Committee Letter Eligibility & Requirements

At Johns Hopkins, the Committee Letter is part of a “Committee Packet” that includes the Committee Letter as well as individual letters of recommendation. The Committee Letter presents a composite of the applicant’s accomplishments, individual strengths, attributes, and competencies.

Applicants to medical or dental schools who are current students or alumni of the Whiting School of Engineering or the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins, and who have met the requirements stated below, are eligible to receive a Committee Letter from the Health Professions Committee of the Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising.

Information on how to apply for the EY2025 HPA was sent via the listserves on December 1, 2023. If you did not get the email, please subscribe the the relevant listserves on our website. The link to the EY2025 HPA will go out bi-weekly.

To be eligible for a Committee Letter, all applicants must:

To be eligible for a Committee Letter, you must meet all the following requirements:​

  • Have a history of at least one individual advising appointment with a Pre-Professional advisor prior to March 30th of the application year.​
    • IMPORTANT: If you have never had an individual appointment with a Pre-Professional advisor at any time as an undergraduate, you must schedule an appointment prior to the HPA deadline (suggest scheduling by March 1st). Drop-in appointments and Pre-Health 101 do not count as individual advising.​
  • Complete (or be scheduled to complete) an undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins University.​
  • Be in residence as a full-time enrolled undergraduate student at Johns Hopkins University for a minimum of four semesters.​
  • Complete a minimum of four pre-medical and/or advanced science courses from Johns Hopkins University (this does not include AP credit).​
  • Comply with the HPA submission deadlines as established by the Pre-Professional Office.​
  • Submit the 3-letter minimum, 6-letter maximum individual letter of recommendation requirements by the communicated deadline

Please note: Once you have matriculated to medical or dental school (whether US or foreign), you are no longer able to utilize the services of the Committee. You are thereby ineligible for a Committee Letter, and the Committee is no longer able to forward any letters of evaluation.

Committee Letter Requirements:

To receive a Committee Letter, you must meet all the following requirements:​

  • Have a submitted an HPA by indicated deadlines​
  • Submit the 3-letter minimum, 6-letter maximum letter of recommendation requirements by the communicated deadline:​
    • Academic letter (2 is required): *academic letter is from an instructor who has taught you in a course and graded you A-F and does NOT include research for credit courses*​
      • 2 required Academic undergraduate letters from a Hopkins professors/instructors (one MUST be science (BCPM) or engineering)
    • Non-Academic/Clinically relevant letter (1 required): ​
      • 1 required letter from a medically-relevant experience—medical clinic, hospital, shadowing, or other clinically relevant volunteering or employment, not including clinical research settings​ unless there was direct patient contact through evaluation/assessment or shadowing physicians
    • Optional (0-3)​ Additional letters
      • Additional academic letters from instructors from other 2 or 4-year institutions and/or any postgraduate work (i.e., post-baccalaureate, graduate, or professional training programs)​
        • *For those who have done postgraduate work during a post-bacc or graduate program it is highly encouraged that you include at least 1 academic letter from that program in your additional letters* ​
      • Additional optional letter— supervisors, PIs, coaches, mentors etc… ​
  • Submit all required additional documents requested by the pre-professional office by the indicated deadlines​

Current students or alumni of Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences or the Whiting School of Engineering who have not met the requirements for a Committee Letter are advised to delay their applications to address their missing requirements. Please plan to meet with a pre-professional advisor to discuss the resolutions of your ineligibility.

To determine which LoR will fulfill the CL letter requirement of science & engineering vs. non-science, please use the academic areas provided with the course on SIS to help you confirm which letter will be considered science or non-science.

The academic areas in the Hopkins curriculum are as follows:

Humanities (H), natural sciences (N), social and behavioral sciences (S), quantitative and mathematical sciences (Q), and engineering (E). Info HERE

  • Science LoR– courses designated N, Q, E
  • Non-Science – courses designated H, S

If a course is designated NS or QS, you may use it as a science or non-science letter*.

Alumni Policy

Undergraduate alumni of Johns Hopkins University (Krieger School of Arts and Sciences or Whiting School of Engineering) are eligible to participate in the JHU Committee Process for four years post-graduation. This timeline refers to the four years from your undergraduate graduation to your medical/dental school matriculation.

  • Alumni who graduated in December 2021, May 2022, or any time after are eligible for a Committee Letter if planning to matriculate in 2026.
  • Alumni who graduated in May 2021 or earlier are ineligible for a Committee Letter if planning to matriculate in 2026.
  • Reapplicants who graduated in May 2021 or earlier are ineligible for a Committee Letter if planning to matriculate in 2026.
  • Alumni ineligible to receive a CL from Pre-Prof will not be negatively impacted by this policy when they apply to their chosen health professions programs. *Please note: if you are not eligible for a Committee Letter, you should not complete an HPA, but you may access advising support and resources during the application cycle. Please email [email protected] with any questions*