2016-2017 Harvard Medical School Application Thread

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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)
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Hello, everyone!

Ugh obviously this school is such a long shot, but I want to make sure I'm not hurting my chances right off the bat!

Does anyone know if it is a strict requirement that we have letters from all research supervisors? I worked in a lab for 1 semester and wasn't planning on getting a letter. I have a committee letter from my undergrad and I am super confused as to whether that actually overrides other requirements.

EDIT: Haha so I actually just decided to call their admissions department and ask instead of just posting on here! In case anyone has a similar worry, committee letters typically override other requirements, and the research supervisor letter requirement is not that strict. They want letters from all relevant research experiences, but for cases like mine where it was so short term, it won't be an issue.
 
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Im just posting this early on, I am applying next year. It would be very helpful if you guys would make an MDApps account so I can refer to what happened to you guys next year.
 
kiwifriend said:
Hello, everyone!

Ugh obviously this school is such a long shot, but I want to make sure I'm not hurting my chances right off the bat!

Does anyone know if it is a strict requirement that we have letters from all research supervisors? I worked in a lab for 1 semester and wasn't planning on getting a letter. I have a committee letter from my undergrad and I am super confused as to whether that actually overrides other requirements.

EDIT: Haha so I actually just decided to call their admissions department and ask instead of just posting on here! In case anyone has a similar worry, committee letters typically override other requirements, and the research supervisor letter requirement is not that strict. They want letters from all relevant research experiences, but for cases like mine where it was so short term, it won't be an issue.
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I did research in a lab at my undergrad in 2009 and 2010. I also did research in a biotech lab for about 1 year in 2010-2011. I'm including the labs in my extracurricular but have no intention of getting letters from them. I do have 2-3 much more recent research letters though.
 
If you have enough letter slots available (I think HMS takes up to 6 if I recall correctly) and the research experience was significant (which 1 year would certainly be), I would imagine it would look odd if they had such a requirement and you basically ignored it.
 
ChrisMack390 said:
I did research in a lab at my undergrad in 2009 and 2010. I also did research in a biotech lab for about 1 year in 2010-2011. I'm including the labs in my extracurricular but have no intention of getting letters from them. I do have 2-3 much more recent research letters though.
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On the phone, they said it was best to have letters for any significant research experience. Personally, I would think 1+ years would be significant? I'm assuming you aren't listing these experiences as most meaningful or anything.
 
kiwifriend said:
On the phone, they said it was best to have letters for any significant research experience. Personally, I would think 1+ years would be significant? I'm assuming you aren't listing these experiences as most meaningful or anything.
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I'm not listing either of those as most significant, as they definitely are not particularly significant to my life or why I want to go to med school. They also took place greater then 5-6 years ago. I have letters from currently ongoing research activities, and much of my app is predicated on "reinvention" and such (I was not a great student early in undergrad, but then crushed it in senior year, grad school and MCAT).

I understand why this may be a risk, but then again actually getting a letter from a PI I haven't spoken to in 5 years would also be a risk.
 
ChrisMack390 said:
I'm not listing either of those as most significant, as they definitely are not particularly significant to my life or why I want to go to med school. They also took place greater then 5-6 years ago. I have letters from currently ongoing research activities, and much of my app is predicated on "reinvention" and such (I was not a great student early in undergrad, but then crushed it in senior year, grad school and MCAT).

I understand why this may be a risk, but then again actually getting a letter from a PI I haven't spoken to in 5 years would also be a risk.
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That sounds reasonable! Hopefully it won't matter at all! 🙂

ChrisMack390 said:
Besides, it's not like any of us are getting into Harvard, right? 😛
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Haha very true. Good luck to us all!!
 
dreamer659 said:
Hi guys! Incoming MS1 here this fall. Thought I'd check in here to wish you applicants good luck. I never thought I had a chance at this school this time last year, so don't sell yourselves short! I wish you all the best!
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When you thought you didn't have a chance, which part of your app did you think was inadequate?

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erics2814 said:
When you thought you didn't have a chance, which part of your app did you think was inadequate?

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So this was the case for me also. I didn't think my stats were high enough, or that my ECs were impressive enough! I ultimately got in off of the waitlist. 🙂
 
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erics2814 said:
When you thought you didn't have a chance, which part of your app did you think was inadequate?

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Lol there's nobody that can truly feel good about their chances at HMS. "No chance" is a bit of an exaggeration but it conveys the point. Given the randomness and luck involved in the process, you could have everything that qualifies you to be a top 5 applicant and still not get in if you just don't click with an interviewer, get the wrong person reviewing your files, etc. One thing is sure--you have no chance if you don't apply. Also, trying to target a specific area that someone may have felt deficient in won't help you tbh.
 
ChrisMack390 said:
I'm not listing either of those as most significant, as they definitely are not particularly significant to my life or why I want to go to med school. They also took place greater then 5-6 years ago. I have letters from currently ongoing research activities, and much of my app is predicated on "reinvention" and such (I was not a great student early in undergrad, but then crushed it in senior year, grad school and MCAT).

I understand why this may be a risk, but then again actually getting a letter from a PI I haven't spoken to in 5 years would also be a risk.
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@ChrisMack390 If it makes you feel better, I didn't include a letter from one of my 1-year undergrad research experiences from 5 years ago, and just got in MD/PhD. I had similar reasons as you -- it was a long time ago, I had an insignificant role in the lab and was not sure that the PI would remember me, research was in a totally different field from where I ended up and will pursue my PhD, and I no longer even went to that school. Granted, I had about 5 other research letters, but it still shows that you don't have to include every letter if you don't feel it was significant. It may raise a question, but if you have enough more recent letters you might be OK.
 
carpediem22 said:
@ChrisMack390 If it makes you feel better, I didn't include a letter from one of my 1-year undergrad research experiences from 5 years ago, and just got in MD/PhD. I had similar reasons as you -- it was a long time ago, I had an insignificant role in the lab and was not sure that the PI would remember me, research was in a totally different field from where I ended up and will pursue my PhD, and I no longer even went to that school. Granted, I had about 5 other research letters, but it still shows that you don't have to include every letter if you don't feel it was significant. It may raise a question, but if you have enough more recent letters you might be OK.
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I'm just not willing to contact a professor I have not spoken to in 5 years to ask for a letter of recommendation. The risk of getting a ****ty letter is too great. Also if that is the thing that holds me back from going to Harvard then so be it lol
 
kringle said:
If I did research for a semester and am not including that letter because I have a committee letter and my current PI's letter (2 years) blows that out of the water, as well as a summer research letter, is that okay?
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Should be fine!
 
The consensuses I've seen around SDN is that letter requirements are often not as strict as they may seem.
 
kringle said:
Mm. Looking back at old threads it seems they were pretty firm on this in 2008.
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The key is to get letters from each significant experience. I'm an incoming MS1 and I didn't get a letter from my earliest PI who I only worked a few months with. CarpeDiem is an incoming MD/PhD who didn't include 1 as well (see above).

I didn't even include my earliest experience on my AMCAS because it was so insignificant.
 
rhlehgusl said:
Hello, I have three research experiences as an undergrad: undergraduate research program, paid research assistant position, and student-initiated research project that resulted in an honors thesis (all at least 1 year). I have letters for the last two, but the first one I didn't really bother getting a letter because I only worked with a postdoc. Should I bother trying to get one at this point?
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Most undergrads work with postdocs or grad students so who you work with doesn't say much about the experience.

I see the LOR policy from PIs as this: if you have a significant experience (whether it's conveyed through the AMCAS, secondary, interview, etc), then it is optimal to have a LOR because otherwise, an eyebrow might be raised here or there depending on who looks at your app. Usually, you shouldn't put something insignificant on the AMCAS to begin with unless it's mentioned in passing e.g. a list of awards with a short summer experience etc.
 
rhlehgusl said:
Hello, I have three research experiences as an undergrad: undergraduate research program, paid research assistant position, and student-initiated research project that resulted in an honors thesis (all at least 1 year). I have letters for the last two, but the first one I didn't really bother getting a letter because I only worked with a postdoc. Should I bother trying to get one at this point?
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One of my letters was from a post-doc. It is fine, if you think his letter will be good. Get the PI to cosign.
 
kringle said:
Working with post doc is fine. But if your other two research experiences are most meaningful then get LORs for them. IF your first one was MM as well, then you should have a LOR. If its's just on your app then you don't need to get an LOR per se if it's not mostmeaningful. One of my expeirences was pretty substantial but wasn't "most meaningfu;" so I didn't get an LOR.
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I wouldn't say an experience needs to be Most Meaningful to qualify for a rec. There can be many significant experiences that aren't one of the top 3 MM. It would be rather "odd" in my opinion for an applicant to have 2 of their MM as research experiences. If you are going to highlight the experience as significant by virtue of AMCAS, interviews, secondaries, etc, then it will most likely raise an eyebrow without a LOR. Think about why the LOR from "every" PI rule exists. It's there to see how you do in different environments on different projects; ideally you must be able to do well in multiple environments. On the other hand, if the experience isn't significant, then understandably the LOR has little relevance regardless of quality.
 
I'm also an incoming MS1 (pathways) and I encourage everyone to apply here! If you have any questions throughout the year feel free to ask 🙂 good luck to you all!
 
I had my AMCAS primary verified 6/10 but haven't received a secondary yet. does anybody know what this timeline is like, roughly?
 
You will likely receive the secondary in the 1st week or so of July if you are verified before July. No schools receive any AMCAS apps before July. None.
 
Incoming pathways student here.
Just wanted to second the comments above re. the LOR policy--it is reasonably flexible, at least borne out from my personal application. Rather than having LORs from every research experience, it is more important to have LORs from your major experiences. I would characterize a minor experience as a few months here or there, without publication/presentations resulting, disconnected from the rest of your research. As for any questions/eyebrow raising, they'll be allayed if the LORs that you do submit are excellent, and speak to the vast majority of your research experience. It is OK to still go ahead and list the "minor" experience on the AMCAS.
 
erics2814 said:
When you thought you didn't have a chance, which part of your app did you think was inadequate?

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Click to expand...
Hey! Sorry for the late reply. It's not that I thought any part of my application was inadequate, it was more that I didn't have anything I viewed as amazingly stellar/shiny. I want to echo my classmates points, very few people apply to HMS thinking they're going to get in. Many people I talked to at second look almost didn't apply or didn't go to the interview because they were intimidated and now we're all matriculating!

As for letters of rec, yeah they're super flexible. The way I approached mine was I made sure each letter I had was from someone that knew me in a slightly different capacity so that together they would paint a full picture. For example, don't get a letter from two biology professors just because you did really well in each class, or as previously mentioned, don't bother getting one from a minor research experience in the past if you have one from a much more extended significant research experience.
 
LinusBalling said:
Incoming pathways student here.
Just wanted to second the comments above re. the LOR policy--it is reasonably flexible, at least borne out from my personal application. Rather than having LORs from every research experience, it is more important to have LORs from your major experiences. I would characterize a minor experience as a few months here or there, without publication/presentations resulting, disconnected from the rest of your research. As for any questions/eyebrow raising, they'll be allayed if the LORs that you do submit are excellent, and speak to the vast majority of your research experience. It is OK to still go ahead and list the "minor" experience on the AMCAS.
Click to expand...

How flexible is the calculus thing? Haven't taken it and already graduated.
 
O.T.I. said:
Does anyone know what day of the week HMS interviews usually fall on?
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There isn't a particular day of the week. They have them throughout the week (I can't remember exactly which days but mine was on a Tuesday and I recall there being Fridays and a few Saturdays).
 
UNMedGa said:
How flexible is the calculus thing? Haven't taken it and already graduated.
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They give you a courses worksheet that you have to fill out with the courses that you've taken that fulfill the requirements. They verify it afterwards so my guess is you can't skip out on it but the requirements are not completely rigid. You don't have to have a course titled "Calculus" or "Statistics"...some engineering etc courses substitute for it at certain schools etc but you do need a course that teaches calculus and statistics. The acceptance letter also states that the acceptance is contingent on satisfying all the course reqs.
 
MaxPlancker said:
They give you a courses worksheet that you have to fill out with the courses that you've taken that fulfill the requirements. They verify it afterwards so my guess is you can't skip out on it but the requirements are not completely rigid. You don't have to have a course titled "Calculus" or "Statistics"...some engineering etc courses substitute for it at certain schools etc but you do need a course that teaches calculus and statistics. The acceptance letter also states that the acceptance is contingent on satisfying all the course reqs.
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So would it be fine if I did like a CC or independent study calc if they end up accepting me?
 
UNMedGa said:
So would it be fine if I did like a CC or independent study calc if they end up accepting me?
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I believe CC (community college) would be fine but you'd have to call and ask about the independent study. My guess is that may be flexing a bit too far. I did hear though that they make every effort to be flexible and accommodate people who they accept...
 
Secondary:

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)

@WedgeDawg @Ismet
 
I don't know why I'm applying here to be honest. I feel like I'm trying to score a date with Margot Robbie. But hey, you won't know until you try.

On a completely unrelated note, anyone know her? I may have something of interest to her.
 
clippers50fan said:
I don't know why I'm applying here to be honest. I feel like I'm trying to score a date with Margot Robbie. But hey, you won't know until you try.

On a completely unrelated note, anyone know her? I may have something of interest to her.
Click to expand...
Not creepy at all.... anyway, I haven't gotten the secondary yet! Is it by email?
 
O.T.I. said:
Not creepy at all.... anyway, I haven't gotten the secondary yet! Is it by email?
Click to expand...
It comes by email. Check your spam mail and don't panic. They send a secondary to everyone so you will definitely get one eventually.
 
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