassionate leader and innovator, you can stand out from the pool of applicants and improve your odds of receiving an acceptance to Johns Hopkins Medical School.
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions. Over the past 15 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school using his exclusive approach.