2009-2010 Harvard Application Thread

[archimedesxx]

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huh?

what I am trying to say is this:

I have two buddies. We all went to the same college and they applied last cycle. One had a 32 on the MCAT and one had a 41.Both had GPAs around 3.7 for cum and sci. They are all at Harvard Med now. Thus, getting here isn't really all about stats.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Complete on August 19. Stats? It ain't about stats my dude.

Congratulations archimedes. That's great. I hope you don't actually pronounce Harvard that way though (I have yet to see someone pronounce it that way seriously, but it would be fun to hear).

I think archimedes is trying to say that his particular stats won't help you gauge your chances at getting an interview, which I pretty much agree with considering the broad range of applicants (numbers-wise, I should say) who have received interview invites.

Really, the most useful information is the complete date as it gives you a good estimate as to how far they have reviewed applications thus far.

It's funny considering how common it is, but posting stats doesn't really provide much information, esp. for interview invites. There's nothing wrong with posting numbers, and some people might find it helpful (esp. for those with relatively lower numbers, as they provide hope that adcoms look at the whole application rather than just numbers), but really, using numbers from MSAR and USNews would give you a pretty good ball-park on your relative chances of getting interviewed. Nothing is certain though.

This post was far longer than I intended, so I'm just going to end with another congratulations for archimedes and all else who get interview invites.
-Dr. P.

 

[archimedesxx]

Congratulations archimedes. That's great. I hope you don't actually pronounce Harvard that way though (I have yet to see someone pronounce it that way seriously, but it would be fun to hear).

I think archimedes is trying to say that his particular stats won't help you gauge your chances at getting an interview, which I pretty much agree with considering the broad range of applicants (numbers-wise, I should say) who have received interview invites.

Really, the most useful information is the complete date as it gives you a good estimate as to how far they have reviewed applications thus far.

It's funny considering how common it is, but posting stats doesn't really provide much information, esp. for interview invites. There's nothing wrong with posting numbers, and some people might find it helpful (esp. for those with relatively lower numbers, as they provide hope that adcoms look at the whole application rather than just numbers), but really, using numbers from MSAR and USNews would give you a pretty good ball-park on your relative chances of getting interviewed. Nothing is certain though.

This post was far longer than I intended, so I'm just going to end with another congratulations for archimedes and all else who get interview invites.
-Dr. P.

Thanks Dr. P. You captured my sentiments exactly. Why, are you a shrink?lol. I wasn't interested in writing a long post on why this app process is a crap shoot and def more than numbers.

 

[Question123]

Thanks Dr. P. You captured my sentiments exactly. Why, are you a shrink?lol. I wasn't interested in writing a long post on why this app process is a crap shoot and def more than numbers.

Well, yes I understand that its more than stats, but it also doesn't hurt to get a sense of who's getting interviews w/ which stats. Regardless, I guess a question is what do you think is the more important aspect? Your research, ECs? etc?

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Thanks Dr. P. You captured my sentiments exactly. Why, are you a shrink?lol. I wasn't interested in writing a long post on why this app process is a crap shoot and def more than numbers.

Haha. No, I'm a pre-med like everyone else on this board. I saw your interview and wanted to tell you congratulations and then I saw the response "Huh" and ended up writing a mouthful on the whole application process. Just a funny thought.
-Dr. P.

 

[archimedesxx]

Well, yes I understand that its more than stats, but it also doesn't hurt to get a sense of who's getting interviews w/ which stats. Regardless, I guess a question is what do you think is the more important aspect? Your research, ECs? etc?

My stats are below Harvard's averages but I feel my experiences in life have actually set me apart. Not to sound douchy but I have 22 interview invites and have already been to 7 interviews already. My interviewers so far have commented on how far I have come. In terms of ECs, I have 5 yrs of research experience. During the summers I have done biomedical research here(at other powerhouse institutions) at home and abroad(in Europe). I have done global health work in parts of Africa and outreach and advocacy work in NYC and on capitol hill. What else? I am disadvantaged to say the least...I could go on and on but I want to remain anonymous.

 

[OMSTR]

My stats are below Harvard's averages but I feel my experiences in life have actually set me apart. Not to sound douchy but I have 22 interview invites and have already been to 7 interviews already. My interviewers so far have commented on how far I have come. In terms of ECs, I have 5 yrs of research experience. During the summers I have done biomedical research here(at other powerhouse institutions) at home and abroad(in Europe). I have done global health work in parts of Africa and outreach and advocacy work in NYC and on capitol hill. What else? I am disadvantaged to say the least...I could go on and on but I want to remain anonymous.

do it to it, mayne

 

[archimedesxx]

do it to it, mayne

lol. OMSTR! what?

 

[OMSTR]

lol. OMSTR! what?

hahaha, i was just kidding around. I saw you wrote "my dude" earlier and I thought you would understand me 🙁 just trynna show some support in a unique way, lol. congrats, man

 

[archimedesxx]

hahaha, i was just kidding around. I saw you wrote "my dude" earlier and I thought you would understand me 🙁 just trynna show some support in a unique way, lol. congrats, man

Hahaha I actually understood you, boss!lol

 

[OMSTR]

Hahaha I actually understood you, boss!lol

i think i have a new best friend on SDN!!! now i'm really rootin' for you, playboy!!

 

[exeunt]

this has probably been asked already, but i missed it :X

does anyone know how many interviewed applicants are accepted? SO excited.. and nervous.. to have gotten this interview 😳

 

[NotSur]

.

 

[sewcurious]

.

 

[archimedesxx]

Does it matter when you interview at Harvard? Is it a true non-rolling school like Duke where the person who interviews on the last day has the same chance as the one who did on the first day? I'm asking this because I want to call and ask if I could schedule mine for late December so that I can prepare really well for this joint.

 

[Naijaba]

Yikes. Just received interview invite for Harvard-MIT HST!!

 

[OMSTR]

Does it matter when you interview at Harvard? Is it a true non-rolling school like Duke where the person who interviews on the last day has the same chance as the one who did on the first day? I'm asking this because I want to call and ask if I could schedule mine for late December so that I can prepare really well for this joint.

I respect that. Gotta get ya mind right so ya games tight. lol

 

[Jolt21]

just interviewed here yesterday. great experience. i can see why their yield is the highest in the nation. good luck to you guys.

 

[archimedesxx]

I respect that. Gotta get ya mind right so ya games tight. lol

You know what time it is son.lmao

 

[OMSTR]

You know what time it is son.lmao

hahaha, gametime, playa! lol

just interviewed here yesterday. great experience. i can see why their yield is the highest in the nation. good luck to you guys.

glad you had a good time, man. their yield is really the highest? You know the numbers by any chance? I'm not trynna call you out, lol, just curious.

 

[Jolt21]

glad you had a good time, man. their yield is really the highest? You know the numbers by any chance? I'm not trynna call you out, lol, just curious.

a student told me it was around 77% for the first year class.

went 15 deep on the waitlist for this year, too.

 

[pharaoh88]

Interview Invite this morning. Got the message on my phone while I was in class and completely lost focus. So excited!! to those still waiting. I was complete 8/20.

EDIT: Applied NP only for those who are interested.

 

[Suenya]

just interviewed here yesterday. great experience. i can see why their yield is the highest in the nation. good luck to you guys.

Same, it was really, really nice. I thought I would like it, but I really loved it.

I chatted with some students (and not just the ones that volunteered to hang out with us and take us on the tour), and pretty much everyone seemed happy and really nice. The interviews were really low key. Some of the current and former HMS students I work with have said that the school was less friendly and positive on interview day than other schools, and that they felt worse leaving the interviews than after most they had, but I didn't find that to be the case. The interviewers were nice, and seemed excited about the students (or at least me, but I doubt I'm particularly special).

Good luck everyone!

(Also, just to say hello, were you the neuro major? Good luck with the rest of the process!)

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Interview Invite this morning. Got the message on my phone while I was in class and completely lost focus. So excited!! to those still waiting. I was complete 8/20.

EDIT: Applied NP only for those who are interested.

All hail the pharaoh haha.

Congratulations.
-Dr. P.

 

[FutureDoc17]

NP invite on 10/1. Complete on 9/1.

Nothing particularly outstanding in my application, low-30s MCAT, so keep the hope, friends!

Looking forward to the visit.

 

[exeunt]

if they only accept ~20% of interviewees, does everyone invited to interview really have a shot, or is the interview really that important? 😕

 

[housemd?]

The US' Harvard University remains top of the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings for the sixth year running. But the UK's University of Cambridge is now second, pushing Yale University into third place.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=408580&c=2

This coming from the Brits!!!

 

[ricardokaka22]

I was complete 8/19, and still no news from Harvard.....in fact havent heard from most schools for weeks now.....sigh

 

[ashtangi]

I was complete 8/19, and still no news from Harvard.....in fact havent heard from most schools for weeks now.....sigh

I find the hardest part of the process is when there is NOTHING to do but WAIT. Hang in there, buddy! Hopefully it'll all be worth it in the end.

 

[NotSur]

.

 

[Sam32]

anyone else received a big envelope? I thought it was an interview invitation, oh well 🙁 I was complete long long time ago, obviously they're not thinking to offer me an interview, but they sent me info on how great Harvard med school is.

 

[BBender716]

anyone else received a big envelope? I thought it was an interview invitation, oh well 🙁 I was complete long long time ago, obviously they're not thinking to offer me an interview, but they sent me info on how great Harvard med school is.

Same thing happened to me. It's like, thanks for letting me know what I'm missing lol

 

[skeptic29]

I know the school doesn't send out acceptances till about March of next year, but how about rejections?

Do they wait to send those out as well? Or do they send rejections throughout the year? Also, what is the typical policy for most NON-rolling schools as far as rejections are concerned?

 

[dw2158]

I know the school doesn't send out acceptances till about March of next year, but how about rejections?

Do they wait to send those out as well? Or do they send rejections throughout the year? Also, what is the typical policy for most NON-rolling schools as far as rejections are concerned?

non-rolling: no one finds out until march-ish. acceptances or rejections.

 

[266202]

What the heck. I submitted my primary today.

I hope submitting this late won't hurt me too much 🙁

 

[NotSur]

.

 

[neuronc]

a student told me it was around 77% for the first year class.

went 15 deep on the waitlist for this year, too.

Hopkins may have had the highest yield last year b/c they apparently only took 5 off the waitlist for this years entering class, which was abnormal considering they usually take 50 or more off it.

 

[LAman10]

just wondering (if anyone is even able to tell me), but if you were to get an interview in jan or something, are your chances of getting in significantly slimmer than if you got an interview, say, right now? What I mean is, how does a late interview invite reflect on your candidacy for the school? Are late interviews for really borderline applicants who probably have very little chance of acceptance?

 

[jla314]

just wondering (if anyone is even able to tell me), but if you were to get an interview in jan or something, are your chances of getting in significantly slimmer than if you got an interview, say, right now? What I mean is, how does a late interview invite reflect on your candidacy for the school? Are late interviews for really borderline applicants who probably have very little chance of acceptance?

i dont think so...harvard probably has a really unique way of inviting people and they aren't sharing their secrets with us. there are lots of factors they consider - they try to schedule people with both hst and np interviews for the same or consecutive days, they try to work around the travel restrictions people listed in their secondary, they definitely consider the distance you are traveling from (they told me since i am local, i do not get to have np and hst interviews on the same day), etc. also, if harvard is anything like duke, the speed of the invite perhaps reflects the speed of your faculty reviewer(s) rather than your candidacy for the school.

 

[skeptic29]

NP invite on 10/1. Complete on 9/1.

Nothing particularly outstanding in my application, low-30s MCAT, so keep the hope, friends!

Looking forward to the visit.

Now that can't really be true. There has to be something outstanding about you. Maybe you just don't appreciate it enough. Congratulations though.

 

[PhiAlpha]

If you were complete 8/19 are you out of the running now for an interview?

 

[jla314]

If you were complete 8/19 are you out of the running now for an interview?

no!

 

[LittleRichard]

Interview Invite!




...too sexy for my shirt...

 

[FluffyRabbit]

i dont think so...harvard probably has a really unique way of inviting people and they aren't sharing their secrets with us. there are lots of factors they consider - they try to schedule people with both hst and np interviews for the same or consecutive days, they try to work around the travel restrictions people listed in their secondary, they definitely consider the distance you are traveling from (they told me since i am local, i do not get to have np and hst interviews on the same day), etc. also, if harvard is anything like duke, the speed of the invite perhaps reflects the speed of your faculty reviewer(s) rather than your candidacy for the school.

Is Harvard anything like Duke? Their process is definitely mind boggling...

 

[bigman225]

Anyone else recently get the "what it means to be a Harvard doctor" packet despite complete silence from Harvard? My mom called me and was like "We got a envelope from Harvard" and I automatically assumed it was a rejection letter!

 

[ksmi117]

Anyone else recently get the "what it means to be a Harvard doctor" packet despite complete silence from Harvard? My mom called me and was like "We got a envelope from Harvard" and I automatically assumed it was a rejection letter!

It's not. It's just info about the school.

 

[nabeel76]

It's not. It's just info about the school.

I seem to remember there being a checkbox on the secondary application that asked if you want an informational packet about the school sent to you via postal mail. I don't quite remember but I am pretty sure it was there, assuming that you checked it or kept it checked (if it was already checked by default) you'd be due to receive that packet.

 

[bigman225]

I seem to remember there being a checkbox on the secondary application that asked if you want an informational packet about the school sent to you via postal mail. I don't quite remember but I am pretty sure it was there, assuming that you checked it or kept it checked (if it was already checked by default) you'd be due to receive that packet.

I must have checked it! It was funny because I've been pretending to be indifferent about not hearing back, but was fairly upset to hear about an "envelope" over the phone 🙄

 

[FluffyRabbit]

I must have checked it! It was funny because I've been pretending to be indifferent about not hearing back, but was fairly upset to hear about an "envelope" over the phone 🙄

When were you complete? I remember checking that box, and not having received it despite being complete for around 7 weeks now actually makes me a little uneasy...

 

[FluffyRabbit]

When were you complete? I remember checking that box, and not having received it despite being complete for around 7 weeks now actually makes me a little uneasy...

Good news: I just got a thick envelope from Harvard!

Bad news: It's just the information booklet.

Reasonable news: They may have actually started looking at my secondary.