How Hard Is Harvard, Stanford, or Johns Hopkins?

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doctorDoctor.

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Hello. First of all I want to give a disclaimer that:
1. I'm still a high school student and therefore am very ignorant on the things that may seem very obvious to most of you.
2. I'm not one of those people who shoot for brand name schools just for their prestige and degrees.
3. I'm just curious. Just curious.

How hard exactly is Harvard, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Dartmouth, and all of those high tier medical schools?
I understand that getting into any U.S. Medical school (excluding the Caribbean) is an accomplishment, and that most medical schools have an acceptance rate of 1~3 percent, but what kind of stats would make me competitive for the best medical schools?

Would I literally need a 4.0 college GPA, 36+ MCAT, published research, hundreds of volunteer hours, significant and long-term leadership positions, 2 to 3 fantastic recommendation letters, beautiful personal statement, etc. etc. etc.?

Would anything less than that even be considered? It would also be very helpful if you could post the stats you applied with and the school you got into.

Again, I'm just curious.
Thanks very much.

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Those will get you to the door i guess.
 
Even if you have 4.0 with 42 MCAT, great ECs, clinical experience, and recs, nothing is guaranteed at top 5. I guess you would most likely hit at least top 15 to 20 though.
 
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Hello. First of all I want to give a disclaimer that:
1. I'm still a high school student and therefore am very ignorant on the things that may seem very obvious to most of you.
2. I'm not one of those people who shoot for brand name schools just for their prestige and degrees.
3. I'm just curious. Just curious.

How hard exactly is Harvard, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Dartmouth, and all of those high tier medical schools?
I understand that getting into any U.S. Medical school (excluding the Caribbean) is an accomplishment, and that most medical schools have an acceptance rate of 1~3 percent, but what kind of stats would make me competitive for the best medical schools?

Would I literally need a 4.0 college GPA, 36+ MCAT, published research, hundreds of volunteer hours, significant and long-term leadership positions, 2 to 3 fantastic recommendation letters, beautiful personal statement, etc. etc. etc.?

Would anything less than that even be considered? It would also be very helpful if you could post the stats you applied with and the school you got into.

Again, I'm just curious.
Thanks very much.

Its more about having great stats (3.8+ and 34+) WITH great extracurriculars such as prestigious scholarships, innovative research, high level athletics, meaningful long term community service, influential leadership positions, and great LORs.

Great stats and cookie cutter ECs will get you top 25 but usually not top 10.

Dartmouth is also generally not considered to be a high tier school.
 
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Assuming you are not URM, you are probably looking at a 35/3.8 or 3.9 just to get your application looked at.
 
ALL medical schools are hard, from Rosy Franklin to Harvard.

The avg GPA for Harvard acceptees is 3.9, and the MCAT is around 37. So yes, you'll need great numbers and killer ECs.


Hello. First of all I want to give a disclaimer that:
1. I'm still a high school student and therefore am very ignorant on the things that may seem very obvious to most of you.
2. I'm not one of those people who shoot for brand name schools just for their prestige and degrees.
3. I'm just curious. Just curious.

How hard exactly is Harvard, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Dartmouth, and all of those high tier medical schools?
I understand that getting into any U.S. Medical school (excluding the Caribbean) is an accomplishment, and that most medical schools have an acceptance rate of 1~3 percent, but what kind of stats would make me competitive for the best medical schools?

Would I literally need a 4.0 college GPA, 36+ MCAT, published research, hundreds of volunteer hours, significant and long-term leadership positions, 2 to 3 fantastic recommendation letters, beautiful personal statement, etc. etc. etc.?

Would anything less than that even be considered? It would also be very helpful if you could post the stats you applied with and the school you got into.

Again, I'm just curious.
Thanks very much.
 
Even if you have 4.0 with 42 MCAT, great ECs, clinical experience, and recs, nothing is guaranteed at top 5. I guess you would most likely hit at least top 15 to 20 though.
Can confirm from personal experience.
Its more about having great stats (3.8+ and 34+) WITH great extracurriculars such as prestigious scholarships, innovative research, high level athletics, meaningful long term community service, influential leadership positions, and great LORs.

Great stats and cookie cutter ECs will get you top 25 but usually not top 10.
Exactly. I've interviewed at some Top 10 schools, and in my experience I would emphasize the following things on top of the requisite stats (LizzyM > 74) and expected EC's (clinical, research, etc.):

1) Pedigree - plays a huge role in my opinion, if you want the "old and prestigious schools" (e.g. Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Penn, Columbia) to look at you, this will help a lot.

2) Exceptional Distinction - if you are a Rhodes/Marshall/Truman/Gates-Cambridge/etc. scholar you have a big leg up. The same goes for exceptional athletic performance (D1 athletics with high ranking, especially in big team sports) or research success (high-impact significant-author publication, especially if you have extensive research background a la non-trads with research careers). A lot of things could satisfy this, honestly.

Personally, I have very high stats (LizzyM > 80) and a very solid application overall (strong, multi-faceted long-term professional relationship LOR's, long-term EC's in research, volunteerism, leadership, etc.) yet I lack both of the above; I do not come from a prestigious institution and I am not exceptionally distinguished in any way. This is not to say that my application is perfect otherwise, but given these weaknesses I can see why I've been shunned at all of the "old and prestigious" schools.
 
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Can confirm from personal experience.

Exactly. I've interviewed at some Top 10 schools, and in my experience I would emphasize the following things on top of the requisite stats (LizzyM > 74) and expected EC's (clinical, research, etc.):

1) Pedigree - plays a huge role in my opinion, if you want the "old and prestigious schools" (e.g. Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Penn, Columbia) to look at you, this will help a lot.

2) Exceptional Distinction - if you are a Rhodes/Marshall/Truman/Gates-Cambridge/etc. scholar you have a big leg up. The same goes for exceptional athletic performance (D1 athletics with high ranking, especially in big team sports) or research success (high-impact significant-author publication, especially if you have extensive research background a la non-trads with research careers). A lot of things could satisfy this, honestly.

Personally, I have very high stats (LizzyM > 80) and a very solid application overall (strong, multi-faceted long-term professional relationship LOR's, long-term EC's in research, volunteerism, leadership, etc.) yet I lack both of the above; I do not come from a prestigious institution and I am not exceptionally distinguished in any way. This is not to say that my application is perfect otherwise, but given these weaknesses I can see why I've been shunned at all of the "old and prestigious" schools.

crazy to think that you could accomplish things like this and get very little top 10 love. thanks for the inside look
 
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Its actually worse than you could possibly imagine. Heres a perfect example. Guy at my school has a 4.0, 36 MCAT. He's a certifiable genius and a REALLY REALLY normal kind hearted person...one of those beloved by all professors. He even did research at Harvard for a summer, and one of his letters came from the Harvard professor he did research with. They didnt even give him an interview.
 
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I agree that undergrad name can help for certain schools. At the top 10 I interviewed at, nearly 75% of people on that day were from ivy league schools or Stanford. Of the many current students I talked to, same story. However these people had "the whole package" - great stats, passion that showed through their experiences and their narrative, and a strong background. The first two are necessary and the third seems to help.
 
I think high numbers helps them take your application seriously, but I don't think they see a 40 MCAT much better than a 35 MCAT. I'm pretty sure if they wanted, they could raise their MCAT average to 40. The most important thing after passing the number screening is to show them what kind of impact you would have on the future of medicine. They want people who will make names for themselves and help raise the prestige of the med school. This means finding your specific niche and having strong letters of recommendation to back up your drive.
 
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