2017-2018 Harvard Medical School

Started by Lucca
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About course requirements- the whole day is unstructured and I went to the admissions office during the day and asked who I could ask about courses. They give you an email address and the email people answered my specific questions for me. In the morning I just wrote the applicable courses to the best of my ability and got those confirmed after sending those emails.
 
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Is there any consensus on the utility of sending a letter of intent for those of us that have interviewed? My feeling is it can't hurt, but I'm not sure it would actually make a difference.
 
kayblack said:
Is there any consensus on the utility of sending a letter of intent for those of us that have interviewed? My feeling is it can't hurt, but I'm not sure it would actually make a difference.
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I think the consensus is that it's effects for Harvard are basically nothing. In fact, it could come off as desperation if not done well. The ADCOMs at Hahvahd know that 80%+ of their acceptances will matriculate (don't quote me on that percent, but I do know that Harvards acceptance:matriculant ratio is one of the highest).
 
begoood95 said:
I think the consensus is that it's effects for Harvard are basically nothing. In fact, it could come off as desperation if not done well. The ADCOMs at Hahvahd know that 80%+ of their acceptances will matriculate (don't quote me on that percent, but I do know that Harvards acceptance:matriculant ratio is one of the highest).
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it is about 70% which is the highest in the nation.
 
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kayblack said:
Is there any consensus on the utility of sending a letter of intent for those of us that have interviewed? My feeling is it can't hurt, but I'm not sure it would actually make a difference.
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I wouldn't send it. Harvard knows that the chances of matriculating if given an acceptance are extremely high. My interview is in 2 weeks and I have no intention of sending any contact/update/LOI after my interview (maybe its because I like how my application cycle has shaped thus far out and Harvard II was just a caveat). In any event, I believe Harvard has a good sense of what they want in their class and correspondences won't sway their decision either way. In fact, I would go the lengths to say less contact is more: no updates, no uploaded documents. Be the cool kid in class and let your application and interview speak for itself.
 
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H20_Jay said:
I wouldn't send it. Harvard knows that the chances of matriculating if given an acceptance are extremely high. My interview is in 2 weeks and I have no intention of sending any contact/update/LOI after my interview (maybe its because I like how my application cycle has shaped thus far out and Harvard II was just a caveat). In any event, I believe Harvard has a good sense of what they want in their class and correspondences won't sway their decision either way. In fact, I would go the lengths to say less contact is more: no updates, no uploaded documents. Be the cool kid in class and let your application and interview speak for itself.
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I don't agree with this advice. If you submitted your application in August, there are around 6 months of potential updates (publications , presentations, achievements , etc) you're not sending the school. In my view, update letters show that you are still productive and interested in the school. I do not see how this makes someone cool or uncool. I sent two update letters last year and it seemed to work well.
 
Longshot6 said:
Did anyone stay at Vanderbilt? Was it comfortable?
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Seconding the "dorm" idea -- think communal bathrooms, varied room size, kitchens on each (?) floor. I stayed with a very nice host because the hotel prices were ridiculous and I think it was cool to see where the majority of students live their first year (since it sounds like most people move). I'd be prepared to potentially sleep very, very close to your host if they have a smaller room, just as a heads up if that bothers you lol.

Location is unbeatable in terms of walking directly across the street to your interview, though. 🙂
 
twentyeightmiles said:
Seconding the "dorm" idea -- think communal bathrooms, varied room size, kitchens on each (?) floor. I stayed with a very nice host because the hotel prices were ridiculous and I think it was cool to see where the majority of students live their first year (since it sounds like most people move). I'd be prepared to potentially sleep very, very close to your host if they have a smaller room, just as a heads up if that bothers you lol.

Location is unbeatable in terms of walking directly across the street to your interview, though. 🙂
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Vandy's not the greatest but you get used to it. A key thing to keep in mind is that a lot of social events revolve around Vandy (meetups, sports, etc). It's also sometimes nice to see students in their natural environment instead of in "greeting interviewee" mode.
 
sozo91 said:
Vandy's not the greatest but you get used to it. A key thing to keep in mind is that a lot of social events revolve around Vandy (meetups, sports, etc). It's also sometimes nice to see students in their natural environment instead of in "greeting interviewee" mode.
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Totally agreed, seeing behind the scenes is one of the best parts of staying with a host. After dorming 3 of the past 4 years, I think Vandy sounds pretty ideal, since it seemed more social and since I'm big on the "roll out of bed and into class" lifestyle. 😛
 
Also tracked down my interviewers' emails, but this was the only school where my interviewers didn't give me their business cards or list their contact information somewhere in the info packet. If I were to send 'thank you' notes again, I probably would have either given physical cards to the admin office (which I did for some schools) or asked an admissions coordinator to forward an electronic note to my interviewers on my behalf. My friend is currently conducting interviews at another school and remarked that it's viewed as an applicant taking initiative to look for contact information when it isn't provided, but I do not know how it is perceived here.
 
PM_ME_UR_MCAT_SCORE said:
Luckily my interview isn't for another week, but with only a handful of interview dates remaining, I wonder how flexible they will be with rescheduling if weather requires it.
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Well I highly doubt they're gonna be like lol ok Gaia let's just forget about those last few interviews

Edit: my bad I just realized you meant you were wondering how they'd handle the rescheduling process, since some people have lives and can't just fly out to Boston on a dime. Whatever happens, I hope it works out best for everyone, and I'm sure Harvard will help everyway they can.
 
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BCMRC2014 said:
Well I highly doubt they're gonna be like lol ok Gaia let's just forget about those last few interviews

Edit: my bad I just realized you meant you were wondering how they'd handle the rescheduling process, since some people have lives and can't just fly out to Boston on a dime. Whatever happens, I hope it works out best for everyone, and I'm sure Harvard will help everyway they can.
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I laughed so hard
 
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saw this earlier on the thread -- for post-interview thank you notes, when i emailed the admissions office, they said they'd forward any emails i sent them! 🙂
 
Hey guys, what did you all think about the flipped classroom? I’m worried that it leaves little time to sit down and get down to the dirty work of memorizing. I personally need time to memorize and with class in morning and lectures at night, does that leave time to study? Maybe I’m a little insecure given that I majored in art history and took the bare minimum science classes...
 
Appellatelove said:
Hey guys, what did you all think about the flipped classroom? I’m worried that it leaves little time to sit down and get down to the dirty work of memorizing. I personally need time to memorize and with class in morning and lectures at night, does that leave time to study? Maybe I’m a little insecure given that I majored in art history and took the bare minimum science classes...
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We used the "flipped classroom" style in a few of my classes as an undergraduate. When it's done well, I think it can be very useful for developing a greater understanding and ability to apply the content beyond memorization. If anything, developing a better understanding of the content should help with memorization, so I don't think that should be too much of a problem with having to spend time outside of class to introduce yourself to the material. However, I had a couple courses where they were just implementing the "flipped classroom" and it was a complete waste of time (I would have just skipped class if the activities weren't graded). It can be pretty hit or miss depending on how it's implemented. A current student would definitely have more insight into its effectiveness.
 
Thermer said:
We used the "flipped classroom" style in a few of my classes as an undergraduate. When it's done well, I think it can be very useful for developing a greater understanding and ability to apply the content beyond memorization. If anything, developing a better understanding of the content should help with memorization, so I don't think that should be too much of a problem with having to spend time outside of class to introduce yourself to the material. However, I had a couple courses where they were just implementing the "flipped classroom" and it was a complete waste of time (I would have just skipped class if the activities weren't graded). It can be pretty hit or miss depending on how it's implemented. A current student would definitely have more insight into its effectiveness.
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The flipped classroom is great. It's a lot of fun.

Depending on the block, there's a lot of preparation for a class. But I don't think anyone sets out a couple hours of the day for "memorization time." I think that's a waste of time.
 
LA_Doc said:
I know it's Harvard, but anyone know if a letter of intent holds any value here?
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In researching LOIs I read somewhere that for schools that have a high number of their accepted students actually matriculate (like Harvard, Yale, etc), a letter of intent may not be as impactful. However, I would argue that if you feel strongly about it then it certainly couldn't hurt, especially if you have interviewed with them and/or have updates to include. Best of luck!
 
sozo91 said:
The flipped classroom is great. It's a lot of fun.

Depending on the block, there's a lot of preparation for a class. But I don't think anyone sets out a couple hours of the day for "memorization time." I think that's a waste of time.
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Can you elaborate? ive heard that med school requires a ton of brut memorization. does Harvard take a different approach? Is there more of a focus on critical thinking?
 
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Welshman said:
You want a thank you note for your thank you note?
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At some other schools I got replies on my thank you notes. If I got one I'd imagine I'd reply a quick little thank you for the note (easy to say that now though) atleast so they also know I recieved it and they sent it to the right place.
 
H20_Jay said:
Felt the interview at Harvard was underwhelming. Like they did not even try lol.
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Yeah I felt like they were mailing it in on my day too. However, I heard second look weekend is amazingly well done.
 
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