Insta-Harvard

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
It means nothing because there's no such thing.

Edit: ok so the idea is that it's an EC that is so ridiculously amazing that you'll be an auto-accept at Harvard. There is no such thing.
 
Insta-Harvard: It's when you're an UG and achieve the following:
- 4.0 GPA as quadruple major
- 527 MCAT
- 3000+ hrs volunteering, 3000+ hrs shadowing, 3000+ hrs community service
- Got Detroit back to it's former glory
- Cured 3 types of cancer
- solved the US budget deficit
- Ran for and won the presidency while under 35 (of course humbly passing the opportunity since you were busy running your school's student body government)
- Figured out the exact amount of licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop
 
Last edited:
I'm not entirely clear on why you had to make a separate thread about this, but... it's just a term I made up to label a hyperbolic non-realistic EC that's so amazing you would instantly be admitted to Harvard med with it on your resume.

In context, I was using it to tell OP that their EC was good, but that it wasn't overwhelmingly phenomenal in name alone.
 
eteshoe said:
Insta-Harvard: It's when you're an UG and achieve the following:
- 4.0 GPA as quadruple major
- 527 MCAT
- 3000+ hrs volunteering, 3000+ hrs shadowing, 3000+ community service
- Got Detroit back to it's former glory
- Cured 3 types of cancer
- solved the US budget deficit
- Ran for and won the presidency while under 35 (of course humbly passing the opportunity since you were busy running your school's student body government)
- Figured out the exact amount of licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop
Click to expand...



(copy/pasted from an earlier thread)



Try checking off this list if you are really serious:

-4.1+ GPA
-101st percentile MCAT
-Rhodes Scholar
-Green Beret
-URM
-Concert violinist
-Fluent in 7 languages
-First author pubs in Nature, Science, AND Aeronautic Engineering Magazine
-Volunteer coordinator at ebola hospital in Liberia
-Challenger in solo queue in League of Legends
-President of Mensa
-Foundress of the missionaries of charity
-Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
-Olympic gold medalist
-Found Osama Bin Laden
-Made millions in stock market with software written from scratch
-Co-authored a paper on medical morality with Pope Francis
-Astronaut
-Batman


That should be a good start.
 
Spinach Dip said:
(copy/pasted from an earlier thread)



Try checking off this list if you are really serious:

-4.1+ GPA
-101st percentile MCAT
-Rhodes Scholar
-Green Beret
-URM
-Concert violinist
-Fluent in 7 languages
-First author pubs in Nature, Science, Cell, NEJM, AND Aeronautic Engineering Magazine
-Volunteer coordinator at ebola hospital in Liberia
-Challenger in solo queue in League of Legends
-President of Mensa
-Foundress of the missionaries of charity
-Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
-Olympic gold medalist
-Found Osama Bin Laden
-Made millions in stock market with software written from scratch
-Co-authored a paper on medical morality with Pope Francis
-Astronaut
-Batman


That should be a good start.
Click to expand...

Forgot about the other high impact factor journals - they need the love as well
 
Insta-Harvard. Instagram of Harvard. Duh.
 

Attachments

  • 210116_1298320.png
    210116_1298320.png
    990.2 KB · Views: 157
It is a made up term from like an hour ago...

However, since we have an entire thread dedicated to this...

I would define "insta-Harvard" as an extracurricular activity that gives an applicant a 99%+ chance of admission to Harvard medical school IF they have their mean GPA/MCAT and garden variety other experiences.

While most of you may make fun of this and post things that are (obviously) impossible. Such activities and individuals certainly exist. When you are exposed to people that do great things, it is obvious enough. There are applicants with ECs that I'd put money on getting into HMS.
 
Insta-Harvard, n.

Frequency (in current use): Gunners, ironic nerds, ironic nerds who are actually gunners.
Etymology: Neologism of "Instant" and "A Small Liberal Arts College Outside of Boston (TM)".

a. A feat so unilaterally impressive, so singular that it guarantees admission into Harvard Medical School while simultaneously guaranteeing that the individual is so advanced they will not actually benefit educationally from attending Harvard Medical School.

2016. @WedgeDawg - "...it's just a term I made up lol..."

E.g. "Wow, they invented a completely and perfectly biologically memetic mouse model from electronic and physiological components! Mice will never need to die for the sake of experimentation again! That's insta-Harvard!"

adj.
Etymology: "Just add water and boom! Harvard education"
b. The psychological state of overcoming the American myth regarding the imagined scarcity of educational resources. Alternatively (n.), a library card.

E.g. "Tom figured it out. He is a completely self-educated person and has even started an incredible book club to recruit other people to learn with him, from all walks of life and experience. He's an insta-Harvard man."
 
What's funny is you go to Harvard on your insta-admission and find many of the attending at MGH and the Brig are actually IMGs and FMGs.
 
I know someone who insta-Harvarded because he/she had an extensive research background, plentiful leadership positions, and beat cancer multiple times (was not a non-traditional student either). His/her personality was not the best but you win some and you lose some, amirite?
 
jojo58 said:
What's funny is you go to Harvard on your insta-admission and find many of the attending at MGH and the Brig are actually IMGs and FMGs.
Click to expand...

I can't find a single surgeon at MGH... http://www.massgeneral.org/surgery/doctors/

I mean there probably are some, but I went through maybe 2 dozen profiles and couldn't find one.


Okay, went to IM, found 3 on the first page... http://www.massgeneral.org/medicine/doctors/ I dunno if that is really, "many". Also, all FMG, not IMG.
 
Phoodie said:
I know someone who insta-Harvarded because he/she had an extensive research background, plentiful leadership positions, and beat cancer multiple times (was not a non-traditional student either). His/her personality was not the best but you win some and you lose some, amirite?
Click to expand...

This is actually so impressive. If I had cancer even once, med school would be the last thing on my mind. That's amazing that s/he was able to cope with that while still putting together an amazing resume.
 
Lannister said:
This is actually so impressive. If I had cancer even once, med school would be the last thing on my mind. That's amazing that s/he was able to cope with that while still putting together an amazing resume.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. It really puts things into perspective.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Lol to be COMPLETELY honest (and I realize just how controversial this might sound), the first thing I thought of when I say "insta-harvard" was that it meant that those that go to Harvard undergrad are "insta" at at-least one med school in the country based on their high placement rate and high grade inflation.
 
Lucca said:
Insta-Harvard, n.

Frequency (in current use): Gunners, ironic nerds, ironic nerds who are actually gunners.
Etymology: Neologism of "Instant" and "A Small Liberal Arts College Outside of Boston (TM)".

a. A feat so unilaterally impressive, so singular that it guarantees admission into Harvard Medical School while simultaneously guaranteeing that the individual is so advanced they will not actually benefit educationally from attending Harvard Medical School.

2016. @WedgeDawg - "...it's just a term I made up lol..."

E.g. "Wow, they invented a completely and perfectly biologically memetic mouse model from electronic and physiological components! Mice will never need to die for the sake of experimentation again! That's insta-Harvard!"

adj.
Etymology: "Just add water and boom! Harvard education"
b. The psychological state of overcoming the American myth regarding the imagined scarcity of educational resources. Alternatively (n.), a library card.

E.g. "Tom figured it out. He is a completely self-educated person and has even started an incredible book club to recruit other people to learn with him, from all walks of life and experience. He's an insta-Harvard man."
Click to expand...

Might as well put this in urban dictionary if you're going to do all this work
 
jojo58 said:
What's funny is you go to Harvard on your insta-admission and find many of the attending at MGH and the Brig are actually IMGs and FMGs.
Click to expand...
That's because they hire the best published experts from around the world. The US doesn't have a monopoly on talented physicians and published research. These aren't your garden-variety Ross grads- they're people from Cambridge etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

hermionegranger1
Harvard MIT HST interview and curriculum tips
Replies
1
Views
2K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
Unsweet_Tea_Enthusiast
Harvard MSTP secondary
Replies
4
Views
5K
Fencer
Fencer
T
.
Replies
5
Views
729
LizzyM
LizzyM
chilly_md
2025-2026 Harvard
2
Replies
56
Views
23K
throwingthisinthemix
T
F
  • Poll Poll
Harvard vs Hopkins
Replies
3
Views
2K
hydroflaskhomie
hydroflaskhomie
Top