Johns Hopkins University Undergraduate College Application Essays

When Howard Mandel, a family friend and Johns Hopkins alumni, suggested the school, my first thought was medicine. I dropped the idea, the thought, and began looking for a college that catered to me, structured itself around people like me, and...

My father was born in a little village in the south of France called Le Chambon in 1944. In that village, 5,000 Christians saved 5,000 Jews, including my grandfather, my grandmother, and my father.

Last summer, I visited Le Chambon for the first...

Nothing better epitomizes today's motto of learning than Aristotle's analysis of education, "The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet." It seems that the fruits of education have bloomed even greater and sweeter than ever before....

As a political enthusiast, I am captivated by the subject matter of AP Government. The instructor, however, makes the course truly remarkable. The instructor, Mr. Feinblatt, has substantial personal experience in the field of New York City...

"Merudh, get up, get up!" It was four in the morning, and I was four years old. The heart-pounding sound of my dad's voice woke me out of a deep sleep. As I peeked through my bedroom door, I saw my father bolt out of our house with my mother in...

Edward Jones was my next-door neighbor until my family moved to a different town five years ago. He stood about six feet tall, told great jokes, and played the best songs on his acoustic guitar. He always gave my me and my friends chocolates, and...

Washington D.C.-In a stunning victory for human rights supporters, the Migrant Workers' Rights Bill, a act of legislating delineating and expanding the rights of migrant workers, was passed this week. The bill, introduced by Democratic Senator...

My heart is hammering as sweat drips like tears down the side of my warm, sticky face. Blood, propelled by adrenaline, races throughout my body. Twisting open the bottled water I bought earlier, I sit down on the blue-green grass, looking at the...

"Red blood cells are one of the most numerous and unknown cells in your body." Dr. Sung described. I walked into this COSMOS program, motivated by the tumultuous experiences throughout high school, to reassure my choice of major: biomedical...

"In the event of my death, all my possessions will go to my wife, Joanna H. Lee." I read it again. As I slowly laid down the will on the well-glossed mahogany table, a series of perturbations and sorrows left me in a state of apprehension. The...

What came first, science or technology?" asked a tall and husky figure, who was dressed in an unbuttoned and rather threadbare lab coat. My initial response was science because I reasoned that technology was the application of science. An...

Russia had never been bad to me. My eleven years there made for a joyful, carefree childhood. I never thought of my life as wanting despite living on my grandma’s miserly pension for three years. During those last three years of my life in Russia,...

I am a traveler, continually guided and inspired by the Homeric hero Odysseus while leading a life marked by departures and subsequent beginnings. The first journey began on November 9th, 2000, when my family and I left China in pursuit of...

We tickle the roots, gently roll the stump into the pre-dug hole, and begin filling empty spaces with moist, rich soil. We work in silence. As the last layer of mulch is added to the donut ring around our scrawny oak tree, I wipe the sweat from my...

“If your house was on fire and you could save only one object, what would it be?” Juan answers, “My iPod.” Mary answers, “My flute.” Then it is my turn. We are rattling along a country road, playing the circle game to pass the time. The members of...

In Baltimore there are no stars. You look up when there’s no moon, on one of the few clear nights, and all you can see is a dull twinkle or two. I guess people around here don’t notice it much, even can’t find much time to look up. I don’t blame...

One of my greatest joys in the world is the feeling of ice crunching under my skates. I love playing ice hockey. It has been a major part of my life since I was seven years old. I started out figure skating, then one day I noticed the kids my age...

I woke up that morning with a feeling of dread. As I raced down to the bus stop through the twilight of the early morning, I felt my heart palpitating with anticipation and worry. Every second that the bus brought me closer to New Haven, my fear...

I’m hanging on a half inch thick loop of nylon webbing over a 100 foot cliff, double checking my anchor set up for a climb I’m about to try with a friend. My hands are a little numb and my breath hangs in the air in front of me. Looking out from...

Out of breath and hurting all over, I drip with sweat in the midst of a six-minute wrestling bout with my friend, James. While fighting on the bottom and gasping for air, I am reminded of Einstein’s words: “When you are courting a nice girl an...

On January 14th, 2002, my father stopped reading to me. Early on, my bibliophile father decided he would never dictate a lesson or give me an answer, but rather that I would learn through literature. Every celebration, every birthday or holiday I...

Everyone thinks me strange because I love it all as though it were a person.

I love the quiet road named after my great-uncle Pintor Ruano as though it were my great-uncle himself; I love the old church like an old friend; I love the sound of its...

"This is a nightmare," I thought. Sean was on the ground wincing in pain and blood was slowly leaking through his spandex. A million things raced through my mind but I stopped, took a deep breath, collected my thoughts and got to work. Sean had...

I have been led to believe that for most, the airport is compulsory misery, a means to an end, on par with a visit to the DMV. But for me, alone in the airport, amidst the chaos of mankind, I am entranced. Perhaps it’s my desire for independence,...