Johns Hopkins University was founded in 1876 on a spirit of exploration and discovery. As a result, students can pursue a multi-dimensional undergraduate experience both in and outside of the classroom. Given the opportunities at Hopkins, please discuss your current interests-academic or extracurricular pursuits, personal passions, summer experiences, etc.-and how you will build upon them here. (300-500 Word limit).
June 17th, 2013
Baltimore, Maryland
"This is the da Vinci."
In the dimly-lit room behind the glass pane, I saw a monstrous device, with its massive arms and intricate finger-like projections, obediently following the surgeon operating from the master controller. It was truly an engineering marvel, the "Mona Lisa" of biomedical engineering (BME). With this, one could literally perform surgeries around the world sitting in one place. Unshackling the best surgeons from their location constraints, training the future generation of doctors; my mind began to race, flooding with limitless ideas and possibilities for a device that epitomizes the best of engineering, computer science, and medicine - could cross-disciplinary research get any better?
July 8th, 2013
SriRaghavendra Biotechnologies
"We develop what doctors use. We are the inventors - the people behind the scenes" said Dr. **** **** , my research advisor.
I worked as a research assistant over the summer of 2013. I designed a project to develop a standard for gossypol, cotton-seed extract, investigating its anti-cancer properties on MCF-7 cells (breast cancer cells), and finally testing its rate of diffusion to develop a transdermal patch for cancer patients. The initial results from the experiment are promising and show that gossypol can be used effectively to fight cancer. The practical workings in the lab and the opportunity to make an impact on people's lives beckoned me to further pursue my dream of exploring the world of BME with the Green Group at JHU.
September 5th, 2013
*** * *** *** ** School
"... and that's why I stayed in school, thanks to my teacher and my LifeSkills mentors who helped bring out the 'Me' in me."
*applause*
Driven by the need to make a difference, I co-founded the LifeSkills program, for underprivileged students at a government school in Bangalore. Little did I know at the time that I would be part of a girl's transformation, who would have otherwise dropped out of school because of pressure from her family. The program involves interacting with students about life-skills which they can't learn in school, like communication, critical thinking, and world-values.
January 3rd, 2022
Baltimore, Maryland
"With this breakthrough in affordable targeted drug-delivery, we hope to save several lives from cancer" announced Dr. Sanat ********, PhD, co-founder and Chief Scientist of the biotech start-up Nanobotics. He was speaking at the commercial launch of their Medical Nanobots developed in partnership with Johns Hopkins University.
Sanat co-founded Nanobots, the first commercial-scale Nanofactory developer to produce specialized Medical Nanorobots, with help from the Kairos Society at JHU. He is on a mission to leverage advancements in BME to improve lives of people around the globe. He is also involved in community health projects in Baltimore.
As part of a JHU study-abroad program, he traveled to Congo on a Public Health project. He was part of the team that successfully installed the first da-Vinci surgical system in rural Africa. At JHU, he was an active member of Kranti, their South Asian acapella group, as well as the college Quidditch team.
You have an interesting array of experiences, and you definitely conveyed the "spirit of exploration and discovery" of Hopkins in your response. However, you didn't really respond to the prompt. Admissions officers will know that you're applying as a BME major. But what are your unique interests, and how will you build upon them at JHU? It might take a little research and soul-searching, but you need something more focused than a desire to "make a difference" or "make an impact on people's lives."
Thanks so much for the feedback! I get what you're saying, but that's what I tried to address in the last paragraph. Does it not come through as that is what I did at JHU, which is basically answering "how will you build upon them at JHU"? Just clarifying... but thank you so much!
Ohhh... Haha, I did need that clarification, but now I get it. The shift in perspective confused me, and I missed that date... Okay, I have no other complaints! Best of luck!
