Baltimore, MD · Private · 5,693 undergraduates · urban
Johns Hopkins University
Extremely selective
Johns Hopkins is the university most closely associated with medical research, public health, and the idea that undergraduates should learn by investigating unanswered questions. Most undergraduate life sits on the leafy Homewood campus, not at the hospital. Baltimore still matters: laboratories, clinics, schools, arts organizations, and neighborhoods make research and service possible beyond a campus tour.
Institutional profile
Top tier Exceptional in academic standing, and exceptional in career outcomes.- Admission
- 7.6% admitted
- Price by income
- Varies across five income ranges
- Completion
- 94.2%
38,926 applicants in the reported year
Compare recent average annual costs by household income
$87,555 median earnings 10 years after enrollment
What sets Johns Hopkins apart
Research is part of the undergraduate identity
Students can enter laboratories and projects across medicine, engineering, public health, science, and the humanities.
Homewood separates college life from the hospital campus
Undergraduates retain a residential campus while drawing on the wider university and health system.
Baltimore creates long-running work
The city supports clinical, educational, civic, artistic, and policy engagement during the academic year.
The Hopkins method
Move from question to evidence
The strongest Hopkins experience uses research as a way of working rather than a credential to collect.
Find a problem worth pursuing
Coursework and city experience expose problems that do not have textbook answers.
Join a working investigation
Laboratories, archives, design teams, and field projects teach how evidence is produced.
Explain what changed
A useful project ends with a finding, design, argument, or better question.
Can I get in?
7.6% admitted
Hopkins expects a demanding academic record and looks for students who move from interest to investigation. The application should show how the student works through a problem, not simply declare a future profession.
Recent applicant pool
38,926About 8 in every 100 applicants were admitted.
Academic range
Of admitted students, 41% submitted an SAT, and 14% submitted an ACT. The ACT range comes from a small share of admitted students and does not describe the full class.
In the season card
Where your GPA sits in the entering class
The full entering-class GPA distribution for Johns Hopkins, in nine bands from 4.0 down, with your own record marked on it.
See where I landIn the season card
What Johns Hopkins weighs when it reads a file
See how this college describes the role of grades, testing, essays, recommendations, activities, and demonstrated interest.
- Course rigor
- GPA
- Test scores
- Essay
- Recommendations
- Extracurriculars
- Demonstrated interest
What moves the application
The evidence that separates a strong file
Inquiry with follow-through
Show how the student framed a question, tested it, and responded to evidence.
Academic preparation
The transcript should support the intended field without reducing the student to one narrow track.
Contribution in a demanding environment
Examples of collaboration matter in laboratories, classrooms, teams, work, and service.
A reason for Baltimore
Connect the city to a sustained interest rather than using it as a generic location line.
How to apply
Rounds, route, and required materials
Hopkins offers Early Decision rounds and Regular Decision. Strong writing connects an academic question to work already undertaken and shows what the student learned when the result changed.
Fee waiver: accepted
Can I afford it?
Compare annual cost by household income.
Need-based aid and some merit awards can change the actual price. Families should compare offers and include travel plus any off-campus living plans.
College funding
Scholarships and financial aid
Review available aid, application requirements, and renewal terms.
Johns Hopkins University publishes three merit awards, the largest reaching full tuition or more. No separate scholarship application is required; the college uses the admission application. All of them renew past the first year.
Open across the university · Merit · Competitive · Renews each year
Through one school within the university · Merit · Competitive · Renews
EngineeringOpen across the university · Merit and financial need · Competitive · Renews each year
In the season card
These three awards, by name
What each one is called, what it pays, the grades and scores it asks for, and what to send.
- The name of each award
- What it pays
- The grades and scores it asks for
- How to be considered
- What to send, and where
In the season card
Average annual cost by household income at Johns Hopkins
Compare recent average net prices across five federal income ranges and estimate a 4-year cost for yours.
- $0–30k
- $30–48k
- $48–75k
- $75–110k
- $110k+
Is it worth it?
Completion, debt, and earnings
Medicine and biological research are visible, but engineering, public health, policy, technology, international studies, and the humanities broaden the paths. Research experience strengthens both employment and graduate study.
Degree completion across the reported entering cohort
First-year students who return for year two
And what that comes to against what they earn.
Reported 10 years after enrollment
Academic portfolio
Largest bachelor’s fields
How many students finish in each field, and median earnings four years after completing the program.
Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences
Public Health
Admits separately
Computer and Information Sciences, General
Admits separately
Economics
Neurobiology and Neurosciences
What is campus life like?
Johns Hopkins beyond the classroom
Homewood provides a traditional campus in northern Baltimore. Residence life, student groups, Greek organizations, arts, and city engagement create more variety than the premedical reputation implies.
Homewood gives undergraduates a clear base
First-year and sophomore housing concentrates students near classes, dining, clubs, and campus events.
Campus routines meet Charles Village
Dining halls cover the daily schedule, while nearby restaurants widen the options within walking distance.
Research is only one organizing interest
Performance, publications, service, cultural groups, entrepreneurship, athletics, and debate create active alternatives to laboratory life.
Several smaller scenes coexist
Residence halls, Greek organizations, clubs, teams, arts groups, and Baltimore outings divide social life into overlapping circles.
Baltimore makes service concrete
Schools, hospitals, agencies, nonprofits, and arts institutions support work that continues across semesters.