Johns Hopkins University Medical School Requirements

Johns Hopkins University is among the most prestigious medical schools in the world. It’s also extremely selective. With more than 4,500 applications at the time of publication, the school interviewed about 700 candidates to come up with its class of 120 students. Applicants must have a solid foundation in science and excel in an array of academic subjects to be among the few who enroll. Understanding the John Hopkins Medical School requirements will help you to achieve the necessary goals to qualify for admittance.

Applying to Johns Hopkins

Prospective Johns Hopkins University medical students must submit an American Medical College Application by Oct. 15 in the year before they enroll. Johns Hopkins is among 137 medical schools in the U.S. that accept the universal application from the nonprofit organization. The school has its own secondary application that must be submitted by Dec. 1. Students must complete the standardized Medical College Admissions Test by September. After all applications are submitted, the school will select applicants for interviews. Notification of acceptances are made between late fall and mid-spring.

Undergraduate Prerequisites

Johns Hopkins medical students must have graduated from an accredited undergraduate college of university. Online and community college credits will not transfer. Letters of recommendation are required. Students should submit letters from two science professors and one non-science professor, or letters from a pre-health committee or pre-health adviser. Applicants with work experience must submit letters from their supervisors.

The incoming student’s college major isn’t weighed by the medical school’s admissions committee. In fact, only two-thirds of incoming medical students had science majors. The committee instead focuses on the quality and scope of the applicant’s academic background.

John Hopkins Medical School Requirements

Incoming medical students must have completed a year of laboratory biology in addition to coursework focusing on genetics. Advanced Placement biology credits aren’t adequate and should be supplemented with a semester course on molecular biology. Students should have taken a year of general chemistry and a half-year each of organic chemistry and biochemistry. Advanced Placement classes can cover a portion of this requirement. Students should have a combination of three years of humanities, social and behavioral science courses, a year of calculus and a year of physics. A semester of statistics is also recommended. Advanced Placement credit in calculus and physics is acceptable.

Other Requirements

Candidates for Johns Hopkins Medical School must have a working knowledge of computers, be able to retrieve information from them and use them to communicate. Students must demonstrate writing skills and have taken two writing-intensive courses. This can be covered under the three-year requirement for humanities and social science classes. To hedge the John Hopkins Medical School admissions statistics, it is strongly recommended students be able to converse in a foreign language. Students must be able to work as part of a team as medicine is an extremely collaborative field.

About Johns Hopkins

Medical students will work at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md., which was ranked the best in the nation by U.S. News and World Report for 21 straight years. The Johns Hopkins medical network operates six academic and community hospitals, four health-care and surgery centers, and has more than 2.8 million outpatient encounters per year. In 2009, the medical school rolled out its “Genes to Society” curriculum, which eschews the concept of normal and abnormal bodily functions and instead takes a systems approach to understanding all levels of human medical issues from genetic to environmental factors. This allows those studying medicine to evaluate and consider how the body adapts to the surrounding, changing environment.