Honest opinion please

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ocean11

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Hi all... k' almost ready to send out applications... thinking of adding Harvard and Yale to the list.... just did the MCAT again August... (did the other over three yrs ago and was first yr university then) so my GPA is 3.50 lots of EC's think I did alright in the MCAT should I bother applying? seriously guyz

I welcome your 'harsh' and honest and positive opinions or anything else just please be honest....

I should mention... I'm Canadian

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Oh no, not canadian!!!:eek:
Just kidding.

You are a lot more than a bunch of numbers (if I could only convince myself of that) :rolleyes:

From what I have heard on these threads, Yale and Harvard tend to look at the package deal, rather than just numbers. I personally know people (i'll be like jot, N=2) with lacking scores but great essays and activities who have gotten into Harvard. Look around on the threads; people with great numbers get turned away from those schools all the time.

If money is not an issue, go for it. (IMHO) Good luck.
Isid
 
Contact brandonite, a great guy and a Canadian who moderates the Md/PhD forum. He'll give you great advice based on his experience applying last year. But it's probably worth a shot. Just remember how crap-shootish the process is. With the same GPA as you and a 30 MCAT, I was accepted to one top 10 school, but rejected pre-interview from several others, plus some not so highly rated.
 
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I'm also Canadian. I found that for most of those high-ranked private schools, your nationality doesn't matter. Even if you don't think your chances are good, just give it a shot. You never know, you might be pleasantly suprised.
 
definitely do it, especially if you have the money. I think Harvard's secondary is just signing the check. :D So you have nothing to lose there except 100 bucks!
 
it's always worth a shot. i mean, there have been people in the past who have applied to "reach" schools as they are called and have gotten accepted to them. so never think that you are underqualified to attend a higher ranked school. you never know what is going to happen. good luck!
 
Apparently I'm going to be the only negative voice on this one...

I don't believe in tearing people down just for the sake of it, but in order for me to agree that applying to Harvard is worth your while you're going to have to tell me why you think Harvard would want you. Is there something special or unique about you? Your GPA is 3.50. That's a fine GPA, but Harvard's average GPA is 3.87. As the GPA is the only piece of information you gave us I think it would be ludicrous to give an encouraging response, as yours is significantly below their average. Now it is an average, and clearly they accept people below 3.87 - but presumably these people must have had 'compensating' factors in their app. I'm sure there are other 'qualities' to your application. What are they?

If you are unique in some way, have some distinguishing experiences, publications or whatever then yes, go for it.

If on the other hand you are a cookie cutter pre-med (bio major, straight from undergrad, volunteered in the local ER...., etc) then my perception would be that you would be wasting your money. (I could be wrong but I do not think being Canadian is sufficiently 'unique' - which is the only other thing about you I could glean from your original post).

Of course there is one exception to that - and that is if you wouldn't forgive yourself if you didn't try, and would always wonder 'what if...", in which case I would say 'go for it' regardless of your chances. However, thats more a reflection of my own life philosophy than sound strategic advice.
 
i agree with boy wonder. Unless u really think u have something significant to add to hms/yale's class.
 
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