How many actually applied to Harvard?

[AF1892]

Hey all,

How many of you applied to Harvard? Their gpa/mcats are extremely high. Is it even worth applying if you have a 3.5 and below 30 mcats?

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[brandonite]

I applied. Haven't heard about an interview yet, but I'm not too surprized about that.

I would think that you wouldn't have a really good shot at Harvard with a 3.5 and below 30 MCAT. No offense. Unless you're an olympic gold medalist or you've discovered a cure for some disease or something... Harvard is somewhat less numbers obsessed than other schools at the top, and the consensus here seems to be that they are looking for people that they can write about in their admissions booklet and brag about to other adcoms. Generally, though, you'd need at least a 3.6/3.7 and a 34+ MCAT to be competitive, I'd think.

 

[Ranger Bob]

While I agree that an MCAT below 30 makes acceptance at Harvard unlikely, I must disagree with brandonite that a 34+ is required to be competitive. According to US News, the *average* MCAT for Harvard is about 33. This means that roughly half of all Harvard matriculants have an MCAT below 33.

 

[Thumper]

Hey there, my boyfriend applied to Harvard, and he still hasn't heard anything from them. I don't know what's up, cause he has a 3.8 GPA and a 34 on the MCAT's! Anyway, I am keeping my fingers crossed, cause it's his #1 choice!

 

[brandonite]

Ranger Bob - I stand corrected. Although, that does sound pretty low to me.

Who knows.

 

[rikkitikki]

Harvard (and many other schools) is not justabout stats -for Ellie -unfortunately many people with GPA's of 3.8 or above and MCATS of 34 don't get interviews at Harvard. Super MCATS may be interviewed but other than that great Harvard undergrad students are preferred as well as those who can uniquely contribute to class underrepresented geography, ethnic background,researchers, committed volunteers etc. not just run of mill extra currics.

 

[Scooby Doo]

Originally posted by EllieR:
•Hey there, my boyfriend applied to Harvard, and he still hasn't heard anything from them. I don't know what's up, cause he has a 3.8 GPA and a 34 on the MCAT's! Anyway, I am keeping my fingers crossed, cause it's his #1 choice! •••

Not to be mean but those stats are a dime a dozen. The GPA also depends on where he did his undergrad. Harvard is so much more than just stats. If he did the Peace Corps and other things like shadow a doctor for 4 years and then create an organization for some disease or discovered an allele then he would be in a better boat. Harvard could easily fill their class every year with 3.9+ and 39+ if they really wanted to...

 

[The Fly]

Scooby--I agree and disagree with you. While I agree that 3.8/34 is relatively common (I am in this boat and have been disappointed so far with my progress) in applications to harvard, I think its a bit of an exaggeration to say you need to have discovered an allele or be published in Nature/Science/Cell while working from a PC with Sat. uplink during your peace corps work...



I work at the medical school (research) and I have a lot of friends in the school--some are excatly what you'd expect, absolutely brilliant, but others (at first glance) aren't necessarily 'harvard med'-type people--they're just really smart and interesting and very cool (insofar as they have unique experiences).

Oh, BTW, I applied to HMS...haven't heard from them yet. A good friend of mine interviewed there 6 weeks ago, but she's a 3.97/38T Yale graduate, so then you might expect she'd get an interview.

 

[Scooby Doo]

Originally posted by GG16:
•Scooby--I agree and disagree with you. While I agree that 3.8/34 is relatively common (I am in this boat and have been disappointed so far with my progress) in applications to harvard, I think its a bit of an exaggeration to say you need to have discovered an allele or be published in Nature/Science/Cell while working from a PC with Sat. uplink during your peace corps work...


Oh, BTW, I applied to HMS...haven't heard from them yet. A good friend of mine interviewed there 6 weeks ago, but she's a 3.97/38T Yale graduate, so then you might expect she'd get an interview.•••


Ah...but you see, I never said explicitly that you needed that to get into harvard...I just said that it WOULD HELP Having a 3.9 and lots of ECs like that...

As for your friend...yea...she's a model too...so that helps her out

 

[Thumper]

Hey Scooby,
I must say that I am actually a little disappointed in your response. I have come to know you through your posts, and have come to the conclusion that you are a nice guy with a good sense of humor. Your response to my post was a little out of character for you, though. To answer your question, he is a Physiological Science major and a Gerontology minor, at UCLA. He is also a wiz when it comes to computers and the like, and does have research experience. I am not saying that he has a definite chance, because he hasn't discovered a gene and the like! I was just adding my $.02 about his stats and how he'd like to go Harvard, even though he feels pretty crappy about his chances himself. I was just being the proud girlfriend that I am, so I don't see why you had to put me down about it. I admire him for all that he has accomplished, and will love him no matter what happens, so next time you feel like cutting someone down, just realize that they may have other reasons for doing what they are doing. I

 

[Trek]

It's just that 'time of the month' for Mr. Doo. Please give him 3 days and he'll be over it. ;-) --Trek

 

[Thumper]

Thanks Trek! I'm not pissed off or anything, just had to get that off my chest.

 

[choker]

i wouldn't worry about harvard yet, i am pretty sure that no one from columbia has been contacted for interview there, so dont sweat it. my friends at harvard also don't know anyone that's interviewed there either.

 

[Hopkins2010]

According to Harvard's website, you are supposed to get an email confirmation that your app is complete.

Has anybody gotten this email?

 

[brandonite]

From Harvard's secondary application website:

"We are also having difficulty generating the status update letters and e-mail messages mentioned in the HMS Admissions Bulletin; our interactive application status lookup web site is also unavailable. At this time, the best way to check on the status of your application is to contact the Admissions Office via e-mail at [email protected]. Please avoid checking your status by telephone if at all possible; this will help our staff to process your applications and letters more quickly."

So, it doesn't sound like we should be holding our breaths waiting for these emails.

I haven't gotten one from them, and I don't know of anybody else who has...

 

[Weeble]

I don't know of anyone who's gotten an email from them either, but I emailed to see if my app was complete and they got back to me pretty promptly.