Did Johns Hopkins University defer your admission in the Early Decision round to the Class of 2030? If so, turn that frown upside down. You still have a genuine shot of earning admission to the Baltimore, Maryland-based institution. Just as a basketball team shouldn’t give up the fight in the fourth quarter, neither should you! 

That goes for rejections, too! When you’re down, don’t stay down. You’re not beaten yet! There’s still a chance of earning admission to a school you’re even more excited about than Johns Hopkins, even if JHU was initially your top choice. 

So, what does your Johns Hopkins deferral or rejection mean in context, and what can you do to optimize your chances of admission post-deferral or post-rejection? Let’s dive in!

Johns Hopkins University Early Decision Admission Rates

Historically, Johns Hopkins has been inconsistent with its release of Early Decision admissions statistics. Some years, the school releases data for both Early Decision I and II, other years the data is combined, and still other years the data isn’t published.

For the Johns Hopkins Class of 2029, 551 students earned admission via Early Decision I. For the Johns Hopkins Class of 2028, 550 students got in through ED I and 259 students got in through ED II. For the Johns Hopkins Class of 2027, 533 students earned admission in Early Decision I and 278 students earned admission in Early Decision II. Between the two rounds of Early Decision admission that year, 811 students earned admission out of 6,200 applicants for a 13% Early Decision admission rate. For the Class of 2026, in the Early Decision I round, 520 students earned admission out of 2,500 applicants for an ED I admission rate of 21%.

Johns Hopkins Class Year	Early Decision Applications Received	Early Decision Acceptances	Early Decision Acceptance Rate
Class of 2030	Not Yet Released	Not Yet Released	Not Yet Released
Class of 2029	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published
Class of 2028	6,266	853	13.61%
Class of 2027	5,654	834	14.75%
Class of 2026	5,583	849	15.34

Just like at all highly selective universities with Early Decision I and II rounds, Johns Hopkins’ admit rate is typically higher for the ED I round.

Johns Hopkins Early Decision Deferral and Rejection Rates

While Johns Hopkins does not typically release the percentage of Early Decision I candidates who receive deferrals or rejections, in our experience at Ivy Coach, the school historically rejects more applicants than it defers. So if you were deferred, that means something!

5 Steps to Take After Being Deferred by Johns Hopkins

1. Go for a walk, a swim, or a bike ride. It’s important to clear your head before you begin the fight to turn your Johns Hopkins deferral into an offer of admission.
2. Hop on the phone with Ivy Coach for a complimentary consultation to learn your path forward post-Johns Hopkins deferral.
3. Endure a PostMorten application review with Ivy Coach. It might be tough to hear what went wrong, but it’s important you hear the unvarnished truth so you can correct mistakes for your Regular Decision schools.
4. Submit a compelling Letter of Continued Interest to Johns Hopkins with Ivy Coach’s assistance. This letter should be submitted within a few days of your deferral so Johns Hopkins’ admissions committee doesn’t surmise you developed a case of sour grapes. But simply submitting a letter doesn’t improve your chances. It’s all about what goes in the letter. In a word, Ivy Coach’s letters are weird. They’re filled with zero updates and zero brags. It’s a big reason why our students stand out.
5. Exactly how can they do that? Well, that’s Ivy Coach’s secret sauce, and it’s quite delicious, really. At least, admissions officers seem to think so!
6. Make a push for an advocacy call. In the New Year, after you’ve submitted the Letter of Continued Interest to Johns Hopkins, bring it to your school counselor, asking them to make a phone call to JHU on your behalf. With the letter in hand, they can present you to your JHU regional representative as you presented yourself in your letter.

A Deferred Student’s Chances Improve Dramatically with Ivy Coach

Across all highly selective universities, about 10% of deferred applicants get in. If that number doesn’t look high enough for your taste, consider that that rate jumps up to about 40% for students who first come to Ivy Coach after being deferred.

What To Do After Being Rejected By Johns Hopkins

You’ve been rejected — what now? Should you wallow in despair? Take a long walk in the rain with no umbrella? Of course not! Instead, take a few deep breaths, re-center yourself, and put your strategic thinking cap on. There’s still time to assemble competitive Regular Decision applications, so let’s start with that.

Consider Ivy Coach’s PostMortem session, which is designed for students who have faced rejection. This is your opportunity to overhaul your approach and consider alternative strategies after taking stock of what went wrong. 

Our team of former elite college admissions officers will empower you to craft a formidable strategy and a compelling singular hook that showcases how you will capitalize on the opportunities at your future campus. A compelling hook is essential for securing the confidence of admissions officers in your potential, and it could be the difference between a Regular Decision rejection and acceptance. Take decisive action now and regain control of your admissions journey today!

PostMortem Application Review

After hearing back about a rejection from Johns Hopkins, we recommend contacting Ivy Coach for a PostMortem application review as soon as possible. 

During Ivy Coach’s PostMortem, we:

• Rework the current applications you’re in the process of completing. We go methodically through both the essay and no-essay portions of each application (every single section!) and readjust as we go. The schools you’re prioritizing will likely change now that you’ve been rejected from your top choice. And you may feel like these applications are pretty much done, but, after receiving a rejection from Johns Hopkins, why double down on those same application mistakes? It’s time to course correct before it’s too late.
• Work to portray you as a uniquely talented individual rather than as a well-rounded one. The well-rounded strategy is never a good one in elite college admissions. We’ll be the first to tell you that. It’s never good to confuse admissions officers with a bunch of random, disparate activities that don’t thread together. Instead, you need to pivot to a strategy that actually works, and that strategy would be the singular hook.
• Correct the seemingly insignificant mistakes that likely contributed to your rejection decision. Sometimes, the reason for rejection can seem infinitesimal (a.k.a. small), but when colleges have such a surplus of applicants to choose from, they’re allowed to be pretty picky. For instance, students who brag only hurt themselves in the Johns Hopkins admissions process. We hope this isn’t a pearl-clutching shock, but no one likes a braggart. Writing about how you raised thousands of dollars for a charity or were selected out of a huge pool of applicants for a seemingly prestigious but actually totally unimpressive summer enrichment program at a highly selective university is in fact bragging!
• Reevaluate your admissions prospects with the gloves off and consider taking advantage of the Early Decision II round for a school that, while perhaps slightly less of a reach school than Johns Hopkins, hits the sweet spot between prestigious and likely. Note that not all students are right for ED II, and not all schools offer an Early Decision II round. So it’s time to buckle down and do your research in order to determine an admissions pathway that works for you.

Application Assistance

Following your PostMortem session, which is a key first step for us to understand what went wrong and how you need to reposition your narrative, we will:

• Reinvigorate your applications with Ivy Coach’s assistance. After receiving feedback from our former elite admission officer,  you’ll have a game plan. Time to execute on it! You’ll remove all those common mistakes that we catch and put yourself in the best possible spot for a positive admissions decision. Although we can’t correct every mistake you’ve made throughout your past four years at high school, there’s a lot we can still do to fix your application narrative and give you a path to swaying admissions officers to root for you.

What Not to Do After Being Rejected by Johns Hopkins

Below are five of the easiest ways to ensure your Regular Decision admission round goes poorly after receiving a Johns Hopkins rejection:

1. Do not submit your remaining applications as is. This is probably the worst thing you could do. It’s the season of giving right now, and a rejection is just that: a gift. It’s a second chance to not present an application that’s full of mistakes and a weak narrative. Plus, it’s your only chance to pivot to a more effective strategy, because there are no more chances after the Regular Decision deadline.
2. Do not reach out to the Johns Hopkins admissions office asking why you were rejected. Just don’t do it. They don’t have the time or energy to provide you a straightforward answer, and your enthusiasm will only annoy them and prove to them that they made the right decision about your candidacy.
3. Do not be too choosy with your choice of Regular Decision schools and/or omit safety schools from your Regular Decision list. There are certain qualifications that make something a safety school, but if you’re not sure what those are, our team of former elite college admissions officers can help. Now, if you’re considering something ridiculous like not applying to a school because you’d rather not go to school in the South, we encourage you to think again. We do not tolerate such pickiness at this time of year from rejected applicants. Let that past rejection open your mind because so often, students who come to us after a rejection end up attending a school that Ivy Coach adds to their list at this time of year.
4. Do not blame your school counselor for an admissions decision that ultimately rests on you. Sure, sometimes, high school counselors aren’t perfect at their jobs (i.e., they will refuse to make advocacy calls on behalf of their students), but they are your #1 ally in the fight for your college future. Alienating them is the worst thing you can do right now. Don’t even think about it!

Johns Hopkins University Deferral and Rejection FAQs

Does Johns Hopkins defer candidates in Early Decision I and Early Decision II?

No, Johns Hopkins defers candidates in Early Decision I and waitlists candidates in Early Decision II.

Is a Johns Hopkins deferral meaningful?

Yes, because Johns Hopkins historically rejects more Early Decision I candidates than it defers, deferred candidates have a meaningful shot of earning admission in Regular Decision (if they play their cards right!).

Can I change aspects of my Johns Hopkins application post-deferral?

No, you can’t change your submitted application. But you can change this application for every other school you’ve not yet applied to. For JHU, the only submission you still maintain control over is your Letter of Continued Interest — so don’t waste the opportunity.

Could my Johns Hopkins rejection be a harbinger of waitlists and rejections from other schools in Regular Decision?

It’s certainly possible. If you don’t find out what went wrong with your Johns Hopkins Early Decision application through Ivy Coach’s PostMortem application review, you’re likely to make the same mistakes again, which could very well lead to more rejections from your Regular Decision schools.

How do I cope with the feeling of wasted time and effort now that I’ve been rejected? 

We know, rejection can hurt. And now you may feel like you spent all that time on your application for naught. But we’re going to reiterate that a rejection can actually be a positive experience if you use it to inform how you should move forward in Regular Decision.

Yes, you’re going to have to spend more time and effort on the college admissions process even though you thought you might be done already, but after a PostMortem with Ivy Coach, you’ll have a lot more information than you had when you first submitted that application. Use that to your advantage!

Ivy Coach’s Assistance with Johns Hopkins Deferral or Rejection

Over the last three decades, about 33% of students who first come to Ivy Coach after being deferred by Johns Hopkins have earned admission — compared to an estimated 10% of overall deferred applicants to JHU. If you’d like to give yourself the best shot of turning your Johns Hopkins deferral into an offer of admission, or you’d like to reassess your options after being rejected from JHU, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch to outline our college admissions counseling services specifically for deferred and rejected candidates.