Application Process
General Admissions Checklist
For specific departmental application deadlines, please visit Programs of Study
- Application
- Application Policies
- Application Fee
- Statement of Purpose
- Transcripts
- Letters of Recommendation
- GRE Scores
- IELTS or TOEFL
- Samples of Work
- Financial Assistance
- Applied Mathematics Supplementary Application Form
- Humanities Center Supplementary Application Form
- Biophysics Supplementary Application Form for Non-U.S. Citizens and Non-U.S. Permanent Residents
- Mailing Instructions (Applicants are required to read and follow these guidelines.)
- Admission Decisions
- Enrollment Process for Admitted Graduate Students
Application
Our online application is designed for admission to full-time graduate study in the Schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering only. Students applying to more than one program must submit separate applications to Graduate Admissions. Please note that application information is not available to Johns Hopkins University until applicants officially submit their online applications. Apply online here.
All application documents must be provided in English (either the original or translations of the original documents) except for samples of work and letters of recommendation for the German and Romance Languages Department. For all other departments and documents, English translation services are available at World Education Services.
Application Policies
Accuracy is expected in all documents provided by applicants to the full-time graduate programs. Applicants for full-time graduate admission must not make inaccurate statements or material omissions on their applications, nor submit any false materials related to or in connection with seeking admission. Violation of this requirement may result in the application being rejected. Please note that all uploaded materials are submitted for document authenticity verification through TurnItIn For Admissions. For more information, please visit: http://www.turnitinadmissions.com/.
If a violation is discovered after an applicant has been admitted but prior to matriculation, admission may be rescinded. All applicants may also be subject to a background check. If a violation is discovered after a full-time graduate student has registered, the case will be reviewed by the Vice Dean of Graduate Education for the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences or the Vice Dean of Education for the Whiting School of Engineering, who will determine what action is to be taken, up to and including dismissal from the University. If the discovery occurs after a degree has been awarded, the University may revoke the degree and/or take other appropriate action.
Applications and supporting documents for graduate admissions to The Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering become the property of the University. The University does not return documents to applicants, nor does it forward documents to third parties. Applicants who anticipate a need for documents submitted to the University are advised to retain photocopies or to obtain duplicate copies.
Application Fee
A non-refundable fee of $75.00 is required for each application to the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering, with the following exceptions: the departments of Civil Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and the Information Security Institute charge a non-refundable $25.00 application fee. Materials Science and Engineering waives the application fee for U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
Payment may be made online via Visa, Mastercard, or Discover.
Statement of Purpose
The statement of purpose articulates and demonstrates an applicant's specific qualifications for a program of study. Programs are interested in an applicant's intended course of study, why that applicant wishes to pursue that field, what research or academic experience the candidate will bring to Johns Hopkins University and finally, what that applicant's end goal might be once their work is completed. (This document is submitted only through the online application.)
Writing Seminars M.F.A. Applicants
In lieu of the "statement of purpose", M.F.A. applicants should include in their writing sample a two-page introduction and critique of their work. This statement should give admissions faculty an insight into the scope and thoughtfulness of the work submitted and a sense of the student's ability to contribute to the Writing Seminars program.
Please note: The Graduate Affairs and Admissions office does not accept paper copies of the statement of purpose since applicants are expected to submit this document through the online application. The uploaded file cannot exceed 500KB in size. The document must also adhere to 1" (inch) margins.
Transcripts
All applicants are required to upload unofficial transcripts of all previous college and university study to their online ApplyYourself application. Failure to upload unofficial transcripts will result in an inability to complete and submit the online application.
In addition to uploading unofficial transcripts, all applicants are also required to submit official transcripts of all college and university study in sealed envelopes, or via third party electronic distributers such as Scrip-Safe, WES, or Interfolio. Official transcripts must be received by the departmental admissions deadline. Please consult with your institution to see if it participates in sending electronic transcripts. All official transcripts sent electronically should be sent to graduateadmissions@jhu.edu. Mailed transcripts should be sent in their fully sealed, institutional envelopes and using our mandatory cover sheet.
Applicants should also send a list of current courses and any other courses that will be taken before beginning graduate study at Johns Hopkins that do not appear on their transcripts.
Students applying to more than one department may request to use the same set(s) of official transcripts for each application. When mailing hard-copy official transcripts, applicants must include the mandatory cover sheet, clearly noting on the cover sheet every department and corresponding ApplyYourself PIN or ID for which they have a current application. If the transcripts are being sent electronically, via third party electronic distributers such as Scrip-Safe, WES, or Interfolio, please contact us using our online contact form and select the category 'Application Requirements and Process' and sub-category 'Applying to More Than One Program'. Please note that applicants with multiple applications will still have to upload unofficial transcripts to each application separately.
Note: Transcripts for study abroad courses are not required, provided the courses and credits are listed on the transcripts of an applicant's primary degree-granting instution.
Letters of Recommendation
All letters of recommendation must be submitted electronically through the online application; no hard-copy letters will be accepted.
Applicants must provide the name and email address for each recommender when completing their online application. The delivery method for the recommendation must be marked as ‘online’, and the recommender’s email address cannot be the same as the applicant's.
When the applicant enters all of the information, ApplyYourself will send an access email to the recommender. The access email gives the recommender a unique access code and URL to access the applicant’s recommendation forms. This email will also contain the message the applicant writes for the recommender along with certain applicant information like name and contact information. If a recommender has any spam blocking software, please ensure that they have either disabled such software or “allowed” support@applyyourself.com. It is also essential that recommenders disable any popup blocking software as that may inhibit the display of important information.
Adding or deleting a recommender can only be done PRIOR to submitting an application. Applicants need to log into their on-line application and update their Recommendation Provider List in the Recommendations section. Recommenders may only be deleted if they have not submitted a recommendation.
Note: Hard copy recommendations will still be accepted when necessary for applicants to the Department of History of Science and Technology.
The following departments require TWO letters of recommendation:
Computer Science (M.S.E.)
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Economics
Information Security Institute
Materials Science and Engineering
Near Eastern Studies
Philosophy
The following departments require THREE letters of recommendation:
Applied Mathematics and Statistics
Anthropology
Biology
Biomedical Engineering (M.S.E.)
Biophysics
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Chemical Biology (CBI)
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
Classics
Cognitive Science
Computer Science (Ph.D.)
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Engineering Management
English
Geography and Environmental Engineering
German and Romance Languages
History
History of Art
History of Science and Technology
Humanities Center
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Physics and Astronomy
Political Science
Psychological and Brain Sciences
Sociology
Writing Seminars
Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
Applicants are required to request recent GRE scores from ETS and submit them to Johns Hopkins before the application deadline. In order for your application to be reviewed, you must include the university's institution code in your request to ETS. Johns Hopkins University Schools of Arts & Sciences and Engineering's institution code is 5332.
Arrangements may be made to take the GRE by contacting:
GRE/Educational Testing Service, P.O. Box 6000, Princeton, NJ 08540 or the web site at : http://www.gre.org/.
Department Codes
Applicants do not need to select a department code. As long as the insitutional code of 5332 has been selected, the scores will be delivered to the Johns Hopkins University Schools of Arts & Sciences and Engineering's admissions office.
GRE Subject Test
The following departments require the subject test:
Physics and Astronomy
Mathematics
Chemistry**
English
The following departments recommend taking the subject test:
Humanities Center
Chemical Biology
Computer Science
Applied Mathematics and Statistics
Biology
IELTS and TOEFL
English Proficiency
Johns Hopkins University requires graduate students to have adequate English proficiency for their course of study. Graduate students must be able to read, speak, and write English fluently upon their arrival at the University. Successful study demands the understanding oral lectures and taking comprehensive notes during lectures. Applicants whose native language is not English must submit proof of their proficiency in English before they can be offered admissions and before a visa certificate can be issued. Johns Hopkins prefers an IELTS Academic Band Score equal to 7, or a minimum score of 600 (paper-based), 250 (computer-based), and 100 (internet-based) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
Results should be sent directly to the Graduate Affairs and Admissions Office by either the IELTS Global Recognition System or the Educational Testing Service (ETS) which administers TOEFL. Scores sent by applicants are not acceptable.
International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
The IELTS examination is offered jointly by University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL), The British Council and IDP: IELTS Australia. Information about the IELTS, its test centers and times are found at www.ielts.org.
IELTS Global Recognition System Selections
Institution Name: Johns Hopkins University, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Whiting School of Engineering
Country: USA
Please contact the test center where you took the test directly and request that your test scores be sent electronically using the IELTS system. All IELTS test centers worldwide are able to send scores electronically.
Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL)
International applicants must submit an original TOEFL score (not a student or photocopy). Visiting students who cannot obtain a TOEFL bulletin and registration form locally should write well in advance of their intended test date to: TOEFL Services, Educational Testing Service, P.O. Box 6151, Princeton, New Jersey 08541-6151, U.S.A. Applications for taking the examination must be received in Princeton, New Jersey, at least four weeks prior to the date on which the test is given. For more up-to-date information, applicants should visit the TOEFL Web site at www.ets.org/toefl/
Request that your TOEFL test scores be sent electronically using Institution Code 5332
Samples of Work
The following departments require each applicant to submit a sample of work, such as a paper, thesis or publication. Please consult the department before submitting any documentation. Important: The online application can only accept samples of work up to 500KB in size. The document must also adhere to 1" (inch) margins. We only accept samples of work via paper that exceed the 500KB size limit. Please do not send duplicates of documents that were successfully uploaded to the online system.
Please note: We only accept samples of work in English, except for the German and Romance Languages Department. (For this department, we accept samples of work in French, German, Italian and Spanish.)
Anthropology
Description: The sample of work could be based on: (a) a term paper on a course, (b) a report on fieldwork or (c) a senior thesis.
Classics
Description: A writing sample.
Cognitive Science
Description: This should be a research paper or written project that demonstrates an applicant's analytical thinking. (average 10 - 20 pages)
English
Description: 25 pages or less of an applicant's best critical writing.
German and Romance Languages
Description: The writing sample should be something like a term paper, something the student has published, a chapter of a dissertation. It should not be more than 50-75 pages in total. Prospective students may submit anything they feel best exemplifies their work.
History
Description: Please include a copy of what, in your judgment, is your best research paper. No specific page limit.
History of Art
Description: A paper of significant length that demonstrates the student's ability to describe and analyze preferably on the subject of art or art history.
History of Science, Medicine and Technology
Description: A writing sample.
Humanities Center
Description: A writing sample.
Near Eastern Studies
Description: The sample of written work should be related to the field or their area of concentration. It should be about 12 - 15 pages in length.
Philosophy
Description: The sample of written work should reflect the applicant's area of interest, and generally does not have to be more than 20 pages in length.
Political Science
Description: The sample of work could be based on a term paper on a course, a report on fieldwork or a senior thesis.
Psychological and Brain Sciences
Description: A sample of an applicant's most professional writing. A published work is acceptable, but not required.
Sociology
Description: A writing sample.
Writing Seminars
Description:
Fiction - 2 to 3 short stories or a self-contained section of a novel (40 page maximum, double spaced).
Poetry - 10 poems (25 page maximum).
Science Writing - A feature article, or a collection of shorter pieces about science written for the general reader (15 pages maximum, double spaced).
Financial Assistance
Applicants need to indicate a need for financial assistance on the electronic application for admission. Federal loans and work study are available on the basis of financial need to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Interested students should contact the Student Financial Services, 146 Garland Hall, Baltimore, MD 21218, 410-516-8028.
Applied Mathematics Supplementary Application Form
Supplementary application forms must be uploaded directly to your online application.
Humanities Center Supplementary Application Form
Supplementary application forms must be emailed to scans@jhu.edu.
Biophysics Supplementary Application Form for Non-U.S. Citizens and Non-U.S. Permanent Residents
Note to non-U.S. citizens and non-U.S. permanent resident applicants: A training grant from the National Institutes of Health provides the first two years of tuition and stipend support for graduate students in the Program in Molecular Biophysics. However, this support is limited to U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents. International applicants will be required to demonstrate financial support for their studies in the form provided below as part of their application, and will be required to deposit funds covering the first two years of tuition and living expenses with the University prior to April 15. If the funds are not deposited in a timely manner, any offer of admission to the Program in Molecular Biophysics will be null and void. Applicants should take these requirements into consideration when deciding whether or not to incur the expense of the nonrefundable application fee.
The Graduate Affairs and Admissions Office does not accept copies or scanned of the Biophysics Department’s Supplementary Application Form. In addition, all bank statements, financial documents, governmental or agency support letters must be originals that also contain original signatures or stamps.
Supplementary application forms and the appropriate supporting materials must be mailed directly to the Graduate Affairs and Admissions Office.
Admission Decisions
Applicant files are maintained by academic departments, and admission decisions are made by departmental faculty committees. Each department, therefore, will notify applicants when decisions are made. Inquiries regarding the status of an application should be directed to the appropriate department.
Note: Johns Hopkins University is a participant in the Council of Graduate School's Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows,Trainees and Assistants.
Ben Tang, Graduate Student, Chemical Engineering
Caroline McEnnis, Graduate Student, Materials Science and Engineering
Ben Tang and Caroline McEnnis are on a mission to let young people know that lack of a sight is not an obstacle to a career in science. Under the direction of Materials Science and Engineering assistant professor Michael Yu, the Hopkins engineering graduate students organized and conducted a four-day event designed to engage blind high school students in learning about engineering, science, and technology.
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