First Baltimore Scholars accepted

Johns Hopkins selected the first portion of students in December as part of the fledgling Baltimore Scholars scholarship program, which offers full financial aid to any Baltimore City public high school students admitted to the university.

The program aims to improve Hopkins' relationship with Baltimore City, to encourage diversity within the university, and to alleviate the financial barrier preventing some talented local students from pursuing a Hopkins education.

Early signs have shown that the program is having an impact, according to Director of Undergraduate Admissions John Latting. "Measuring the success of the program is relative rather than absolute. If success is being measured on how many students want to come to Hopkins, this has been a great year. Three years ago there would have been 20 to 25 applications [from Baltimore public high schools]. A year ago there were fifty and this year there were about a hundred."

The four applicants that have already been accepted were weighed against the same standards as the average Hopkins applicant. Two have already done scientific research at Johns Hopkins, one was a finalist in the prestigious Siemens Westinghouse Competition in math, science and technology, and the fourth was named one of the top 300 science students in the county by the Intel Science Talent Search.

Based on early impressions of the applicant pool, Latting expects there to be more students admitted to the program.

Mathew Crenson, chair of the political science department, and a Baltimore City public school graduate is the chief faculty advisor for the program.

Crenson said that he is impressed with the level of interest in the program, and with the applicants themselves.

He said, "I went to an informational meeting with over 150 people, and over 80 students. The turnout was impressive especially because of the little amount of publicity."

Crenson added that he regularly receives phone calls from people interested in the program, and said he even "received a letter from a minister at a City church who is interested in beginning a program to prepare students to become Baltimore Scholars."

Latting said that a majority of this year's applicants are still coming from the "flagship schools," the four Baltimore City public schools to which students must gain admission to attend. Thus, applications from the flagship schools do not necessarily represent "a random sampling of kids from Baltimore City." But he noted that the program is "better capturing kids we wanted all along. [The applicants] reflect the demographics of Baltimore schools, with about three-fourths of applicants being African-American."

Crenson said that Baltimore Scholars applicants are far more diverse than Hopkins' student body, but stressed that this "is a program for anybody, and is not a need-based scholarship. It could even encourage middle-income parents of bright kids to keep their kids in public school."

According to Crenson there seems to be little diversity among the academic interests of applicants, with a strong tendency towards science and engineering. He said, "Often times these are the first people in their family to attend college. They don't want to take chancy career moves."

Ultimately one of the program's aims is to reconnect Hopkins with the city in which it resides. Latting said that "the program is not trying bring Hopkins back to the way it was 70 years ago when half of the students were from Baltimore." However, Hopkins has increasingly been moving in the other direction according Latting, with classes that had less than five students of over one thousand from Baltimore City public schools.

Latting said, "It matters a lot that Johns Hopkins is a leading institution of, not just in Baltimore. We could be potentially educating the leadership of this city. Mayors, council people and even governors for Baltimore and Maryland could be graduates of Johns Hopkins." It is particularly encouraging, Latting said, to see student leaders in the applicant pool.

Baltimore Scholars is also about forging personal relationship with Baltimore public schools, Latting said. "I never had a reason to talk to Dr. Barney Wilson [principle of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute] before. Now I have a reason to drive over and bring a box of applications. We have a personal relationship, which isn't typical, but rather is unique."

The four accepted students are currently students at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute.

Crenson said that he hopes the program will have a positive effect not only on the program's participants but also on the Hopkins community at large. "I have always tried to extend students' relationship with Baltimore as a political science professor by sending students into Baltimore in courses. I hope this program with encourage more students to investigate the city."

Latting noted the importance of remembering that for most people "paying for college is more of a concern than getting into college. The financial aid process does not always communicate to applicants that they are wanted. This scholarship is meant to clearly communicate that these students are wanted by Hopkins."

Local public school students receive full scholarship to Hopkins