Countdown to HMS 2005

Electrophys said:

I can't take it anymore and I just had to start this thread! I've been waiting since way back in October for news from HMS NP/HST.

Hopefully we'll be getting some good news next week, as decisions are supposed to be mailed on March 7th!!

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I don't know if I can wait any longer...just reject me, already!

I am ambivalent about Harvard, but an acceptance is always nice.

DITTO GUY LAROCHE!!! where are you leaning?

~L

it makes me physically sick just thinking about getting this decision next week, i am so nervous. this is far and away my top choice but right now i'm feeling pretty pessimistic after getting w/l @ columbia and either w/l or rejected from duke. this has been the lowest week for me in the season by far and i'm reeeeaallllly hoping for some good news from HMS next week.

next week is spring break for many schools. it's gonna suck waiting to hear news from school during spring break. too bad harvard doesn't do phone calls. it'd be a golden moment if they called people during their spring break intoxicated stupor.

LRmed2003 said:

DITTO GUY LAROCHE!!! where are you leaning?

~L

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Toss up between UPenn (oh lord, please!) and Duke.

CarleneM said:

it makes me physically sick just thinking about getting this decision next week, i am so nervous. this is far and away my top choice but right now i'm feeling pretty pessimistic after getting w/l @ columbia and either w/l or rejected from duke. this has been the lowest week for me in the season by far and i'm reeeeaallllly hoping for some good news from HMS next week.

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Just by a simple game of odds, you'll definitely get into a great school. You have an impressive body of interviews (and not to mention the actual physical body, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. And I wish you the ultimate best, and I really mean it.

GuyLaroche said:

Just by a simple game of odds, you'll definitely get into a great school. You have an impressive body of interviews (and not to mention the actual physical body, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. And I wish you the ultimate best, and I really mean it.

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This thread is way too early and yet I can't look away

GuyLaroche said:

Just by a simple game of odds, you'll definitely get into a great school. You have an impressive body of interviews (and not to mention the actual physical body, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. And I wish you the ultimate best, and I really mean it.

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Thanks Lord Laroche!!! You know, you are the second poster today who has complimented my physical appearance. In these dark times of waitlists and more waiting, its little things like this that put a smile on my face!!

I hope you get into Upenn and HMS too!!!

CarleneM said:

it makes me physically sick just thinking about getting this decision next week, i am so nervous. this is far and away my top choice but right now i'm feeling pretty pessimistic after getting w/l @ columbia and either w/l or rejected from duke. this has been the lowest week for me in the season by far and i'm reeeeaallllly hoping for some good news from HMS next week.

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HMS loves Harvard undergrads. A good friend of mine who graduated from FAS in 2002 got into HMS last year, and didn't get into many other top schools like Columbia, Penn, etc. So you have an edge. You'll almost certainly get in!!

it makes me physically sick just thinking about getting this decision next week, i am so nervous. this is far and away my top choice but right now i'm feeling pretty pessimistic after getting w/l @ columbia and either w/l or rejected from duke. this has been the lowest week for me in the season by far and i'm reeeeaallllly hoping for some good news from HMS next week.

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If you didn't sound so insufferable, I'd help put this all into perspective.

Hope that Helps

P 'Future Psychiatrist' ShankOut

criminallyinane said:

HMS loves Harvard undergrads. A good friend of mine who graduated from FAS in 2002 got into HMS last year, and didn't get into many other top schools like Columbia, Penn, etc. So you have an edge. You'll almost certainly get in!!

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i hope so and that's good to hear about your friend. i know they take a ton of harvard undergrads but a ton apply so its tough to know how much of an advantage this gives , if any. wanting to go into academic medicine, its important for me to get into a top school. its also important for me to try and stay close to home and close to my boyfriend. it stinks that this makes harvard, the number one school in the country, an obvious front runner for me. I wish a less competitive yet still relatively top school was in boston! That's why yale is my second choice- its the second closest to home top school.


good luck to everyone waiting to hear from the elusive beast that is harvard...

I can't hang

indianboy said:

If you didn't sound so insufferable, I'd help put this all into perspective.

Hope that Helps

P 'Future Psychiatrist' ShankOut

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hey, part of being a psychiatrist is dealing with insufferable patients so get used to it! btw, my mood has improved (thanks in part to many on SDN who have provided comic relief and support!) since earlier this afternoon and i am now cautiously optimisitc about next week.... so i'll stop whining and start hoping!

CarleneM said:

i hope so and that's good to hear about your friend. i know they take a ton of harvard undergrads but a ton apply so its tough to know how much of an advantage this gives , if any. .

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Many apply, yes, but not many are as qualified as you seem to be. My friend had similar stats to you-35/3.8, and lots of research. You seem well-rounded. I would put money on your acceptance.

criminallyinane said:

Many apply, yes, but not many are as qualified as you seem to be. My friend had similar stats to you-35/3.8, and lots of research. You seem well-rounded. I would put money on your acceptance.

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I think HMS puts a premium on unique experiences, which I am hoping will bode well for me. I also don't think acceptance to other top schools correlates with likelihood of acceptance to HMS. I told my faculty interviewer that I had hoped to be invited for an interview at Penn, and he responded, "Don't worry about them, they're stuffy." Coming from a Professor of Medicine at HMS, I thought that was pretty funny.

Since it's been brought up... I've definitely heard that Harvard loves their own on more than one occasion, and it seemed that was the case when I spoke to some friends on interview day. Actually, worse than that, one of my friends main complaints was that the Harvard undergrads who ended up at HMS were the ones he least wanted to see there, while some of the legitimately cool Harvard undergrads somehow didn't.

Has anyone else heard / been worried by that? Not that everyone who goes to Harvard undergrad fits the arrogant / obnoxious / money-bags legacy / super-gunner / pick whatever other stereotype you've heard. But let's just say there were a fair number of people who sucked at life, and it would be a real shame if they're the ones who end up getting in to HMS.

Also, this is definitely not too early to obsessively start posting and checking on this thread. Dopaminophile started the Duke countdown over a month out. Plus, for those of us recently gilted by Duke or other non-rolling schools, obsessing over this is a nice distraction from waiting for our thin envelopes.

Just wanted to wish you all good luck as next week approaches You certainly got farther with HMS than I did

brothersboff said:

Since it's been brought up... I've definitely heard that Harvard loves their own on more than one occasion, and it seemed that was the case when I spoke to some friends on interview day. Actually, worse than that, one of my friends main complaints was that the Harvard undergrads who ended up at HMS were the ones he least wanted to see there, while some of the legitimately cool Harvard undergrads somehow didn't.

Has anyone else heard / been worried by that? Not that everyone who goes to Harvard undergrad fits the arrogant / obnoxious / money-bags legacy / super-gunner / pick whatever other stereotype you've heard. But let's just say there were a fair number of people who sucked at life, and it would be a real shame if they're the ones who end up getting in to HMS.

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Sometimes, incest is a good thing. See what it's done for royal families across Europe. And don't ask me to explain West Virginia!

hey brothersboff- i actually heard the opposite about the type of harvard students that get in. a current student at hms who also went to harvard for undergrad told me on interview day that the people you dislike in your pre-med classes, the real gunners with little to no soul, aren't the ones get in. i was not in the pre-med scene at harvard since i wasn't pre-med until after college so it was nice to hear that. who knows though. looking on mdapplicants, it seems some harvard undergrad students with much better mcats and stuff than me haven't been interviewed so i'm really hoping they are looking for something a little different than the arrogant gunner.

although have you seen that person posting on the duke thread whose dad is a prof at hms and is a current harvard student? she's almost certain she'll get in and if that is a real person it certainly would support your claims. who is ever certain they'd get into HMS? that would take a very, um, unique type of person to put it nicely.

brothersboff said:

Since it's been brought up... I've definitely heard that Harvard loves their own on more than one occasion, and it seemed that was the case when I spoke to some friends on interview day. Actually, worse than that, one of my friends main complaints was that the Harvard undergrads who ended up at HMS were the ones he least wanted to see there, while some of the legitimately cool Harvard undergrads somehow didn't.

Has anyone else heard / been worried by that? Not that everyone who goes to Harvard undergrad fits the arrogant / obnoxious / money-bags legacy / super-gunner / pick whatever other stereotype you've heard. But let's just say there were a fair number of people who sucked at life, and it would be a real shame if they're the ones who end up getting in to HMS.

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brothersboff said:

Since it's been brought up... I've definitely heard that Harvard loves their own on more than one occasion, and it seemed that was the case when I spoke to some friends on interview day. Actually, worse than that, one of my friends main complaints was that the Harvard undergrads who ended up at HMS were the ones he least wanted to see there, while some of the legitimately cool Harvard undergrads somehow didn't.

Has anyone else heard / been worried by that? Not that everyone who goes to Harvard undergrad fits the arrogant / obnoxious / money-bags legacy / super-gunner / pick whatever other stereotype you've heard. But let's just say there were a fair number of people who sucked at life, and it would be a real shame if they're the ones who end up getting in to HMS.

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One of my student hosts told me that students who attend Harvard undergrad, HMS, and then an HMS affiliate for residency are referred to as 'Preparation H' . Anywhere else it would be referred to as academic inbreeding, but such a derogatory term is obviously not welcomed at HMS .

Good luck to everyone waiting.

DrDarwin said:

One of my student hosts told me that students who attend Harvard undergrad, HMS, and then an HMS affiliate for residency are referred to as 'Preparation H' . Anywhere else it would be referred to as academic inbreeding, but such a derogatory term is obviously not welcomed at HMS .

Good luck to everyone waiting.

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hmm. Just out of curiosity, because I'm really at a lost about how this whole process works: how much weight does the Ad Com put on a letter from an (extremely) influential professor at HMS? Particularly if this professor knows you very well (7 years)?

Then again, I'm definitely no LauraSimmer.

DrDarwin said:

One of my student hosts told me that students who attend Harvard undergrad, HMS, and then an HMS affiliate for residency are referred to as 'Preparation H' . Anywhere else it would be referred to as academic inbreeding, but such a derogatory term is obviously not welcomed at HMS .

Good luck to everyone waiting.

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HAHA! well, i dunno preparation H isn't exactly the most pleasant term either. I have heard them called 4-H'ers though i'm not sure what the 4 would be. Maybe it means that after residency they stay here too for their careers.

Lousy Ivy-leaguers...

CarleneM said:

hey brothersboff- i actually heard the opposite about the type of harvard students that get in

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Fair enough. I've heard mixed reactions about it, and I'll grant that the most negative opinion was from a friend who's pretty all-around disillusioned with Harvard.

Still, I guess I'm not worried just about gunner pre-meds. Seems most of them fall by the wayside before they get out or they obsess about UCSF instead... grass being greener and all. I guess my concern is that there are ways of sucking other than being a gunner or numbers-whoree (numbers-pimp?).

Also, yes. The preparation H / 4-H / H to the izzo whatever you want to call it is a bit worrisome too. Almost get the feeling that the prestige is all an aura that they protect by advancing themselves into the positions that they've managed to make prestigious. It's almost like Harvard undergrad gets some prestige from the number of people who go on to HMS, which gets some prestige from how many graduates get residencies at MGH, and so on. Or possibly the other way around. Not a nasty dig on the school, but something I noticed and wasn't sure if it was just common practice everywhere.

CarleneM said:

although have you seen that person posting on the duke thread whose dad is a prof at hms and is a current harvard student? she's almost certain she'll get in and if that is a real person it certainly would support your claims. who is ever certain they'd get into HMS? that would take a very, um, unique type of person to put it nicely.

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Yeah.... like I said, there are other ways of sucking at life than just being a gunner...

brothersboff said:

Yeah.... like I said, there are other ways of sucking at life than just being a gunner...

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very true and i definitely met a lot people with serious social maladjustments at harvard. i bet at any of the top schools, though, you are gonna get people whose priorities and social skills leave a lot to be desired........

It would seem that the only thing more difficult than getting into Harvard is getting out later.

Students at Harvard Medical School are usually mixed breed. They are relaxed at times and are gunner at times. They study hard, so you can't really say "study"= "gunner". As with any medical schools, there will be those that you enjoy hanging out with and those that you just do not want to associate with.

LauraSimmer said:

Students at Harvard Medical School are usually mixed breed. They are relaxed at times and are gunner at times. They study hard, so you can't really say "study"= "gunner". As with any medical schools, there will be those that you enjoy hanging out with and those that you just do not want to associate with.

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stfu, go away. you can't form sentences, you pretend that you got into harvard to intimidate people you don't know over the internet, and you detract from the ability of some to get get useful information and advice from what is otherwise a decent group of people =[

it's a nervous time for all of us, please, leave us alone. come back in april or something.

ninebillion said:

kikkoman, congrats on washu! now, post to the "application status" thread! are you complete or incomplete?

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Thanks! I was pretty excited about it.

I'm "complete," both NP and HST.

kikkoman said:

stfu, go away. you can't form sentences, you pretend that you got into harvard to intimidate people you don't know over the internet, and you detract from the ability of some to get get useful information and advice from what is otherwise a decent group of people =[

it's a nervous time for all of us, please, leave us alone. come back in april or something.

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Know your role and shut your hole. Speak when you are given permission to.

LauraSimmer said:

Know your role and shut your hole. Speak when you are given permission to.

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This has got to the be the most stupid post I have ever read. Sorry to disappoint you person-who-goes-to-Harvard, but we don't speak on SDN. We write, we post. So, you can't ask anyone to "shut up." More importantly, who grants permission to "speak" on SDN? You?

Yeah, so just leave. You're not even a very bright distraction.

now now guylaroche..

that's little harsh..she's IMPORTANT..she's got omniscient knowledge of her acceptance already...lol..anyway...ummm...so decisions are mailed regular mail on monday...i live around the corner from HMS...like a 4 minute walk..maybe i can jump the mailman...

LRmed2003 said:

now now guylaroche..

that's little harsh..she's IMPORTANT..she's got omniscient knowledge of her acceptance already...lol..anyway...ummm...so decisions are mailed regular mail on monday...i live around the corner from HMS...like a 4 minute walk..maybe i can jump the mailman...

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You'll probably get your decision letter on Tuesday. You should post as soon as you get it, okay? We need to confirm this incomplete/complete business.

GuyLaroche said:

You'll probably get your decision letter on Tuesday. You should post as soon as you get it, okay? We need to confirm this incomplete/complete business.

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lol will do...post won't be until around 5pm though ..that's when i get home from work...laura's will probably be brought to her by the dean himself so maybe she can confirm the incomplete/complete first..

LRmed2003 said:

lol will do...post won't be until around 5pm though ..that's when i get home from work...laura's will probably be brought to her by the dean himself so maybe she can confirm the incomplete/complete first..

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