2018-2019 Harvard Medical School

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Lucca

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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)

3. Our interview season runs from mid-September through January. Please indicate any significant (three or more weeks) restriction on your availability for interviews during this period. If none, leave blank.

HST Essay:

ESSAY FOR APPLICATIONS TO THE HARVARD-MIT DIVISION OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY (HST)

Instructions: The HST MD program draws on the combined resources of Harvard and MIT to provide a distinct preclinical education tailored to preparing students for careers as physician-scientists across the full spectrum of disciplines including biological, physical and engineering sciences. HST classes are small, commonly include graduate students and have an emphasis on quantitative and analytic approaches, centered on understanding disease mechanisms and preparing students to solve unmet needs in medicine ranging from novel diagnostics and therapeutics to applications of ‘big data’ and systems engineering as they relate to healthcare. Please focus on how your interests, experiences and aspirations have prepared you for HST (rather than identifying specific HST faculty or research opportunities). Limit your comments to the equivalent of one page of single spaced text with a font size of 10 or 12. (4000 Char)

MD/PhD

1. Briefly list your research interests/areas; use keywords only. This information is not binding. (100 character limit)
2. Please list publications, indicating for each whether it is published, submitted/under review, or in preparation
3. For PhD's in the social sciences only, please complete the following and upload where indicated:
Statement of Purpose:
Describe your reasons and motivations for pursuing a graduate degree in your chosen program of study at Harvard. What experiences led you to your research ambitions? Concisely state your past work in your intended field of study and in related fields. Briefly indicate your career objectives. Your statement should not exceed 1,000 words. Health Policy applicants should indicate the concentration(s) and policy area(s) of interest.
Please see Program Details to determine whether the program to which you are applying requires a writing sample, CV, or other documents. Please follow departmental requirements on type and size of writing sample. Unless noted, writing sample is limited to 20 pages.




Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview Feedback: Harvard Medical School

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Anyone received a secondary? Just added this one to my list today
 
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Decided to try my luck, and now I’m here! :)
 
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Yes, received it around a week ago. The e-mail said everybody who applies gets a secondary.
Oh lol what I thought they hadn't been released yet??
 
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I'm waiting, too. Did they email you a link to the secondary? Also, could you share the email address that it came from so that we can add it to our address books (to avoid having it go into spam)?
 
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Secondary received! So excited and humbled for the once in a lifetime opportunity of immediately getting rejected from here
 
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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)

3. Our interview season runs from mid-September through January. Please indicate any significant (three or more weeks) restriction on your availability for interviews during this period. If none, leave blank.

@Lucca :)
 
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is anyone approaching the second question like a diversity question and/or an update? or leaving it blank if you're not any of the described...

I mean either way I'm getting rejected lol but still wondering
 
is anyone approaching the second question like a diversity question and/or an update? or leaving it blank if you're not any of the described...

I mean either way I'm getting rejected lol but still wondering
I'm just leaving it blank because it seems like they are being kind of specific about what kind of information they want here.
 
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I'm just leaving it blank because it seems like they are being kind of specific about what kind of information they want here.
I'd agree. Since they said many applicants will not need to respond to the question. It definitely seems different from your average "diversity" essay. They don't want diversity of thought/experience. Seems like they want actual diversity haha
 
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Hey everyone. I'm an incoming M1. Last year, a couple of current students were present in the thread and I found it helpful. If anyone has any questions about applying, I can attempt to help answer them. Best of luck, HMS has a brutally long cycle.
 
Hey everyone. I'm an incoming M1. Last year, a couple of current students were present in the thread and I found it helpful. If anyone has any questions about applying, I can attempt to help answer them. Best of luck, HMS has a brutally long cycle.
What does “brutally long cycle” mean? I’ve heard that they don’t hand out II until maybe October but do they end late too
 
is anyone else not able to answer any of the essay questions because they don't apply to them??
 
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Still no secondary. If they don't screen, is it possible that they send them out in rounds? Received secondaries from all other schools, so I'm getting a little nervous about this one.
 
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What does “brutally long cycle” mean? I’ve heard that they don’t hand out II until maybe October but do they end late too

Decisions were released (acceptances, waitlists, and rejections) on March 2nd. I didn't even interview until January.
 
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is anyone else not able to answer any of the essay questions because they don't apply to them??
I wouldn't worry too much about that. I have a friend who applied last cycle to Harvard and since none of the questions applied to her, she didn't fill them out. She is now going to Harvard this Fall!
 
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This is normal for most schools' portal systems. It takes awhile for them to be shown as received, despite them being sent to the school along with your primary. Nothing to worry about.
 
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Could you please post the MSTP prompts?

The only question is for those applying to the HST program.

ESSAY FOR APPLICATIONS TO THE HARVARD-MIT DIVISION OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY (HST)

Instructions: The HST MD program draws on the combined resources of Harvard and MIT to provide a distinct preclinical education tailored to preparing students for careers as physician-scientists across the full spectrum of disciplines including biological, physical and engineering sciences. HST classes are small, commonly include graduate students and have an emphasis on quantitative and analytic approaches, centered on understanding disease mechanisms and preparing students to solve unmet needs in medicine ranging from novel diagnostics and therapeutics to applications of ‘big data’ and systems engineering as they relate to healthcare. Please focus on how your interests, experiences and aspirations have prepared you for HST (rather than identifying specific HST faculty or research opportunities). Limit your comments to the equivalent of one page of single spaced text with a font size of 10 or 12
 
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Under the home page, I have a green checkmark next to letters of recommendation. But when I click on document status, it says they're still missing?

Does anyone else have this discrepancy?
 
Could you please post the MSTP prompts?
1. Briefly list your research interests/areas; use keywords only. This information is not binding. (100 character limit)
2. Please list publications, indicating for each whether it is published, submitted/under review, or in preparation
3. For PhD's in the social sciences only, please complete the following and upload where indicated:
Statement of Purpose:
Describe your reasons and motivations for pursuing a graduate degree in your chosen program of study at Harvard. What experiences led you to your research ambitions? Concisely state your past work in your intended field of study and in related fields. Briefly indicate your career objectives. Your statement should not exceed 1,000 words. Health Policy applicants should indicate the concentration(s) and policy area(s) of interest.
Please see Program Details to determine whether the program to which you are applying requires a writing sample, CV, or other documents. Please follow departmental requirements on type and size of writing sample. Unless noted, writing sample is limited to 20 pages.
 
in your opinion, how optional is the "optional essay" from what you felt?

Based on my experience with the cycle last year, when a school tells you that an essay is optional, they mean it. That said, I only answered prompt #2 since it was the only one applicable to me. I will say that my classmates have some of the most compelling stories I’ve heard. I would wager that the vast majority of those accepted answered prompt #2. HMS has a way of selecting for applicants that are unique in a variety of ways, so I would keep that in mind.
 
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Question - it says applications are considered separately for NP and HST, but if we apply to both, does that mean the adcom reviewing our app for NP will not see our essay for HST?

Asking because I'm wondering: if I talk about something important/research-related in my HST essay, does that mean the NP adcoms won't see it? Or can I assume whoever reads for NP will see the HST essay also, so I don't have to be repetitive..
 
Based on my experience with the cycle last year, when a school tells you that an essay is optional, they mean it. That said, I only answered prompt #2 since it was the only one applicable to me. I will say that my classmates have some of the most compelling stories I’ve heard. I would wager that the vast majority of those accepted answered prompt #2. HMS has a way of selecting for applicants that are unique in a variety of ways, so I would keep that in mind.
Should I write about how my close relationships with the members of the community I grew up in translated into my compassion to the patients that I served in the hospital?o_O
 
Still no secondary. If they don't screen, is it possible that they send them out in rounds? Received secondaries from all other schools, so I'm getting a little nervous about this one.
Received today
 
Under the home page, I have a green checkmark next to letters of recommendation. But when I click on document status, it says they're still missing?

Does anyone else have this discrepancy?

A lot of my schools didn't display the recommendations until after I had submitted the secondary. I wouldn't worry until you've submitted (and maybe give it a day or so for processing).
 
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