- Hi everyone! Welcome back to the channel.
If you're new here, I'm Dr. Shemmassian
and I've been helping students
get into top med schools
like Harvard, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, and UCLA
for over 15 years.
Today, we're going to be talking about
the program that tends to most fascinate applicants:
Harvard Medical School.
We'll take a deep dive into the requirements,
acceptance rate, and admissions strategies
to get into the number one ranked medical school
in the country.
Harvard Medical School, or HMS,
is the holy grail for many pre-med hopefuls.
It's routinely number one
in the U.S. News & World Report medical school ranking
and this is no fluke.
HMS's prestige is backed by its world class faculty,
diverse set of clinical and research opportunities,
and open access to an incredible network
of CEOs and Nobel Laureates.
Of course, the number one ranked medical school
can be an automatic long shot
for even the most qualified pre-meds.
Their median GPA and MCAT score are astronomically high,
their acceptance rate is tremendously low,
and Harvard Medical Students carry a shroud of mystery.
What exactly does it take to get into Harvard?
Regardless of where you are in your pre-med journey,
understanding the admissions process and requirements
of the top medical school in the nation
will be helpful as you work toward becoming a doctor.
My goal is not to make you feel discouraged
about your chances for HMS
but rather to explain how the best do it.
If you can understand how to get into HMS,
you'll have all the information you need
to become the kind of candidate
medical schools love to admit.
Before we did into the admissions numbers and strategies,
let's go over
Harvard's two different medical school curricular options:
Pathways and HST.
The HMS Pathways curriculum
involves a more traditional medical school education
consisting of case-based learning, clinical experiences,
as early as the first few weeks of your first year,
advanced science courses,
and a culminating research project.
Around 80% of HMS students are on this track.
The Health Sciences and Technology, or HST program,
is a collaborative effort between Harvard and MIT
that provides specialized training
in biomedical research, basic science, and biotechnology.
About 20% of the class is enrolled
in this research-intensive track,
approximately 40% of whom pursue an MD-PhD.
So if you have substantial research experience
and are interested in a career in medical research,
the HST program might be an attractive option for you.
Admission to Harvard Medical School is extremely competitive
and HMS updates their admissions statistics annually.
For the class of 2023,
HMS had 6,815 applications,
948 interviews, which stands at 13.9%,
and 165 matriculants,
which comes out to 2.42%.
Unfortunately, HMS doesn't provide an exact acceptance rate,
only a matriculation rate.
However, based on data from previous years,
it's safe to say that the HMS acceptance rate is below 5%.
Let's delve even deeper
into the academic data among matriculants.
So, according to the HMS website,
the average MCAT score for matriculants is 519,
in the 98th percentile.
Average GPA for matriculants is 3.9.
We can find a bit more academic data from MSAR.
MSAR reports a range of 513 to 525 for the MCAT,
that's the 10th percentile to the 90th percentile,
3.69 to 4.0 for science GPA,
and 3.75 to 4.0 for overall GPA.
Although the stats are quite high for HMS,
the ranges demonstrate that
not every Harvard medical student
has a 3.9 GPA and a 519 MCAT score.
Because the admissions process is holistic,
your odds of admission will be higher
if you can also supplement your stats
with a strong set of extracurriculars
and compelling written materials.
Harvard has a list of required coursework available
on their website.
In short, they require you to complete
the following courses prior to enrolling.
Biology: They want one year with lab.
It should include cellular and molecular biology.
Chemistry: They want two years with lab.
It should include inorganic chemistry,
organic chemistry, and biochemistry.
For physics, they expect one year.
Lab is preferred but it's not required.
But note that HST applicants should complete
additional calculus-based physics courses.
For math: One year, including calculus and statistics.
Again note: HST applicants should take
additional math courses,
such as differential equations and linear algebra.
And finally, for writing, they expect a year.
In addition to these required courses,
Harvard also encourages courses
in literature, languages, arts,
humanities, and social sciences
so that candidates are more well-rounded
and are better able to understand human behavior,
appreciate societal structure and function,
and achieve cultural awareness.
You'll want to ensure,
not only that you complete
all of the required courses,
but that you also earn high grades in them.
It's not uncommon for Harvard admits
to have near-perfect transcripts.
HMS doesn't require extracurricular activities
that are any different from those required
by other medical schools.
They still want to see you shadow,
gain meaningful patient exposure experiences,
serve your surrounding community,
and partake in research activities.
However, because HMS applicants are involved
in the same activities,
the depth of extracurricular involvement
is what matters most to the Admissions Committee.
So, you should demonstrate a multiyear commitment
to activities that you're passionate about
but also demonstrate an incredible level of accomplishment
in those activities.
HMS students select one or two areas
that they're passionate about and go all in.
As an example, let's say, you're a music major
and you really enjoy playing the saxophone.
So, you start a music therapy program
for children with developmental disabilities.
Then, you get involved with a research lab
investigating the relationship
between music and recovery rates for stroke patients.
Soon you're known as "that musician researcher gal."
Your goal is to stand out in this way.
Admissions committees should be able to identify you
as "that stem cell researcher guy"
or "the woman who started a nonprofit in Rwanda."
While HMS and many other medical schools in the nation
won't require research experiences,
you should view it as a requirement.
According to MSAR, 98% of HMS matriculants
had some sort of research experience.
What's more, given their curriculum's focus on research,
it only makes sense that you have invested some time
into scholarly pursuits.
Therefore, join a research lab early on
and aim to publish your work in scientific journals.
It's not necessary to publish but it helps.
HMS, like all medical schools,
wants to better understand you
through the lens of people who have worked with you.
They allow up to six letters of recommendation
with the following guidelines.
At least two letters from science professors.
So, folks with whom you took classes for a letter grade.
At least one letter from a non-science professor,
again, for a letter grade.
A committee letter or packet from your school
counts as one letter toward your six letter allowance.
You'll want to make sure you choose letter writers
who can submit strong recommendations on your behalf.
Such letters should include specific anecdotes
that highlight the qualities
you want your application to communicate.
And because you're applying to the best medical school,
your letters should also contain superlatives.
For example, "She has one of the most analytical minds
"I have ever encountered
"as a professor at Boston University."
To apply to HMS,
you have to send an application through AMCAS,
the American Medical College Application Service.
AMCAS, otherwise known as your primary application,
will ask you to submit a personal statement.
The personal statement is a 5,300-character essay
that answers the prompt:
"Use the space provided to explain
"why you want to go to medical school."
This written statement should provide an overview
of your personal, academic, and extracurricular background,
and detail how your experiences have led you to medicine.
And as I mentioned with your extracurricular activities,
your personal statement should not try too hard
to cover every single accomplishment.
Instead you'll want to select a few key qualities
that you wish to highlight to adcoms
and write about the experiences that capture them well.
After your AMCAS primary is submitted and verified--
a process that involves a review of your transcript--
you'll receive a secondary to HMS.
Since the adcom doesn't prescreen applicants
based on GPA or MCAT cutoffs,
this secondary application,
which is specific to Harvard Medical School,
is an opportunity for you to show HMS
that you're an excellent fit to further their mission
and are the type of student they would like
to invest training resources in
over the next four years.
A database of all medical school secondary essay prompts,
including Harvard's, can be found
in the description box below.
Another important thing to note
is that Harvard doesn't practice rolling admissions.
So long as you submit your application
prior to their final deadline,
your entire application
will receive a complete evaluation.
Please note that this approach is very different
from the majority of medical schools
which do practice rolling admissions.
For those schools, it'll be to your advantage
to submit your secondary application
and other necessary materials
as early as possible
so the admissions departments can make a decision
on your application
when there are the most seats available.
After your entire written application has been evaluated,
HMS will decide whether or not
to send you an interview invitation.
As I mentioned earlier in the video,
HMS only interviews about 13% of applicants,
so receiving an invitation
is an accomplishment in itself.
Although there are a wide variety
of medical school interviews,
everything from multiple mini interviews or MMIs
to group interviews,
HMS practices a traditional interview format
and invited students will meet with
two different interviewers.
Harvard interviews tend to be open file,
meaning interviewers will have read
through your entire application before meeting you.
The questions they ask will help them learn more about you
and how your background and experiences led you to medicine.
To prepare for this interview,
make sure you know your application inside and out.
You'll also want to practice some common responses
with someone who's knowledgeable
about the admissions process
and ask for feedback on your delivery.
Applicants who interview well
are able to respond thoughtfully to questions
without sounding rehearsed.
Above all, they come across as genuine, likable people
who would be great classmates and future colleagues.
If you've found this video helpful,
give it a thumbs up and subscribe
so you don't miss out on new videos.
If you'd like to learn more
about writing an amazing personal statement
and other critical aspects
of the medical school admissions process,
click the link in the description
to get a free copy of my comprehensive guide,
"How to Get Into Medical School".
It contains a number of high-level strategies
for every aspect of your medical school application--
strategies that my team and I use
to routinely help students get into med schools
like Harvard, Hopkins, Mayo, and UCSF.
Alright, thanks again for watching.
See you next time.