2017-2018 Harvard Medical School
Started by Lucca
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Casual attire probably
Can anyone comment on if the interview day actually goes until 6? Just trying to think through my travel logistics 🙂
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also interested in this although I doubt it.
Yeah my post was totally ignored haha idt anybody knows but I saw it on last years list!! Then it got taken off for some unknown reason
I've decided to send an ITA email to HAHVARHD. Might honestly get me rejected but YOLO.
You miss 100% of the shots you don't take
What is an ITA email?
It stands for "In The Area" - if you have to fly to Boston, you might want to tell all the med schools you applied to so you can get multiple interviews in without booking a second flight.
II to HST and Pathways today! Complete mid-August. Can’t begin to express my shock 😱
P.S. Boston is the best city and I hope y’all love it here.
P.S. Boston is the best city and I hope y’all love it here.
Congrats!
I did too, they are receptive and really nice about it, although I doubt with the huge applicant pool and extremely selective process its really something that will actually work out.
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What email address did you send it to?
No it only went until 2 pm for me. I think it depends if you end up getting afternoon interviews though... I dont remember anyone having interviews after 5 though!
II earlier today! I'm blown away, honestly. Complete mid-July.
Do you mind sharing stats?
I don't understand why people who get II are blown away. Harvard doesn't screen and everybody who applies will get a II.
Can you anyone hint on what is Harvard medical school looking for in selecting candidates ?
Can you anyone hint on what is Harvard medical school looking for in selecting candidates ?
Everyone gets secondary, not everyone gets interview invite (II).
Understood thank you
Congrats! Mind sharing your stats and complete date?
Yeah! LizzyM 73-75, URM, complete August 13
What does the IA mean in your signature?
number of interviews attended (I think... correct me if I'm wrong)
Lol I also thought II meant secondary when I first got on this site
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For sure! LizzyM 82, senior at good private university. Good amount of research, though no publications. Mix of clinical/non-clinical volunteering, some music, and some work as an RA.
What school rejected you?
It was Irvine! The day I submitted my secondary, actually. I don't want to eat up this thread talking about it, so if you're curious about it at all, I discussed it over on the Irvine thread!
Anyone Applying to Harvard with a PHD?
What does "redacted" mean?
I wanted to delete my post but couldn't. So edited to "Redacted".
I wouldn't think so. I wasn't notified until very recently, and I was complete before you, I believe. Your stats certainly seem good, and all there is to do is wait, anyway! This process is stressful and taxing, but don't count yourself out without a great reason.
II earlier this month. its my first II so I am beyond stoked! I'm going to need all the luck in the world to pull off an acceptance here! (gonna have to deal with that imposter syndrome before I sit down for the interview.) submitted secondary in early august. GL everyone! do we know the admission statistics post Interview?
Congrats! No luck needed, you're gonna own that interview -- both my interviewers were very supportive and relaxed, and I'm sure they'll be the same for you.
I have ~27% scribbled down for post-interview acceptance rate, with very little waitlist movement in general, but I can't find the source for that percentage.
MCAT is in my signature, the available dates were all early to mid October. naturally I chose the one right around my birthday
thanks for the confidence. I'll leave the interview knowing I gave everything I had and that's what counts I think. I did some back of the napkin math and got 34% but with nothing to back that up. (720 interview invtes and 250 acceptances) I cant remember where I got those numbers though
Man, that's only around 24 percent. I wonder how big of a role the interview plays here; it's hard to believe that so many people do poorly enough to not be accepted. It is Harvard I guess, though.
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I just made a similar post in a different thread on this question but I thought it was worth saying here too:
So, I know that UChicago and Yale do this based on reading previous year's threads, and I suspect most top schools are quite similar. Essentially, most schools have a process that's something like this: individuals are given scores based on the different dimensions of their application - MCAT, GPA, interview, leadership, volunteering, research, clinical experience, etc. etc. I have no idea what the categories actually are but I suspect they look something like that. After the interview, there are often multiple admissions committees that review and score applicants in parallel. I believe at Harvard these are organized regionally (so, one adcom for the Northeast, one for Midwest, etc.). If an applicant is above a certain score threshold, they are moved on and assessed by a "master" admissions committee that is now considering the top applicants. This master adcom is then responsible for "crafting" the incoming class, so they will select for characteristics that they want - eg. they might want a certain number of athletes, or a certain number of research superstars, or make sure that there is enough regional, national, and international, as well as racial, ethnic, and cultural, etc. diversity.
So, even if everything in your app is solid and you make it past the preliminary adcom, you might still not be accepted just because the master adcom might find someone else will fit better into their ideal composition of the class. That, I think, largely explains why some applicants will get into some top 5/10/20 schools but not others. Most people who have good applications and do well on their interviews likely make it past the small adcom. It's just the part after, at the large adcom, that the process becomes hazy.
Are there any URMs who have gotten interviews here? If so what are your stats?
I got one recently! I have high stats (520+ MCAT and 3.9+ GPA) and I was complete pretty early (sometime mid/late July I think). It seems like it's still super early for interviews here though so I definitely wouldn't count yourself out even if you don't have killer stats!
Can any current students speak to the social atmosphere here? This is obviously one of the top, if not the top, medical schools in the entire country. But do the students tend to get along well? Is there good work/life balance? Are there things like intramural sports, outings with the class, a collaborative environment, etc.
From my experience at the interview, there did seem to be a nice balance; the students said that their social lives were good, and that collaboration was a big part of the Pathways curriculum. All in all, if social life is a concern, then I wouldn't say students at Harvard are missing out.
...However, that being said, something about the atmosphere and students did seem...off? I don't know how to put it. Compared to the other "top" programs I interviewed at, they seemed a little high-strung (stressed, maybe?). Now obviously you're your own individual, and your experience in medical school is what you make of it. This was just my perspective, from one interview day, and in comparison to some other schools I've interviewed at so far. Your experience and others' may vary.
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