2009-2010 Harvard Application Thread

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Just got an interview here! Absolutely freaking out! What an honor just to interview at a school like HMS.
 
daisy44 said:
Just got an interview here! Absolutely freaking out! What an honor just to interview at a school like HMS.
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that's great, congrats!!

i'm not sure if they're going chronologically, but when were you complete?
 
Does anyone else who is interviewing here kind of feel like...Idk, I feel like I don't actually have a shot here and I'm not sure why they are inviting me for an interview. My stats don't even begin to compare with some of yall's...

If any current Harvard med students are reading this..how numbers-oriented do you think admissions are? Any special suggestions for prepping for this interview?

I'm not really sure what my question is..I guess I was just wondering if anyone else is feeling equally nervous/bewildered.
 
ZebraDx said:
Don't give up hope bro!!! GPA and MCAT are just two among many parts of the deal. Imagine that you are a member of the adcom who has to review hundreds of applications, most of which come with more or less equally high scores (most have 38, 40 MCAT for example), then you might find that in this case those high scores are not as impressive any more! So instead you (the ad com member) would go for the application that impresses you the most - the most moving story, the nicest LORs, the activities that portrait the most passion etc.

So instead of worrying about your stats, let's think positively (as you rightly mentioned above): if your stats are bad and you got interview invitation, that means your EC and LORs and other things must be not only very impressive but also somehow unique! Be proud of them, and think about them while you prepare yourself for the interview - how do your activities tell you about yourself? what have you done that make your profs/boss praise you so highly in the LOR? Know yourself, especially what makes you unique, and you should be a fine applicant regardless of your scores.
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well, nvm, i think this guy covered it pretty well.
 
NotSur said:
well, most of us will be rejected anyway so it's best not to dwell on these things...
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by the numbers, it seems like they interview a good portion of their applicant pool. i also think they like to keep their process a bit more mysterious than other schools (remember the movie accepted?)
 
JasonE said:
by the numbers, it seems like they interview a good portion of their applicant pool. i also think they like to keep their process a bit more mysterious than other schools (remember the movie accepted?)
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Yeah, they interview like 1200 out of 5000. That's crazy high. Guess there's no point getting myself too worked up about this, heh.
 
daisy44 said:
Does anyone else who is interviewing here kind of feel like...Idk, I feel like I don't actually have a shot here and I'm not sure why they are inviting me for an interview. My stats don't even begin to compare with some of yall's...

If any current Harvard med students are reading this..how numbers-oriented do you think admissions are? Any special suggestions for prepping for this interview?

I'm not really sure what my question is..I guess I was just wondering if anyone else is feeling equally nervous/bewildered.
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Hi daisy44,

I feel you! My GPA is much lower than their mean and much lower than their median. Nevertheless, the interview was an amazing day and I gave it my all!
 
is it worth sending an update letter to harvard or will they just choose who they decide to choose?
 
hi guys!
does harvard send out pre-interview rejections, or do all rejections come out in march with the rest of the decisions?
 
pretty sure they come out in march
 
Well, for those of us who don't get an interview invite by the "end of January", I don't think we'll need to wait until March to know our fate. 🙁
 
Just got an email from the HMS adcomm (well it's been 11 hours actually - 3:46pm 12/11). Interview invite!

I was complete a long, long time ago - I'm talking a week or so after the HMS secondary went online. Looks like the available interview dates are mid Feb.

I am extremely excited and humbled that they gave me this opportunity! I'm bouncing off the walls! Hopefully I'll burn out all that excitement by the time the interview date rolls around so that I don't look like a giggling little school girl...

:luck:
 
Sentinel said:
Just got an email from the HMS adcomm (well it's been 11 hours actually - 3:46pm 12/11). Interview invite!

I was complete a long, long time ago - I'm talking a week or so after the HMS secondary went online. Looks like the available interview dates are mid Feb.

I am extremely excited and humbled that they gave me this opportunity! I'm bouncing off the walls! Hopefully I'll burn out all that excitement by the time the interview date rolls around so that I don't look like a giggling little school girl...

:luck:
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Congrats!!!!

..but does this mean all the interview slots are pretty much gone by now?
 
Sentinel said:
Just got an email from the HMS adcomm (well it's been 11 hours actually - 3:46pm 12/11). Interview invite!

I was complete a long, long time ago - I'm talking a week or so after the HMS secondary went online. Looks like the available interview dates are mid Feb.

I am extremely excited and humbled that they gave me this opportunity! I'm bouncing off the walls! Hopefully I'll burn out all that excitement by the time the interview date rolls around so that I don't look like a giggling little school girl...

:luck:
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G'luck to you! We have similar GPAs/MCAT/Time off. Did you apply HST or NP?
 
It seems like there are a good number of us applicants with more average GPAs getting interviews... coupled with the fact that the median GPA they accept is 3.9, do you guys think that we have a significantly lower chance of actually getting the acceptance? I had wistfully been speculating that there were just fewer interviewees with lower GPA's overall and that it became less of a factor post-interview invite, but it appears that we aren't all that anomalous...
 
kierkegaard said:
It seems like there are a good number of us applicants with more average GPAs getting interviews... coupled with the fact that the median GPA they accept is 3.9, do you guys think that we have a significantly lower chance of actually getting the acceptance? I had wistfully been speculating that there were just fewer interviewees with lower GPA's overall and that it became less of a factor post-interview invite, but it appears that we aren't all that anomalous...
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@Naijaba this is for NP (I didn't apply to HST)

Well, my raw GPA # is a bit mis leading. My undergrad (engineering) GPA is ~3.6, which skews my overall GPA towards that #. My postbacc GPA (where I took most of the pre-medical courses) is a 4.1+. So I'm wondering if people who are getting interviewed may have low overall GPAs like me - but did some kind of post bacc program too? (I'm speculating here)

btw - still bouncing off the walls - can't believe how lucky I am :luck:
 
Sentinel said:
@Naijaba this is for NP (I didn't apply to HST)

Well, my raw GPA # is a bit mis leading. My undergrad (engineering) GPA is ~3.6, which skews my overall GPA towards that #. My postbacc GPA (where I took most of the pre-medical courses) is a 4.1+. So I'm wondering if people who are getting interviewed may have low overall GPAs like me - but did some kind of post bacc program too? (I'm speculating here)

btw - still bouncing off the walls - can't believe how lucky I am :luck:
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your GPA is not low! especially for engineering. harvard didn't invite you because you raised your GPA with a post-bacc, they invited you because you have something interesting in you app and they wanted to meet you. don't sell yourself short!

FWIW, i got invited with a pretty high GPA but only a decent MCAT. right at their average for the past year, i think. so harvard does look beyond numbers.
 
Sentinel said:
@Naijaba this is for NP (I didn't apply to HST)

Well, my raw GPA # is a bit mis leading. My undergrad (engineering) GPA is ~3.6, which skews my overall GPA towards that #. My postbacc GPA (where I took most of the pre-medical courses) is a 4.1+. So I'm wondering if people who are getting interviewed may have low overall GPAs like me - but did some kind of post bacc program too? (I'm speculating here)

btw - still bouncing off the walls - can't believe how lucky I am :luck:
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urmmm.. how did you get 4.1? =/😕
 
NP invite received yesterday! I was complete on 10/7, and I'll be straggling my way to Boston on Feb 12 or 13.

Dates available included: Feb 12,13, 15,16,18,19.
 
Just got an invite! Mid Feb. Pretty pumped
 
litconsultant said:
....So your initial app gets screened by six individual screeners. Then you get an interview. You have two interviewers, who type up a review of the interview, and this gets added to your file. Your interviewers don't actually speak for you, I don't think. Then a third person gets handed your file, along with the interview reviews. They read your file and become your advocate to the executive committee.

Immediately after the interview, half the interviewees are cut. 800 down to 400 or something. If you make the 400, at the end of the season the executive committee will cut it down again to 200 by voting, and these are the offers. I guess this explains why it's not rolling, although it seems they could send rejection notices after the first cut.

There's also subcommittees, which seem to be organized by school/location. I'm from the west coast, and my interviewer straight up told me he was on the west coast subcommittee, meaning he saw a lot of applicants from my undergrad, as well as the neighboring undergrads. He was familiar with my school's curriculum and premed advising program. I'm not sure if this particular subcomittee also votes on me.
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I just wonder how they cut half interviewees down to 400 and the committee further cuts down to 200, and late on rank the wailtiest. Do they have a rough numerical score or grade for each interviewee, based on GPA/MCAT, Activities, life, Recommendations, and interview report etc. like UCSF?
 
MD59007 said:
I just wonder how they cut half interviewees down to 400 and the committee further cuts down to 200, and late on rank the wailtiest. Do they have a rough numerical score or grade for each interviewee, based on GPA/MCAT, Activities, life, Recommendations, and interview report etc. like UCSF?
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I think you thinking about this too intensely. They put all the names in a hat and pick them out. Although this year, I think they are updating to the random acceptance generator system. Technology these days😱
 
Wait, what does UCSF have?? Is this score for giving interviews or after interviews?
 
Crash88 said:
harvard pls interview me 🙁
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+1. Pretty much assumed rejection by now. Really wanted to interview for HST. But alas, I don't blame them for throwing me in the reject people 😳
 
ksmi117 said:
Tell me about it. I 😍 you Harvard. Why don't you return the feeling?
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Haha guys, it's pretty much over at this point. It's time to grieve and move on. I have.
 
true that... I am checking my email like 10 times a day for no reason right now...what a waste of time...
 
do you guys even know why you love harvard? or is just because its called harvard ??
 
JasonE said:
do you guys even know why you love harvard? or is just because its called harvard ??
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Can't say I love HMS, never said I did... I don't know anything about it. I just would have liked to check it out. Same as any other school.
 
JasonE said:
do you guys even know why you love harvard? or is just because its called harvard ??
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Ever been to Cambridge? The entire atmosphere is phenomenal. In terms of being in an academic environment, I don't think it can get any better. Not to mention the sheer number of resources and opportunities that are available in the area. With MIT and Harvard there, and numerous other schools nearby, as well as several of the top hospitals in the country, a medical student has the chance to do anything he can possibly wish to do.
 
interview invites go out through january usually, so no, it's not over. that being said, no reason to keep your hopes TOO high
 
avo said:
Ever been to Cambridge? The entire atmosphere is phenomenal. In terms of being in an academic environment, I don't think it can get any better. Not to mention the sheer number of resources and opportunities that are available in the area. With MIT and Harvard there, and numerous other schools nearby, as well as several of the top hospitals in the country, a medical student has the chance to do anything he can possibly wish to do.
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i have been there. i think other schools offer very similar opportunites. and having mit next door isnt really useful, unless you do the hst path i suppose. in the end, having law schools, business schools, whatever around you really isnt going to matter since you'll be in medical school, not the others.
 
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JasonE said:
is it in boston? i was curious about that
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Yes, it's in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston. Nice thing is that you can live in Central Square in Cambridge (close to Harvard Sq) b/c there's a 10 minute MBTA bus that runs between the two. I think you can live at Harvard Sq too, but it would be a bit more of a commute.
 
premad said:
Yes, it's in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston. Nice thing is that you can live in Central Square in Cambridge (close to Harvard Sq) b/c there's a 10 minute MBTA bus that runs between the two. I think you can live at Harvard Sq too, but it would be a bit more of a commute.
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there's also a shuttle that harvard operates called the m2 - it is free (!) with a harvard ID and it runs directly between the harvard undergrad and med campuses (one way, it takes about 20-30 minutes, depending on the traffic). on the way between the two campuses, the bus also hits central square, MIT, and kenmore square. it's pretty sweet for getting between harvard, MIT, and BU and some other busy areas of town 👍

EDIT: also, you can ride the m2 for $2 per trip if you don't have a harvard ID, but you have to arrange to get the tickets beforehand at a handful of particular harvard locations (google 'harvard m2'). just in case anyone is going to interview and wants to check out the harvard undergrad area! the m2 is probably the fastest way to go
 
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