What's more difficult to get into, Harvard Med or Harvard Undergrad?

[scentedcandle]

Had this discussion with some other students today and wanted to know what you guys think. I know that HMS has a lower acceptance rate, but I feel like there are so many other factors that matter, especially when comparing medical school and undergraduate admissions.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[ndafife]

A quick Google search tells me HMS has a 3.7% acceptance rate; Harvard undergrad has a 5.4% acceptance rate.

HMS also has a smaller, stronger applicant base than the undergrad.

Pretty obvious answer.

 

[efle]

Accept rates become very misleading for medical schools, it mostly reflects the numbers of people applying. For example, Georgetown and George Washington report lower admit rates than HMS. It's not like college where that's an accurate proxy.

In my opinion the medical admissions game is so much more demanding it isn't even in the same ballpark. The 5-10% of applicants getting admitted to the most selective undergrads did great in high school, scored top few percent on a standard exam that needs little to no prep and that everyone takes, and had some kind of interesting extracurricular narrative/hook. Compare that to doing great in university sciences/prereqs, scoring top few percent on the MCAT*, and having extracurriculars like year(s) of work experience or publishing research.

*To get an idea of how much more difficult that level of performance is on the MCAT, take a gander at some of the data from WashU's prehealth handbook a few years back. The WashU student body has a median ACT of 33, which is 99th percentile. When this premed cohort takes the MCAT, only 1 in 4 scores 36+ (equivalent to 518+ these days).