johns hopkins supplemental essays 2024

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How to Write the Johns Hopkins University Essay 2024-2025

Johns Hopkins University has just one supplemental essay, which all applicants are required to respond to. However, while other schools you’re applying to may have more supplements, you want to make sure you dedicate enough time to this essay, as Hopkins is one of the most competitive schools in the country, especially for students interested in medicine.

In this post, we’ll break down how to brainstorm for and actually write your Hopkins essay, as well as common mistakes you want to be sure to avoid.

Read these Johns Hopkins essay examples to inspire your writing.

Johns Hopkins Supplemental Essay Prompt

How has your life experience contributed to your personal story—your character, values, perspectives or skills—and what you want to pursue at hopkins (350 words).

Brainstorming Your Topic

This prompt is a version of the common Diversity Essay , with the added layer of explicitly connecting your identity to one of your goals for your time at Hopkins.

The first thing to note is that the way colleges factor race into their admissions processes is different after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in June 2023. 

Colleges can still consider race on an individual level, however, so if you would like to respond to this prompt by talking about how your racial background has impacted you, you are welcome to do so.

You are also welcome to write about a wide range of other aspects of your identity; an individual is more than just their race, gender, sexuality, and other attributes that typically come to mind when you hear the word “diversity.” We are also shaped by the communities we’re in, the hobbies we enjoy, our interests, and so on. So, if you are having a hard time coming up with a topic for this prompt, shift to that line of thinking. Here are some examples of less traditional topics that could work:

• The people you see every day while walking your dog before school
• A group sea kayaking trip you did one summer
• Your passion for the color purple

The main requirement for your topic is that it has “contributed to your personal story,” per Hopkins’ request. There is one other thing you want to consider, though. Namely, can you connect this aspect of your identity to one of your goals for Hopkins?

Note that this connection doesn’t have to be direct. If your parents immigrated to the United States from Korea, you don’t have to write about wanting to do research on international migration with Professor Erin Chung. You can, of course, if you genuinely are interested in that line of research. But the connection you make can also be more nuanced.

For example, say that some of your relatives still in Korea don’t speak English, but you have developed a relationship with them through visits to museums and famous architectural sites, as you have a shared love of art. These experiences have shown you the unifying power of art, which is a phenomenon you’d like to explore more through Hopkins’ Renaissance Art History study abroad program in Florence.

Although this connection may not be one your reader was expecting, it works, as you explain it in a clear, easy-to-follow way. Plus, this essay is on the longer side for a supplement. You have 350 words at your disposal, so you have plenty of space to draw more sophisticated connections.

Tips for Writing Your Essay

If you have done your brainstorming well, writing the actual essay should be pretty straightforward: you want to describe the aspect of your identity you’re focusing on, and then connect it to the goal you’ve chosen to highlight. As just noted above, you have room to work with, so there’s no need to rush anything.

The only real rule here is that the connection you’re drawing is explained clearly. For a rather extreme example, if you just said “I have family in Korea, which makes me want to study abroad in Florence,” your reader would have no idea what you’re talking about. So, just make sure you’re able to articulate the link you see, so admissions officers understand how we got from A to B.

If you’re having a hard time with that, maybe take a step back from your essay, and come back the next day with a clear head. Sometimes, spending too much time on an essay will bog you down, and make it hard to see where to go next. 

If you’re still having trouble the next day, you might want to return to the brainstorming stage, and either focus on a different aspect of your identity, or connect it to a different goal you have for college. There’s no shame in hitting rewind. Most students do at some point in their essay-writing process, as even topics that seem perfect at first can prove to be not quite right once you start trying to actually write about them.

Finally, like with any college essay, your writing will be stronger if you show, rather than tell. That means you want to rely on specific anecdotes and experiences to support your points, as that will make your essay more engaging. You can compare the two approaches below:

Telling: “I have quite a few family members still in Korea. Most of them live in Seoul, but some of them live in more remote areas.”

Showing: “I press my nose against the car window to get one last look at the glittering skyscrapers of Seoul, before my dad turns onto the winding, tree-lined road which leads to my uncle’s house.”

The information communicated is basically the same, but the showing approach paints us a picture, rather than reading us a list of facts like the telling approach. Because we are immersed in the student’s story, we feel much closer to them, and the whole point of college essays is to get admissions officers to understand who you are.

Mistakes to Avoid

The biggest potential pitfall here is answering the second half of the prompt (the “how your life experience…contributed to what you want to pursue at Hopkins” part) in a way that isn’t specific enough to Hopkins. This subset of the prompt is essentially a mini “Why This College?” essay, which means you don’t want to just share a goal you have for college in general, but rather something you hope to achieve at Hopkins specifically.

The examples above show the level of specificity you want to get to. Contrast those examples with vague versions of the same goals: “At Hopkins, I hope to research migration from Asia,” or “At Hopkins, I hope to do a study abroad program that will allow me to pursue my interest in art.” These goals would be fine to share with a family member at Thanksgiving, but for Hopkins admissions officers, they’re too general, as these are things you could do in some form at plenty of other schools around the country. 

By going a level deeper, to a particular professor who does the kind of research you’re interested in, and a particular program that will allow you to study art, you show Hopkins admissions officers that you’ve really done your homework on their school, which gives them confidence you’re ready to hit the ground running when you arrive on campus.

If you’re not sure about how to get to this level of specificity, hop onto Hopkins’ website, and skim their course offerings, faculty directory, study abroad programs, club pages, and so on. Odds are, you’ll see something there that aligns with the general goal you’ve identified for yourself, which will take you from the big picture to the narrower focus you want.

Where to Get Your Johns Hopkins Essay Edited 

Do you want feedback on your Johns Hopkins essay? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

Need feedback faster? Get a  free, nearly-instantaneous essay review  from Sage, our AI tutor and advisor. Sage will rate your essay, give you suggestions for improvement, and summarize what admissions officers would take away from your writing. Use these tools to improve your chances of acceptance to your dream school!

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Johns Hopkins Supplemental Essays 2024-25 — Prompts and Advice

August 23, 2024

In the most recent admissions cycle, Johns Hopkins University admitted approximately 7.6% of applicants into the Class of 2027. As a school that rejects thousands of applicants each year with 1500+ SATs and impeccable transcripts, those hoping for a positive result at JHU need to find additional ways to shine in the eyes of the admissions committee. The Johns Hopkins supplemental essay is one such opportunity.

(Want to learn more about How to Get Into Johns Hopkins University? Visit our blog entitled:  How to Get Into Johns Hopkins  for all of the most recent admissions data as well as tips for gaining acceptance.)

Given that 19 of every 20 RD applicants to Johns Hopkins University are ultimately unsuccessful, you need to do everything you can to stand out amidst a sea of uber-qualified teens from around the globe. Through its one mandatory essay prompt, Johns Hopkins University’s supplemental section affords applicants an opportunity to highlight what makes them uniquely qualified for admission. Below is Johns Hopkins’s supplemental prompt for the 2024-25 admissions cycle. Additionally, you’ll find our tips on how to write a winning composition.

Johns Hopkins Supplemental Essay Prompt

How has your life experience contributed to your personal story—your character, values, perspectives or skills—and what you want to pursue at hopkins (350 word limit).

JHU is inviting you to share more about your background/identity/community through the lens of how that will impact your experience at the university. Take note of the wide-open nature of this prompt. You are essentially invited to talk about any of the following topics:

• A perspective you hold
• An experience/challenge you had
• A community you belong to
• Your cultural background
• Your religious background
• Your family background
• Your sexual orientation or gender identity

Johns Hopkins Supplemental Essays (Continued)

Although this prompt’s open floor plan may feel daunting, a good tactic is to first consider what has already been communicated within your Common App personal statement and activities list. What important aspect(s) of yourself have not been shared (or sufficiently discussed)? The admissions officer reading your essay is hoping to connect with you through your written words, so—within your essay’s reflection—be open, humble, thoughtful, inquisitive, emotionally honest, mature, and/or insightful about what you learned and how you grew.

You’ll then need to discuss how your background/identity/experiences have influenced what you want to pursue at Hopkins. As such, think about what you learned/gained and how it relates to one of your academic, social, or extracurricular college goals. For example, perhaps growing up in Northern California has made you passionate about post-wildfire ecosystem restoration, which you hope to pursue further through Johns Hopkins’ environmental science program. Or, perhaps your experience as a tutor has made you interested in The Tutorial Project , or the discrimination you watched your sibling face after revealing their gender identity has informed your desire to be part of initiatives like the Safe Zone Program .

To that end, be sure you address how you will take advantage of Johns Hopkins’s immense resources. These resources could be inside and/or outside of the classroom. You can accomplish this by citing specific academic programs , professors , research opportunities , internship/externship programs , study abroad programs , student-run organizations , etc.

How important are the Johns Hopkins supplemental essays?

Johns Hopkins University considers six factors “very important” in evaluating a candidate. The essays are among them. In addition to the essays, Johns Hopkins gives the greatest consideration to the rigor of one’s school record, GPA, standardized test scores, recommendations, and character/personal qualities.

Want personalized assistance?

Are you interested in working with one of College Transitions’ experienced essay coaches as you craft your Johns Hopkins essays? We encourage you to get a quote  today.

Looking for more writing resources? You might consider checking out the following:

• Common App Essay Prompts
• 10 Instructive Common App Essay Examples
• College Application Essay Topics to Avoid
• How to Quickly Format Your Common App Essay
• Should I Complete Optional College Essays?
• How to Brainstorm a College Essay
• 25 Inspiring College Essay Topics
• “Why This College?” Essay Examples
• How to Write the Community Essay
• College Essay

Dave Bergman

Dave has over a decade of professional experience that includes work as a teacher, high school administrator, college professor, and independent educational consultant. He is a co-author of the books The Enlightened College Applicant (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) and Colleges Worth Your Money (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020).

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Don’t Sweat the Supp Stuff: Advice for Crafting Your Supplemental Essay

It can feel daunting to choose what to write about in your college application essays. How do you sum up the complex, dynamic individual you are with such limited space? 

The short answer: You can’t. But that’s OK. 

The goal of your application is not to share every detail of your multifaceted life. Rather, the process allows you to share your story with the admissions committee about what makes you a strong match for the institution. Each piece of the application reveals something about your academic experiences and personal journey that shows us how you might contribute to the Hopkins community. 

In some ways, the essays help tie together the rest of the application. They offer space for you to tell stories that represent the most important parts of your identity, which provide context for other components of the application. 

Let’s zero in on the supplemental essay . 

The supplemental essay portion of the application is specific to each school. Each institution has intentionally crafted a question (or multiple) to help determine whether a student might be a good match. We look for individuals who share Hopkins’ institutional values but will also bring unique experiences and perspectives to the community.  

Below is the supplemental essay prompt for students applying for entry to Hopkins in the fall of 2025:  

How has your life experience contributed to your personal story—your character, values, perspectives, or skills—and what you want to pursue at Hopkins? (350-word limit)

Picture your life in college. What does your community look like? Which aspects of your identity are most important for you to develop and nurture?  

Now jot down some thoughts about experiences or parts of your identity that have had a significant effect on your life. Maybe it’s a hobby you love, a cultural tradition, or an instance when you discovered something new about yourself. 

Once you have a list, think about how each of these will continue to play a role in your college life. Choose one to focus on and spend some time building it out. 

Keep in mind this essay is not an exercise in “tell us everything you know about Hopkins.” While it’s important for the admissions committee to see you’ve done your research and understand what Hopkins has to offer, simply listing what you hope to pursue on campus is only half of the puzzle. Be sure to connect the dots by explaining why you wish to pursue those things, and how they’ll help you remain connected to and grow in your identity. 

If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas or crafting your essay, reach out to your school counselor or an English teacher. They can help you brainstorm and ensure your piece is answering the prompt in a meaningful way. 

Happy writing! 

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Johns Hopkins University 2024-25 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 2

You Have: 

Johns Hopkins University 2024-25  Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: 1 essay of 350 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Why

How to Write a Compelling Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Supplemental Essay

JHU is interested to learn about your “impact in your community” as well as your “perspective and opinions” and they’ve posed only one (1) question aimed to learn exactly that about you. The JHU supplemental essay is asking you to pack a lot of information into 350 words, so we recommend overwriting your first draft and cutting it down once you have all your ideas on the page. Keep reading to discover our tips for writing a winning JHU essay!

Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Essay Prompt Breakdown

How has your life experience contributed to your personal story—your character, values, perspectives or skills—and what you want to pursue at hopkins (350 word limit).

JHU is purposefully leaving this question super open-ended, so you can write about any facet of your background, interests, or personal values that has been most integral in shaping who you are. Admissions also wants to know how this aspect of your life experience has impacted what you want to gain from attending Hopkins. Start by thinking about what makes you you . You can write down some words that you would use to describe yourself or work backward by thinking about what you hope to pursue at Hopkins, then consider how that relates to your character, perspectives, or skills. Maybe you dream of becoming a surgeon specializing in gender-affirming operations, combining your interest in science and medicine with your passion for helping members of the trans community. Perhaps you don’t know what you want to major in yet but hope to expand your horizons at JHU as a first-generation student, bringing what you learn back home to share with your family and community. As long as you put aside time to brainstorm freely and edit meticulously, we’re confident you’ll impress admissions with your response!

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How to Write the Johns Hopkins Supplemental Essay 2024–2025

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Johns Hopkins University , located in Baltimore, MD, is renowned for its research advancements in the biomedical sciences, as well as for being America’s first research university . From its 19th-century Maryland Quaker origins to its present-day impact on the global stage , Johns Hopkins has remained a prestigious educational institution. For applicants seeking admission to Johns Hopkins, the supplemental essay prompt can feel intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Let’s break it down.

Johns Hopkins University’s 2024-2025 Prompt

How has your life experience contributed to your personal story—your character, values, perspectives or skills—and what you want to pursue at hopkins   (350 words or fewer), we’ll review your essay.

Receive edits in as little as 24 hours

General Tips

When brainstorming essay topics, you may want to start with identifying any gaps in your application (in context). If your Common App essay, teacher recommendation letters, and other application materials all emphasize certain aspects your academic or personal background while neglecting other elements, your supplemental essay(s) can be a great place to fill in the blanks. For instance, if your cultural background isn’t explored anywhere else in your application, this supplemental essay might be the best place to dive into it.

That said, you don’t want to force a topic in where it doesn’t otherwise belong. Thus, make sure that whatever topics you choose for your supplemental essay(s) fits the context of the essays. Your response needs to be directly related to the prompt at hand! Only pursue this strategy if it makes sense for your application and the essay prompt you’re working with. It’s better to be slightly redundant than to miss the point of the prompt.

That said, for this particular prompt, there is no need to be redundant with your Common App personal essay topic. Even if your personal essay discusses your life experience, this essay can (and should) focus on a different aspect of your life experience. Now, let’s dive into the prompt specifically.

Johns Hopkins University Supplemental Essay Question

This essay provides you with the opportunity to focus on a part of your personal story that you didn’t have the room for in your Common App essay. Therefore, if you feel that there is a story you’d like admissions officer to know about you, tell it here. You have fewer words to work with than in the Common App essay, though, so you will need to be especially focused in this essay.

Show, don’t tell.

Many students end up “telling” and “showing,” while others simply stick to “telling.” The drawback to doing both is that your essay is more redundant. The drawback to just “telling” is that your essay will read more like a list of your feelings and a cursory description of your experiences, rather than a compelling narrative.

Thus, focus on “showing” the reader your story throughout the beginning and middle of your essay. At the end of your essay, switch to reflecting on the story you just told . This will allow you room to demonstrate your growth and maturity since the events of the story have elapsed.

Show your “Why Hopkins?”, if you can.

This essay hints at the ways that your background may have influenced your decision to apply to Hopkins. In other words, if you have chosen to apply to Hopkins due to a specific life experience, you should mention this in your essay. Specific, legitimate reasons motivating your interest in Johns Hopkins can only increase your chances of getting accepted. If your application is held up against that of another student with similar accomplishments to yourself, then your strong motivating interest in Hopkins might move the needle in your direction.

Be authentic and specific.

Authenticity and specificity are keys to helping this essay stand out. Many students applying to Johns Hopkins will likely have overlapping life experiences with you. Yet, in an ideal world, your essays will all be unique. How could this be possible? Even if your identity isn’t “unique,” your life experience is . No one has lived life just like you have. Writing vividly and specifically about your life experience will give your essay the dimension it needs to make an impact on the admissions team.

Lastly, don’t forget to check out the webpage for Johns Hopkins essays that worked .

If you need help polishing up your Johns Hopkins supplemental essay, check out our College Essay Review service. You can receive detailed feedback from Ivy League consultants in as little as 24 hours.

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How to write the johns hopkins university supplemental essay, updated for 2024-2025.

How has your life experience contributed to your personal story—your character, values, perspectives or skills—and what you want to pursue at Hopkins? (350 word limit)

Explanation:

This supplemental question may seem confusing or pointed to many, but in reality it’s asking a rather simple question: What is something about your background that influenced who you are as a person and, thus, what you intend to study at Johns Hopkins?

Whether you choose to tell a dramatic story about a life-changing experience or a lighthearted story about the first time you tried your favorite hobby, the most important part of this prompt isn’t the impetus of your academic pursuit as much as it is your ability to tie the two together. How did growing up in a culturally diverse household make you want to study music? Why and how did your prized coin collection turn into an interest in studying economics at JHU?

Aside from connecting your identity and background to your major, the other important part of this prompt asks how you intend to pursue your subject of interest at Hopkins specifically.

Begin by writing about an experience that compels you to study your intended major. If you are a computer science major, for example, this would be the perfect opportunity to mention that app you built after being inspired by your love for coding. If you are a creative writing and political science double major, you might share your experience of writing political speeches. This is your chance to use relevant experiences and activities to connect your intended major(s) with your identity, background, and outside-the-classroom interests.

Next, aside from connecting your identity to your intended major, your answer should touch on what you intend to study at Hopkins specifically. Why do you want to pursue your goals at Hopkins rather than another school on your list? If there’s a class, club, professor, alumni, or any specific reason(s) why Johns Hopkins is the place where you’d like to foster this passion, this is your opportunity to write about it. As with all supplemental writing, the more specific you can be, the better.

The day my father showed me his favorite horror movie changed the trajectory of my life. Despite being quite young, I can vividly remember gripping his hand, overcome by an adrenaline-filled combination of terror and intrigue. What I remember more than the twisted plot, suspenseful score, and the film’s monster—who can only be described as the personification of nightmares—was my own bewilderment and obsession at how the film made me feel.

As inconsequential as it might seem, this viewing ignited an academic passion for psychology that serves as the perfect supplement to my lifelong obsession with filmmaking. Experiencing the horror genre for the first time broadened my horizons regarding the emotional responses that media and art could elicit in a viewer. This experience was the catalyst for my interest in behavioral psychology, and it led me to conduct research on cognition-emotion interactions at the University of Cincinnati’s Laboratory for Cognitive and Affective Neuropsychology last summer.

In furthering my studies as both a social scientist and as an aspiring filmmaker and screenwriter, I am certain that Johns Hopkins would provide me with a world class interdisciplinary approach to my academic interests. Aside from their film and media studies degree—which offers students the opportunity to specialize in screenwriting and showcase their work at the Maryland Film Festival—the psychology department’s courses such as “Primate Minds” will provide valuable lessons on behavioral and emotional responses. Lastly, alumni such as film director Wes Craven have demonstrated that Johns Hopkins fosters an environment that enables students to truly master their interests and pursue their passions at the highest possible level. It is my hope that I too will leave my mark on JHU’s campus and beyond.

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With the new college application season underway, students aspiring to attend Johns Hopkins University will need to sharpen their pencils for the latest essay prompt. Recognized globally for its groundbreaking research, Johns Hopkins uses its supplemental essays as a window into your individuality. This year, the essay prompt asks:

"How has your life experience contributed to your personal story—your character, values, perspectives or skills—and what you want to pursue at Hopkins?" (350 word limit)

Understanding and Approaching the Prompt

When Johns Hopkins University asks "How has your life experience contributed to your personal story—your character, values, perspectives or skills—and what you want to pursue at Hopkins?" they are looking for a narrative that reveals who you are beyond your grades and test scores. This prompt offers a golden opportunity to showcase the unique journey that has shaped your aspirations. After all, Johns Hopkins is a place where diverse experiences and perspectives converge to foster innovation.

In approaching this essay, start by reflecting on significant moments in your life that have influenced your character, values, perspectives, or skills. Be specific and introspective. What instances stand out when you consider what has molded you into the person you are today? Sups AI , an AI college counseling platform, can help you brainstorm effectively by offering personalized prompts and constructive feedback, making your writing process much smoother.

Connecting Personal Experiences to Johns Hopkins

Once you've pinpointed the pivotal experiences that define you, the next step is to link these experiences with what you aim to pursue at Johns Hopkins. Johns Hopkins values students who will take full advantage of their resources and opportunities. Whether you're drawn to their acclaimed Biomedical Engineering program , Public Health studies , or Humanities departments , make sure to bridge your life story to specific initiatives, courses, or activities at Hopkins. If you're unsure how to articulate this connection, consider using Sups AI for guidance.

Writing Tips Specific to Johns Hopkins

Be Authentic: Authenticity resonates more than grandiosity. Your true self is what Johns Hopkins wants to know.

Be Detailed: Describe your experiences vividly. The more you can paint a picture with words, the more compelling your essay will be.

Show Growth: Highlight how your experiences have prompted growth or change in your life.

Link to Hopkins: Make a compelling case for how Johns Hopkins is the ideal place for your future endeavors.

Remember that the key to a stellar supplemental essay is a balance of introspection and articulation. Through platforms like Sups AI , you can get insights from current students and professional counselors to refine your essay. Sups AI has already helped over 10,000 students gain admission to top 50 schools in the US, proving to be an invaluable resource in your application journey.

In summary, let your life experiences guide your personal narrative, and connect these narratives meaningfully with what Johns Hopkins has to offer. Best of luck with your application!

How to Write the Johns Hopkins University 2024-2025 Supplemental Essays