2009-2010 Harvard Application Thread

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Hey dw, how long after you responded back with your choice of dates did u hear back. I got my invite on Thurs and responded back the same day with my top 2 choices but haven't gotten any confirmation yet.

And yes, there was a slight distraction on this thread a few posts ago but all is good now so I we should bring back the spirit of this thread back =)

i got my invite on wednesday, responded that day, and got the confirmation today 👍
 
How many people have been invited w/ <35 mcats and lower the gpa average? I ask b/c if 35 is the average, and so many >35 get in (as you would expect) there must be a sizable chunk below the average?

Also, you can take calculus at night school somewhere if you are out of school. If they are interviewing you, they probably don't care where you take it.
 
How many people have been invited w/ <35 mcats and lower the gpa average? I ask b/c if 35 is the average, and so many >35 get in (as you would expect) there must be a sizable chunk below the average?

Actually that's not quite true. The distribution could be skewed left with the majority above average and a few low outliers (say in the 20's) pulling the average down to ~35.

Sorry that was the statistician in me speaking...
 
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Actually that's not quite true. The distribution could be skewed left with the majority above average and a few low outliers (say in the 20's) pulling the average down to ~35.

Sorry that was the statistician in me speaking...
So you think that rather than a solid population of 31-34 they have a few freakish cases of 25? That just seems less likely...
 
So you think that rather than a solid population of 31-34 they have a few freakish cases of 25? That just seems less likely...

I agree that does some less likely but I'm just saying its a possibility. I peaked into my 2009-10 MSAR and it appears the median was 37. When the median is greater than the average it usually indicates a skewed left distribution. With that being said, I am not at all suggesting anyone be discouraged at all. Harvard does look for well rounded applicants so regardless of MCAT score, everyone has a chance!
 
i counted Harvard out because I did not have Calc 2 prereq but today I received an interview invite for the New Pathway program. Do you think this was a mistake? 😕

I called them. I have AP credit for calc and physics.

They told me that I will have to take calc 2, but if i can find it before classes start, it doesn't matter when I take it. You just need a plan to go in the prereq grid. The second semester of physics they said is more negotiable, but that I should plan on being able to take both.

So I recommend finding calc2 at a CC or somewhere nearby. Or a continuing education program, or a school that lets you take one class.

I'm going to take Calc next semester and doing summer physics if accepted and needed.
 
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I'm a non-URM reapplicant to NP, and was interviewed last time with a sub-33 MCAT and sub-3.5 GPA. Of course, I didn't get in, but 1) it goes to show they don't consider numbers exclusively and 2) here's to better luck this cycle!
 
What does URM mean? Would anyone mind posting complete date or do you think they are going in no particular order?
 
URM = under represented minority

I was complete 8/19, but my email invite indicated that HST was aware that I was a local applicant and for that reason they were likely to not offer me an NP interview on a consecutive day (i.e. they are considering other factors besides complete date, such as location, when emailing invites).
 
To my knowledge, the MSAR only reports the median of each section, for example, if the medians are Bio 13, physical 14, verbal 10, which seem to make it 37, but in fact, the people who got 13 on bio might only get a 12 on physical and a 10 on verbal, making a total of 35, I think that's why all the stats on MSAR look way more inflated.

I also think the MSAR only report stats of accepted students, instead of matriculated students. But a person with 40 MCAT might have been accepted by 10 schools, and his score pulled up the median of that 10 school's MCAT. But in fact he can only matriculate into one school (the other 9 would be able to take people from waitlist, etc). So here is another reason why MSAR inflate MCATs.

Basically all the medical school wants to look good on MSAR, I guess, and I am assuming they refuse to tell how many people they accept, because only half the people they accept matriculate is a little humiliating? That's just my speculation:laugh:




I agree that does some less likely but I'm just saying its a possibility. I peaked into my 2009-10 MSAR and it appears the median was 37. When the median is greater than the average it usually indicates a skewed left distribution. With that being said, I am not at all suggesting anyone be discouraged at all. Harvard does look for well rounded applicants so regardless of MCAT score, everyone has a chance!
 
Hey, I just found they have an interview date on Saturday (October 24) Any idea whether it is going to be any different from the weekdays? I am very attempted to pick this date but I am afraid all the adcom people would be like "why am I still working on Saturday, just want to go home" :-(

I hope they can give me a Saturday interview, does anyone know if they regularly schedule these?
 
hey. the people posting in this thread who have gotten invited to interview all seem pretty cool! 🙁



woot! congrats



hrm. well in the official invite email with the date of my interview and everything, there was a pre-req fill-in sheet attached. it'll be pretty noticeable if you leave the second semester of calc blank... are you still in school? maybe you can take it next semester?


yea... i didnt get the actual invite yet... just the "an invite will be coming". and i really don't WANT to take calc 2. I took stats and unfortunately that doesnt count
 
How many people have been invited w/ <35 mcats and lower the gpa average? I ask b/c if 35 is the average, and so many >35 get in (as you would expect) there must be a sizable chunk below the average?

Also, you can take calculus at night school somewhere if you are out of school. If they are interviewing you, they probably don't care where you take it.

I have a breakdown of 10P, 8VR, 12BS so there is hope
 
Just got the NP invite too! wow today has been a good day 😀😀😀
 
DId you get a complete email at some point before or just the invite?

yeah i got a complete email on 8/19. i actually got two complete emails: one saying that my application for the 2009 entering class was complete, and a second email saying that the first email made a mistake and that i was complete for the *2010* entering year.
 
yeah i got a complete email on 8/19. i actually got two complete emails: one saying that my application for the 2009 entering class was complete, and a second email saying that the first email made a mistake and that i was complete for the *2010* entering year.

haha me too. ps i love your avatar :laugh:
 
haha me too. ps i love your avatar :laugh:


lol thanks dw 😀

for sewcurious - i'd give harvard a call if you've been waiting for more than a month. i think it took them 3 weeks to acknowledge my app as being complete...
 
To address some previous questions to help y'all out.....

So in our class (Class of 2013), 201 people were admitted to the med school (NP +HST). Thats outta the pool of like 1000 interviews so like, 1 in 5. We had an ~77% yield (far and away the best in the country), resulting in about 150 spots being accepted. The remaining 15 or so spots (Med school is 165 people + 35 dental students = 200 total) were taken from the waitlist (so there is waitlist movement here!) So yeah, thats that.

The list of interview hosts is still building I think, cuz we were only asked a few days ago to sign up for it, so as time goes on I think more people will be signed up.

I don't work for admissions so I dunno what theyre looking for, but I'll just say that everyone here is really awesome. It's obvious, just from talking to people, that HMS does not just look at your numbers, but rather you as a whole person. We have all ranges of GPA and MCAT here, so dont let that make you think that youre scores arent good enough, cuz you never know.

For those of you that are coming to interview soon, you'll soon realize that the interview experience at HMS is probably one of the least organized ones around. There very no-frills about it. But lemme assure y'all that its nothing like our actual experience here, which has been awesome. On your interview day, go around and talk to the students, first or second years, who will be wandering around the MEC or the quad or something. Talk to them, ask them about whether or not they like it, and I'm sure everyone will tell you that it's been amazing. Dont be shy about asking us questions, haha.

I might see y'all the morning of some of your interview days, but if not, good luck with everything, and who knows, maybe I'll see some of y'all around next year as first-years!
 
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Harvard's average MCAT score for matriculants is a 36 on the money. I believe the average GPA is aroung 3.8. She accepts about 1.5 times as many students as she has seats. Most schools accept 2-4 times as many.
 
Harvard's average MCAT score for matriculants is a 36 on the money. I believe the average GPA is aroung 3.8. She accepts about 1.5 times as many students as she has seats. Most schools accept 2-4 times as many.
I love that Harvard is a woman.
 
Hey guys, I'm new to SDN and I was looking for some advice. I am interviewing in the Boston area and I have not heard from Harvard yet...should I call them to let them know I will be in the area? I live out west so it is a bit of a stretch both time and money wise to get out east at this point. What do you think?
 
Hey guys, I'm new to SDN and I was looking for some advice. I am interviewing in the Boston area and I have not heard from Harvard yet...should I call them to let them know I will be in the area? I live out west so it is a bit of a stretch both time and money wise to get out east at this point. What do you think?

I did, I'm interviewing at BU in November, so I thought I would email them and tell them. I don't know if they really care or it matters to them, but I figured it couldn't hurt
 
lol, no prob.


any word on HMS increasing the # of seats next year like most med schools?

I haven't heard anything like that. But I mean, I have no idea. Somehow I highly doubt it, both because

a) 200 is a nice number and
b) I don't think any more people could fit into the lecture hall, haha
 
I'm such a dork. I just went through the 2008-2009 thread getting excited for the people who got in and sad for those who didn't.

No, this makes you empathetic 👍

Good trait to have.
 
Aw, thank you. I just looked at your MDApps. Wow, you've already ATTENDED a lot of interviews! Nice work.

Yeah, um, that's kind of a lie. I really have only attended 8 of those listed, but will have the others soon. I'm just really lazy about updating that stuff and wanted to go ahead and list them that way.

😛

Thanks though!
 
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