Johns Hopkins - Advice, Please

Published Apr 20, 2011

43 Posts

Hello all!

Let me give you some background on me so that maybe you can help answer some of my questions.

I am 25 years old, and I earned a BS in Business Administration in 2008 from Towson University. I graduated Cum Laude with a 3.468 GPA (not fantastic, I know). I never planned on going back to school, but I knew business wasn't for me. I've worked with animals, mainly horses, all of my life. So for the first 2 years out of school, I moved my way up at the breeding farm where I worked through college. I manage the farm which includes helping with insemination and delivering the foals. I love the animals, but am convinced it has to be a hobby, not a career. With so many unwanted animals in this world, I can't ethically see myself ever breeding on my own for an income. I am more interested in rescue and rehabilitation, but that would have to be on the side of an actual career. I digress...so after an internship in my major and the two years I spent soley on the farm, I was really able to learn a lot about myself and what I want. I know that I am not cut out for business, as I have no desire to climb ladders and feel I can't do much good in a cubicle. I have realized that I am a caretaker at heart and that is what comes naturally. I temporarily worked as a chiropractic assistant and performed physical therapy on patients and that is the experience that convinced me that healthcare is where I belong. That work wasn't challenging enough, but I learned that I work well with patients and that making people feel better is the best feeling in the world. Nursing is a career I can see myself being happy in and will allow me to do something meaningful with my life. My favorite quote sums up why nursing is a profession I am passionate about pursuing: "My fear is not of failure, but of success in things that do not matter."

So, last summer I started taking my nursing prerequisites at CCBC. I took A&P I during a 7 week summer session- bad idea, that was really rough, but I passed! I've also completed A&P II, intro to sociology, intro to psychology, human growth and development, and am currently taking microbiology and an introductory chemistry course. I am scheduled to take basic nutrition this summer and plan to take organic chemistry in the fall. Here are my grades for the prerequisites -A&PI - B, A&PII - A, Sociology - A, Psychology - B, Human Growth & Development - A. I currently have a 3.69 GPA at CCBC. I currently have an A in both mircobiology and chemistry and plan to keep it that way! I'm working really hard to get A's on the rest of my courses. I also had a basic statistics course I took back at Towson which I got a B+ in.

So, I am ready to apply for the Spring/Fall 2012 semesters, depending on the school. I am planning on applying to Towson, Maryland, and Hopkins. Hopkins is a great school and of course would be my first choice. I met with an admissions advisor today and he seemed to indictate that I at least have a shot at making it in. I think they will average my two GPA's. I will have 2 acadmeic recommendations from current professors and 3 professional recommendations. Is it ok to send in more recommendations than required since they only require one professional recommendation but I have more people willing to write one? My boss for the past 6 years, chiropractor I worked for, and a successful business owner who I work for are all offering to write recommendations, and I feel like they all have something unique to contribute. I am decent at writing, so I think I can handle the essays and will give myself plenty of time. I have volunteered with two equine rescue and rehabilitation organizations for years. I am scheduled to interview with Hopkins and Hopkins Bayview to start volunteering. I would also like to volunteer with Our Daily Bread and the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization and plan to start this summer when my class load is smaller. The majority of my "medical" experience is with animals, not humans. I have my healthcare provider CPR certification. Anyway, for those of you who have applyed to Hopkins and made it or not, do I have any chance with my grades of making it in? I like that Hopkins looks at more than just grades, but I worry my grades are not good enough.

The advisor I spoke with today told me that I could apply for Fall 2011 right now even though the deadline just passed. He said it won't hurt me to apply and not get in or get in and decide to hold off for another semester. I feel like I don't have any chance at this point of making it but I would like to get some opinions on whether I should take a chance and submit my application now. My concern is that I have two prerequisite classes that are in progress and do not have final grades, giving me less points and potentially a lower GPA than once those grades are posted. I also have not started my volunteer work in the hospital yet. So I feel my chances may be slim. Should I just wait and get everything completed and in order and apply for Fall 2012 or the accelereated Spring 2012?

If anyone has taken the accelerated program at Hopkins, I would love to know a bit about it. It seems like too much, too quick and I am leaning toward the traditional program so that I have more of a chance to intern. I am just very interested to know how high the bar is set at Hopkins?! Can someone get in with an average GPA of around 3.5-3.6? If anyone has any advice, I would love to hear it! I would also love to pick some people's brains if anyone is willing. I talk to every nurse I know and ask a million questions and I think they are getting tired of me :)

Thank you so much!