2012-2013 Harvard Medical School Application Thread

[somethingdeep]

Hey guys. Are interviewers held indoors? I noticed boston weather is like 42 high / 36 low. Has this affected interview wear at all for guys? Im wondering if the normal suit jacket will suffice. Sorry.. a cali boy here.

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haha yeah, they are indoors. You'll only be outside if you want to wander around in your spare time. The actual interview will either be in the admissions office, or they will put you in a cab to get there.

Edit: I wasn't able to attend the tour on my interview day, but you might be outside briefly during that. But in my experience at other interviews, people don't put coats on for tours--they just get by in their suits.

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[UrbanRiver]

haha yeah, they are indoors. You'll only be outside if you want to wander around in your spare time. The actual interview will either be in the admissions office, or they will put you in a cab to get there.

Edit: I wasn't able to attend the tour on my interview day, but you might be outside briefly during that. But in my experience at other interviews, people don't put coats on for tours--they just get by in their suits.

Sweet thanks

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[lcck]

Anyone here who received an interview invite but did not submit LORs from all research advisors?

 

[mzarrowsmith]

Anyone here who received an interview invite but did not submit LORs from all research advisors?

Yes, but a few years ago. I don't think this is a fast and furious rule.

 

[RicoSalamandra]

Anyone here who received an interview invite but did not submit LORs from all research advisors?

Yup.

 

[lcck]

Okay thanks for the fast response. I haven't heard a peep from Harvard and was hoping that this wasn't the only thing holding me back.

 

[mcloaf]

Okay thanks for the fast response. I haven't heard a peep from Harvard and was hoping that this wasn't the only thing holding me back.

You're not alone in that regard.

 

[wheewer]

Anyone know if Harvard is still sending out interview invitations? Complete in mid September but haven't heard anything =/

 

[spf15]

Anyone here who received an interview invite but did not submit LORs from all research advisors?

yes.

 

[Perkins]

Has anyone tried sending a LOInterest pre-interview to Harvard? Are they receptive to this? I've been complete since August but still no II. Really worried.

I know this sounds really silly, but I'm also kind of confused why still no II. A friend who interviewed at Harvard last year told me that Harvard traditionally interviews a lot more applicants than most schools (with acceptance rate post-interview much less than 50%). Since they interview so many, I'm why they would elect not to interview people who were interviewed by all the other comparable medical schools. Do you guys think out of state residency matters in some way even though it isn't a state school?

 

[BlackSwan]

Has anyone tried sending a LOInterest pre-interview to Harvard? Are they receptive to this? I've been complete since August but still no II. Really worried.

I know this sounds really silly, but I'm also kind of confused why still no II. A friend who interviewed at Harvard last year told me that Harvard traditionally interviews a lot more applicants than most schools (with acceptance rate post-interview much less than 50%). Since they interview so many, I'm why they would elect not to interview people who were interviewed by all the other comparable medical schools. Do you guys think out of state residency matters in some way even though it isn't a state school?

LoI couldn't hurt, but honestly, it's Harvard, they don't care about LoIs. They already know everyone's interested. And it makes no difference if you're a MA resident or not.

Edit: Just realized LoI looks like LOL without font serifs... Everywhere you see LoI, read it as letter of interest. heh

 

[Wait For It]

.

 

[mcloaf]

I know this sounds really silly, but I'm also kind of confused why still no II. A friend who interviewed at Harvard last year told me that Harvard traditionally interviews a lot more applicants than most schools (with acceptance rate post-interview much less than 50%). Since they interview so many, I'm why they would elect not to interview people who were interviewed by all the other comparable medical schools. Do you guys think out of state residency matters in some way even though it isn't a state school?

Welcome to the medical school admissions process.

 

[chillaxbro]

Do they send out pre-interview rejections?
Have they sent out rejections yet period?
If I didn't get rejected yet does it mean I still have a chance for an II?

 

[Viduus]

Do they send out pre-interview rejections?
Have they sent out rejections yet period?
If I didn't get rejected yet does it mean I still have a chance for an II?

I don't think they send out anything (one-way or another) for pre- and post-interviewees until March.

 

[thelight02]

I don't think they send out anything (one-way or another) for pre- and post-interviewees until March.

in october march felt so far away...now it's january (what?!) and it feels too close!

 

[Member 1944]

How far out does Harvard send interview invites? Anyone know? Is there still hope or are they winding things down?

 

[twentythousand]

has there been cases in which people don't send update letters and was accepted come march? i'm still debating whether or not to send an update letter.

 

[somethingdeep]

has there been cases in which people don't send update letters and was accepted come march? i'm still debating whether or not to send an update letter.

Are you asking whether they only accept people who send update letters? I don't see why that would be true.

 

[eatsalot]

Does anyone know, of the ~225 people that HMS accepts every year for the class of 165 people, how many HST acceptances and how many NP acceptances there are? I know some people get accepted to both, which skews the data, but I'm not sure if this differentiated data is published anywhere.

I think I may have heard that HST interviews ~200, selects 80 to send to main committee, and accepts 40 for the class of 30, but I'm not sure if this anecdotal data is true (if it's true, we could assume that between 185 and 225 get into NP, but I want to validate it first lol).

Also, does HST have waitlist movement, or just NP traditionally?

Thanks!

+1

Anyone know anything about the HST acceptances to interviews ratio?

 

[spf15]

where do we send update letters to? what email address..? thanks

 

[Member 1944]

where do we send update letters to? what email address..? thanks

This is what they told me/ what i did: send the update to the main email address as a pdf. they send a confirmation email when they receive it.

Anyone received an interview invite recently/ know when they stop inviting? I want to give myself some closure if they aren't going to say anything until march. *sigh*

 

[Ruhroh]

Well I think it's unrealistic to expect IIs in February from the schools that do all their decisions in March... so I would assume than the next 1-2 weeks is probably the only window to hope for more IIs. Last year there were a bunch of IIs reported in early January, but it's not looking optimistic that we're getting that this year.

edit: earlier in the thread Silverwing said they interview throughout January, so maybe interviews are already wrapping up -_-

 

[Member 1944]

Has anyone received a pre-interview rejection? Or heard of anyone receiving a pre-interview rejection? I am trying to figure out if they only do silent rejections (and officially tell u in march).

 

[BurghStudent]

Needless to say, I really want an II. But at least we know the game is over by the end of the month.

 

[bearintraining]

Has anyone received a pre-interview rejection? Or heard of anyone receiving a pre-interview rejection? I am trying to figure out if they only do silent rejections (and officially tell u in march).

Correct

 

[Member 1944]

Correct

Bearintraining - thanks for posting a reply! Could you clarify which statement out of those you were saying is correct? Is it that they wait until March or that some people have received pre-interview rejections? Thanks bunches!!

 

[bearintraining]

Bearintraining - thanks for posting a reply! Could you clarify which statement out of those you were saying is correct? Is it that they wait until March or that some people have received pre-interview rejections? Thanks bunches!!

Sorry -- they wait till march to reject

 

[Yatress]

Anyone here who received an interview invite but did not submit LORs from all research advisors?

Me! I listed about 5 research experiences but only submitted letters from two.

 

[plabyrinth]

Can anyone please tell me what their HST interviews were like? I had a nightmare last night where I got grilled during my interview and in front of hundreds of people...

 

[wangers5270]

.

 

[LGreen89]

Did anyone apply to HST without a strong mathematics/engineering background? Normal biochem person here, and I am kinda regretting in retrospect I didn't apply to HST.

 

[plabyrinth]

Not hundreds in the audience, more like thousands of senior faculty from BWH and MGH!

It's you in a room with 2 faculty and an HST student. Very standard interview, no grilling or anything, but you have 3 brains in the room and 3 people who can ask follow up questions on your various AMCAS activities. I found that "extra prep for my research" wasn't really necessary, but yes maybe you'll spend 10 minutes or so talking about your research. Others I interviewed with said they had fun with the interview too. Maybe a little more stressful than others just because there are more people to talk to, but it's a fun one! Good luck!!

Ha. You're cute. Thank you!

 

[wangers5270]

.

 

[plabyrinth]

Yup!

And when you finish your interview, they all cast a vote like Ask the Audience in Who Wants to be a Millionaire (A. Accept, B. Waitlist, C. Reject), and you receive your decision while on stage. It's pretty high-tech yo.

I'll choose A for both of us

 

[Traveller01]

Does anyone know address we send HST thank you notes to? Is it just the regular harvard admissions office in gordon hall?

 

[appleman123]

do you think people that interviewed early in the cycle have already decisions made (internally) ?

are nonrolling admissions essentially like rolling without decisions being released until March?

 

[rjaacd]

do you think people that interviewed early in the cycle have already decisions made (internally) ?

do are nonrolling admissions essentially like rolling without decisions being released until March?

although this is definitely a bit neurotic, I'd like to know this also

 

[wangers5270]

.

 

[Ellie Arroway]

So Harvard, I fell for the letter you sent out, & applied when I hadn't even been considering it before. As a first gen college student it feels real flattering to get a recruitment letter from Harvard. But I'm broke and I really wish I had that $100 back now.

 

[colin601c]

so harvard, i fell for the letter you sent out, & applied when i hadn't even been considering it before. As a first gen college student it feels real flattering to get a recruitment letter from harvard. But i'm broke and i really wish i had that $100 back now.

+1

 

[PaddyPlatanos]

LoI couldn't hurt, but honestly, it's Harvard, they don't care about LoIs. They already know everyone's interested. And it makes no difference if you're a MA resident or not.

Edit: Just realized LoI looks like LOL without font serifs... Everywhere you see LoI, read it as letter of interest. heh

I really appreciated that Harvard didn't ask "So why do you want to come here"

They know... they know.

 

[Luckystrike13]

I really appreciated that Harvard didn't ask "So why do you want to come here"

They know... they know.

Definitely appreciated the simplicity of their secondary.

Not really sure how my interviews went- the interviewers seemed lukewarm.

Here's to hoping (that the next month goes by quickly)!

 

[Traveller01]

definitely appreciated the simplicity of their secondary.

Not really sure how my interviews went- the interviewers seemed lukewarm.

Here's to hoping (that the next month goes by quickly)!

+1

 

[BurghStudent]

So, is it safe to assume no more II?

 

[Jamestl17]

Wrong thread

 

[somethingdeep]

Has anyone else noticed that the email address that the admissions office sends email from is different from the one that they say to contact them at (Admission_Office vs. Admissions_Office)? I'm trying to figure out which one to use to send my update...

 

[1stmeds]

use the one on the website. or call and ask and you'll know for sure.

 

[pranagirl]

use the one on the website. or call and ask and you'll know for sure.

yup, it's definitely admissions_office. i emailed an update there and recently called to make sure it was added to my file, and they were able to confirm it for me!

 

[somethingdeep]

Great, thanks to both of you!