FAQ Friday: Application Mania

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Well. It’s been quite a month here at the Hopkins Insider. We welcomed the first members of the Class of 2017, then took a little break for the holidays, and now our counselors (including Admissions_Shannon, Admissions_Ardi, and Admissions_Laurin) are right in the thick of reading applications. Elsewhere in the office, we’re gearing up for spring events and travel, preparing print publications, and having important lunchtime conversations about reality television.

What’s that? You wanted to know about your application? Are you sure you wouldn’t rather talk about the new American Idol judges? We’re concerned about who will be able to fill Steven Tyler’s wacky platform shoes.

Anyway…So you did it! You stayed up late and fretted over your essays and made sure all of your information was correct. With a quivering hand, you clicked “submit,” and now you’re officially a Class of 2017 applicant. (Hopefully your application experience wasn’t quite that dramatic.) And now we’re sure you have a few questions, which we’ll try to answer below.

1. Is my application complete?

This is the most common question we are asked this time of year. We don’t currently have a way to check your application status online, so we understand that applicants get a little nervous about their status. Here’s the deal: We are processing hundreds of documents every day, so the sheer volume of items we’re receiving this time of year makes it difficult to respond to each application status check request we get. But, we’re not leaving you in the dark. Applicant files are checked thoroughly for completeness. In late January or early February, we’ll send out a “missing items” e-mail to all students who are, go figure, missing items. That e-mail will give you time to submit any outstanding items that might be missing from your application. (This is another reason we need to have a current e-mail for you, so make sure you’re checking the e-mail account you used on your application.)

Bins of materials for counselors to review

2.       But, can’t you just tell me if my application is complete?

Please see above. Give us a few weeks to process all of the materials we have so that we can give you an accurate answer to that question. If you don’t receive the missing items e-mail, you can call or e-mail us in February to check on your application.

3.       I submitted my materials at 12:02 a.m. on January 1. Will I still be considered for admission?

While it’s important to submit your application and supporting materials as close to the deadline as possible, we continue to take materials through mid-January. This isn’t because we don’t care about deadline—deadline appreciation is a core value to most admissions professionals—but we realize that some items, like your recommendations and school reports, are coming from outside sources, and that international students might need more time to complete the additional required materials. So, yes, we’ll accept your materials after Jan. 1, and yes, you will still be considered for admission, and yes, please try to get them all in as soon as possible. Your file won’t be read until it’s complete, so get that stuff in!

4.       When will I hear from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions?

We won’t have the answer you really want from us—whether you were admitted—until around April 1, but in the meantime, we will have some important information for you. This month, you should receive an e-mail from us that talks about Financial Aid deadlines and the Woodrow Wilson application process, which is open to all applicants. Then, around the end of January, we’ll send out the above mentioned “missing items” e-mail. After that, any communications you get from us will be about the process of checking or receiving your admissions decision.

That's just good advice for everyone, provided by a staff member's granddaughter.

Hopefully those answers help out a little bit. We know this can be a nerve-wracking experience, especially if you are applying to different schools that all have different methods for tracking applications, different deadlines, and different procedures. The best advice for you now is to just relax and enjoy the rest of your senior year. If you’re curious what happens to your application after you submit it, we’ll post an entry about that in the near future. Rest assured that your application takes quite an electronic journey after you’re finished with it. (And now we have a techno version of “Don’t Stop Believin’” in our head.)

Be well and stay tuned!

FAQ Friday, Second Edition: The Essays

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Hello again and happy Friday from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. The hot topic this week that we know has been on your mind: What should you be for Halloween?? Great question. The possibilities are endless.

What’s that? You already know that you want to be the blue power ranger (good choice!) but what’s really on your mind is your application essay? I guess we can help with that, too. (And a note to our readers who are not quite application-ready: We know you’ve got questions too. I promise we’ll address some general, not-application-related questions soon.)

So. The application essay. There you are, all ready to submit your application and go about your business, except for the small matter of you versus the blinking curser. When it comes to application essays, there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that the essay is an important part of your application. The good news? Your essay is an important part of your application! (Did you just do a cartoon double-take?) What this means is that your essays should be something that you spend some time on, because it’s your chance to show a little bit of your personality to the counselors who are reading your application. Admissions_Shannon already covered a lot of this in a post earlier this month: http://blogs.hopkins-interactive.com/blog/2012/08/the-write-stuff-essay-strategies-that-work/, and you can always read examples of previous essays that we liked on our “Essays that Worked” page: http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/essays.html. What we’re here for today are your FAQ about essays, so here goes…

You've read everything you can find about us... now we want to read about YOU!

#1. Are those, uh, word counts, like, totally set in stone, orrrr….??

We get it. By the time you’re asking this question, you’ve probably already got a 3,000-word masterpiece polished and ready to go. Good for you! There are tons of students staring at an empty page who hate you right now. Here’s the deal: the word counts are put there for a reason. Writing isn’t just about what you have to say, but how clearly and concisely you can communicate it when asked. (Do as we say and not as we do, as this “very brief” blog rambles on and on every week.) The essay form won’t cut you off, and your regional admissions counselor is not a robot programmed to self-destruct after the 500-word or 250-word limit, so don’t prematurely age yourself fretting over those last few words. BUT—and it’s a big but, which is why we made it bold and capitalized—the person reading your application has no obligation to read past the posted word limit so it’s in your best interest to get to the point quickly. In the words of John Mayer, say what you need to say, while keeping an eye on the word count limits. (Can we get #JohnMayerCollegeEssay trending on twitter? Anybody?) If you’re way over the limit and stuck on what to cut, employ your friends, family, counselors, dog, whoever, to help you whittle it down.

You'll get by with a little help from your friends...

#2 What makes an essay stand out?

Again, visit Admissions_Shannon’s excellent advice for essay writing or our Essays that Worked page for examples, but, in general, essays that are well written, interesting, and creative stand out. Essays that are heartfelt and genuine, or show a real passion for learning (or more specifically, learning at Johns Hopkins) or commitment to a social/extracurricular endeavor are memorable. Remember, the person reading your application is just that—a person. What kinds of things would stand out to you if you were reviewing essays all day? Think about that as you write your own piece. Which brings us to…

Take some time to plan out your essay. You'll be glad you did!

#3. What’s the appropriate amount of curse words in a college admissions essay?

Um. Ahem. Let us distract from the question at hand.  We’re not trying to stifle your creativity, but you should keep in mind that you’re writing for a specific audience. Things like excessive curse words, explicit descriptions of things that might make the common reader blush, etc., may not be your best choices. If you choose to talk about a controversial topic—which many students do, very successfully, every year—you should make sure your essay is constructed in a thoughtful way that reveals something about you  as a writer and as a scholar. You want your essay to be memorable because it was well written or thought-provoking, not because it made the application reader cringe. That being said, Johns Hopkins is a creative place and we have big hearts for the arts (trademark!) here, so you should feel free to get creative in the way that you’re delivering your essay. Not sure if your essay falls under “brilliantly creative” or “offensively off-putting”? Fair enough…some of the finest art in the world has gone through that dilemma. Check with your college counselor or a trusted teacher and they can help to steer you in the right direction.

To sum up: Be yourself. Be creative. And, try to stick to the listed word counts, even if you really don’t want to. Happy writing!

FAQ Friday, First Edition: Let’s Talk Testing

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If you’re a longtime reader of the site (which we assume you are; surely you have continued to keep up with the goings-on in the JHU Office of Undergraduate Admissions long after you applied, were admitted, attended, graduated, and went on to become a successful doctor/businessman or woman/author/philanthropist, etc.) then you  might remember a segment called “Friday Favorites” (http://blogs.hopkins-interactive.com/blog/category/friday-favorites/). We’re bringing it back, with a twist: check here on Fridays for a short segment called FAQ Friday, where we’ll briefly look at some of the most frequently asked questions we’re getting on the phones, from visitors, or through our gotojhu@jhu.edu account. Of course, you can always view our FAQ here: http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/faq.html, but maybe the question we’re addressing on some random Friday will be the very thing you’ve been meaning to e-mail us about.

The application race is underway...except it's not really a race. At all.

This week’s FAQ Friday: When do I need to send in my test results?

With the November 1 Early Decision deadline slowly/quickly approaching, we’re hearing this question a lot. Here’s the deal with when you need to submit your test results:

#1. (I think this will be a common thread in FAQ Fridays): Relax. You’re not alone. We receive over 20,000 applications each year, and every one of those applicants has to submit their scores so this is a common concern.

#2. Make sure you brush up on just what our requirements are. Someone should make a website for that. Oh wait! We already did and, being the geniuses that we are, we cleverly named it Standardized Test Requirements and you can find it here: http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/testreqs.html. Basically, you need either the SAT I Reasoning Test OR the ACT with Writing Test. We don’t have a preference on which test you take and you should send all of your scores to us. SAT II Subject Tests are not required, but are recommended. Go to the website. It makes things sound much more official than that.

We wouldn't recommend taking your SATs using a red marker like this clip art lady appears to be doing.

#1a. Sorry. This is out of order (and also brings to mind a pro essay-writing tip: outlines can be your best friend) but it speaks to the main message of #1 (It was “relax”…have you forgotten already? You should get more rest.): Yes, we are talking about standardized tests. Yes, they will be considered in your application. No, no, no, they are not the end-all, be-all of your application and there is no magic number that we’re looking for. If there were, our admissions counselors would have a lot more free time on their hands. Unfortunately for them but happily for you, your test results are a small part of your application.  But, scores are required and, for some unknown reason, they seem to cause lots of stress among our applicants, so that’s why we’re talking about them today.

Back to relaxing.

Where were we? Oh right...we were relaxing. Of course.

#3. So you’ve taken your SAT I or ACT with Writing Test and AS IF that wasn’t stressful enough, now you’re chewing your fingernails to nubs wondering if your scores will get here on time. First, you should stop chewing your fingernails. Nasty habit to break. Secondly, here’s our stance on that:

Johns Hopkins requires that Early Decision (ED) candidates complete their required tests no later than October of their senior year. This means that applicants must take either the SAT or ACT with Writing prior to the November 1 ED deadline. (When TOEFL is required that exam must also be taken before November 1.) Test scores need to be requested from the testing agencies prior to our stated application deadlines but may arrive after the deadline. Though October scores will arrive past the deadline they will still be considered if requested in advance of the deadline. There is no need to rush score reports as they do not arrive any earlier. We cannot guarantee that November scores will arrive before the Admissions Committee evaluation.

Past experience does suggest that exams taken in November usually arrive in time. Therefore, Early Decision applicants may submit November testing if they are taking the SAT, ACT, or TOEFL a multiple time, or if they are taking the recommended but not required SAT subject exams. If the scores arrive before the evaluation then they will be considered with one’s application. We cannot guarantee that scores sent after our application deadline will be processed in time to be reviewed with one’s application and we do not delay the review of an application to wait for scores sent after the application deadline. Again, there is no need to rush scores from the testing agencies, as our office will not process them any quicker.

For Regular Decision, the above holds true with the dates switched out: Regular Decision (RD) candidates should complete their required tests no later than December of their senior year. This means that applicants must take either the SAT or ACT with Writing prior to the January 1 RD deadline. Note that if you plan to send January scores, you must submit your previous test scores prior to the January 1 deadline and then send any January scores as a later update. If you do not submit test scores prior to the January 1 deadline then your application will be considered incomplete.

Wrap it up, Admissions_Shelly. We don't have all day to read this blog.

#4 So, OMG, get to the point. (I know, I know…if this were a Common Application essay, I’d be 300+ words over the limit and the admissions counselor would be getting antsy. Not okay.) So in short: If you are taking your required tests for the FIRST time, you need to do so and request that your scores be sent to us before the application deadline. If you’re taking the test a second/third/seriously, do you love taking tests or something? time (or if you’re submitting the recommended but not required SAT II Subject tests), you can take it after the deadline to supplement your application but we can’t guarantee that it will arrive at our office in time to make it into your file. Most likely, it will arrive in time; HOWEVER, we can’t guarantee it and we can’t hold up application review to wait for test scores, so if you are really counting on an updated test score for your application, you should be safe and take the test before the application deadline.

Sound good? Sounds good to us, but then, our policies and procedures usually do. And I guess we weren’t into that whole brevity thing this week—better luck next time! Have a great weekend!

Friday Favorites: The Big Number

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I need to keep this entry short for reasons that will become clear as you read on.

Always at this time of year the big question on the minds of applicants, parents of applicants, guidance counselors, the media, peer institutions, and anyone somewhat connected to higher education is … what is your applicant total? Throughout the month of January, newspapers and education blogs are constantly posting stories of which schools are up .. which schools are down … and why? Just do a search of the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, college newspapers, and the dreaded College Confidential and you will find ample reading about application numbers. I even had a poll up on the Hopkins Insider blog for the last month, since I know this is such a popular topic to discuss. So, what is Hopkins application total for the 2009-10 application cycle?

Earlier this week Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Dr. John Latting revealed the total to the whole Admissions team during our weekly staff meeting. And the total is:

18,349

For the staff this is a big announcement for two reasons: (1) It lets us know how much work we need to accomplish between now and the end of March. And with nearly 2,200 more applications (a 13% increase) over last year, we all are aware of the daunting task ahead of us. & (2) We find out which staff member wins the $50 gift certificate for coming the closest to the final total. This year it goes to Operations Staff member Wanda Roberts who had the highest guess of all staff members and was the only one to guess in the 18,000s. It shows that predicting application numbers is a difficult task — only 13.3% of you got it right (as of today).

So now I need to get back to reading those applications.

Just a final note about the pictures. I chose to post an old picture of stacks of files because it is such a better image than a picture of a computer monitor with a filled queue. And then I also had to include a picture of Soze, my puppy, who turns 9 years old this weekend. Snow is in the forecast for Baltimore, so I think Soze got his birthday wish.

Friday Favorites:Become a Fan(on Facebook)

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One of my favorite television shows of all time is The West Wing. Throughout the show’s run the tales o f the Bartlet administration were always “must see TV” for me. During the early seasons of the show I was living in D.C. and I feel that always added a bit to my enjoyment of the show. Though at times C.J., Sam, Toby, Leo, Donna, Charlie, and Josh were a bit over the top with their fast walking down halls and quick dialog, and Sorkin’s scripts could become a bit too liberal and preachy, I still would recommend The West Wing to anyone look for a good drama of the recent past.

So why do I start this blog by extolling the virtues of a retired television show? No, this is not going to be a blog about my addiction to television, and no, this is not my way to comment about NBC and the mess they have made with late night TV and how they totally mistreated Conan. The reason I bring up The West Wing is that in deciding how to write about today’s Friday Favorites topic, I was thinking of one of the very popular phrases used throughout the show. President Bartlet (played magnificently by Martin Sheen) was always known to use the phrase, “What’s next?” whenever moving on to a new topic. “What’s next?” became a common phrase simply because there was always so much going on in the fictional White House, and they always had to follow one great accomplishment with the next one.

This “What’s next?” mentality is something that I have incorporated into my occupational philosophy, especially when it comes to new ideas related to our Hopkins Interactive project. I often connect with the current students who volunteer with me and ask “What’s next?” Right after we complete a project it is time to move on to the next project. There is no resting on our laurels. We launch a new freshman blog, and then it is on to launching our awesome Academic Blog. We start with a new Twitter account, follow that up with new videos for our YouTube page, and continue with our Guest Blog Google Map. As we work on one project, we are always brainstorming or planning a variety of next projects. It is time for me to once again ask “What’s next?” as last Friday we launched our next big accomplishment and my Friday Favorite for today.

Last Friday after a few months of hard work by a number of Hopkins Interactive students, especially my current student intern and in many ways my executive assistant Mandy Stein, we launched a Facebook Fan Page – Johns Hopkins University – Undergraduate Admissions. The Facebook Fan page is for us the next evolution of using the most popular forms of social media to connect with a variety of audiences. In the past we used Facebook groups to connect with prospective audiences, but it became clear that Facebook was “forcing” its membership to embrace Fan pages instead. We will still use the Facebook group function to connect with specific groups of students, such as our Class of 2014 Facebook group currently populated with recently admitted Early Decision students (the first members of the JHU Class of ’14) and will expand in the spring with Regular Decision admitted students who choose to enroll at Hopkins. But, it became clear that a Facebook Fan page was a next logical step for us.

Johns Hopkins University – Undergraduate Admissions

One question I do anticipate getting in the future is whether being a fan of the Fan Page will improve one’s chances for admissions? No it will not.In fact, we will not be tracking which applicants “become a fan” and those who choose to lurk or never use the resource. The Fan Page, as well as all of our social media devices (Twitter, blogs, YouTube, Hopkins Forums, etc.), are a means to dispense information and allow prospective students and applicants to connect with the Office of Admissions (me!) and current JHU students. We provide these tools to help you all navigate the admissions process and to educate yourself about the “real” Johns Hopkins University – hopefully assisting you in the end with determining whether Hopkins is the right fit for you. In no way do we provide these tools as a way to track an applicant’s interest or to “stalk” our applicants. We do not have the time or the interest to do anything like that.

So enjoy the new Facebook Fan Page and know that I have already asked the “What’s next?” question of the Hopkins Interactive students and there are some amazing new projects on the horizon.

Friday Favorites: ED Stats

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Typically the most popular topic following a decision release day is always what did the “stats” look like. So I thought for this Friday Favorite I would look back on a variety of statistical breakdowns from the release of Early Decision notifications from this past Tuesday.

First, I thought I would re-post the official admissions statistics for the Early Decision Class of 2014. I posted these during my Live Blogging post on Tuesday, but I decided to re-post since they may have gotten buried in the middle of that long entry.

• LARGEST ED APPLICANT POOL EVER = 1,155. Up 10% from last year.
• Over this past decade our Early Decision applicant pool has risen 138%.
• The acceptance rate has dropped to the second lowest rate for the last ten years. We admitted 43% of the applicants. 493 applicants will be the first students welcomed into the Class of 2014.
• The male/female ration is 54%/46% which is impressive and a rise for women in the class.
• We have 53 under-represented minority students in the admitted class which is our largest number ever.
• As far as academic interest, 32% interested in Engineering (+2% from last year); 12% are interested in Humanities (+1%); 34% interested in Natural Sciences (-4%); 19% interested in Social and Behavioral Sciences (-7%); and 3% Undecided (-2%).
• All of our academic markers are either a slight bit up, the same as last year, or the slightest tick down. The quality of our ED admits just based of academic factors continues to amaze us all.
• New York is the top state (76) for admits, New Jersey is second (71), and Maryland is third (50). Pennsylvania (47) and California (29) round out the top five. 36 states are represented in our admitted ED class.
• 41 international students from over 17 nations – both records for our ED class.

Second, I always like to share some statistics as it relates to the use of our social media tools during the relase of notifications. And by social media tools I mean this blog, our student blogs, our Facebook group, and other such tools associated with the Hopkins Interactive Web site.

• Hopkins Insider Blog stats:

– During the week leading up to the release of ED notifications, the blog averaged 925 hits a day. That is just up from the average 800 hits per day during a normal time frame.
– On the Monday before (12.14) the number of hits rose to 1525.
– On Decision release day (12.15), over a 24-hour period, there were 8899 hits.
– The last two days the hits per day is back to about the 800 average.

• Class of 2014 Facebook Group stats:

– Within 24 hours, we approved 186 newly admitted students into the Facebook group. That is 37% of the admitted 493 students.
– By this post, we have approved 63% (313 students) of the admitted students into the group.

Finally, the next big STAT question is going to be what is the total applicant pool for the Johns Hopkins Class of 2014. We won’t know for more than a month, but I thought I would continue a blog tradition and have the readers vote on what they think the total will be. Look to the right and you will find the poll. To help, last year’s applicant pool was 16,123 … will this year be up or down??? Vote now.

Friday Favorites: The Amazing Guest Blog

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Back when we launched Hopkins Interactive and the Hopkins Insider blog in December 2005 one of our initial ideas was to include a "Guest Blog" along with the blogs written by current students. Here is what we wrote when we debuted the Hopkins Interactive Guest Blog in January 2006:

Did you ever wonder what it was like to explore a foreign country through a study abroad program? play lacrosse at Hopkins? participate in a theater group? study engineering? apply to law school? be an international student? join a sorority or fraternity? write for the student newspaper?

Well then, you've come to the right place! Welcome to the latest addition to Hopkins Interactive: Guest Blogs. In addition to our current student blogs, we are adding this fun and new way to learn even more about Hopkins. Each Monday, the guest blogs will feature a new student who will post on a different topic, allowing you to gain a "bird's eye view" of life at Hopkins. Posts will focus on academics, extracurriculars, and social life at Hopkins – all aspects of college life here at the Homewood campus. So, be sure to check back frequently to make sure you don't miss anything!

Next month will be the four year anniversary of the Hopkins Interactive Guest Blog and though there have been changes to design and the frequency we post (normally twice a week now), the mission of the blog remains the same: Featuring a different Johns Hopkins student each week.

To celebrate we created a fun Google Map with links to hometowns (or study abroad sites) for our nearly 150 posted guest blogs. Check it out below, and click on the link for the full map:

Pretty cool, huh? Curious about the meaning behind the different color pins … here is your key:

Blue = Traditional Guest Blogs
Yellow = Current Members of Hopkins Interactive who have written Guest Blogs
Red = Blogs of our Current Members of Hopkins Interactive as well as Retired Alums
Airplanes = Study Abroad Guest Blogs

The Hopkins Interactive Guest Blog remains one of my favorite projects we have ever created, as each week I truly enjoy getting to know another one of the amazing Hopkins students. The Guest Blog even spawned other blog types, including our Alumni Blogs, our Parent Blogs, and our Faculty and Staff Blogs all part of our Blue Jay Buffet compilation blog. You can even check out a JHU Gazette article from last spring that talked about our Guest Blog, Blogging a Big Hit for Admissions.

Enjoy the map and enjoy the great variety on our Guest Blog … I know I will.

Friday Favorites: Admissions – The Musical

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It's Friday and that means another Friday Favorites entry for you all. Actually, today is going to be a double dose of Friday Favorites … woo hoo. I am working on an entry that will be posted later today, but when I stumbled upon this video earlier in the week I knew I had to share it.

Drum roll please … ladies and gentlemen prepare for …

ADMISSIONS: THE MUSICAL

Did you enjoy that? I wonder if this is the type of humor only people who have worked in Admissions get. Oh well, the guys from the University of Delaware did an amazing job and I just had to share it.

Back to reading files for me … hmmm, I am thinking that today's musical selection to accompany my reading should include some Broadway tunes. I wonder why?

Friday Favorites: Twitter and YouTube

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When I introduced the concept of my Friday Favorities a few months ago, I said that one of the frequent topics would be updates on the new and unique projects associated with Hopkins Interactive. Well the Hopkins Interactive students and I have been working diligently these past few months and I think we have launched some exciting new projects and have a number of great ideas soon to come. Last week I introduced the new Academics Blog and the response to that project has been tremendous. So, this week I though I would let you all know how we have been using Twitter and update you with a few of our newest YouTube videos.

When we first started to use Twitter in conjunction with Hopkins Interactive we created the @HopkinsInsider account. The main purpose was to have a vehicle to inform our followers of new blog entries posted by myself, the student bloggers, or to any of our other University bloggers. Then shortly after I launched my own personal Twitter account @AdmissionDaniel as I was hearing from people that they would like to see tweets from an actual Admissions professional. (Darn Twitter and its character limits with names prevented me from using the more consistent AdmissionsDaniel moniker – I guess you add the “S” to get Johns Hopkins but drop the “S” when finding me on Twitter.)

Though the number of followers for each of these Twitter account remains low – 187 for the main account and 134 for me – they do seem to be another form of communication that prospective students and families enjoy. It also seems a number of higher education professionals have also found the accounts. Stemming from this mild success, we decided at the start of this semester to ask three of the Hopkins Interactive students to create Twitter accounts that we would link to through the main site, forums, and blogs. So now you can follow, @JHU_Saznin, @JHU_Brian, and @JHU_Keith. Here is a bit of a description about each account with links:

@HopkinsInsider: The main Hopkins Interactive Twitter account. When a new blog is posted a new tweet will be posted so you can check out the new entry. In the coming weeks, we plan to make this Twitter account more active as we highlight some of the most popular threads on the Hopkins Forums, link to some of the best blogs of all time, and share recent Hopkins news.

@AdmissionDaniel: This is my Twitter account. I attempt to update every day or so with a mixture of updates on what is going on with work, my thoughts on admissions, retweets of cool Hopkins stuff, and as normal for me, random deep thoughts.

@JHU_Saznin: Saznin is a current Hopkins sophomore focusing her studies on Public Health. From Virginia, her family has just moved to Africa so she is in some ways re-defining where her home is. Saznin is an involved student with a unique sense of humor … and oh yeah, she is not pre-med.

@JHU_Brian: Brian is an Environmental Engineering sophomore from New Jersey. Everyone who has ever come in contact with Brian is amazed at how intelligent, how friendly, and how creative a person he is … I guess that is why he is the Westgate scholar for his class.

@JHU_Keith: Keith is one of the newest members of the Hopkins Interactive team and roommates with Brian (yes, it is strange when they communicate with each other through Twitter!). He is also a sophomore and is studying Hopkins newest major, Global Environmental Change and Sustainability or as well all call it = GECS.

So follow us, retweet us, and if you ever have suggestions of what we should be doing on Twitter let us know.

The Hopkins Interactive team also continues to create YouTube videos and upload them to both our Video Blog and YouTube page. To encourage you all to check out our videos I thought I would share two videos: (1) A Day in The Life of JHU_Greco one of the new Hopkins Interactive freshmen & (2) a re-post of the Hopkins Interactive LipDub from last spring. Enjoy!

Friday Favorites: Introducing our Academics Blog

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It’s Friday and I am not on the road … so that means the return of the Friday Favorites. Sorry for not posting any Friday Favorites entries over the last month and a half, but I promise that this entry and the ones to follow in the coming weeks will completely make up for the delay.

Probably the most frequently discussed topic in the college admissions search process is something along the lines of what’s your major going to be? Or equally common is the prospective student asking a college admissions professional how is such-and-such major at your university? It is pretty clear that one of the primary ways students choose which university to attend is by evaluating the academic opportunities (namely majors and minors) that each institution provides.

With this in mind, the team behind the Hopkins Interactive Web site set out on a seemingly-impossible project: to collect blog entries from a student of every single major and minor offered here at Johns Hopkins. We realized that prospective and admitted students must not only be aware of the majors and minors that we offer, but also get as close to and as familiar with them as possible. And what better source of information than current students or recent alumni of those programs of study.

This project became known as our Academics Blog Project and over a year and a half it was a major undertaking. Earlier this week we put the finishing touches on the project and are proud to launch: