2014-2015 Harvard Medical School Application Thread

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pickmechooseme said:
Thanks so much! To both you and @breakintheroof .

I guess my biggest concern isn't Harvard's efforts, including implementing prelim trial runs on your class to assess the format (particularly, like you said, given that many schools are switching over to this format). My issue mostly comes with switching to an actual one year format and the problems that would arise with being a first year in a school that had just changed curriculums.

As @Salt Salt said, I have heard from other students at medical schools currently changing curriculums, and this is the #1 complaint I have heard...students do seem to feel the "guinea pig" effect, and it adds stress to their education. Further, I have heard from current HMS students (and I believe I read on this thread) that the administration is not as open and forthcoming as at other schools. This could just be the perception of some students, but I have heard it from multiple sources.

To be clear: Harvard is an amazing institution, but we just happen to be the incoming class that would be the first year with this new curriculum. As much as @medicalhope did an amazing job assuaging some of my fears, I think those bumps in the road are impossible to predict for any school (and I can't imagine they won't exist - at least in some form - when the MS2s and MS3s collide with clerkships). HMS is definitely still in the mix for me, but it's something to consider! Thank you so much again! 🙂
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Thank you for bringing this point up about switching to a one-year curriculum. It's a very important consideration, but it's actually not as bad as you think. Let me briefly outline why:

We current students in the old curriculum formally started classes around end of last August/beginning of Sept. We go into the wards next year Apr 4. That's roughly 18 months total. Subtract 4 weeks total winter break, a week of spring break, and 10 weeks of summer. That's roughly 14.5 months total time in school.

The new curriculum will formally start classes one week into August and finish pre-clinical at the end of Sept. Note I counted transition to PCE, as the things you will learn in those 4 weeks are what we have been learning in Patient-Doctor I and II, which has been throughout the "2 years". I personally think it's better that way, since we only meet up only a few hours every week for PDI right now, and we forgot a lot of things over time, especially after breaks. You will be much more prepared going into the wards. Minus the 5 weeks of break (winter + spring + summer), that's around 12.5 months in school.

Is that actually that big of a transition? Not really. I wouldn't worry too much, as they will still be able to teach you a lot over the 12.5 months. They are also cutting down on a lot of other material, such as ethics, health policy, social policy, and epi, which will now all be condensed into 1 month instead of 1 dedicated month + a few hours every week spread throughout the year.

One really big advantage to the new curriculum: instead of scrambling during the 1st year to find a project (a process all of us find quite burdensome, to say the least) and only have a summer to work on a project in a field we might not even be interested in, you guys won't have to worry about any of that during the 1st year and have a dedicated year for research, after you have gone through most of the rotations and specialties. Not only will you be better informed about what you are interested in, you will have significantly more time to dedicate yourself to one or a few projects that can really make you stand out as an applicant nationally. I think that's a huge plus.

That being said, a lot of are not happy with some of the changes they are experimenting on us right now, though that opinion varies quite a bit across the board (it really depends on who you talk to). Will all the changes they are thinking of be implemented? Maybe, maybe not. I think that most of the changes will stay, though some will likely be scrapped after feedback from our class. We still don't know too much about the final version of the new curriculum, though it will likely be much clearer once we approach Revisit. If you are worried about this change, I would definitely bring it up during the info sessions.
 
YamNMangos said:
Thank you for bringing this point up about switching to a one-year curriculum. It's a very important consideration, but it's actually not as bad as you think. Let me briefly outline why:

We current students in the old curriculum formally started classes around end of last August/beginning of Sept. We go into the wards next year Apr 4. That's roughly 18 months total. Subtract 4 weeks total winter break, a week of spring break, and 10 weeks of summer. That's roughly 14.5 months total time in school.

The new curriculum will formally start classes one week into August and finish pre-clinical at the end of Sept. Note I counted transition to PCE, as the things you will learn in those 4 weeks are what we have been learning in Patient-Doctor I and II, which has been throughout the "2 years". I personally think it's better that way, since we only meet up only a few hours every week for PDI right now, and we forgot a lot of things over time, especially after breaks. You will be much more prepared going into the wards. Minus the 5 weeks of break (winter + spring + summer), that's around 12.5 months in school.

Is that actually that big of a transition? Not really. I wouldn't worry too much, as they will still be able to teach you a lot over the 12.5 months. They are also cutting down on a lot of other material, such as ethics, health policy, social policy, and epi, which will now all be condensed into 1 month instead of 1 dedicated month + a few hours every week spread throughout the year.

One really big advantage to the new curriculum: instead of scrambling during the 1st year to find a project (a process all of us find quite burdensome, to say the least) and only have a summer to work on a project in a field we might not even be interested in, you guys won't have to worry about any of that during the 1st year and have a dedicated year for research, after you have gone through most of the rotations and specialties. Not only will you be better informed about what you are interested in, you will have significantly more time to dedicate yourself to one or a few projects that can really make you stand out as an applicant nationally. I think that's a huge plus.

That being said, a lot of are not happy with some of the changes they are experimenting on us right now, though that opinion varies quite a bit across the board (it really depends on who you talk to). Will all the changes they are thinking of be implemented? Maybe, maybe not. I think that most of the changes will stay, though some will likely be scrapped after feedback from our class. We still don't know too much about the final version of the new curriculum, though it will likely be much clearer once we approach Revisit. If you are worried about this change, I would definitely bring it up during the info sessions.
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This is very clarifying, thank you. Thinking of the change as from two years to one is an overstatement, I hadn't realized that.

I feel good about the thinking behind the changes, expected hiccups and all. (I also feel very strange being in a position to worry about them...)
 
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Anybody have any idea of how the wait list usually works for NP (or since the new curriculum is Pathways do we just call it P?)? Possibly current students like @medicalhope or @YamNMangos ? I saw in an SDN post from 2005 that the letter used to say 40-60% come of wait listed students for NP eventually get in, but I'm sure that number has decreased since. Seems unlikely that there would be much movement, but I figured I'd reiterate @Salt Salt 's question.
 
Hey y'all, a friend asked about what I felt is important in choosing a medical school so I decided to organize some of my thoughts and turn it into a brief summary!

I’m writing this as Step 1 is approaching, so I’ll try to be as concise but (hopefully) helpful as possible 🙂

Note: this IS in rough order of what I feel is most important and least important

1) Your classmates

You’ll be spending a lot of time with these people and they will become some of your closest friends. People not in medical school (or at other medical schools) can empathize with what you’re going through but actually experiencing it together is a completely different level of understanding that you’ll only have with your classmates. Whether you like it or not, and no matter how strong of a person you are, the people you surround yourself with through these highly formative years of your life will inevitably influence who you become and what you value. Go into revisit weekend not only with the mindset of “do I get along with these people?” but also “will these people inspire me?” Make sure that the school you choose to go to has people there who will help you become a person that you’ll be happy with and proud of being.

2) Your support system

Medical school CAN be difficult. It’s absolutely time consuming and hard work, but it certainly (and I really mean this) doesn’t have to be painful, excruciating, sacrificial, or demoralizing. You should all strongly consider how the medical school you choose will ultimately influence what your life is going to be like during that time. This is four years of your life and you need to maximize things that are going to give you the support that you need to keep going and stay happy. With that in mind, if you have close family, friends, etc. in certain areas but not in others, that is something to think about. Another thing is to look at the academic schedule and see how much flexibility there would be to visit and stay in touch with the people that you care about. A final part of this goes back to point #1, where it’s super important to have classmates you feel you can lean on in times of need (and vice versa). When I think about the long hours of studying I’ve done and look ahead to the long days and nights in the hospital, I realize that it’s perspective and support that has kept me content and thankful.

3) Institutional atmosphere

I say “institutional atmosphere” broadly. I’m including grading in here as well. What I basically mean is to find a place where the administration, faculty, and staff have the right things in mind. Is the institution set up in a way that will facilitate your learning and growth, or will it cause a lot of unnecessary stress? Pass/fail is a huge plus in my books, and I truly believe it will make your medical school experience a whole lot better, both academically (being able to focus on what you want, and also being able to study for boards without way too much pressure from school classes that sometimes overlap minimally) and socially (taking off the pressure of feeling like you might be competing with one another for grades). Next, how friendly is the medical school administration to students? What’s the relationship between them like? Is this an administration you will trust to guide you well and to take care of you if difficulties ever arise?

Furthermore, what is the attitude of the individuals (professors, etc.) you’ve met at the institution? What do they value, and how do they carry themselves? Are these people you look up to and would want as mentors or role models for the kind of physician you will be?

4) Clinical year experience

The main clinical year is the formative year of medical school - it’s where your classroom knowledge finally begins to translate into practical skills and the ability to think clinically and take care of real people. It also can be the most draining, emotionally and physically, and is also graded and the most important criteria for residency selection purposes - thus, it is set up to be the most stressful year of medical school. On the other hand, it can certainly be the best year of medical school and I’ve heard it go both ways. Thus, look for a place that has designed a 3rd year where you can focus on learning in a healthy environment without unnecessary distractions and drama. I’ll give you some examples of questions you might ask.

-How many students work on a medical team together? (Less is better)

-Are there cutoffs for grades in clerkships, and how is grading/evaluation done?

It’s hard to get a sense of what the role of medical students are in a program because it varies a lot from rotation to rotation, but you might ask
-How much time do students “stand around” and don’t know what to do or don’t have a clear task? (This happens more than you probably think).

You could also ask:
-How important do medical students feel as part of the clinical team?

-What are the residents like? Are they overworked/stressed? (If they are, I doubt they’ll be in any mood to teach you)

-What is the culture of the hospital like? It’s easy to become pessimistic and jaded about the medical profession and patient care through the course of medical school, so you want to be at a place where the people still work with a lot of conviction and empathy and believe in their work (this is probably the exception and not the rule)

5) Extracurricular/additional academic opportunities

To be completely honest, medical school is very different from undergraduate education in the sense that the focus shifts from emphasizing balance to academic excellence. Don’t forget that the purpose of medical school is to become a physician, and you will find that there simply isn’t very much time outside of school to engage in extracurriculars. And even when there is time, you could always be learning more and solidifying your fund of medical knowledge, which will ultimately contribute to your adeptness at being a physician and taking care of patients. This has been difficult for me to come to terms with, but just know that you should place relatively less emphasis on what outside things a school has to offer because you won’t be able to take advantage of them as much as you would like.

6) Location

Good location is a plus, but less necessary than the other things that I’ve mentioned thus far. I would say access to food is the most significant thing that falls under this umbrella. If you find the right people and the right support you can have a great time no matter where you are - and location might add a smidgen of additional enjoyment. If you don’t have the right people then you can be in the greatest city in the world and still be miserable. I will say that the climate of the city you end up in is something to consider. As a personal example, I lived in the South my whole life before medical school and I’m very happy my medical school is in a progressive city with lots of young, motivated people as it has helped me grow a lot personally and has overall been a cool experience.

7) Preclinical curriculum

The least important of your worries from where I sit. Medical education is imperfect, at my school and at almost all schools around the country. Thankfully, preclinical education is mainly self-learning anyways. If this were the case for clinical learning we might be in trouble. But the beginning of medical school is mostly basic science, straight-from-the-book stuff anyways - how can we expect the school we attend to change that for us? I’ve seen people get really worked up and distraught about things that admittedly could be much better done by the school but at the end of the day this is a small issue and could very possibly be a scapegoat for overall dissatisfaction with being in medical school and having to study all these things in the first place. If you go into medical school with the right perspective, and are simply thankful for the incredible opportunity we’ve been afforded to apply ourselves to a worthwhile cause, the way that your preclinical years are taught will not affect you much, and it really shouldn’t be a big consideration unless you have extremely specific learning needs and habits.
 
Thanks for this, @TheKDizzle. As applicants we get a sort of a streetlight effect that causes us to focus on the preclinical curriculum since that's what we can perceive. The change from New Pathway to Pathways is certainly interesting, though.

I'd ask more questions but I'm sure you're tied up with Step 1. I'll save them for Revisit.
 
Hey, @TheKDizzle - would you recommend staying in Vandy for someone who already lives in the Boston area? I have a pretty sweet rent deal but don't want to miss out on an important bonding experience.
 
Accepted. Still feels like a dream. I live about 15 mins walk away. Makes it more likely to matriculate.
 
Two (unrelated) questions:

1) Does Harvard provide travel funding for revisit? Every other school has offered to fly me out there, but Harvard didn't mention anything and I feel weird asking. But seriously I don't have the money to fly there again especially on such short notice #applicationfeeshangover

2) Is Pathways going to P/F in pre-clinical? How much time per week will be mandatory small groups and how much will be lecture that I can stream at 2x speed without actually attending?
 
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MathGirl25 said:
Two (unrelated) questions:

1) Does Harvard provide travel funding for revisit? Every other school has offered to fly me out there, but Harvard didn't mention anything and I feel weird asking. But seriously I don't have the money to fly there again especially on such short notice #applicationfeeshangover

2) Is Pathways going to P/F in pre-clinical? How much time per week will be mandatory small groups and how much will be lecture that I can stream at 2x speed without actually attending?
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1.) I'm not sure about travel funding, but you should not be afraid to ask! No one will mind your questions and worst case scenario they'll say they can't.
2.) Pathways will still be P/F in pre-clinical, I don't know about third/fourth year. As for the lectures vs mandatory things, as I understand it everything will be mandatory from 8:30-12:30 or so, as it will be mostly small groups 🙁, thats one of the gripes I have with the new curriculum.
 
youououa said:
Hey, @TheKDizzle - would you recommend staying in Vandy for someone who already lives in the Boston area? I have a pretty sweet rent deal but don't want to miss out on an important bonding experience.
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I'm not KDizzle, but I would recommend staying where you are if you can deal with the commute and don't care about the convenience of Vandy.

Vandy is a good social experience, but you can still come to events (and in the future your ID should get you into vandy without having to sign in!) so it should not impact you too much. Furthermore, besides the social experience and convenience of being close/having a gym, Vandy has its problems. The internet is awful, they are always cutting hot water/power in the weekends for repairs, and security is super patronizing (you have to sign in everyone you bring in, and can only do 1 at a time, etc.-- not even my freshman dorm was so uptight about it). The Longwood area is also super dead and depressing on the weekends. Furthermore, the benefits of not having to deal with moving/brokers at the end of 1st/2nd year will be huge.
 
Thanks so much for your response. I think I will be staying - I'm close to the 47 and M2 so I can get to Longwood pretty easily. I suppose I'll just need to work hard at socializing.

I'm glad to hear I may not need to sign in!

medicalhope said:
I'm not KDizzle, but I would recommend staying where you are if you can deal with the commute and don't care about the convenience of Vandy.

Vandy is a good social experience, but you can still come to events (and in the future your ID should get you into vandy without having to sign in!) so it should not impact you too much. Furthermore, besides the social experience and convenience of being close/having a gym, Vandy has its problems. The internet is awful, they are always cutting hot water/power in the weekends for repairs, and security is super patronizing (you have to sign in everyone you bring in, and can only do 1 at a time, etc.-- not even my freshman dorm was so uptight about it). The Longwood area is also super dead and depressing on the weekends. Furthermore, the benefits of not having to deal with moving/brokers at the end of 1st/2nd year will be huge.
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As far as I know, Harvard only offers travel assistance for people who indicate "disadvantaged status" on their AMCAS applications.
 
I'm not sure where you obtained this information. I was offered travel assistance to the second-look weekend and did not indicate disadvantaged status on my AMCAS.

Synapsis said:
As far as I know, Harvard only offers travel assistance for people who indicate "disadvantaged status" on their AMCAS applications.
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This is an odd request.
I'm on the waitlist for HST, and have sent in all my FAFSA info for financial aid if I somehow am moved off the waitlist.
However, I would like to have an idea of what the financial aid package would be before April 30th/whenever they look into the waitlist.

Does anyone have an idea of what the financial aid package would for someone with EFC of 000000?
I know Harvard doesn't have merit aid so wouldn't most packages be similar for students of similar economic background?
 
VitaminVater said:
This is an odd request.
I'm on the waitlist for HST, and have sent in all my FAFSA info for financial aid if I somehow am moved off the waitlist.
However, I would like to have an idea of what the financial aid package would be before April 30th/whenever they look into the waitlist.

Does anyone have an idea of what the financial aid package would for someone with EFC of 000000?
I know Harvard doesn't have merit aid so wouldn't most packages be similar for students of similar economic background?
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EFC of 0 would mean that you don't "pay" anything. Thus, you will have to take the unit loan every year for ~32k, and everything else is covered by Harvard. If you manage to live on less than what they "budget" you can take less loan out. You can also use outside scholarships to decrease the loan. If you take the full loan every year, you can expect to graduate with ~140k in loan.
 
Could anyone please post/PM me the link to the sec application? I recently got a new computer and it seems that I deleted the email.
 
Question for those who have applied this cycle:

How did you deal with the HMS LoR policy? They require 1 letter from every PI but then set the max at 6 LoRs. 3 of those 6 must be from professors. Thus, if you've worked in 2-3 labs before, you have really little flexibility.
 
I don't think anyone will care if you omit a letter from your least recent research experience. I did this for a summer program and didn't hear anything about it. In general, LOR requirements are probably less stringent than schools would have you think.

justadream said:
How did you deal with the HMS LoR policy? They require 1 letter from every PI but then set the max at 6 LoRs.
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If you look at the first page of the thread, you'll see this year's application for the New Pathway MD-track. The HST track also asks how your research experiences, etc. have prepared you to benefit from the HST curriculum in 4000 char.

justaquestion said:
Could anyone please post/PM me the link to the sec application? I recently got a new computer and it seems that I deleted the email.
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I received my financial aid award this morning from another school and decided to check my financial aid for HMS. It was posted on the HMS financial aid website (a new tab appeared). I couldn't be happier with how generous HMS is:greedy:. I hope many on here receive some sweet packages.
 
Tupacca said:
I received my financial aid award this morning from another school and decided to check my financial aid for HMS. It was posted on the HMS financial aid website (a new tab appeared). I couldn't be happier with how generous HMS is:greedy:. I hope many on here receive some sweet packages.
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I just checked mine too, and oh my god, this is a sweet aid package. By far the best need-based package I've received from any school! I'm still in shock.
 
bluevase said:
I just checked mine too, and oh my god, this is a sweet aid package. By far the best need-based package I've received from any school! I'm still in shock.
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Same here. Pretty generous, which is at par with other offers. Now I can decide without worrying so much about the financial load.
 
So now that revisit is over, what did everyone think? I thought the students that organized did an incredible job and really enjoyed meeting potential classmates. Did anyone have any concerns after revisit? Was anybody here swayed in their decision? (it seemed like everybody I met had the choice between HMS or some significant scholarships at other amazing schools)
 
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Everyone said to "Come to Harvard for the people," and they were not kidding. I met so many amazing individuals in such a short time at Revisit. But ultimately I feel that I will fit best in another community. I withdrew my Pathways acceptance.

Good luck to all who are headed to Boston this fall!
 
tenniseagle92 said:
Got in off of the wait list today. Have a ton of respect for HMS, and being from Boston this is a lifelong dream...but I also fell in love with Penn, so I'm very confused right now! I'm honored nonetheless, and excited to have this opportunity.
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What a wonderful "trouble" you have there! Congratulations! But I'm not surprised by this at all. Good luck solving the dilemma! I'm just gonna say something that's probably super not helpful: you can't go wrong with either choice.
 
Any recent movement? I'm wondering if this may be it or if they continue to accept people through May and June... I know the email said through early June but from past threads not sure if this is typical.
 
python11 said:
Any recent movement? I'm wondering if this may be it or if they continue to accept people through May and June... I know the email said through early June but from past threads not sure if this is typical.
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Time is running up for the people who had been accepted off WL so far. They must decide soon (I know one is due to decide today). So there is def still chances depending on the outcomes.
 
Also, when I called in they mentioned that they would let everyone on the waitlist know when they were finalized and no longer going to be pulling from the waitlist. Does anyone have an idea as to when that point would be based on previous cycles?
 
BigEinstein said:
Applying here with 3.0 and 18 MCAT, yeah my dad owns the school
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LOL. Even if you are URM, I don't think that will cut it. It would be like throwing away $32 dollars worth of tickets on the Mega Millions.

Cold: Boston can be fairly cold and snowy during the winter--so there is your "sour grapes" reasoning.
 
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I received the offer email at 11:01, and then an email from Zara, and a call from Dr. Frosch in the afternoon.
 
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