HST interview?

[streetlight]

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Hey all,

It's tough to extract HST interview information from the HMS interview feedback, so I was wondering if anyone had information on the interview day, interview format, etc. for HST specifically. If you've already had an interview, I'd appreciate any information you could give 🙂

Happy holidays!

 

[enjoydrywax]

Anecdotal story from a friend who interviewed: you better know your research INSIDE and OUT. This interview isn't like the new pathway interview (all friendly and happy full of rainbows and balloon animals). Also be very specific about which of the three main HST focuses that you are interested in because they will ask you a lot about why that specific field.

 

[Ebuff]

Interviews start a little later in the morning ~ 11am. There will be a lunch with current students followed by a quick talk by one of the HST directors. Interviews are pannel interviews usually with 2 faculty members and 1 student. The nature of the interview really depends on who is conducting it. Yes, they will want to know about your research to make sure you actually know what you are doing and not just doing minipreps. You should approach it the same way you approach other interviews: stay focused on key points/ideas you want the interviewers to leave with, be yourself, stay as calm as possible, and be confident in your app. You've obviously done some great things to get the interview, being interviewed means you absolutely have a great chance of getting in.

Interviews can happen anytime b/w 1 and 5; they usually last around 45 minutes. You'll have a student panel meeting at some point in there to ask any questions of current students. The day ends with a quick final chat with the director of admissions who is a great, friendly guy.

Good luck!

 

[streetlight]

great input guys! just wondeirng, where can you find information about the three focuses? google is not helping me out here

 

[tiamat360]

great input guys! just wondeirng, where can you find information about the three focuses? google is not helping me out here

Here's a page describing these research focus areas: http://hst.mit.edu/servlet/ControllerServlet?handler=PublicHandler&action=browse&pageId=831

I don't think you need to be interested in any of those specifically to get into the program, nor was I asked about any of them during my interview. In fact, I didn't hear anything about them during the interview day at all. And you can work with any faculty at Harvard and/or MIT, including those at the medical school, FAS (faculty of arts and sciences), or affiliated institutions, so it's not as though you're restricted to doing research with faculty in those fields.

 

[Ebuff]

This is the first time I've heard of these 3 focuses, and I am in the program. Don't worry about trying to conform to this kind of stuff. They are interviewing you because they saw something they liked in your application. Be able to articulate those things in the interview and you will be fine. The HST program is basically looking for people with the potential and drive to be leaders in medicine, not any specific field. Most people don't even know what field they will end up in when they start the HST program or any med school program for that matter.