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I had lunch the other day with Dan Federman who has spent his whole life at Harvard University and HMS. He is currently the Dean of Clinical Teaching and was Dean of Admissions for 20 years.
I asked him what should a freshman in college know in order to to get into Harvard Medical School down the road. He said having a 4.0 is not enough. He said they could fill the school 3-4 times over with students that have 4.0 from top schools. You must have that extra "something something" like being a Karate Champ, have won a triathalon, written a play, had an interesting career in another field, or anything that makes you different. Plus he said having shown a strong commitment to medicine by volunteering in a clinic or hospital is MANDATORY. Although the new HIPAA regulations will likely disallow student volunteers in clinical medicine (as a violation of the rights of privacy). He said this will be a big problem.
In any case, getting a 40 on the MCAT and a 4.0 from Univ Of Mich will not get you in if you are a complete tool in all other areas of life.
Good Luck getting into Harvard.
I asked him what should a freshman in college know in order to to get into Harvard Medical School down the road. He said having a 4.0 is not enough. He said they could fill the school 3-4 times over with students that have 4.0 from top schools. You must have that extra "something something" like being a Karate Champ, have won a triathalon, written a play, had an interesting career in another field, or anything that makes you different. Plus he said having shown a strong commitment to medicine by volunteering in a clinic or hospital is MANDATORY. Although the new HIPAA regulations will likely disallow student volunteers in clinical medicine (as a violation of the rights of privacy). He said this will be a big problem.
In any case, getting a 40 on the MCAT and a 4.0 from Univ Of Mich will not get you in if you are a complete tool in all other areas of life.
Good Luck getting into Harvard.