One of the oldest Medical Schools in the United States, being founded in 1782, the Harvard Medical School has claimed much prestige over its two centuries in function.
With only a 3,7% acceptance rate, competition for entrance to their medical school is tough, and thus, denial is inevitable for most undergraduate applicants. Of the thousands of applicants, only about 10-15% reach the interview stage before even less of them are finally accepted.
With this in consideration, it is important that students looking to pursue their postgraduate medical education at the school, know what is expected of them to be able to possibly gain entrance.
Here are some of the general requirements that the school expects students to meet in order to prove their eligibility:
- Evidence that the student is intellectual enough to perform successfully in the study and practice of medicine
- Strong academic grasp of biological and physical sciences during their undergraduate qualification
- For foreign students, at least one year of study in the United States or Canada is expected
- Fluency in the English language
Applicants are also expected to have completed the following courses during their undergraduate qualification:
- Behavioural Sciences
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Writing
A number of other factors shall be taken into consideration for applicants, which include:
- Exceptional academic performance, with accepted students typically boasting an average 3.9 grade point average (gpa)
- Application essays that allow the student to share information about themselves, their passions, and why they might be the best candidate for acceptance
- Their Medical College Acceptance Test (MCAT) results. Accepted Harvard applicants typically boast an MCAT average of about 519 out of a possible 528 maximum
- Letters of evaluation. Up to six letters of recommendation are accepted along with the student’s application. These forms are typically written by professors
- Evidence of participation in extracurricular activities to reveal what type of person the applicant is outside of the classroom, as well as what skills they might possess
- Whether the applicant participates in any vacation activities, including volunteer work, extra programmes, and so on
- Any possible research already conducted within the medical field by the applicant
- Applicant’s background and their life circumstances
Ultimately, as previously said, even if an applicant has managed to fulfil the listed criteria, there are thousands of students that can manage the same feats each year.
Thus, given that the acceptance rate is so low, the final decision will likely come to more than just good performance, but will rather be evaluated according to the applicant’s general character and their exemplification of the ideal Harvard student, alongside their exceptional performance.
For more information on the Harvard Medical School, including more in-depth details about their acceptance requirements, navigate to the school’s official website page for prospective students by clicking here.
