2015-2016 Harvard Medical School Application Thread

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Unless I'm mistaken, neither Pathways nor HST offer rolling admissions.
Every school is rolling to a certain extent. Interviews are offered on a rolling basis. Even decisions post-interview are known to be rolling. You really think all 950 interviewees at Harvard are decided upon in February? It's an impossible task. The process everywhere is rolling, it's just that applicants don't necessarily find out decisions on a rolling basis.

So when MD/PhD dumps your app to MD only in late November, that's a huge hindrance to your MD only chances.

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Every school is rolling to a certain extent. Interviews are offered on a rolling basis. Even decisions post-interview are known to be rolling. You really think all 950 interviewees at Harvard are decided upon in February? It's an impossible task. The process everywhere is rolling, it's just that applicants don't necessarily find out decisions on a rolling basis.

So when MD/PhD dumps your app to MD only in late November, that's a huge hindrance to your MD only chances.
Agree and disagree. Schools that have non-rolling admissions don't decide on final places until after all interviews are conducted, even though they do rank applicants beforehand. Meaning, if they get an awesome application late and that person interviews in February, he/she may still edge out a person who interviewed earlier even if that person did well.

Didn't realize that HST and NP weren't rolling. Wooooooo
 
I think that multiple current students have stated that they interviewed in January or later and have still been successful. 'Rolling admissions' schools seem to use a points system that allows them to compare applicants across interview dates.

Every school is rolling to a certain extent. Interviews are offered on a rolling basis. Even decisions post-interview are known to be rolling. You really think all 950 interviewees at Harvard are decided upon in February? It's an impossible task. The process everywhere is rolling, it's just that applicants don't necessarily find out decisions on a rolling basis.

So when MD/PhD dumps your app to MD only in late November, that's a huge hindrance to your MD only chances.
 
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Every school is rolling to a certain extent. Interviews are offered on a rolling basis. Even decisions post-interview are known to be rolling. You really think all 950 interviewees at Harvard are decided upon in February? It's an impossible task. The process everywhere is rolling, it's just that applicants don't necessarily find out decisions on a rolling basis.

So when MD/PhD dumps your app to MD only in late November, that's a huge hindrance to your MD only chances.

Yeah, gonna reiterate what others said. Getting an early II is a good sign, but it's not a better sign than a late II necessarily. I interviewed in late September last cycle and only two of the ~15 students on my interview day are here at HMS (myself included). A lot of my friends here interviewed in December or January - it doesn't really matter in general. HMS is a truly non-rolling school. That's why they use the entire month of February to make sure they've selected everyone they want for their class. Rolling programs tend to have an advantage when interviewing early; that isn't the case here.
 
Every school is rolling to a certain extent. Interviews are offered on a rolling basis. Even decisions post-interview are known to be rolling. You really think all 950 interviewees at Harvard are decided upon in February? It's an impossible task. The process everywhere is rolling, it's just that applicants don't necessarily find out decisions on a rolling basis.

So when MD/PhD dumps your app to MD only in late November, that's a huge hindrance to your MD only chances.
Not to beat a horse to death... but I submitted in mid August received II about a month later and interviewed in November. HMS is as non-rolling as it gets
 
Past threads have indicated the PI thing is not a big deal.
Sorry, late to the party.
Is the consensus that it's cool if you don't have a letter from EVERY research supervisor?
I've had 5 and I would we over the 6 letter limit if I included all of them on top of the 1 science + 1 non-science instructor letters. Not to mention EC letters...
 
HST essay took an embarrassingly long time to finish, but finally submitted today.

Hopefully it's not too late! (just kidding...maybe...or not...neuroticism meter is broken...)
 
Also received an II - complete late July.
 
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II! LizzyM 69! To those with lower stats please don't give up your hopes!!
 
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Did anybody get an "Application Complete" email after submitting the secondary?
 
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II! What a dream!
 
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Anyone here a current student? Can you give any insights on the school - what you like/dislike, the student body atmosphere/culture, etc? Or, any advice on interviewing? :p haha
Thanks!
 
Greetings from inside HMS (on HMS WiFi, no less)! :naughty:

ImageUploadedBySDN Mobile1441660728.782646.jpg
 
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*Jaw drop*

Not even the best room at my state school even compares to that....
You ain't seen nothing yet
These are the stairs in Gordon (administration hall) ;)
ImageUploadedBySDN Mobile1441687485.446847.jpg
 
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Does Harvard accept ITA emails? I usually wouldn't think twice about sending one but HMS is intimidating lol
 
Greetings from inside HMS (on HMS WiFi, no less)! :naughty:

View attachment 195964

You ain't seen nothing yet
These are the stairs in Gordon (administration hall) ;)
View attachment 195980

Meh. These are just the stables for the mega-hippopotamus (you'll see...) and our chariots. The wide marble staircases are mostly so that our armies of butlers don't spill our caviar and daiquiris. We HMS students rarely deign to use the servants' stairs, especially since the school has installed personal pneumatic tubes made of moonrock and hyper-crystals.

In reality, Gordon Hall is pretty gorgeous. It's mostly administrative offices, though. And we don't get armies of butlers; only one butler and one valet per student. It can be challenging sometimes, but we make do.
 
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I just submitted the primary here. 4.0 GPA, 512 MCAT, Cuban..let's see!
 
II!! Very excited :)
 
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II as well!! I'm in shock. Complete July 11th.
 
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II! LizzyM 66-70, a lot of research experience, non-trad. Complete 7/14 I think. Holy hell.
 
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Congrat to those with IIs, you guys are rock stars!
 
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Anyone interviewing tomorrow????
 
so i'm probably being dumb but anyone know where i can find the 'requirements checklist' we need to fill out before interviews?
 
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also astonished at this turnaround, i submitted late august!
 
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so i'm probably being dumb but anyone know where i can find the 'requirements checklist' we need to fill out before interviews?
When you click on the interview tab, the link is under where your interview date is listed. It says:

"PLEASE NOTE: Complete and print the Requirements Checklist and bring it with you on your interview day."
 
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Quick post-interview update...

2 interviews, open-file, faculty/faculty or faculty/student. 8-10 interviewees per day. Morning "orientation" with basic info about school, curriculum, student life, fin aid. Then you're on your own with your schedule and directions to offices for interviews. Applicant lounge available to do work, take phone calls, chill, relax. (I don't recommend it. I recommend you go hang out in the TMEC atrium on the 2nd floor so you see students come and go.) Lunch voucher ($10) given for use at 2 cafes, buffet-style pay by pound lunch was pretty good. Optional lunch hour with current students at noon, but don't expect too many to show up. Again, you gotta hang out in the atrium to meet students b/c that's where everyone hangs. Optional tours at 2 times, I didn't bother b/c I know the area. If you're used to a centralized day where you sit in the admissions office and twiddle your thumbs for hours on end waiting for the structured events to happen, don't expect that here. I liked the flexibility even though everyone else on SDN thought they were being thrown to the wolves. Maintaining some control over your own schedule is refreshing, I like taking charge of my day myself.

The actual interviews obviously vary from person to person. My fellow interviewees said the questions ran the gamut. I have a non-trad background so my interviews were non-trad by nature. Didn't get any of the standard cookie cutter questions. Standard advice here, know your app, know the school, be ready to elaborate on any aspect of your application.

Students were pretty cool, basically the kind of people I went to school with (top private school), so I felt comfortable. Everyone was nice, collaborative, eager to answer questions, excited about the school. Out of the 10+ students I met, only one came across as a little snobby (and not so much snobby as really really intelligent and thus a little on the wonky social side hahahaha).

Curriculum...ugh everyone wouldn't shut up about the curriculum. So many questions and presentations on something that's pretty simple. It's 1 year preclinical, flipped classroom with mandatory attendance, Weds spent on clinical site learning clinical stuff. 2nd year standard clerkships. Then basically free for all for the last 2 years, doing scholarly projects, taking electives as you wish. It sounds fine, everyone will learn the same **** anyway, students are happy with it, whatever. Premeds fuss about preclinical curriculum way too much. Takeaway: don't come here if you don't want to be up at 7:30 every morning for class/clinical visits during 1st year.

I went in with a worry about the cohesiveness of HMS given that the institution is so spread out and large. I still think that HMS is broken up into too many different working pieces due to its size, but the takeaway from the day is that this doesn't affect you as a med student at all. All the medical student stuff is concentrated on the Longwood campus, except if you do your clinical stuff at MGH (20 min shuttle away). Class size of 130 + 30 (HMS + HSDM) split into 4 societies provides structure for being close to each other, not the huge wad of mess I had imagined in my head before visiting. On the plus side is that the resources are amazing, anything you want, they got it.

Overall impression was very strong, this remains a top choice. Only downside for me is the mandatory attendance due to my tendency to oversleep lol. Here's to the next 6 months of waiting!
 
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so i have a question about general interview etiquette - during downtime is it acceptable to pull out your laptop and start working? if people in school can work on hw, can nontrads do work?
 
so i have a question about general interview etiquette - during downtime is it acceptable to pull out your laptop and start working? if people in school can work on hw, can nontrads do work?
At the typical school where everyone is sitting in the same waiting room the whole day waiting to be called out for interviews, you should not pull out your laptop and stare into it. Why would you do this when there's so many other people around to talk to??? When I say that "you are on your own" at Harvard, I mean you are on your own time roaming around campus, so no one is going to know where you are or what you're doing until you show up to your interviewer's office. With regards to the student vs. non-trad doing work...no one is going to know/care?

You're thinking too much into this. If you are left on your own during the day, do whatever you want. If you are in the presence of other interviewees in a fixed setting (waiting room for everyone, lunch w/ students), be a person. If you need to take a call for work or something, let someone know and they will understand as long as it doesn't interfere with your interviews and the other students
 
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You are amazing! I'm fairly low for this school as well (71-73) so I hope I get an invite as well!
I hope you do! You have much better stats than mine, I am sure they will look at the whole package, best of luck!!
 
At the typical school where everyone is sitting in the same waiting room the whole day waiting to be called out for interviews, you should not pull out your laptop and stare into it. Why would you do this when there's so many other people around to talk to??? When I say that "you are on your own" at Harvard, I mean you are on your own time roaming around campus, so no one is going to know where you are or what you're doing until you show up to your interviewer's office. With regards to the student vs. non-trad doing work...no one is going to know/care?

You're thinking too much into this. If you are left on your own during the day, do whatever you want. If you are in the presence of other interviewees in a fixed setting (waiting room for everyone, lunch w/ students), be a person. If you need to take a call for work or something, let someone know and they will understand as long as it doesn't interfere with your interviews and the other students

haha that was just what i was asking - whether we are alone or in structured settings, since i havent been on an interview yet and dont know the norms. thanks for letting me know that at most schools it seems pretty structured and i should keep any work to a call at most!
 
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II today!!! So happy. Actually cried my eyes out.
 
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