Admissions’ Paul White is already sizing up candidates for the SOM class of 2010.

One is a West Point grad who served as a platoon leader at the Army Ranger School. Another directs a company that produces rare snake venom. He’s been breeding pythons, boas, chameleons and rattlesnakes for 15 years. A third did a stint at a Tibetan monastery in Nova Scotia to study Buddhist philosophy.

Along with 117 others, these are the lucky ones, members of the JHU School of Medicine’s class of 2009.

This year, 4,289 candidates submitted completed applications for the medical school, competing for 120 highly coveted slots. “We continue to attract the very best students,” says Paul White, assistant dean for admissions and financial aid, adding that MCAT scores have increased over the last couple of years.

With 52 women and 68 men, this year’s class by chance reverses a three-year trend during which women dominated. Minorities make up 16 percent of the class, up from last year’s 11 percent, an increase due in part to stepped-up efforts to recruit, admit and enroll under-represented students.

The class represents 62 colleges and universities in the United States, with the largest number of matriculants coming from JHU, Harvard, Yale, UCLA and UNC. The students hail from 31 states. Following a three-year trend, the highest number comes from California, followed by Maryland, New York and Virginia. Foreign students, one from South Korea, the other from Canada, round out the group. Ten have opted for an M.D./Ph.D. degree; the rest have their eye on the M.D.

Discussing the class of 2009 on a broiling day in July, White said his mind was leaping ahead. “In September, we will already be interviewing and reviewing applications for the class of 2010.”

Who will be the next lucky ones?

—Lydia Levis Bloch