Harvard Masters of Medical Science

[ZPS111]

Hey Guys,

So I am not sure if this is the right place for this but I had some questions. I applied last cycle and my application was submitted pretty late (Wasn't complete until September 22) and I didn't have secondaries done until early October. Despite this, I was able to score a few interviews, most notably at Duke and OSU (my two dream schools). Unfortunately, I have been wait-listed pretty much everywhere, so I began to look at back-up plans. I have been accepted to the Harvard Medical School Masters of Medical Science in Immunology and was wondering if anyone knew if this was a good idea or not? It's a program through Harvard's medical school so that has to be a good thing, but it's two years and I haven't found anyone who has gone through it yet.

Long story short, should I do this program? Or should I simply reapply and hope I was wait-listed /rejected due to my late application?

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[xffan624]

Hey Guys,

So I am not sure if this is the right place for this but I had some questions. I applied last cycle and my application was submitted pretty late (Wasn't complete until September 22) and I didn't have secondaries done until early October. Despite this, I was able to score a few interviews, most notably at Duke and OSU (my two dream schools). Unfortunately, I have been wait-listed pretty much everywhere, so I began to look at back-up plans. I have been accepted to the Harvard Medical School Masters of Medical Science in Immunology and was wondering if anyone knew if this was a good idea or not? It's a program through Harvard's medical school so that has to be a good thing, but it's two years and I haven't found anyone who has gone through it yet.

Long story short, should I do this program? Or should I simply reapply and hope I was wait-listed /rejected due to my late application?

Impossible to evaluate properly without some stats to judge, but if you received interviews from Duke and OSU they must be in the ballpark. Doing a masters isn't really a good idea unless you have a specific purpose in mind and I don't really hear one so far. I feel like you're just enamored by the Harvard name and that's certainly not something to waste extra debt and 2 years on.

 

[ZPS111]

Impossible to evaluate properly without some stats to judge, but if you received interviews from Duke and OSU they must be in the ballpark. Doing a masters isn't really a good idea unless you have a specific purpose in mind and I don't really hear one so far. I feel like you're just enamored by the Harvard name and that's certainly not something to waste extra debt and 2 years on.

Very fair assessment. I currently have a 33 MCAT and 3.63 sGPA. I was considering retaking the MCAT to get it slightly higher as I under-performed a bit on test day (I was consistently scoring in 35-38 ranges an AAMC practice). The Harvard program is very good for me because it is in Immunology which I have a strong interest. It is a 2 year degree that includes a year of dedicated research time and a thesis. My goal is to get into medical school, so if I have a decent shot at Duke or OSU it's pointless to waste 2 years, but if it's not a decent chance, I would like to spend it at Harvard.

 

[xffan624]

Very fair assessment. I currently have a 33 MCAT and 3.63 sGPA. I was considering retaking the MCAT to get it slightly higher as I under-performed a bit on test day (I was consistently scoring in 35-38 ranges an AAMC practice). The Harvard program is very good for me because it is in Immunology which I have a strong interest. It is a 2 year degree that includes a year of dedicated research time and a thesis. My goal is to get into medical school, so if I have a decent shot at Duke or OSU it's pointless to waste 2 years, but if it's not a decent chance, I would like to spend it at Harvard.

There's no need to retake the MCAT. Especially, as it has changed and would require additional studying and no guarantee you would perform better.

Do you only want to attend Duke or OSU? If you're open to other schools, apply early and broadly and you should get in somewhere with your current stats (maybe those schools, but unfortunately there are no guarantees in this process). What is your state of residence? Ohio?

Besides sh1ts and giggles, I still don't hear any good reason to do a masters. It's your money and time, but it seems like a foolish use of it, if your ultimate goal is to go to medical school and your stats are in range of achieving that goal.