Johns Hopkins Transfer Acceptance Rate & Requirements — 2025

January 21, 2025

Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland is among the Ivy-equivalent colleges that now perennially sports a single-digit acceptance rate. This means that very few of the deserving crop of 38,000+ applicants are ultimately going to be happy with their admissions outcomes. For those who did not get into JHU as freshmen, this is not the last chance you’ll have to try to gain entrance into this illustrious university. While still extremely high on the selectivity scale, 100+ students are admitted as transfers each year. This blog will share the Johns Hopkins transfer acceptance rate as well as other essential pieces of information like the Johns Hopkins University transfer deadline, the requirements for applicants, the transfer decision date, and much more.

Johns Hopkins Transfer Acceptance Rate

Below we present the most current available JHU transfer acceptance rate as well as historical data.

For entry in the fall of 2023, 1,847 students applied for transfer admission, and 118 were successful. This means that the Johns Hopkins transfer acceptance rate is 6.3%. Broken down by gender, the acceptance rates are as follows:

Male transfer applicants: 6.5%
Female transfer applicants: 6.1%

While JHU does not make historical acceptance rates publicly available, they do state the average transfer acceptance across recent years is around 10%.

Johns Hopkins Transfer Deadline

The university offers only a fall option. The Johns Hopkins transfer deadline for fall applicants is March 1.

Johns Hopkins Transfer Requirements

The Johns Hopkins transfer requirements are as follows:

Completed Common App for Transfer
Final high school transcript
Official college transcripts
Common App College Report
SAT or ACT scores (optional)
One letter of recommendation from a current college instructor

Students who have the best chance to gain admission to Johns Hopkins have done the following:

Completed at least 12 credits (or one full year of college coursework) prior to enrollment. Students can enter as sophomores or juniors.
Earned near-perfect grades in their first year at a community college or 4-year university.
In addition to a stellar transcript, extraordinary extracurricular achievements can also help to separate you from the crowd. Any time you are facing sub-10% acceptance rates, an impressive accomplishment or two outside of the classroom can be of massive importance.

JHU Transfer GPA

According to the university: “A minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average is required; however, just as is the case for first-year applicants, transfer applicants are evaluated on a holistic set of criteria, including academic success, academic engagement, and ability to contribute to campus life.” In our experience, those with a 3.75 or better GPA will have far better prospects.

Johns Hopkins Transfer Writing Supplement

All transfer applicants must respond to the following 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)

An important note about the essay:

The supplemental essay helps the admissions committee get a sense of how your interests and values align with the opportunities available at Hopkins.

In this essay question, we’re looking for how your background, life experiences, or interests have shaped who you are and what you want to get out of college.

This can be a future goal or experience you hope to pursue at Hopkins that is academic, extracurricular, or social, or how you hope to approach your college experience as a scholar, leader, or community member.

Transfer Decision Date

The Johns Hopkins transfer decision date for fall enrollment is in mid-May.

Final Thoughts – JHU Transfer Acceptance Rate

While there are no required courses to be eligible for a transfer to JHU, we do recommend consulting the Transfer Credit Policies. At that link, you’ll see recommended courses for prospective applicants to both the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering. Transfers can apply to a first-choice major as well as a second-choice major. The only major not available to transfers is biomedical engineering.

According to admissions, “When reviewing applications, we consider your high school record, college GPA and program of study, extracurricular activities, recommendations, and essay responses. We’re also interested in how you’ll fit into the Hopkins community and why you want to transfer here.” If you enter the admissions process with stellar grades and compelling reasoning as to why Johns Hopkins will be the best fit for you, you could certainly have a legitimate shot at acceptance.

If you are looking for information on how to apply to Johns Hopkins as a first-year student, you may find the following blogs to be of interest:

Looking for additional transfer resources? You may wish to check out the following:

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Transfer Admissions

Dave Bergman

Dave has over a decade of professional experience that includes work as a teacher, high school administrator, college professor, and independent educational consultant. He is a co-author of the books The Enlightened College Applicant (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) and Colleges Worth Your Money (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020).