2015-2016 Harvard Medical School Application Thread

Hey folks,
I will be matriculating here in the fall. I absolutely fell in love with HMS (especially after revisit). The facilities, opportunities, and (most importantly) the people were truly incredible. I’m extremely humbled and excited about the possibility of joining some amazing colleagues in the fall. There were some students on last year’s thread that were very helpful, and I hope I can do the same.

Stats (for 2014 entering class)-Source
-Applicants 6,614
-Admitted 231 (3.5%)
-Matriculated (includes 13 MD-PhD students) 164
-Men 84 (51%)
-Women 80 (49%)
-Underrepresented in medicine (African-American, Native American, Hispanic, Mexican-American) 31 (19%)
-Asian 56 (34%)

-Average GPA -3.8 Source
- Average MCAT
Verbal-11
Physical Science-12.41
Biological Science-12.67

(from revisit materials- for 2015 entering class)
- Applicants: 6113
- Interviewed: 813
- Total offers (as of revisit): 189
- Total URM: 41
- Total Asian: 56

Age Distribution for 2015 entering class (as of revisit)

Undergrad schools for 2015 entering class (as of revisit)

2015 Course Requirements (these are slightly different than in the past)

1. Biology-All applicants must complete a full year of biology. We will accept advanced or higher-level biology courses towards this requirement as well.
2. Chemistry-All applicants must complete a two year chemistry sequence that covers inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry.
3. Physics-All applicants must complete a full year of physics.
4.Laboratory Experience
Required laboratory components of biology and chemistry are no longer defined as discretely as they were in the past. Lengthy laboratory components of the required science requirement courses are not necessarily time well and efficiently spent. Proper focus on hypothesis-driven exercises, problem solving, and hands-on demonstrations of important principles should take precedence over lengthy laboratory time commitments that steal time away from other, more productive educational opportunities. Active, sustained participation in faculty-mentored laboratory research experiences is encouraged and can be used to meet requirements for the acquisition oflaboratory skills."

5. Computational Skills/Mathematics-All applicants must complete a one-year mathematics sequence that contains calculus and statistics. Biostatistics is preferred for the statistics portion of the requirement.
6. Analytical and writing skills/ expository writing-All applicants must complete a year of coursework that features expository writing. Generally, any course in the social sciences or humanities that involves substantial essay writing will count towards this requirement.
7. Language- All applicants should be fluent in English. It does also state that “mastery of a foreign language, although not required, is valuable”
8. Additional Requirements for the HST Program
In addition to all the above requirements, the HST curriculum requires that students be comfortable with upper-level mathematics (through differential equations and linear algebra), biochemistry, and molecular biology. This is usually demonstrated through upper level course work, but other approaches may satisfy these requirements. In addition, one year of calculus-based physics in college is required.

2014-2015 Secondary Application
1. If you have already graduated, briefly (4000 characters max) summarize your activities since graduation.
2. If there is an important aspect of your personal background or identity, not addressed elsewhere in the application, that you would like to share with the Committee, we invite you to do so here. Many applicants will not need to answer this question. Examples might include significant challenges in access to education, unusual socioeconomic factors, identification with a minority culture, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity. Briefly explain how such factors have influenced your motivation for a career in medicine.(4000 character maximum)
3. Our interview season runs from midSeptember through January. Please indicate any significant (three or more weeks) restriction on your availability for interviews during this period. If none, leave blank.


*All of these prompts were optional.
2014-2015 Important Dates (Dates were obtained from last year’s SDN application thread)
- First secondary: 7/10
- First Interview Invites: Late August (I found the first reported IIs on 8/2)
- Last Interview Date: 1/29
- First acceptances: 3/3/15
- First Waitlist: 5/4 (from last year's application thread)

Financial Aid
- For 2015-2016 Entering Students (MD)
Tuition- $55,850
Budget- $ 87 k

-Harvard uses the unit loan system. The unit Loan System is calculated as follows
Standard Budget - Family Contribution= Financial Need

- For example if the budget is 85k and EFC=0 Need= 85k. Since the unit loan is capped at 33k (for our class) that means that the remainder would be covered by “HMS Scholarship”

-HMS does not offer merit scholarships (all aid is need based). HMS need based aid tends to be one of the most generous. They also have a scaled EFC formula.

-HMS doesn’t match scholarship offers from other schools

Pathways Curriculum
-The Pathways Curriculum is new for this year. The goal was to rearrange the curriculum to start clinical during the first portion of the 2nd year. I will update as I go through it, but I am actually very excited about it.

Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology (HST) MD Program

Harvard/M.I.T. MD PhD Program.

More info on MD-PhD

Of Note
-70-80% of first year students live in Vanderbilt Hall. This is a dorm style setup. Vandy is a cheap alternative to the (ridiculously) expensive housing in Boston. It is also across the street from TMEC (which is where classes are)

- If you are married or not interested in living in Vandy, Harvard does offer graduate student housing. I’m currently looking for housing and will update.

-2015 Match List


I will try to update this thing throughout the cycle. Please let me know if something doesn’t make sense, or if I missed any details.
Good luck!

Citation for formatting- Thank @hellanutella for being a rockstar and starting this trend.

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2015-2016 Harvard Medical School Application Thread