2014-2015 Harvard Medical School Application Thread

Started by gettheleadout
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BPCheng said:
Last minute, I know, but I'm trying to figure out how to describe what I did in my year after graduating for the secondary app essay.

I'm putting I shadowed at XX and I did extracurricular YY. Both of these have their own entry in the activities section of my AMCAS app. Both were also marked as most meaningful, and thus were described in good detail on my AMCAS app. I'm debating between either
A. Not going into any detail, and simply telling them to refer to my AMCAS
B. Describing in detail

Any thoughts? Right now I'm going with A since it seems more elegant, though the pre-med neurotic in me doesn't like that...
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I agree... the question said tell us what's not in AMCAS, so no need to repeat AMCAS entry.....unless you have any updates....
 
Any advice for the interviews from those who have already had theirs? I have mine next week and am not sure what to expect in terms of the actual interview questions.
 
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XFitWraith said:
Any advice for the interviews from those who have already had theirs? I have mine next week and am not sure what to expect in terms of the actual interview questions.
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I found my NP interview to be very standard compared to other schools. It was laid back and just asked me about my experiences and motivations for medicine. Shouldn't be anything out of the ordinary.
 
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OrbitalOverload said:
OH MY GOD HARVARD THAT WAS SO CRUEL!

edit: This is in response to the "technology update" email that I just got - my heart jumped out of my mouth, did the river dance on my coffee table, and jumped back in.
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I echo everyone's sentiments on that email. I was sitting in class and all I could see on the subject line was "Dear candidate, I am writing to..." Almost gave me a heart attack, Harvard!
 
researchismymiddlename said:
+1 guys!!! I would have liked to have known what it felt like to have my stomach drop 3 miles for a school lol 😀
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It was absurd. And to send it twice... What a slap in the face. I was just finishing up at another interview when i checked my phone and nearly fell over. Saw two emails and thought OMG I CANT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING AN II! Then open it up to find that crap. Yeah...not happening...breath now.
 
does anybody have more info on the changes to the curriculum being made for the class of 2019? links would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
 
bluemachine said:
does anybody have more info on the changes to the curriculum being made for the class of 2019? links would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
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No official links available yet as the details are being ironed out. Interviewers and second lookers will probably get the juicy stuff.

TheKDizzle said:
Depends, what do you already know? It's going to be a 1-year preclinical curriculum and the principal clinical experience - i.e. the current 3rd year - will be done during the 2nd year. The preclinical curriculum is going to be moved to an integrated block system where normal/pathologic process of each organ system will be covered all together. After the 2nd year clinical experience there will be a return to more advanced basic science topics. For example, there will be a new dedicated "scholarship block" and selectives consisting of advanced topics tailored to interest and career path.

I haven't been involved in the curriculum structuring at all so I'm not very well informed. I'll keep you posted if/when I get more details.
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For those who stayed with student hosts on campus, are there breakfast and dinner options available within close walking distance?

Also, how large is the interview group?
 
XFitWraith said:
For those who stayed with student hosts on campus, are there breakfast and dinner options available within close walking distance?

Also, how large is the interview group?
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There is a nice breakfast cart outside Vandy. For dinner, there are places close by -- and your host might take you somewhere else. Also, there's the pizza party if you want pizza 🙂

Maybe 10-12 people for my interview group? Don't remember exactly.
 
bangadees7 said:
There is a nice breakfast cart outside Vandy. For dinner, there are places close by -- and your host might take you somewhere else. Also, there's the pizza party if you want pizza 🙂

Maybe 10-12 people for my interview group? Don't remember exactly.
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Yes the breakfast cart (called Sami's ) has good breakfast and great wraps. There are also Starbucks near Vandy and Au Bon Pain (bakery) in Children's hospital. Good luck and enjoy your visit to HMS everyone!
 
I interviewed here yesterday for the NP program and my interview experience was phenomenal. The day was unstructured like most people said BUT Harvard gave us several options of things to do throughout the day. There were 2 optional tours (one in the morning and afternoon) that could kill about 1 hour of your time. There was a student panel with 2 students at lunch in the TMEC. I found this panel way more relaxed than at some schools and really genuinely informative. There were no professors to introduce the panel or how it worked and the students sat and had lunched with us in a conference style room. The food was great too!

Both my interviewers were faculty members and very sweet. They made up the best part of my day.

When you arrive you will go to the room designated on the website and no one will be there to greet you but when the time comes, a faculty member and a lady from the admissions office come and give you your envelope as well as go over what the NP and HST program look like. There was an introduction of everyone around the table and we were given a bunch of information and a very informative packet. In addition to the lunch panel and tour, we were given a schedule of classes to attend. I loved the day. There was no pressure to mingle with the other interviewers (who were really nice) but at the same time opportunity to. I designed my day how I wanted it and got to make the most of it.

The students were really nice to talk to too. I have a great impression of HMS and I wish everyone luck.
 
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teefero said:
I interviewed here yesterday for the NP program and my interview experience was phenomenal. The day was unstructured like most people said BUT Harvard gave us several options of things to do throughout the day. There were 2 optional tours (one in the morning and afternoon) that could kill about 1 hour of your time. There was a student panel with 2 students at lunch in the TMEC. I found this panel way more relaxed than at some schools and really genuinely informative. There were no professors to introduce the panel or how it worked and the students sat and had lunched with us in a conference style room. The food was great too!

Both my interviewers were faculty members and very sweet. They made up the best part of my day.

When you arrive you will go to the room designated on the website and no one will be there to greet you but when the time comes, a faculty member and a lady from the admissions office come and give you your envelope as well as go over what the NP and HST program look like. There was an introduction of everyone around the table and we were given a bunch of information and a very informative packet. In addition to the lunch panel and tour, we were given a schedule of classes to attend. I loved the day. There was no pressure to mingle with the other interviewers (who were really nice) but at the same time opportunity to. I designed my day how I wanted it and got to make the most of it.

The students were really nice to talk to too. I have a great impression of HMS and I wish everyone luck.
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I was a little concerned about how unstructured the day is, but your post made me extremely excited (and less nervous) about my upcoming interview!
 
ClevelandFan93 said:
Longtime lurker. Incredibly humbled to have gotten an II here on Monday (LizzyM >76). There were about 5 dates available in the first two weeks of December. Does anyone who has been to the dinner the night before have an idea of what one should wear?
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Thank you for coming out of lurking and for posting the information. Congrats and have fun at HMS!
 
ClevelandFan93 said:
Longtime lurker. Incredibly humbled to have gotten an II here on Monday (LizzyM >76). There were about 5 dates available in the first two weeks of December. Does anyone who has been to the dinner the night before have an idea of what one should wear?
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A nice shirt and pants is fine. No need for a tie. Assuming you're a guy. I'm not sure what the equivalent is for ladies
 
ClevelandFan93 said:
Longtime lurker. Incredibly humbled to have gotten an II here on Monday (LizzyM >76). There were about 5 dates available in the first two weeks of December. Does anyone who has been to the dinner the night before have an idea of what one should wear?
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Congrats! Do you know when you were complete?
 
The interview page advises against scheduling a flight before 7:30 pm out of Boston. Is this an overabundance of caution or do some people really finish late enough to make that necessary?
 
LaffferCurves said:
The interview page advises against scheduling a flight before 7:30 pm out of Boston. Is this an overabundance of caution or do some people really finish late enough to make that necessary?
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For the majority of people this will end up being an overabundance of caution; however, my second interview was at 5:45 at MGH, which meant I had no chance of making a flight before 7:30. Since you don't know your interview times before hand, I'd say listen to their advice to be on the safe side.
 
XFitWraith said:
For the majority of people this will end up being an overabundance of caution; however, my second interview was at 5:45 at MGH, which meant I had no chance of making a flight before 7:30. Since you don't know your interview times before hand, I'd say listen to their advice to be on the safe side.
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Indeed. My day was over by 2:15PM although I did a few other things with the extra time. You have to be particularly careful with MGH because the traffic can be bad at the end of the day (~4-5PM) from what I heard from the HMS students that I met with.
 
Umm, might be a silly question, but how exactly do you go about staying with a student here?

Edit: nvm... "contact hosts directly"
 
Last edited:
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is it unheard of to send an ITA e-mail to HMS? the truth is i am broke from II expenses that i am afraid i'll need to check out a loan if they do miraculously invite me later on and i can't coordinate back to back IIs...lol
 
Hello! I have some questions that have probably been answered before but I can't seem to find them in the thread :/ so I apologize now if this is redundant:

Is Harvard's interview open or closed? And is the interview style more of a casual conversation or do they ask pretty difficult questions (ethics based, quizzing you about your app, etc)?

And feedback would be amazing and really appreciated! Thank you!
 
On the interview invite page, once you select a date, there is some information about the interview: both the interviews are open file. Also, it seems like the interviews are generally pretty conversational with maybe a couple of difficult questions in the mix. To prep for mine, in addition to going over my app, I'm going to be doing a lot of reading of newspapers/articles on health related issues.
Hope that was helpful!
 
Iceandmedicine said:
On the interview invite page, once you select a date, there is some information about the interview: both the interviews are open file. Also, it seems like the interviews are generally pretty conversational with maybe a couple of difficult questions in the mix. To prep for mine, in addition to going over my app, I'm going to be doing a lot of reading of newspapers/articles on health related issues.
Hope that was helpful!
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Really helpful, thank you! And were both your interviewers faculty?
 
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