Prompt:
How has your life experience contributed to your personal story—your character, values, perspectives or skills—and what you want to pursue at Hopkins? (350 word limit)
Explanation:
This supplemental question may seem confusing or pointed to many, but in reality it’s asking a rather simple question: What is something about your background that influenced who you are as a person and, thus, what you intend to study at Johns Hopkins?
Whether you choose to tell a dramatic story about a life-changing experience or a lighthearted story about the first time you tried your favorite hobby, the most important part of this prompt isn’t the impetus of your academic pursuit as much as it is your ability to tie the two together. How did growing up in a culturally diverse household make you want to study music? Why and how did your prized coin collection turn into an interest in studying economics at JHU?
Aside from connecting your identity and background to your major, the other important part of this prompt asks how you intend to pursue your subject of interest at Hopkins specifically.
Begin by writing about an experience that compels you to study your intended major. If you are a computer science major, for example, this would be the perfect opportunity to mention that app you built after being inspired by your love for coding. If you are a creative writing and political science double major, you might share your experience of writing political speeches. This is your chance to use relevant experiences and activities to connect your intended major(s) with your identity, background, and outside-the-classroom interests.
Next, aside from connecting your identity to your intended major, your answer should touch on what you intend to study at Hopkins specifically. Why do you want to pursue your goals at Hopkins rather than another school on your list? If there’s a class, club, professor, alumni, or any specific reason(s) why Johns Hopkins is the place where you’d like to foster this passion, this is your opportunity to write about it. As with all supplemental writing, the more specific you can be, the better.
Sample:
The day my father showed me his favorite horror movie changed the trajectory of my life. Despite being quite young, I can vividly remember gripping his hand, overcome by an adrenaline-filled combination of terror and intrigue. What I remember more than the twisted plot, suspenseful score, and the film’s monster—who can only be described as the personification of nightmares—was my own bewilderment and obsession at how the film made me feel.
As inconsequential as it might seem, this viewing ignited an academic passion for psychology that serves as the perfect supplement to my lifelong obsession with filmmaking. Experiencing the horror genre for the first time broadened my horizons regarding the emotional responses that media and art could elicit in a viewer. This experience was the catalyst for my interest in behavioral psychology, and it led me to conduct research on cognition-emotion interactions at the University of Cincinnati’s Laboratory for Cognitive and Affective Neuropsychology last summer.
In furthering my studies as both a social scientist and as an aspiring filmmaker and screenwriter, I am certain that Johns Hopkins would provide me with a world class interdisciplinary approach to my academic interests. Aside from their film and media studies degree—which offers students the opportunity to specialize in screenwriting and showcase their work at the Maryland Film Festival—the psychology department’s courses such as “Primate Minds” will provide valuable lessons on behavioral and emotional responses. Lastly, alumni such as film director Wes Craven have demonstrated that Johns Hopkins fosters an environment that enables students to truly master their interests and pursue their passions at the highest possible level. It is my hope that I too will leave my mark on JHU’s campus and beyond.
Prompt:
How has your life experience contributed to your personal story—your character, values, perspectives or skills—and what you want to pursue at Hopkins? (350 word limit)
Explanation:
This supplemental question may seem confusing or pointed to many, but in reality it’s asking a rather simple question: What is something about your background that influenced who you are as a person and, thus, what you intend to study at Johns Hopkins?
Whether you choose to tell a dramatic story about a life-changing experience or a lighthearted story about the first time you tried your favorite hobby, the most important part of this prompt isn’t the impetus of your academic pursuit as much as it is your ability to tie the two together. How did growing up in a culturally diverse household make you want to study music? Why and how did your prized coin collection turn into an interest in studying economics at JHU?
Aside from connecting your identity and background to your major, the other important part of this prompt asks how you intend to pursue your subject of interest at Hopkins specifically.
Begin by writing about an experience that compels you to study your intended major. If you are a computer science major, for example, this would be the perfect opportunity to mention that app you built after being inspired by your love for coding. If you are a creative writing and political science double major, you might share your experience of writing political speeches. This is your chance to use relevant experiences and activities to connect your intended major(s) with your identity, background, and outside-the-classroom interests.
Next, aside from connecting your identity to your intended major, your answer should touch on what you intend to study at Hopkins specifically. Why do you want to pursue your goals at Hopkins rather than another school on your list? If there’s a class, club, professor, alumni, or any specific reason(s) why Johns Hopkins is the place where you’d like to foster this passion, this is your opportunity to write about it. As with all supplemental writing, the more specific you can be, the better.
Sample:
The day my father showed me his favorite horror movie changed the trajectory of my life. Despite being quite young, I can vividly remember gripping his hand, overcome by an adrenaline-filled combination of terror and intrigue. What I remember more than the twisted plot, suspenseful score, and the film’s monster—who can only be described as the personification of nightmares—was my own bewilderment and obsession at how the film made me feel.
As inconsequential as it might seem, this viewing ignited an academic passion for psychology that serves as the perfect supplement to my lifelong obsession with filmmaking. Experiencing the horror genre for the first time broadened my horizons regarding the emotional responses that media and art could elicit in a viewer. This experience was the catalyst for my interest in behavioral psychology, and it led me to conduct research on cognition-emotion interactions at the University of Cincinnati’s Laboratory for Cognitive and Affective Neuropsychology last summer.
In furthering my studies as both a social scientist and as an aspiring filmmaker and screenwriter, I am certain that Johns Hopkins would provide me with a world class interdisciplinary approach to my academic interests. Aside from their film and media studies degree—which offers students the opportunity to specialize in screenwriting and showcase their work at the Maryland Film Festival—the psychology department’s courses such as “Primate Minds” will provide valuable lessons on behavioral and emotional responses. Lastly, alumni such as film director Wes Craven have demonstrated that Johns Hopkins fosters an environment that enables students to truly master their interests and pursue their passions at the highest possible level. It is my hope that I too will leave my mark on JHU’s campus and beyond.
