2008-2009 Harvard Secondary Application Thread

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medhope31 said:
Where is the last year's thread? Is there a Harvard accepted 2008 thread?
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There are a bunch of old Harvard threads, not sure which one would be best to link to... just do a search for "harvard" or "harvard secondary" and i'm sure you can find a number of useful threads 🙂 I'm sure if you look back in the Allopathic class threads far enough you could find the Harvard 2008 thread.
 
Omg.. I just realized how insane SDNer are! Including myself. That thread posted above just makes me incredibly nervous and like I don't want to even be around a computer anytime during the third week of March. I will go insane.

Do you think this batch will have the same frenzy as last year?
 
Are they necessarily going to get the interview invitations out during business hours?
 
Last year, people heard back around 2 or 3 pm EST, I think.

Would someone mind calling them? I've already called so many times this month that they recognize my voice.
 
lol i've been stalking on this thread since this morning ...i hope people who get interviews can post here. at this point, i'll be happy for anyone who get interviews🙂
 
thegreenlight said:
Last year, people heard back around 2 or 3 pm EST, I think.

Would someone mind calling them? I've already called so many times this month that they recognize my voice.
Click to expand...

Not to burst your bubble but I got mine at 1:08 PM.

But seriously calm down. If it's meant to happen then it'll happen. Maybe some will go out early next week. These things don't always run exactly on schedule.
 
thegreenlight said:
Okay, it's 3:53 PM EST now... an hour and 7 minutes left. 🙁
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I guess the answer to my question is "yes we will be just as ridiculous" Does it help you to count to hours and post about it? Go out for a run, or read something useful- it will at least take your mind off of it. Also, is Harvard really the end of all things good?

From my undergrad experience i learned that your education is how amazing YOU can get it to be.
 
medhope31 said:
I guess the answer to my question is "yes we will be just as ridiculous" Does it help you to count to hours and post about it? Go out for a run, or read something useful- it will at least take your mind off of it. Also, is Harvard really the end of all things good?

From my undergrad experience i learned that your education is how amazing YOU can get it to be.
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Yea mayne, calm yo azz down dawg. lol. i feel 4 u, seriously. but why do you wanna go to the big H that bad? seriously, H is not the best thing since sliced bread. i seriously understand ur neuroticism - we all are; but, lol, counting down the minutes for a "potential" interview invite is seriously on another level. lol, anyway, i hope u get ur invite next week or sumthin.
 
Mine came around 1:30 EST (many months ago, not now!), but like someone said, these things do NOT go on schedule. Notification dates are approximate at best. And, at the end, if you seriously want a Harvard interview, it means you're a very qualified applicant, and probably have some great choices/interviews for medical school, so just enjoy the time until then.
 
PagingDrP said:
Mine came around 1:30 EST (many months ago, not now!), but like someone said, these things do NOT go on schedule. Notification dates are approximate at best. And, at the end, if you seriously want a Harvard interview, it means you're a very qualified applicant, and probably have some great choices/interviews for medical school, so just enjoy the time until then.
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This 🙂 I mean, yay, Harvard and all that, but really, if I never hear anything from them, life will go on, and I'll still be in med school. I'm sure the same is true for you, greenlight 🙂

Well, it's after 5 eastern... I guess they decided to give them next week.
 
GoSpursGo said:
This 🙂 I mean, yay, Harvard and all that, but really, if I never hear anything from them, life will go on, and I'll still be in med school. I'm sure the same is true for you, greenlight 🙂

Well, it's after 5 eastern... I guess they decided to give them next week.
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Or everyone who got one isn't on SDN.
 
copingmethods said:
I think I'm going to choose to believe that they sent them out this week - otherwise we could go on for another week wondering... 😳
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Hehe well I knew when I applied that it was a reach, so I've always sorta gone in thinking that'd be $100 I'd never see again 🙂 I'm paying attention to this thread, but right now, I'm assuming I'll be in Texas next year.
 
so...what is the consensus? Did they send out the invites? When i called they said they will offer interviews by mid-January...but if they wait until next week, then that's definitely the END of January.

Ahh...I just want to know already...it's been such a long wait
 
hoyaaaa said:
so...what is the consensus? Did they send out the invites? When i called they said they will offer interviews by mid-January...but if they wait until next week, then that's definitely the END of January.

Ahh...I just want to know already...it's been such a long wait
Click to expand...

I'm going to assume next week; I find it difficult to believe that not ONE of the people they invited would be on SDN.
 
I wonder if any interview invites will be sent out today. Please post if you receive an interview invite! Good luck everyone! :xf:
 
Best of luck to everyone still waiting for an invitation. At this point, I am assuming a rejection.
 
ar2388 said:
this was the easiest secondary in the world! how did you butcher it?
Click to expand...

Are you kidding? It's harvard, it requires checking everything like 100 times, before hitting the submit button.

I spent 2 minutes on the secondary after receiving the email, even forgot to print the darn thing before submitting but it won't matter now.
 
TupacalipseT96 said:
I think that was the joke?
Or so I think it was a joke...
I dunno but I laughed
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maybe im just not remembering correctly anymore but werent there no essays or anything in that secondary?

GloryField said:
Are you kidding? It's harvard, it requires checking everything like 100 times, before hitting the submit button.

I spent 2 minutes on the secondary after receiving the email, even forgot to print the darn thing before submitting but it won't matter now.
Click to expand...

haha i guess thats true..
 
ar2388 said:
maybe im just not remembering correctly anymore but werent there no essays or anything in that secondary?



haha i guess thats true..
Click to expand...

if I remember right, it was just checking a few boxes, and writing our name/birthdate. And then you could submit.
 
I'm currently a 4th year at HMS (HST program), and given all the misinformation on SDN (especially concerning Harvard), I'm happy to answer any questions applicants have. I spent one year doing a Howard Hughes Fellowship, so I'm really in my 5th year at HMS, but in the nomenclature of med school, I'm an MS4 in the midst of residency applications. Feel free to ask about applying to or interviewing for NP or HST, the program structures, clerkships in 3rd and 4th year (HST and NP students are joined for the clinical years), or life as a med student in general.

Good luck to all those applying.
 
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FrontalLobe said:
I'm currently a 4th year at HMS (HST program), and given all the misinformation on SDN (especially concerning Harvard), I'm happy to answer any questions applicants have. I spent one year doing a Howard Hughes Fellowship, so I'm really in my 5th year at HMS, but in the nomenclature of med school, I'm an MS4 in the midst of residency applications. Feel free to ask about applying to or interviewing for NP or HST, the program structures, clerkships in 3rd and 4th year (HST and NP students are joined for the clinical years), or life as a med student in general.

Good luck to all those applying.
Click to expand...

I have a couple!

1) Do tour guides/lunch buddies truly have no say in the admissions process at Harvard
2) Does Harvard have a curved or uncurved grading system?

Thanks for offering to answer q's!
 
Gannador said:
I have a couple!

1) Do tour guides/lunch buddies truly have no say in the admissions process at Harvard
2) Does Harvard have a curved or uncurved grading system?

Thanks for offering to answer q's!
Click to expand...

Sure, to answer your questions:

1) In general, tour guides/lunch buddies have no say. This is absolutely true for New Pathway. For HST, some of the lunch folks *MIGHT* be "student life interviewers". Those are the students who interview you separately from the group interview and state that they have no vote on the committee. While it is true that they have no formal vote, they are free to voice their impressions in the rank meetings. That may sway opinions during the voting process.

2) Pre-clinical years: Everyone gets a "P" for pass (pass/fail system with no failures. Ever.). Clinical years: grading is High Honors, Honors, Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory. Reality is that for clinical years, no one EVER gets an unsatisfatory. HMS has tried to rescale the other 3 grades in recent years though. So, ~20% of the clerkship gets High Honors, ~60% get Honors, and ~20% get Satisfactory. There are 4 different huge academic hospital centers in the Harvard System (MGH, Brigham and Women's, Beth Israel Deaconess, Cambridge Health Alliance), plus Children's Hospital Boston for peds, and grading can vary between sites (i.e. MGH surgery clerkship is most hard-core and hardest to get high honors in).

And now for unsolicited personal opinion:
Don't worry about med school grades. Everyone passes, and while you may think your clinical rotation grades matter, they do not (so long as you are "in the middle of the pack"). Don't ever stand out for being below, but feel VERY comfortable blending into the average. This is very hard for pre-meds to do, but your classmates are all smart and hard working, and since med school is all about learning facts, everyone will learn the same set of facts and score about the same on exams. Pre-clinical medical school is not about intelligence or reasoning...its about memorizing (and in the long run, its worth it, since eventually you get to the clinical years where you can combine those facts with your ability to reason and interpret). The only grades that DO matter for residency: USMLE Step I score and grades on the sub-internships in your field. Meaning: study hard for Step I and if you are going into proctology, make sure you work your ass off in all of your proctology rotations to get a High Honors.
 
FrontalLobe said:
Sure, to answer your questions:

1) In general, tour guides/lunch buddies have no say. This is absolutely true for New Pathway. For HST, some of the lunch folks *MIGHT* be "student life interviewers". Those are the students who interview you separately from the group interview and state that they have no vote on the committee. While it is true that they have no formal vote, they are free to voice their impressions in the rank meetings. That may sway opinions during the voting process.

2) Pre-clinical years: Everyone gets a "P" for pass (pass/fail system with no failures. Ever.). Clinical years: grading is High Honors, Honors, Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory. Reality is that for clinical years, no one EVER gets an unsatisfatory. HMS has tried to rescale the other 3 grades in recent years though. So, ~20% of the clerkship gets High Honors, ~60% get Honors, and ~20% get Satisfactory. There are 4 different huge academic hospital centers in the Harvard System (MGH, Brigham and Women's, Beth Israel Deaconess, Cambridge Health Alliance), plus Children's Hospital Boston for peds, and grading can vary between sites (i.e. MGH surgery clerkship is most hard-core and hardest to get high honors in).

And now for unsolicited personal opinion:
Don't worry about med school grades. Everyone passes, and while you may think your clinical rotation grades matter, they do not (so long as you are "in the middle of the pack"). Don't ever stand out for being below, but feel VERY comfortable blending into the average. This is very hard for pre-meds to do, but your classmates are all smart and hard working, and since med school is all about learning facts, everyone will learn the same set of facts and score about the same on exams. Pre-clinical medical school is not about intelligence or reasoning...its about memorizing (and in the long run, its worth it, since eventually you get to the clinical years where you can combine those facts with your ability to reason and interpret). The only grades that DO matter for residency: USMLE Step I score and grades on the sub-internships in your field. Meaning: study hard for Step I and if you are going into proctology, make sure you work your ass off in all of your proctology rotations to get a High Honors.
Click to expand...

Though I did not ask them. Thank you for the awesome answers.

Ahh, proctology.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_S8qRUsm7E
 
did anyone who sent an update received a positive response?
 
Last edited:
mongol1985 said:
did anyone who sent an update received a positive response?
Click to expand...

Yep, sent an update with an abstract I'd just submitted and got an email saying that it had been added to my file. This was for HST, and was within a few days of my interview, so that could have made a difference.
 
FrontalLobe said:
Sure, to answer your questions:

1) In general, tour guides/lunch buddies have no say. This is absolutely true for New Pathway. For HST, some of the lunch folks *MIGHT* be "student life interviewers". Those are the students who interview you separately from the group interview and state that they have no vote on the committee. While it is true that they have no formal vote, they are free to voice their impressions in the rank meetings. That may sway opinions during the voting process.

2) Pre-clinical years: Everyone gets a "P" for pass (pass/fail system with no failures. Ever.). Clinical years: grading is High Honors, Honors, Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory. Reality is that for clinical years, no one EVER gets an unsatisfatory. HMS has tried to rescale the other 3 grades in recent years though. So, ~20% of the clerkship gets High Honors, ~60% get Honors, and ~20% get Satisfactory. There are 4 different huge academic hospital centers in the Harvard System (MGH, Brigham and Women's, Beth Israel Deaconess, Cambridge Health Alliance), plus Children's Hospital Boston for peds, and grading can vary between sites (i.e. MGH surgery clerkship is most hard-core and hardest to get high honors in).

And now for unsolicited personal opinion:
Don't worry about med school grades. Everyone passes, and while you may think your clinical rotation grades matter, they do not (so long as you are "in the middle of the pack"). Don't ever stand out for being below, but feel VERY comfortable blending into the average. This is very hard for pre-meds to do, but your classmates are all smart and hard working, and since med school is all about learning facts, everyone will learn the same set of facts and score about the same on exams. Pre-clinical medical school is not about intelligence or reasoning...its about memorizing (and in the long run, its worth it, since eventually you get to the clinical years where you can combine those facts with your ability to reason and interpret). The only grades that DO matter for residency: USMLE Step I score and grades on the sub-internships in your field. Meaning: study hard for Step I and if you are going into proctology, make sure you work your ass off in all of your proctology rotations to get a High Honors.
Click to expand...

Thank you! Overall, what was your HMS experience like? Also, if HMS is our top choice, would you recommend a letter of intent before initial mailings?
 
Gannador said:
Thank you! Overall, what was your HMS experience like? Also, if HMS is our top choice, would you recommend a letter of intent before initial mailings?
Click to expand...

I’ll answer the second questions first: A letter of intent will not hurt your chances, but it really does not help either. Reasoning is that, unlike residency match, applicants receive multiple offers to consider and then select one. HMS is always a high-yield school, and has a very responsive wait-list (offers to wait-list candidates often come back “yes”). So, I would not send a letter of intent since it is extra work for me. But, no harm if it makes you feel better.

HMS has been a good overall experience. Here’s my HST thoughts: I was in HST, and the classes in HST are much, much better than NP for 2 reasons. First, everyone comes to the preclinical year courses and that’s great for building community and lively discussion. Second, I prefer lectures over small group discussions and in HST the balance tilts towards lectures. I also prefer more cutting-edge research based lectures than overviews of physiology and pathology. Finally, I wanted to spend time in med school doing research full-time, and so, for me, HST was best. I have really enjoyed having classmates passionate about biomedical research, and HST has a strong track record of getting HHMI fellowships (~10 every year for the 12-15 students who apply, an amazing record). HST has also recently incorporated more global health research and some health economics.

For NP, nearly no one shows to lectures, since they are recorded. The balance is to small group sessions, and attendance is mandatory in those. From what I understand, sometimes those sessions are great, other times no one is well prepared and they are not so great. In NP, your classmates are not, in general, passionate about research. They are passionate more often about community health, global health, health care delivery, etc, but more from an “initiative” perspective than from a research perspective.

Harvard is very good about promoting themselves, and the truth is the preclinical education is good, but probably on par with many other places. Where HMS shines is the clinical. There are 4 major academic medical centers affiliated with HMS (Harvard does not own any hospital – a big difference from nearly every other med school): Mass General, Brigham and Women’s, Beth Israel Deaconess, and Cambridge Health Alliance. There are also specialty hospitals: Children’s Hospital Boston, Dana Farber Cancer Center, Joslin Diabetes Center, McLean Hospital (psych), Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, and Spaulding Rehab Hospital. HMS students go to any/all of them, and so you can find a world’s expert in the clinical and/or research side of any disease. HMS is also closely tied with MIT (via HST) and Harvard Cambridge campus (basic sciences, Harvard Stem Cell Institute, etc.).

What all this means is that when you apply for residency (as I just did), you will be respected for what you were able to accomplish with the amazing mentors you will have had. The most respected physicians in you field will work with you, write letters of recommendation, and guide you in your career. I applied in a very competitive field and I think if I had gone nearly anywhere else, I would not have been as strong an applicant and not have accomplished as much as I have over the last 5 years. Aside from clinical work, I’ve published 2 research papers (one first-author), 1 case report (first-author), and will be publishing one more first-authored case report. My co-authors/senior author are extremely well-respected in their fields, and that certainly has opened a lot of doors.


So, I am, in the end, very satisfied with my HMS experience. I have many great friends among my classmates, many amazing mentors who I will rely on in the coming years, and the comfort knowing I will enter residency well prepared or my patients.
 
FrontalLobe said:
I’ll answer the second questions first: A letter of intent will not hurt your chances, but it really does not help either. Reasoning is that, unlike residency match, applicants receive multiple offers to consider and then select one. HMS is always a high-yield school, and has a very responsive wait-list (offers to wait-list candidates often come back “yes”). So, I would not send a letter of intent since it is extra work for me. But, no harm if it makes you feel better.

HMS has been a good overall experience. Here’s my HST thoughts: I was in HST, and the classes in HST are much, much better than NP for 2 reasons. First, everyone comes to the preclinical year courses and that’s great for building community and lively discussion. Second, I prefer lectures over small group discussions and in HST the balance tilts towards lectures. I also prefer more cutting-edge research based lectures than overviews of physiology and pathology. Finally, I wanted to spend time in med school doing research full-time, and so, for me, HST was best. I have really enjoyed having classmates passionate about biomedical research, and HST has a strong track record of getting HHMI fellowships (~10 every year for the 12-15 students who apply, an amazing record). HST has also recently incorporated more global health research and some health economics.

For NP, nearly no one shows to lectures, since they are recorded. The balance is to small group sessions, and attendance is mandatory in those. From what I understand, sometimes those sessions are great, other times no one is well prepared and they are not so great. In NP, your classmates are not, in general, passionate about research. They are passionate more often about community health, global health, health care delivery, etc, but more from an “initiative” perspective than from a research perspective.

Harvard is very good about promoting themselves, and the truth is the preclinical education is good, but probably on par with many other places. Where HMS shines is the clinical. There are 4 major academic medical centers affiliated with HMS (Harvard does not own any hospital – a big difference from nearly every other med school): Mass General, Brigham and Women’s, Beth Israel Deaconess, and Cambridge Health Alliance. There are also specialty hospitals: Children’s Hospital Boston, Dana Farber Cancer Center, Joslin Diabetes Center, McLean Hospital (psych), Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, and Spaulding Rehab Hospital. HMS students go to any/all of them, and so you can find a world’s expert in the clinical and/or research side of any disease. HMS is also closely tied with MIT (via HST) and Harvard Cambridge campus (basic sciences, Harvard Stem Cell Institute, etc.).

What all this means is that when you apply for residency (as I just did), you will be respected for what you were able to accomplish with the amazing mentors you will have had. The most respected physicians in you field will work with you, write letters of recommendation, and guide you in your career. I applied in a very competitive field and I think if I had gone nearly anywhere else, I would not have been as strong an applicant and not have accomplished as much as I have over the last 5 years. Aside from clinical work, I’ve published 2 research papers (one first-author), 1 case report (first-author), and will be publishing one more first-authored case report. My co-authors/senior author are extremely well-respected in their fields, and that certainly has opened a lot of doors.


So, I am, in the end, very satisfied with my HMS experience. I have many great friends among my classmates, many amazing mentors who I will rely on in the coming years, and the comfort knowing I will enter residency well prepared or my patients.
Click to expand...

great stuff. more questions for you:

1) what did you apply for in?
2) are there really oppurtunities and doors that harvard has opened for you that you dont think you would have had?
3) is it true that the H pedigree is only a factor if you are considering having only a research career?
4) did you take out the unit loan, and how did this effect your decision prior to matriculating?

thanks!
 
Hey,

Does anyone know when exactly we should expect to hear from Harvard in March? I wrote this down at my interview but misplaced that piece of paper.

Thanks,
M.
 
From past threads, my impression is that rejection letters are recieved first- from the 15th onwards, and then the calls are received on the 21st.

But it could be different this year.
 
I was told at my interview to expect a mail around the 15th of March.
 
March 15th sounds right. Thanks guys, very helpful.
 
At my interview last week, they said that we can expect to hear back the "week of March 16th", so I'm guessing that means the 20th.
 
I don't know the best way to handle the suspense. Would we get a rejection letter before a call? Do we get a letter of acceptance in the mail?

When would they start calling?
 
i think they were doing emails last year...like all at once over the course of one or two days...and once that period passed, game over.
 
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