Johns Hopkins University's wording, checked October 26, 2026At Johns Hopkins, community is built through dialogue, collaboration, and a willingness to engage across differences. Whether on campus or in the broader world, community depends on bridge builders who can listen to differing perspectives, challenge their own assumptions, or work together toward shared goals.“Drawing on your own experiences, what have you learned about engaging across differences and how has it shaped the way you think about building bridges, enhancing community, and working with others?”
How to approach it
- 1Pick one specific difference and the person or group on the other side.
- 2Show the engagement step by step: what you heard, asked, misread, tried again.
- 3Say what you learned in your own words, then show where you have used it since.
- 4Keep yourself a learner, not a hero.
A structure that works
One way to shape this answer. It describes moves, not sentences: the words have to be yours.
- 1The difference, introduced through a specific moment.
- 2How you engaged: the listening, the questions, the misstep.
- 3What you learned about engaging across differences.
- 4How it shapes the way you build community and work with others now, with a recent example.
Where the 350 words go
| Part | Words |
|---|---|
| The moment or example | about 140 |
| What it shows or changed | about 120 |
| Why it matters, or what you bring | about 90 |
"I had planned three counterarguments; I used none, because Mr. Ortiz's first question was about my grandmother, not my position." The moment shows listening winning over arguing.
Mistakes to avoid
- A story about convincing someone.
- Big abstract claims about unity.
- A conflict with no listening in it.
The checklist our grader uses for this question
When you check your Johns Hopkins answers, this answer is read against these 5 areas. Each comes back Met, Partly or Missing with a quote from your draft as evidence, and together with the 350 words limit they set its readiness verdict.
| Area | What a reader looks for |
|---|---|
| Answers the question | The opening sentences answer what was asked, plainly, before background or a hook; every part of a multi-part question is answered. |
| A real difference | The issue and the other person or group are specific, and the difference between their views is stated fairly. |
| How you engaged | It shows the process (listening, questions asked, what the applicant said and did), not a debate won; the applicant need not be the hero. |
| What you learned | It says honestly what changed in the applicant's thinking or way of engaging, even if neither view changed, and how they engage with others now. |
| Johns Hopkins's ask | Focuses on the process of engaging across a difference, not winning or resolving it, and connects what was learned to building bridges and community. |
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Questions
More on Johns Hopkins and this kind of question
- Harvard: A time you strongly disagreed · 150 words
- Yale: Essay: an opposing view · 400 words
- Columbia: A time you did not agree with someone · 150 words
- Duke: Difference of opinion · 250 words
- Barnard: A woman who brings people together · 200-250 words
- Wellesley: Working alongside people different from you · 250-400 words