Frequently Asked Questions
Have a question? Here are some of our frequently asked questions with answers from the Assistant Dean for Admissions.
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You’ll find a great deal of information about the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine M.D. Program on this website. Among the topics covered:
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This is not a service we provide. Please speak with your current institution’s pre-med or pre-health advising office for their feedback on your application and advice to make it more competitive. If you do not have an advisor, please visit www.naahp.org for help finding an advisor to assist you with your application.
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Yes, but we encourage prospective applicants to take advanced courses in related areas, if possible.
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Please review the detailed information on prerequisites and requirements found on our website.
Note: The Admissions Committee will accept a three-credit biochemistry course.
If you still have questions after reviewing the requirements, you may send an e-mail to [email protected]. E-mails should include the words “course requirements” in the subject line.
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The oldest MCAT accepted for students entering in Fall 2023 is 2019. The last test date for students entering is September 10, 2022.
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We require a Committee Letter or, if your school does not have one, three (3) individual letters:
- Two (2) letters of recommendation from science faculty
- One (1) letter from non-science faculty
In addition to those letters required for application to the MD Program, a minimum of two additional letters of recommendation are required for all MD-PhD applicants (a total of five letters). These letters, are typically from faculty with whom the applicant has done research.
Two (2) letters from faculty members in science departments who taught you are required if the college/university you have attended does not have a Committee/Advisor. In addition to the letters, applicants with advanced degrees or significant postgraduate work experience of one year or more, are required to send recommendations from each component of their education and major work experience.
Once the minimum requirement of two science faculty letters and one non-science faculty letter is met, your application will be considered complete and sent to our committee for review. A Letter of Recommendation Packet or a current evaluation from a premedical committee will also satisfy our letter requirement.
The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine participates in the AMCAS Letter of Recommendation Service. Applicants are required to send their letters through AMCAS. Please DO NOT send any letters of recommendation to the Office of Admissions, as they will not be accepted.
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Additional letters may be sent; however, your application will not be considered complete until all letters have been received in the AMCAS letter of recommendation service repository. Furthermore, additional letters do not give you an advantage over the required three letters. Nor can we guarantee that we will evaluate more than the required number of letters.
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We receive a large number of applications every year, and each application is personally reviewed by the Committee on Admissions. Given the sheer volume of work that presents, we have standardized our application procedure to be both comprehensive and fair. Therefore, we cannot accept any updates or additional information. Any extraneous materials received will be destroyed. The only information that will be reviewed to determine your status for an interview is:
- Your verified AMCAS Primary Application
- Your JHU SOM Supplemental Application (also known as the secondary application)
- Your required letters of recommendation
- Official MCAT scores
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If there was an error on your application or you need any changes made, please contact the AAMC at 202-828-0600. The JHUSOM Office of Admissions does not accept updates to your AMCAS application or for the secondary application.
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The link to our online secondary application is sent to verified AMCAS applicants once a week. Please check your junk or spam folders to make sure that this e-mail was not filtered to your spam. This process is automated, so receipt of this email regarding your secondary application is how you confirm that we have received your AMCAS primary application.
If you have a question about the secondary application not covered in our website, please call the Office of Admissions at 410-955-3182 on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET so we can assist you.
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We currently accept credit card or e-check payments for $100 (USD). Please DO NOT send cash.
Credit card and e-check payments must be made online via our Admissions System. Please note: you will receive a link to the Admissions System once you have been verified. Students who are granted fee waivers by AMCAS’s Fee Assistance Program (FAP) will be given fee waivers for the Hopkins secondary application. We will not waive the fee for any other requests.
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Please allow four to six weeks processing time for the letters of recommendation to be uploaded into our admissions system. If you are retaking the MCAT, your application will not be considered complete until the official scores have been received.
Secondary applications must be received by November 1 in order for your application to be sent to our committee for review. Letters uploaded after the deadline will not be reviewed. Please note that if you indicate that you are retaking the MCAT, your application is not considered complete until after we have received the new MCAT score.
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- Applications are evaluated from mid-August through February
- Interviews are conducted from late August through late February
- Offers of admissions are extended from mid-December through mid-April
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We interview applicants for admission on Thursdays and Fridays from late August to late February each year. If invited for an interview, you will receive an email notification directly from The Office of Admissions.
Applicants may also request to be interviewed via Skype if they are out of the country. Requests for Skype interviews will be reviewed and approved by the Assistant Dean for Admissions. -
April 30 is the national reply date. You may hold multiple offers of admission up to April 30, and then you must choose one medical school. However, please note that you are able to remain on multiple wait lists after May 15.
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No. Due to space constraints, we do not offer admission to transfer students.
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Johns Hopkins does not participate in the AAMC Early Decision Program.
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Admitted students may request to defer their matriculation by April 15. The Deferral Committee will consider requests individually and will typically grant deferrals for research, academic programs (graduate studies, scholarship) or service programs. Deferrals are usually allowed for one or two years.