2015-2016 Harvard Medical School Application Thread

Started by Ismet
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Tupacca said:
Hey folks,
I will be matriculating here in the fall. I absolutely fell in love with HMS (especially after revisit). The facilities, opportunities, and (most importantly) the people were truly incredible. I’m extremely humbled and excited about the possibility of joining some amazing colleagues in the fall. There were some students on last year’s thread that were very helpful, and I hope I can do the same.


Stats (for 2014 entering class)-Source
-Applicants 6,614
-Admitted 231 (3.5%)
-Matriculated (includes 13 MD-PhD students) 164
-Men 84 (51%)
-Women 80 (49%)
-Underrepresented in medicine (African-American, Native American, Hispanic, Mexican-American) 31 (19%)
-Asian 56 (34%)

-Average GPA -3.8 Source
- Average MCAT
Verbal-11
Physical Science-12.41
Biological Science-12.67

(from revisit materials- for 2015 entering class)
- Applicants: 6113
- Interviewed: 813
- Total offers (as of revisit): 189
- Total URM: 41
- Total Asian: 56

Age Distribution for 2015 entering class (as of revisit)
View attachment 192028

Undergrad schools for 2015 entering class (as of revisit)
View attachment 192027

2015 Course Requirements (these are slightly different than in the past)

1. Biology-All applicants must complete a full year of biology. We will accept advanced or higher-level biology courses towards this requirement as well.
2. Chemistry-All applicants must complete a two year chemistry sequence that covers inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry.
3. Physics-All applicants must complete a full year of physics.
4.Laboratory Experience
Required laboratory components of biology and chemistry are no longer defined as discretely as they were in the past. Lengthy laboratory components of the required science requirement courses are not necessarily time well and efficiently spent. Proper focus on hypothesis-driven exercises, problem solving, and hands-on demonstrations of important principles should take precedence over lengthy laboratory time commitments that steal time away from other, more productive educational opportunities. Active, sustained participation in faculty-mentored laboratory research experiences is encouraged and can be used to meet requirements for the acquisition oflaboratory skills."



5. Computational Skills/Mathematics-All applicants must complete a one-year mathematics sequence that contains calculus and statistics. Biostatistics is preferred for the statistics portion of the requirement.
6. Analytical and writing skills/ expository writing-All applicants must complete a year of coursework that features expository writing. Generally, any course in the social sciences or humanities that involves substantial essay writing will count towards this requirement.
7. Language- All applicants should be fluent in English. It does also state that “mastery of a foreign language, although not required, is valuable”
8. Additional Requirements for the HST Program
In addition to all the above requirements, the HST curriculum requires that students be comfortable with upper-level mathematics (through differential equations and linear algebra), biochemistry, and molecular biology. This is usually demonstrated through upper level course work, but other approaches may satisfy these requirements. In addition, one year of calculus-based physics in college is required.

2014-2015 Secondary Application
1. If you have already graduated, briefly (4000 characters max) summarize your activities since graduation.
2. If there is an important aspect of your personal background or identity, not addressed elsewhere in the application, that you would like to share with the Committee, we invite you to do so here. Many applicants will not need to answer this question. Examples might include significant challenges in access to education, unusual socioeconomic factors, identification with a minority culture, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity. Briefly explain how such factors have influenced your motivation for a career in medicine.(4000 character maximum)
3. Our interview season runs from midSeptember through January. Please indicate any significant (three or more weeks) restriction on your availability for interviews during this period. If none, leave blank.


*All of these prompts were optional.

2014-2015 Important Dates (Dates were obtained from last year’s SDN application thread)
- First secondary: 7/10
- First Interview Invites: Late August (I found the first reported IIs on 8/2)
- Last Interview Date: 1/29
- First acceptances: 3/3/15
- First Waitlist: 5/4 (from last year's application thread)

Financial Aid
- For 2015-2016 Entering Students (MD)
Tuition- $55,850
Budget- $ 87 k

-Harvard uses the unit loan system. The unit Loan System is calculated as follows
Standard Budget - Family Contribution= Financial Need

- For example if the budget is 85k and EFC=0 Need= 85k. Since the unit loan is capped at 33k (for our class) that means that the remainder would be covered by “HMS Scholarship”

-HMS does not offer merit scholarships (all aid is need based). HMS need based aid tends to be one of the most generous. They also have a scaled EFC formula.

-HMS doesn’t match scholarship offers from other schools


Pathways Curriculum
-The Pathways Curriculum is new for this year. The goal was to rearrange the curriculum to start clinical during the first portion of the 2nd year. I will update as I go through it, but I am actually very excited about it.

Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology (HST) MD Program



Harvard/M.I.T. MD PhD Program.

More info on MD-PhD



Of Note
-70-80% of first year students live in Vanderbilt Hall. This is a dorm style setup. Vandy is a cheap alternative to the (ridiculously) expensive housing in Boston. It is also across the street from TMEC (which is where classes are)

- If you are married or not interested in living in Vandy, Harvard does offer graduate student housing. I’m currently looking for housing and will update.

-2015 Match List


I will try to update this thing throughout the cycle. Please let me know if something doesn’t make sense, or if I missed any details.
Good luck!

Citation for formatting- Thank @hellanutella for being a rockstar and starting this trend.
Click to expand...


@tuppaca
Hey ! thank you for the info. And congrats on your acceptance! Sorry to ask, but do you mind telling us where you attended college?
 
MissKitty2868 said:
If you're talking about for this year, they no longer require a second semester of calc, and they REQUIRE 1 semester of calc and 1 semester of stats... so your information isn't helpful. No offense. You took the required coursework... lol
Click to expand...
I stand corrected for the Pathways program. However, HST candidates "should fulfill [math] with courses in calculus through differential equations."
 
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Pastamahn said:
II in the past couple days for pathways! Submitted late September/early October (vague for anonymity).
Click to expand...

@Pastamahn hey! I read somewhere about your interview at Harvard! Congrats!
Do you mind me asking a couple questions about it? It just seems so exciting!!!!:soexcited:
 
DreamBig27 said:
@tuppaca
Hey ! thank you for the info. And congrats on your acceptance! Sorry to ask, but do you mind telling us where you attended college?
Click to expand...

My identity would be a give away if I said haha. I'll just say that it's a decent (average) state school.
 
Last edited:
It's looking like I will get published (albeit in a low IF journal) in the next week or so. My interview isn't till December. If I do get published, you guys think I should send a pre-interview update or would a post-interview update be more strategic?
 
Blackhawk101 said:
It's looking like I will get published (albeit in a low IF journal) in the next week or so. My interview isn't till December. If I do get published, you guys think I should send a pre-interview update or would a post-interview update be more strategic?
Click to expand...
I'm just speculating...but I think you should do post-interview update. The ADCOM had already met and decided to give you an interview. They most likely won't be looking at your application again until Feb when they meet to offer admission. So why not send in your update after the interview, that way you can include your other accomplishments form this semester too? (Like better grades, etc..).
 
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Yes, I had a similar thought process. I wasn't sure if they would question why I didn't send it earlier if they saw the date that the article was published. But, I like your line of reasoning. Thanks.
 
Blackhawk101 said:
Yes, I had a similar thought process. I wasn't sure if they would question why I didn't send it earlier if they saw the date that the article was published. But, I like your line of reasoning. Thanks.
Click to expand...
It would also be a nice talking point during the interview!
I envision:
Interviewer: Tell me about yourself
You: I did A, B, C, and research in ___. Did bla bla bla...oh and we published last week! Very exciting to write my first scientific piece...bla bla bla
Interviewer: Oo aaa...writes about it in his letter about you.
 
abcdeffedcba said:
It would also be a nice talking point during the interview!
I envision:
Interviewer: Tell me about yourself
You: I did A, B, C, and research in ___. Did bla bla bla...oh and we published last week! Very exciting to write my first scientific piece...bla bla bla
Interviewer: Oo aaa...writes about it in his letter about you.
Click to expand...
The interviewers write a letter about you post-interview?
 
Valid12 said:
The interviewers write a letter about you post-interview?
Click to expand...
They definitely write a post-interview write-up that gets added to your file. Both of my interviewers referred to it during my interview. Each interviewer interviews tons of kids, they write up something the day of to make sure they remember you fairly so if you interview early in the cycle you aren't at a disadvantage to someone who interviews in January who is fresh in their memory when they review everyone in February.
 
516 MCAT (95%) and 3.8 GPA, complete around 8/30 and no word 🙁
I'm traveling to Massachusetts next weekend for an interview and it would have been so awesome to have the chance to interview at Harvard too :/
 
So for non rolling schools like Harvard, one isn't necessarily at a disadvantage if they interview later in the cycle, right?
 
TBRBiosadist said:
just got an interview here, I cant breathe, can anyone tell me what the interview day is like?
Click to expand...
Congratulations! Interview day was very chill. Short presentation in the morning, optional tour and lunch with med students, and you may or may not have to take a cab (they give you a voucher) to Mass Gen for interview/s. Take advantage of all the free time by asking your student host if you can sit in on their classes to get a feel for them. Also, hang out in the atrium and talk to med students. I wrote about my experience in my MDApps, and you can PM me if you have any questions too.
 
Congratulations! As many of my classmates say, interview day isn't a good indicator of the warm sense of community in our class.

With that caveat, you'll have a short morning introduction and then be given your interview assignments. If your interview isn't on a Wednesday, you may have time to drop in on a 1st year class (these end at 12:15 p.m. for the Pathways program). On Wednesdays, most Pathways students will be at clinics in the morning and learning the physical exam in the afternoon.

Be sure to speak to as many students as you can, especially more senior students. Note that senior students won't be able to speak about how the new curriculum affects the med school experience.

TBRBiosadist said:
just got an interview here, I cant breathe, can anyone tell me what the interview day is like?
Click to expand...
 
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Congrats on the IIs fam! What interview dates are available just to get a broad idea of how many more II's are left?
 
HIFU said:
I'm non-traditional, non-citizen, have plenty of papers published, average volunteer experience, I guess.
Click to expand...
HIFU, if you don't mind me asking, what days of the week did they schedule you for HST+NP interviews?
Just so I can arrange my other IIs, in rare case I get IIs here. :laugh:
Thanks!
 
Keepsmiling7 said:
HIFU, if you don't mind me asking, what days of the week did they schedule you for HST+NP interviews?
Just so I can arrange my other IIs, in rare case I get IIs here. :laugh:
Thanks!
Click to expand...
HST and Pathways interviews are usually given on Monday and Tuesday, unless you're nearby, in which case they won't put the days next to each other.
 
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perhaps a silly question, but for those of you who applied HST and Pathways, how long did it take for you to hear back (e.g. give your secondary submitted and complete date, and then II date if you don't mind)?

Just bored on a Saturday afternoon (and obviously applied late to both HST and pathways)....

Thanks!

P.S. Yes, I searched this thread for the info...Just wanted to see if we could get a little tally going!
 
Recently interviewed here MSTP, and I have to say: I liked the interview day! I always feel like all of the sessions at other schools are somewhat unnecessary, since you don't even know if you're in yet or not. I liked being able to wander and people-watch without all the pomp and frill of structured events. It felt very no-nonsense, and very relaxed.

Plus, both of my interviewers were awesome. Super friendly and smart -- and high-profile guys, too (e.g. chief of department level)!

Edit: I interviewed for Pathways and MSTP, with the first day just being the normal Pathways interview. Didn't apply HST but I hear that those interviews are more intense (though perhaps less so now than they used to be? That's what someone there said).
 
the prophet said:
do we think invites are now done for the cycle? or are there still some dates for NP in january?
one can hope!
Click to expand...

According to the website, they extend IIs throughout the interview season, through mid January... Not sure if those are mostly filled, but technically it's not over yet.
 
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