Hopkins Insider

Fare Thee Well, Class of 2009

Late this afternoon the Admissions Office welcomed about 75 Class of 2009 seniors and their families to Mason Hall for a special reception. The event was a Senior Admissions Volunteer Reception and was to celebrate and honor the tremendous members of the Class of 2009 that donated their time over the last few years to help the Admissions Office connect with prospective students, applicants, admitted students, and many, many, more people. We celebrated an amazing group of students who helped out as tour guides, admission representative interviewers, student employees, bloggers, overnight hosts, multicultural student volunteers, residence hall guides, open house volunteers, and Hopkins Interactive representatives.

The event was a wonderful occasion to say thanks and to provide the students with a token of our appreciation. In my remarks to the entire group, I shared that the Class of 2009 is a truly special class. Most of the Admissions counselors who have worked in the Admissions Office for longer than four years, including myself, agree this is the best overall class of students who have helped out in Admissions. In so many ways, this class represents the best that Hopkins has to offer. We relied a ton over the years on all of these students and they never failed us. The overwhelming increase in applications over the last four years, the litany of positive feedback we hear from visitors, and the overall successes of the Admissions Office over the last few years truly stems from this amazing group of students. (I confidently feel it was the work of all of our admissions volunteers that led to our over-enrolling the freshman class this year.)

As I worked as the event’s bartender I continued to reflect on how much these students make me love my job. I got quite emotional at times, but tried to hide it as much as possible. In fact, over the last couple of weeks I have found myself getting emotional when I think of these seniors graduating and heading to enter the “real world.” Whether it was at the “thank you” barbecue we hosted for all admissions volunteers at the end of the term, or the Outback Steakhouse dinner I shared with a group of Advisory Board seniors on Mother’s Day, or while I wrote out thank you cards to the seniors, I have shed a good amount of tears of joy thinking about the Class of 2009. (Speaking of thank you notes – remember cardinal rule #2 … always send a thank you card. And please don’t forget, cardinal rule #1 … when the police arrive, go home! Sorry, inside joke.)

Why so emotional, you ask? Well for two reasons. First, for me the Johns Hopkins Class of 2009 is the first class of students that I was fully involved with from the recruitment stage and the application review process. Though I have worked closely with students who have graduated in recent years, it is this class that I truly feel I had a lot to do with in terms of their enrollment. It may sound a bit weird, but the class is like a first child.

The second reason for me feeling so emotional at this time is because of five specific seniors. Esther, Julia, Laura, Andrew, and Tanmay … these five seniors mean the world to me. Seeing them graduate tomorrow will be quite emotional as it has been an amazing journey over these past four years. See when the Class of 2009 entered Hopkins four years ago a “little” project known as Hopkins Interactive was still in its gestation phase. Esther, Julia, Laura, Andrew, and Tanmay are in many ways founding members of the Student Admissions Advisory Board which is the student group behind the Hopkins Interactive Web site. In my eyes, they are part of the “founding fathers” of the site. As a group they are uniquely driven, creative, motivated, and passionate. It is these qualities and devotion to perfection that launched what is arguably one of the best student admissions blogging and communication program for any college in the country.

I felt on the eve of their Commencement, and as a final means to honor them and say thanks, I would briefly comment on each student. So please join me in congratulating and thanking five amazing members of the Johns Hopkins Class of 2009.

ESTHER BELL

Where to begin when describing what Esther has meant to me. Simply put, she is on the short list of the most memorable students I have ever come in contact with in my 10+ years in my profession. She is irreplaceable as a student worker, blogger, creative mind, and friend.

I actually met Esther, her twin sister Zoe, and their Mom (a Hopkins alum) in my previous Admissions job at American University. At the time, Esther and Zoe were juniors at Moses Brown School in Providence, RI. Little did I know a year later I would meet the Bell twins once again, this time as an Admissions counselor for Hopkins. Long story short, both Esther and Zoe chose to enroll at Hopkins in 2005 and the Homewood campus is so much better for it. As they depart this spring, it will not be long for another Bell to arrive at Hopkins -- their younger sister will be a freshman this fall.

Esther has been an essential part of nearly every project I have taken on over the last four years. Some much of the creativity that exists in our Hopkins Interactive site stems from her brainstorms. As well, she keeps me sane on a daily basis. Little does she know how jealous I am of her and the amazing path she has laid during her four years of Hopkins. I could rattle her praises for hours, and hope to have just that chance in the coming months with reference calls.

Just a few weeks ago Esther passed her Foreign Service Exam and as an International Studies graduate of Hopkins with a vast array of experiences, it is almost a given you will be able to find her working in an embassy in some unique part of the world shortly. In the meantime, she is pursuing opportunities along a vast array of options including the film industry, college admissions, new media marketing, and maybe even modeling! All I know is whatever she takes on in the future she will be a success.

JULIA PILCER

I am not sure Julia knows it, but if I had the chance to go back and do my undergraduate years over I would follow a very similar path as she has during her four years at Hopkins. There are similarities in our college paths -- we were both Political Science majors ... we are both from New York ... we both spent hours working for Admissions. But there are differences too -- she was active with her sorority while sorority girls loathed me in college ... she roots for the Yankees, me the Mets ... and most significantly, Julia made the most of every single opportunity she tackled during her time at Hopkins.

As I wrote a thank you note to Julia just recently I mentioned to her that she is on the Mount Rushmore of Advisory Board members over the years. Many of the directions that the student group behind Hopkins Interactive were first suggested by Julia. Her leadership is unmatched, and her creation of the Social Chair position this year was ingenious and appreciated by all the underclassmen. Every person who has come in contact with Julia is better for the experience. It is going to be difficult to go to work in Mason Hall and know that Julia is not around to chat about any number of topics -- politics, sports, entertainment, the real life Gossip Girls, or the crazy phone calls that come in to the Admissions Office.

Julia will be returning to New York upon graduation and has a great political internship lined up for the short-term. She will continue to search for the perfect job, and I am utterly confident to see her actively involved in shaping the direction of either New York politics or national politics in Washington, D.C. in the near future. My political science degree led me to education (long story). That will be another difference between Julia and I ... she will make a difference in policy and politics.

LAURA PERAZZOLI

No exaggeration, Laura is one of the nicest, most pleasant, friendliest, and kindest people I have ever known. Yes these traits probably stem from her growing up in Seattle, but she is a truly one-of-a-kind spirit. Laura always makes me smile, and those who know her always have a huge smile on their faces when talking about her.

My first memory of Laura is in the application she put together to become a student blogger and part of the Hopkins Interactive project. To this day it is the best student advisory board application I have ever received, and it foreshadowed so much the creative approach she would bring to ever task she tackled. As a Writing Seminars major I never questioned how strong a blogger she would become, but I was so pleasantly surprised amount how much of a leader she became both with the Student Advisory Board but also in the other activities she got involved with, namely the Outdoors Pursuits organization.

For me, Laura's shining moment was the production of our Insider's Guide for admitted students this past year. With out her leadership and passionate interest in the project, the Insider's Guide would never have been as great a success as it turned out to be. When I started at Hopkins I had a specific vision for an Insider's Guide written by students, and with Laura's guidance the ultimate guide we produced far surpassed my original vision.

Laura will return to Seattle shortly and then head off to a lead a 5-week outdoors trip with students from her former high school. The funny thing is when you meet Laura you would never assume she is some one who could lead such a trip ... but knowing her I can attest there is no one I would trust more in such a situation. Laura will continue the job search and I know in just a short time we all will have a chance to see her work in some form of publishing or writing.

ANDREW LANGER

Forever now when I think of Andrew the first word that will come to mind is maybe. That is the word that I wrote in big, bold, black letters on his application for the Advisory Board as an incoming freshman. Looking back four years later I realize what a mistake it was to write maybe. Instead it should have read, "Absolutely take him ... he will be a great addition and always keep you entertained."

If asked to describe Andrew I would first say that he is just a good guy and someone every should have a chance to meet. I'd follow that by saying that Hopkins would be an even better place if we had more "Andrews" in the class. He does not fit the mold of what one expects of a Hopkins student (that persistent myth of the cut-throat, solely academic student), and that is what I think is so perfect. Andrew has pursued his own path through his four years, and made an impact in numerous ways. Plus, you can never find faults with a die-hard Mets fan.

In the coming fall Andrew is off to graduate school for an International Studies masters program. What makes the experience so special is the program is in SCOTLAND at the University of St. Andrews. I know Andrew will learn so much while abroad and then he will return to the States and use his new-found expertise in security studies and counter terrorism to make sure we are all continually safe.  

TANMAY GOKHALE

When it comes to Tanmay, I must admit I have made a number of mistakes. To start, when he applied for the Advisory Board as a freshmen I did not select him for the Board. STRIKE ONE. Then, not until the start of his senior year did I come to realize I had been mispronouncing his last name. STRIKE TWO. Thankfully, to date, I don't think I have made any other mistakes to lead to a third strike. On the flip side, Tanmay has only hit home runs since his arrival at Hopkins in the Fall of 2005. (Sorry, I couldn't resist continuing the baseball theme - I'll stop now.)

I met Tanmay for the first time during a scholarship event the spring of his senior year of high school. I knew upon my first encounter with him of his sheer brilliance and that he would become a difference maker in the Biomedical Engineering program. Little could I predict the impact Tanmay would make on nearly every part of academic and student life at Hopkins. Through his involvement in HERU, or Model UN, or the Biomedical Engineering Society, simply Tanmay has done it all and made Hopkins a better place. With all these evident strengths, it is Tanmay's compassion and willingness to help others at the drop of the hat that I have so appreciated.

At last check, Tanmay is off to medical school at Duke (a good school in all things but Lacrosse -- had to say it). He plans to become part of a MD/PhD program, and ultimately to enter a Biomedical research field. Over the four years I have witnessed all of Tanmay's accomplishments, I think I have been most impressed by his drive and his knowledge of his academic and personal goals. Tanmay's contact information will always remain close at hand, because I anticipate sometime in the future I will need some medical assistance and possibly my life saved, and I am pretty confident that the genius that is Tanmay can help me out.

Congratulations & Thanks

I hope Esther, Julia, Laura, Andrew, and Tanmay know how much they have meant to me. I do know they know how much my nephew and niece (Cooper and Lilly) mean to me in this world, so what I am about to say next carries a lot of weight. If in 20 or so years, I look at my niece and nephew and they are even half of the young women and men that these five students are, it will be clear to me Lilly and Cooper are on the right path and in for great successes in the future. I have had the pleasure to watch these students grow these past four years, and it has been my honor.

As I hope I have expressed in this post, this is a group of students I will not soon forget. Fare the well, Esther, Julia, Laura, Andrew, and Tanmay. May the "real world" present you with great successes, pure happiness, and the chance to remain creative and passionate. I will miss you all greatly.

May Updates (Part One)

Welcome to a new year. Most of you are looking at the calendar and also seeing that this entry is posted on May 18, 2009 … and now you are all thinking I am crazy. But I am not. In my world, the one dominated by the college admissions calendar, this past weekend was the start of a new year. In my cyclical profession the traditional January through December calendar just doesn’t make sense.
 
For those who work in college admissions there are specific dates every year that mark the changing of cycles and responsibilities. Yes, the job is seasonal with generally the fall being recruitment time, the winter being reading time, the spring being conversion time, and the summer being relaxing time. But every year that seasonal breakdown gets muddled. For me there are always those crucial dates that act as sign-posts along the way. First came December 15 and the release of Early Decision notifications. That was followed by March 27 and the release of Regular Decision notifications. Ultimately, the “end of the year” came this past Friday, May 15, when final decisions were rendered about the wait list and transfer applicants. As I left the office on Friday I realized two things, the 2008-09 admissions cycle was complete AND I could finally relax. I actually enjoyed my first weekend free of work for the entire year (traditional Jan-Dec. calendar year), hence the lack of update on Saturday are I alluded to in my last entry. More on my relaxation to come.
 
Friday, May 15 was one of those sign-posts days. Since I didn’t provide details about the events of May 15 like I did on December 15 and March 27, I thought I would as promised provide additional information about our wait list and transfer decisions. If neither of these topics interest you, then skip to the end.
 
WAIT LIST UPDATE
Simply put, we have enrolled the Class of 2013. More specifically, at this time we have over-enrolled the Class of 2013. This was not something we expected to do, but over the last two weeks since the May 1st response deadline, it was clear that we would have more than the enrollment target of 1235. How big the class will ultimately be will not be known until probably August, as we expect a "summer melt" do to wait list activity at other universities and other smaller reasons such as deferment and the possibility of academic / disciplinary issues. However, after discussions this past week it is pretty clear that we probably will not need to admit any students from the wait list this year.
 
Upon making that decision Friday, we sent emails (today we will send letters) to all students who sent back the blue postcard and decided to “remain on the wait list." The vast majority of these messages states we currently do not intend on admitting any additional students from the wait list this year and that we have now met our enrollment target for the fall. This is our wait list release letter and though a disappointment, it does end the waiting process. We wish you the best in your college career and appreciate the interest you showed in Hopkins.
 
A small handful of "remain on wait list" students will receive a slightly different correspondence. This group of students was selected by the Admissions Committee to receive an offer to remain on an extended summer wait list. This message states that although we have met our enrollment targets, in the rare event that space might become available, we will consider the students on this extended wait list. For those selecting to remain on the extended summer wait list from this group, an official final decision will be rendered no later than July 31st. Two important things to note about the extended summer wait list: (1) the chances for admission remain slim and only will occur in the rare cases that more spaces become available. In recent years we have not had to use this extended summer wait list. And (2) the Admissions Committee selects the students to be offered a spot on the extended summer wait list, it is not something a wait listed student may request.
 
I hope all this makes sense. As always, if you have any questions please feel free to post them on the Wait List Discussion Forum. We understand that this process can be frustrating and at times the waiting seems as if we were “stringing you along.” We appreciate your patience. Every year these decisions are quite difficult to make, and I hope you understand how much we agonize over these decisions. Best of luck to each and every one of you.
 
TRANSFER UPDATE
As I mentioned in my short updates at the end of last week, transfer decision notifications were released via email and postal mail on May 15. The transfer admissions committee worked diligently over the last couple of weeks to hit this earlier than normal decision release date. Beyond the reading of the 799 transfer applications, the Committee also faced numerous conversations about how many transfer students to admit. Unlike with freshman admission, transfer admission is highly linked to questions of the overall size of the class, housing availability, course registration availability, and a number of other factors unrelated to the actual application for admissions. Ultimately, we offered admission to 70 strongly qualified and unique students, and students we feel will make excellent Hopkins students.

Congratulations to those admitted transfer students. I hope you will use the Transfer Exchange section of the Hopkins Forums as well as the Admitted Transfer Facebook group we set-up for you to ask questions and obtain useful information. The Admissions and Advising staff as well as Transfer Ambassadors / Buddies (current JHU students who were former transfer students) are a great source of information as you make the decision whether to attend.

To those not admitted, we understand your disappointment. Applying as a transfer student to Hopkins is quite competitive, especially since we have so little room in the class for transfer students. We wish you the best of luck with your continued college search.

FURTHER UPDATES TO FOLLOW
This post has gotten a bit longer than I originally anticipated so I am going to stop here and get back to some other work. Check back on Thursday for a special Commencement entry, and then early next week a post on a random collection of updates. I'll leave you with a random collection of pictures that will be related to those updates.

 

      

 

Transfer and Wait List Decisions Released Today (5.15.09)

This is going to be a quick update as I must get back to my "to do list" for the day. As the entry title states, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions will be releasing notifications to all transfer applicants as well as all wait listed students who chose to remain on the wait list. Notifications are going out via postal mail and email later today.

I can't reveal anything else at this time, until notifications are released. I'll post more either tonight or Saturday morning. Please do not call the Admissions Office as we will not release decisions about transfer admissions nor wait list decisions over the phone.

A Full Update is on the Horizon

Apologies for the long absence. No I haven't disappeared. No I haven't been fired. No I haven't gone on vacation, YET! And, no I haven't been lazy. The reason for the two plus week absence is simply because there has been a lack of information to update you all on.

This time of year the primary people visiting the Hopkins Insider blog are looking for updates on one of two categories: (1) The Wait List and (2) Transfer Decisions. Though there have been quite active discussions regarding both of these issues throughout the month, unfortunately there has not been any official decisions rendered, hence nothing I can share on the blog.

What I can assure you is that staff is working quite diligently on both fronts and hope to have updates shortly. The goal for transfer decision release has been this Friday, May 15 and as I depart the office on Wednesday it appears we are still on target. Please do not take that as an official confirmation as there are still some crucial decisions that need to be made before we can release those decisions. Any further deliberations could lead to us pushing the decision release date to early next week.

As far as wait list, there have been many discussions this week and there is hope during a staff meeting this Friday some final determinations will be made. Please do not read into anything here ... no decision about whether or not we will use the wait list has been made. As always, stay tuned to the Wait List Discussion Thread for any updates.

Not much more I can say right now. I am off to root on the Washington Capitals in a crucial Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (yes, I am a huge hockey fan) and then it is the season finale of LOST. No worries, I'll be back in the office with my colleagues on Thursday and Friday working diligently on both transfers and the wait list. Just a bit more patience please.

I'll leave my blog fans with one last update preview ... more to follow on who this amazing young man is.

WHY HOPKINS: Advice from Admissions Daniel

Greetings blog readers. I am currently in quaint Andover, Massachusetts on what might be the most perfect weather day possible. The temperature is in the mid-70s, the sky is a perfect blue with only a few lonely clouds, and there is a nice constant, gentle breeze. No humidity, no threat of awful rain and thunderstorms, and no complaints about being too cold, too hot, or too anything. I am actually typing this entry while sitting on one of the many quads at Phillips Academy … it reminds me of my college days. I am here to attend a college fair to recruit students for the Classes of 2014 and beyond, but my purpose in writing this blog entry is to one last time try to help the admitted Class of 2013.

A month ago many of you who received the great news of your admission to Hopkins on March 27th. Some of you have made the easy and great decision to become a Johns Hopkins blue jay (Woo hoo!), while others have decided on going somewhere else (why are you still reading this blog then ???). But there is a third group of you out there … and those are the ones who are admitted yet undecided. The ones who are struggling with the ultimate decision of what college to attend It is this group that I write to currently. With the May 1st response deadline only days away, if you fall into this last group, you must be at the stage of pulling your hair out. I hope I can help.

 Actually, I hope I have helped a bit so far. Since the release of decisions, I have posted a few blog entries under the title: WHY HOPKINS. If you have yet to read through these entries, I encourage you to do so, especially the one I posted last week that shared thoughts from current students. I also hope that you had the chance to visit campus for one of the Admitted Student Open Houses. And/Or I hope you have been using the Hopkins Forums and the Admitted Student Facebook Groupto learn as much as you can about JHU. Despite all of these resources, I know that some of your are still not ready to make that final decision.

For those of you who have yet to sign the bottom line of an enrollment form I know you don't need to be reminded that May 1st - College Decision Day - is at the end of the week. You are probably feeling an overwhelming mix of anxiety, confusion, and hopefully a tinge of excitement too. Not sure if you should choose Johns Hopkins over any of the other elite schools you have been admitted to. Trying to imagine what your four years will be like in Baltimore or at University X, Institution Y, or College Z. Attempting to predict the "value" of the education you will get at each school. For many, this is the first major decision you will make in life, and though in the end it will not determine your future completely, it does matter. I commend you for taking your time and focusing your energies, but I also will ve quite parental and let you know it is time to make a decision. And they say "getting in" is the hardest part!

So how do you choose? How do you make this big decision? What is the right choice? All these questions are justified, but in the end it is you and you alone who has to make the choice. Choosing which college / university to attend is one of those life-altering decisions where you must weigh all the factors, big and small. This decision-making process challenges your ability to self analyze your personal priorities and preferences while forcing you to attempt to predict the next four years of your life. And not only does this choice impact those next four years, it will leave an eternal mark on you as the school becomes your alma mater and an important line on your resume.

I get that this last paragraph did not help and probably added to your level of stress, so let me see if I can be of assistance throughout the rest of this post. I have ten plus years of experience watching students just like all of you struggle with which school will be the right one. As well, way back when, I also struggled with making the Big Decision. It can be a daunting task but if you approach the decision-making process with an organized mind and game plan, you will find clarity and the right choice. Over the years, my advice for the admitted yet undecided falls into four categories:

I. Self-analysis and Research

The first thing you must do when approaching a Big Decision is to determine what is it you want/need and then research all the aspects behind the decision. You may have done one before, or avoided it like a plague these past few years, but a self-analysis can be quite helpful before deciding which college to attend. It is a good idea to re-consider those big questions you asked before, and it you didn't do one, now is definitely the time. Ask yourself the big questions, and be honest with yourself when it comes to the answers:

• What kind of a school do I want to attend for four years? Location, atmosphere?
• What kind of student body am I looking for? Do I think I will mesh well with the current students?
• What kind of academic opportunities will be available to me as an undergraduate, and what am I actually looking for?
• Same question, but relate it to extracurricular opportunities. Which is more important to me - academics or social life or a mix of both?
• What about the professors? Are they accessible? Can I see myself learning from them? Do I want to learn from them?
• Will I be proud in four years to call myself an alumnus of the school?
• Will I / Can I make a difference?

If you visited your final choice schools it is probably easier to answer these questions with the certain schools in mind. If you didn't visit, hopefully you did a lot of surfing on each school's Web sites to gather as much information as possible. You may also want to create a ranking system for each question you ask of yourself and how each school measures up as well.

II. Pro / Con Lists

I can not emphasize this step enough. Make PRO/CON lists for each school you are considering. For some of you the thought of lists may be laughable, but take my word for it -- they actually work. It is time for you to really start thinking about FIT. Write down the name of each school you are considering, then draw two columns under each school's  name -- one with a "+" and one with a "-". Now start listing the strengths and weaknesses.

Not only is this the time where you can catalog your personal opinions about each school's strengths and weaknesses, it also becomes a study in what characteristics you find most important. If you did a self-analysis, now is the perfect time to match your thoughts of what you want to your opinions about what each school has to offer. Location, size, friendliness, professors, extracurricular offerings, cost, academic opportunities, etc. -- list everything from the most important detail to the most minute. Nothing is too ridiculous to be included on these lists, and actually the best thing is to keep these lists private so they remain lists of your own thoughts. Consider it a personal brain dump that in the end will bring clarity, focus, and the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. All in all, this is your compare and contrast system, and as I said it can really work.

III. Do Not Focus on Statistics and Rankings

Rankings and statistics can be helpful as you first start thinking about colleges and as you decide where to apply. In all honesty though, rankings are superficial at best when deciding which school to ultimately attend.

Seriously, statistical analysis should be kept to the process of choosing which schools to apply to. Throw US News out the window; ignore the numbers that can actually be manipulated to prove any point you want; avoid side-by-side number comparisons of schools. It is time to focus on the intangibles. The schools you have been admitted to are all fantastic and they will all offer you amazing opportunities if you have the initiative and drive (which you probably do). Numbers can not predict whether you will be happy for the next four years, whether you will be challenged, whether you will be stimulated. The top schools are all top schools - it now comes down to FIT, and a percentage, formula, or statistics can not determine FIT.

Just yesterday I was speaking with a student struggling to make his college decision and he was asking questions about acceptance rates and rankings. He actually told me he was probably going to choose the school that was ranked higher than JHU by U.S. News because of that ranking. When I inquired more he told me he enjoyed his visit to JHU immensely, even more than his visit to the "higher ranked" school. I finally had to ask what was the other school, and lo and behold it was a school ranked one spot higher than Hopkins. I then shared my green versus red apple, not apple versus orange metaphor and I think I finally got him to understand that you don't choose your college because of an arbitrary ranking that is created by the news media to make money.

IV. Input From Others (Be Aware)

If you listen to anything I write, please listen to this -- make sure to avoid hearsay, conjecture, myths, rumors - they often are far from the truth: Can I say this any louder? Each and every individual sees each and every college differently. Do your own research, get information directly from the source, and avoid the biased comments and come up with your personal thoughts. There is no cardinal rule that says if you read it or heard it, it must be 100% true. You need to filter through everything. (I hope you hear that College Confidential students!) Consider everything -- both overly positive and overly  negative comments -- with a grain of salt. And ultimately, your own personal conclusions are the ones to believe.

At Hopkins, we deal with myths and conjecture about our school way too much. If you are a frequent visitor to our blogs, message boards, or just speak with our students you will see that we are not only sick of these myths but can dispel them at every turn. And this is not just true about myths at Hopkins, many other elite schools are haunted by ridiculous and untrue myths. Make your own opinions and stick to them.

Clearly you need to talk with others about this decision, and your family should be the top of the list. Your college counselor or respected teacher is another great source. Friends can be helpful, but their advice could also be worth nothing. Make sure to gather information from the school's themselves, check out their message boards or Facebook group -- gather as much information as possible. Just do me one favor, don't rely on anonymous sources.  Do not get hung up on myths, stereotypes, or other hearsay -- filter through the information along with your own personal conclusions.

If all else fails ...

Still confused? Still can't make the decision?

If all else fails, listen to your gut! In the end, know one thing ... once you make your final selection you have found the RIGHT SCHOOL. It is one of the hidden truths of the admissions process, once you commit you begin to mold your choice into the perfect school for you.College is what you make of it - go out there and be successful.

Best of luck!
And choose Johns Hopkins ... wink, wink.