If you had told me 4 years ago that I would have the opportunity to interview at JHU SOM, I would have called you crazy. But what can I say? It’s been a surreal app cycle so far, and the past few days have been unreal. Hopkins has always been one of my top choices, and despite my poor experience with the humidity, I left just as much in love with the school as I always have been.
After arriving in Baltimore at 5PM, I was instantly struck by the east coast’s famous humid summer air. Even after sitting in an air conditioned shuttle for 2 hours, my 10 minute walk to my host’s apartment left me drench and worried about how well I would cope in a suit. (The answer was barely.) During the ride, I noticed that Baltimore is not all that different from LA and Chicago; it was a city of neighborhoods, spanning from the very nice to the very gentrified. I began to see what some people mean when they say that safety and comfort changes from block to block.
My host and several other students prefer to live in neighborhoods south of Hopkins: Fells Point, Patterson Park, Patterson Place, etc. A few MS1s like to live in the 929 Building, located just 2 blocks from the med school campus; the building reminds me of the luxery style housing found near USC’s campus. The price range is higher (with parking, it ~$1000/month per person for a 4 bed/2 bath), but with it comes amenities and utilities. My host and her roommates live a few blocks down (about a 10 minute walk) in the traditional Baltimore rowhouses. To be honest, it reminds me eerily of the architecture style in Vietnam: 3 stories, a narrow staircase, and emphasis in depth over width. The width of the ground floor is not much larger than that a small living room. That said, the house had 2nd and 3rd floors comprised entirely of the bedrooms, 2 on each floor, each with its own bath and closet. The rooms themselves were actually super spacious, much bigger than my own in SoCal. It took me some time to get used to the architecture and style of the home, but now I can definitely appreciate its charm.
Talking with my host made me really excited about all the support that Hopkins offers its students. Like Pritzker (and I believe UCI?), Hopkins sorts its students into 4 Hogwartsian houses, with 30 students in each house. (The class size is 120.) Of that, each house is further subdivided into 6 molecules (groups of 5 students), where each molecule is assigned a faculty mentor. The molecules of each class that share the same mentor group together to form a macromolecule. (These lil science puns made me die.) Each week during the Clinical Foundations of Medicine (aka Doctoring 101) course, the molecules gather with the mentor to work through the lesson and practice clinical skills on one another. My host (along with the 4th years of the admissions committee) were talking about how they bonded most closely with their molecule members and shared the funniest (if not, most awkward) inside jokes. To me, this level of support is amazing, and really indicates that despite its medium-large class size, Hopkins really makes a concerted effort to make sure the students don’t fall through the cracks.
After having dinner that my host graciously made, I walked over to the Armstrong Medical Education Building to partake in the Greeters’ Program. Before every interview date, MS2s and MS1s host this informal social for the prospective students to share their questions without judgment. I arrived about a half hour late due to dinner and…getting lost HAHA. -_____-lll All of the students were extremely nice and welcoming, and I was astounded by how down-to-earth and genuine they are. I really clicked with one MS1 in particularly about the social justice and activism opportunities available at Hopkins and Baltimore in general, since “this is a place that would really benefit for open discussion and dialogue.” Just…finding other students who are so thoughtful was incredible to me, and really assuaged my fears that Hopkins med students are all numbers and hyper-competitive. Surprisingly enough, the MS1s had their first exam (anatomy) the following morning, so I had no idea why they chose to stay for the program, haha! Talk about dedication (or procrastination).
During the Greeters’ Program, the med students explained that anatomy is taught for 8 weeks, and after that students start of the basic sciences before moving onto the Genes to Society program. Classes are usually in the morning (8am-1pm), with recorded lectures. Afternoons are usually free, with the exception of the Clinical Foundations course once a week. Starting February of the first year, student take a Longitudinal Clerkship Program where they are paired with a preceptor, usually in primary care, for a year. This allows them to develop their clinical skills and interact directly with patients. As an aside from this, Hopkin’s preclinical curriculum is 1.5 years, and students are given 8 weeks after February to study for Step 1. Additionally, if students want, they can take 1-2 clinical rotations before their Step 1, since this may help them perform better (Boards write very clinically based questions.) Overall, I really like this curriculum! It’s graded as P/F, and the clinicals are graded as H/HP/P/F, where grading is also competency based to reduce competition.
After the event, I Uber’ed back and got settled for the night. Hopkins graciously starts its interview day relatively late (terrible for us in suits, but mindful of our jetlag), and I was happy to be able to sleep in for once! It kind of backfired on me in the sense that I missed the opportunity to sit in on a lecture, but I was able to attend the 929 Housing Tour. After attending the tour (and drowning myself in my sweat from the morning walk), I can safely say that the apartments are, indeed, luxery apartments. In Baltimore, as fellow JHU interviewee stated, if you rent a 3 bed/2 bath apartment for more than $800/person, you overpaid (Most students pay $550-$700/month!). It’s nice to know that Baltimore housing is super affordable, though I guess it’s compensated by the higher food prices. (There is a food desert.)
Following the tour, a few other interviewees and I headed back to the admissions office and met the rest of the group. There were 12 of us, and we all chatted for a bit before Dr. White came and welcomed us. He has a very blunt sense of humor, and we were all both appreciated and intimidated at once HAHA. The Financial Aid coordinate soon arrived, and explained Hopkins’ policy for all applicants. At Hopkins, all financial aid is need-based (which makes sense, since all accepted students exemplify merit); becasue of this, even though student can apply as independent on the FAFSA, the parents must apply and submit the CSS PROFILE. The package itself includes a $20K/year base loan, and if there is is need after the “family contribution” and base loan, JHU packages the grants/scholarship package. If the student refuses to provide the CSS PROFILE, then the student is only eligible for loans. Once the financial aid talk was over, Dr. White gave an overview of the curriculum and medical philosophy at Hopkins: to heal the sick and underserved, you must go to them (hence their location in East Baltimore). At the same time, being Hopkins, the hospital also receives patients from all over the world for complex medical cases.
After providing us with the overview, Dr. White directed us across the hall where lunch was served. There, MS2s and guest faculty join to engage in conversation with the interviewees and put us at ease. They aren’t on the admissions committee, haha, which made a lot of us much more comfortable. We had a tour of the glorious Johns Hopkins hospital afterwards, and while I wish we spent less time outside (my suit was stifling, and I learned the hard way that the crepe button down I wore reveal sweat quite well), but it was a beautiful tour nonetheless.
Once everyone was done with the tour, we all gathered in the admissions office for interviews. The way interviews at Hopkins works is that there are 2 30-minute open file interviews, one each with a faculty member of the admissions committee and a 4th year student on the admissions committee. While waiting for the admissions committee, the 4th year students chat with the applicants and evaluate them. Hopkins does not hide this; they warned students in the intervite invite email. I found myself to be really nervous about this part the night before, since I’m naturally more introverted and not one to engage in conversation openly, but I still found the atmosphere very relaxing. I think more than anything, the 4th year students just want to make sure that you’re not totally socially incompetent (so put away your phones!), but otherwise, they were amicable and very friendly.
I had my faculty interview first, and my interviewer was super nice. It wasn’t a totally conversational interview, but it also wasn’t a stress test either. My interviewer was looking through parts of my application throughout the interview, and she seemed to pay close attention to the courses taken, activities section, and secondary responses. I was a bit taken back when she commented how one of my responses to a prompt should have been expanded and recycled to answer another prompt, but I don’t think she meant any ill will by it. She seemed understanding when I explained that I assumed each responses necessitated a different experience (i.e. 2 experiences for 2 prompts). I wish I had this advise when I was filling out the secondary, haha! I hope this won’t count too much against me, but I would like to think that if it were a deal breaker, then I wouldn’t have been invited to interview in the first place. We talked a bit on my most and least favorite classes, and I think it gave her some perspective on how I think. Overall, I really enjoyed it. Likewise, my student interview was also really fun and enjoyable. It was much more conversational, and he was upfront that there were some questions he just had to ask as an adcom member. Overall, I left both interviews feeling good, and was told that I “did great” (though I wonder if they were just polite???).
Overall, I had a wonderful experience at Hopkins. I admit to not being as googly-eyed as I was at Pritzker, but I honestly think that weather had a big part to do with this. Once we’re in an A/C’d room, however, I was fully in love in the school. I have high hopes for mid-December, and can only hope that financial aid works out if I have the opportunity to attend.
