Johns Hopkins Deferred You: Now What?

Submit a letter of continued interest within a few days of your deferral, and afterward, have your guidance counselor call or email the admissions office to advocate on your behalf. They should affirm that no matter what other admission decisions you receive, you will choose to attend Johns Hopkins if offered a spot.

But not just any letter of continued interest. This letter should be one of the most inspired pieces of writing you've ever composed. In it, you need to let your heart write a love song for Hopkins and translate that into giving the reader a concrete picture of exactly who you will be as a person on their campus. This includes demonstrating how you will contribute to spaces and organizations on campus and reminding the reader of your academic hook. In reintroducing your hook, the academic niche you spent time and effort carving out in high school to distinguish yourself from others, you want to remind the reader how you can change the world for the better if you have the opportunity to leverage specific academic opportunities at Johns Hopkins.

I personally recommend starting the letter of continued interest with something funny or lighthearted. It is naturally awkward reading something from someone whom you, in a sense, put on hold. To make the experience as cringe-free as possible for the admissions officer, I wouldn't reference the deferral explicitly or convey any feelings of disappointment.

After a lighthearted and positive introduction, I would then proceed to talk to the reader about something related to your niche, such as a new cutting-edge development or something new that you learned. I would then connect this new piece of information regarding your niche to something currently going on at Johns Hopkins and explain how, by leveraging certain opportunities there, you can achieve some goal, and make the reader understand how achieving this goal can change the world.

Afterward, I would paint them a picture of you on their campus. Have fun here. Feel free to write a hypothetical scenario of you making some of the best memories of your life there, conducting research in one of Hopkins' world-renowned labs, walking through the Homewood campus in the spring, grabbing food in Charles Village, or catching a lacrosse game at Homewood Field. You want the reader to feel like by not admitting you, they will be denying you the opportunity to live your best life for four years. Show them you doing activities that have garnered you friends in high school on their campus. Show them how your hobbies or talents will brighten up the days of your Hopkins classmates. Present yourself as someone they want on their campus.

To conclude the letter, I would thank the reader for their time and add something to the effect of thanking them for the opportunity to share with them your favorite subjects and hobbies. Finally, I would tell them that no matter what other decisions you receive, you are absolutely resolute in attending Johns Hopkins, and that if you are offered a seat, you will immediately accept it. I would then include a signed signature.

Ensure the letter is addressed to your regional admissions counselor, you can look them up by entering your zip code or country on the Hopkins admissions site. If you've already communicated with them prior to submitting your ED application, all the better. If you're unsure who your regional rep is, "Dear Johns Hopkins Admissions Committee" works just fine.

Important note about Hopkins' deferral process: Unlike some schools, Johns Hopkins is relatively generous about what deferred students can submit. You may update your application with additional letters of recommendation, an updated resume, standardized test scores, or a written statement of interest. Upload any additional materials through your applicant portal or email them to applyhelp@jhu.edu, just make sure anything you send adds substantive new information rather than rehashing what's already in your file.

Here's some encouraging context: Hopkins historically rejects more Early Decision I applicants than it defers. If you weren't a viable candidate, you would have been denied outright. A deferral means Hopkins sees real potential in you, they simply want to see how you compare against the full Regular Decision pool. The ED acceptance rate typically ranges from 15–20%, while Regular Decision hovers closer to 6–7%, so the competition will intensify, but deferred candidates who play their cards right have a meaningful shot at admission.

Also note: once deferred, you are released from the binding Early Decision agreement. Your letter of continued interest should make clear that even without the binding commitment, Hopkins remains your unequivocal first choice.

When it comes to bragging about grades, prizes, or publications in your letter, please save it. If you made it this far in the admissions process at an elite research institution like Johns Hopkins, then you already have enough academic credentials to be a strong candidate. If you did not, then you wouldn't be deferred and reevaluated in the regular decision round, you would have been rejected.

Your guidance counselor should be the one bragging on your behalf. When they do it, it carries much more weight and shows the admissions office that there is something beyond those accomplishments to consider. By your guidance counselor going out of their way to share your accomplishments with the admissions officer, ideally by calling your regional representative with your letter in hand, it demonstrates to them that there is something compelling enough about your personhood for them to be doing this. Given how accomplished you must be to be even deferred from Johns Hopkins in 2025, this intangible quality they can infer is what will distinguish you from other overachievers.

If you'd like help writing your letter of continued interest for Johns Hopkins or any other school, please schedule a free consultation with us below.