Harvard Medical School Reddit

The following piece was written by Dr. Michelle Finkel. Michelle has been featured in our Admissions Expert series and is a former Harvard Medical School faculty member. She is the founder of Insider Medical Admissions. Follow this link for more details:
http://www.varsitytutors.com/blog/how+to+write+a+personal+statement+for+medical+school

At first glance, medical school admissions might seem a far cry from the subjects of reality television confessionals. The players are stalwart, steady characters who live restrained lives and channel their passions with extreme discipline. Yet the admissions game is arguably one where the drama is real, the intensity is palpable, and the stakes are high. There are winners and losers, with thin margins separating one group from the other. In that spirit, I submit to you these true confessions from my time as an admissions decision-maker to help you understand the gritty underbelly of the process that sifts through hordes of aspiring candidates and determines who makes the cut. For the faint of heart, be warned: It is never pretty to see how the sausage gets made. Several years after writing my personal statements for medical school and emergency medicine residency, I found myself reading essays and making admissions decisions as a Harvard Medical School faculty member. In assessing application essays, first at Harvard and now as a professional medical admissions advisor for over six years, I have learned firsthand that certain personal statement techniques fly and others do not. A candidate’s approach can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection at his/her dream institution. So, in keeping with the realty show theme, I’ll start this first entry in my series of personal statement blogs with a revelation: If a personal statement is filled with flowery, empty language, and platitudes about wanting to help humanity, I imagine the applicant wearing a Miss America Pageant tiara. The rule I want you to remember here is this: All stuff, no fluff. (No Miss America clichés!) The medical personal statement should be a persuasive document that convinces medical schools that you are worthy of spot at their institutions, which means it should include facts about what makes you special – your achievements. Just like a lawyer does when s/he is trying a case in front of a judge, you must persuade with evidence. Saying you are a caring person or want to make the world a better place is not compelling, and those claims do not distinguish you from the scores of other applicants competing with you. You need to prove your value and your distinctiveness with your academic, clinical, research, community service, leadership, international, and teaching achievements. To the admissions reader, you are what you do – not what you say. Every part of your essay should be distinctive, highlighting your unique qualities through your accomplishments. If there is even a phrase in your personal statement that could have been written by someone else, omit. My next revelation: Occasionally, I feel an applicant has mistaken me for his/her mother, wasting precious space expounding on his/her childhood dream of becoming a doctor. Rest assured that unlike Mom, your essay reader doesn’t plan to show his/her friends the photo of you in scrubs from Halloween those many years ago, and you can’t make any assumptions about your reader’s unconditional support of your endeavors. Crafting a paragraph (or two) about your childhood doctor Halloween costume has several fatal flaws: First, despite the fact that applicants should know better, the tactic is (sadly) overused. Also, these stories do not engage your reader nor further your candidacy because they are not built on evidence of your distinctive accomplishments. So, you’ve wanted to study hepatology since you were a baby? How does that support your being a great future physician or leader in medicine? It doesn’t, which is why admissions readers will fall asleep when reading about it. Remember: if you spend too much space talking about your dreams, there’s a good chance it will leave your reader snoozing. My next confession: I do not do independent research or go back and forth checking an applicant’s supporting documents if s/he writes something that isn’t clear. I remember learning an interesting fact several years ago: When small children do not understand something, they simply tune it out and start to engage in another activity. Children – and adults – do not like being confused, and you can’t blame them. In some medical school applicants’ personal statements, candidates make the mistake of obscurely referring to a crowning, distinguishing accomplishment without explaining it. I remember a talented applicant I advised a few years ago who showcased an award she had won. She listed the name, but didn’t explain what it was. When I asked her, she told me the award was an academic honor given to only the top 1% of students out of several thousand. Had she not taken my advice and rewritten the section, her admissions readers wouldn’t have given her an ounce of credit for that extraordinary accomplishment. What you fail to adequately explain counts against you. On a related topic, don’t expect a reader to understand something in your essay because it’s explained in our AMCAS® activities. Different faculty members will approach the application in different ways, so – to get “full credit” for your accomplishments – you need to assume that your reader is seeing your essay first, independent of your AMCAS® activities. Bottom line: ensure your personal statement can stand alone and doesn’t rely on your AMCAS® activities’ section for clarification. You’ve heard it here first: Your med school admissions essay reader is a sleep-deprived skeptic with the attention span of a toddler and very basic cognitive abilities.

For the faint of heart, be warned: It is never pretty to see how the sausage gets made. Several years after writing my personal statements for medical school and emergency medicine residency, I found myself reading essays and making admissions decisions as a Harvard Medical School faculty member. In assessing application essays, first at Harvard and now as a professional medical admissions advisor for over six years, I have learned firsthand that certain personal statement techniques fly and others do not. A candidate’s approach can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection at his/her dream institution. So, in keeping with the realty show theme, I’ll start this first entry in my series of personal statement blogs with a revelation: If a personal statement is filled with flowery, empty language, and platitudes about wanting to help humanity, I imagine the applicant wearing a Miss America Pageant tiara. The rule I want you to remember here is this: All stuff, no fluff. (No Miss America clichés!) The medical personal statement should be a persuasive document that convinces medical schools that you are worthy of spot at their institutions, which means it should include facts about what makes you special – your achievements. Just like a lawyer does when s/he is trying a case in front of a judge, you must persuade with evidence. Saying you are a caring person or want to make the world a better place is not compelling, and those claims do not distinguish you from the scores of other applicants competing with you. You need to prove your value and your distinctiveness with your academic, clinical, research, community service, leadership, international, and teaching achievements. To the admissions reader, you are what you do – not what you say. Every part of your essay should be distinctive, highlighting your unique qualities through your accomplishments. If there is even a phrase in your personal statement that could have been written by someone else, omit. My next revelation: Occasionally, I feel an applicant has mistaken me for his/her mother, wasting precious space expounding on his/her childhood dream of becoming a doctor. Rest assured that unlike Mom, your essay reader doesn’t plan to show his/her friends the photo of you in scrubs from Halloween those many years ago, and you can’t make any assumptions about your reader’s unconditional support of your endeavors. Crafting a paragraph (or two) about your childhood doctor Halloween costume has several fatal flaws: First, despite the fact that applicants should know better, the tactic is (sadly) overused. Also, these stories do not engage your reader nor further your candidacy because they are not built on evidence of your distinctive accomplishments. So, you’ve wanted to study hepatology since you were a baby? How does that support your being a great future physician or leader in medicine? It doesn’t, which is why admissions readers will fall asleep when reading about it. Remember: if you spend too much space talking about your dreams, there’s a good chance it will leave your reader snoozing. My next confession: I do not do independent research or go back and forth checking an applicant’s supporting documents if s/he writes something that isn’t clear. I remember learning an interesting fact several years ago: When small children do not understand something, they simply tune it out and start to engage in another activity. Children – and adults – do not like being confused, and you can’t blame them. In some medical school applicants’ personal statements, candidates make the mistake of obscurely referring to a crowning, distinguishing accomplishment without explaining it. I remember a talented applicant I advised a few years ago who showcased an award she had won. She listed the name, but didn’t explain what it was. When I asked her, she told me the award was an academic honor given to only the top 1% of students out of several thousand. Had she not taken my advice and rewritten the section, her admissions readers wouldn’t have given her an ounce of credit for that extraordinary accomplishment. What you fail to adequately explain counts against you. On a related topic, don’t expect a reader to understand something in your essay because it’s explained in our AMCAS® activities. Different faculty members will approach the application in different ways, so – to get “full credit” for your accomplishments – you need to assume that your reader is seeing your essay first, independent of your AMCAS® activities. Bottom line: ensure your personal statement can stand alone and doesn’t rely on your AMCAS® activities’ section for clarification.

You’ve heard it here first: Your med school admissions essay reader is a sleep-deprived skeptic with the attention span of a toddler and very basic cognitive abilities.

Selection Factors

Admission to Harvard Medical School is very selective. We seek students of integrity and maturity who have concern for others, leadership potential, and an aptitude for working with people.

The Committee on Admissions evaluates applications based on several factors, including the following:

Academic records
Applicant essay(s)
MCAT scores
Letters of evaluation
Extracurricular activities
Summer occupations
Life experiences
Experience in the health field, including research or community work

The education of a physician is enhanced by the diversity of the student body.

The Committee on Admissions takes a holistic approach to application review.

We do not pre-screen applications. All applicants who submit an AMCAS application and designate Harvard Medical School will receive our secondary application.

Harvard Medical School does not have a rolling admissions policy. The timing of the submission or completion of an application will not affect the applicant ’ s chances of receiving an interview invitation. As long as all application materials are received prior to our final deadline, applicants will receive full consideration. Please see When to Apply for more information.

No preference is given to applicants who have majored in science over those who have majored in other disciplines. Students can be successful in their medical studies regardless of undergraduate concentration, providing they have had adequate science preparation. Students are urged to strive not for specialized training but for a balanced, liberal education.

Harvard Medical School is looking for applicants with broad interests and talents regardless of their undergraduate institution. Ivy League applicants do not have an admissions advantage. Students should attend an undergraduate college that will challenge them both academically and personally.

Accepted applicants must successfully complete all courses and programs in progress as indicated at the time of application, including course requirements for admission, at a standard comparable in quality with past academic performance. The majority of successful applicants will have completed most of the required courses prior to application.

HMS complies with Federal and State Law prohibiting discrimination against any applicant or enrolled student on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual preference, age, or handicap.

HMS complies with Federal and State Law prohibiting discrimination against any applicant or enrolled student on the basis of being differently abled. Applicants with disabilities will be evaluated on a case by case basis in accordance with technical standard guidelines as suggested by the Association of American Medical Colleges.

All students must possess the physical and emotional capabilities required to independently undertake the full curriculum and to achieve the levels of competence required by the faculty. You may wish to review our technical standards in detail.

International Students

HMS welcomes applications from international students who have studied for at least one year at an accredited institution in the United States or Canada, and have completed the course requirements. Fluency in English is expected; however, the TOEFL is not required.

While we do accept applications from students with international educational backgrounds, candidates with degrees from accredited institutions in the US and Canada are strongly preferred. Students are required to complete at least three years of college work and a baccalaureate degree prior to matriculation.

A limited number of required courses taken outside the US or Canada may be used to fulfill requirements, determined on a case-by-case basis. Every effort should be made to take the majority of required courses at an accredited college or university in the US or Canada. In any case, at least one year of full-time academic work in the US or Canada is required.

International Students are eligible to apply for need-based financial institutional scholarships and loans. Please see Financial Aid for more information.

In many countries, students enter medical school directly from advanced secondary school, but to apply to Harvard Medical School you must first complete a bachelor’s degree. If you are currently enrolled in any medical school or were enrolled previously, you are ineligible to apply to Harvard Medical School. We also do not accept students who wish to transfer from another medical school. There are no exceptions to these policies.

For more information on Harvard University’s worldwide presence, please visit Harvard Worldwide.

DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) Status

Applicants with DACA status are considered for admission on the same standing as all other candidates. If admitted, DACA-eligible students are eligible for HMS institutional financial aid. Students are responsible for obtaining and maintaining DACA status. Please see Financial Aid and Undocumented at Harvard website for more information.

Non-Traditional Students

HMS welcomes applications from non-traditional students, such as those who have an established career, have a partner, spouse, or family, or have been out of school for two years or longer.

Students with Differing Abilities

HMS offers on-campus housing for students with physical disabilities, learning resources for students with mental disabilities, and a disability coordinator to help with required accommodations. Please see Technical Standards for more information.