Cabot House Premedical Advisory Committee
Guidelines for Applying to Medical School
****REMEMBER TO FILL OUT THE PERSONAL INFORMATION FORM AND RETURN
IT TO THE RESIDENT DEAN’S OFFICE BY END OF PRESIDENTS DAY IN FEBRUARY
OR YOU WILL NOT BE ASSIGNED A PREMEDICAL ADVISOR/LETTER WRITER
Cabot House Premedical Advisory Committee
House Administration
Emily Stokes-Rees, ca-abrd@fas.harvard.edu (Resident Dean)
Beth Musser emusser@fas.harvard.edu (Assistant to the Resident Dean)
Resident Premedical Tutors 2013 - 2014
Mihir Chaudhary, mchaudh@fas.harvard.edu
Devarati Mitra, devarati_mitra@hms.harvard.edu
Tafadzwa Muguwe, tafadzwa.muguwe@gmail.com
Lekha Tummalapalli, lekha_tummalapalli@hms.harvard.edu
Non-Resident Tutors
Non-Resident Tutors are members of the Premedical Advisory Committee who may be students at
Harvard Medical School, residents or fellows in training, or faculty at one of the Harvard-affiliated
hospitals. Each NRT serves as the primary advisor for 1 or 2 students applying to medical school, and
writes the House letter for those students. Because of the number of Cabot students applying to medical
school every year, it is not possible for the Resident Tutors to write letters for all applicants. If you are
assigned a NRT, you should take advantage of every opportunity to get to know your advisor (and vice
versa), including shadowing him or her during their workday. The Resident Tutors work closely with the
NRTs to make sure that you are well supported throughout the application process.
Guidelines for students with Non-Resident Tutor advisors
1. The resident tutors will notify you and your advisor of each other’s contact information in
March (only if you have returned your completed Personal Information Form by the end
of Presidents day in February). We will send a copy of your PIF and letters of
recommendation to your advisor.
2. You should immediately call or email your advisor to introduce yourself and set up a
meeting by mid-April.
3. At your first meeting, you should talk about your interests in medicine, the strengths &
weaknesses in your profile, and begin a preliminary discussion about what medical
schools would be appropriate for you to apply to.
4. Consider shadowing your advisor as he or she conducts hospital rounds or sees patients in
the clinic.
5. You should meet again with your advisor at least once before you leave for the summer
to discuss the list of schools you will apply to as well as your personal statement etc.
Deciding where to apply
Selecting Schools
1. Every state school in your state of legal residence (usually the state where your parents are
residents)
2. Every private school that gives preference to state residents
3. Private schools (of your choice) that you are reasonably competitive for. Note that not
included on this list are Ivy League medical schools! Do not fall into the trap of applying to a
group of high profile or ‘top tier’ medical schools just because you are a Harvard undergraduate,
unless you are competitive for those schools. Save yourself some time and money, and
concentrate on the schools for which you have a reasonable chance of admission. Your best
source of information about schools is the AAMC website (www.aamc.org). The Assistant to the
Resident Dean also has a copy of the Medical School Admissions Requirements for US and
Canadian medical schools.
Joint Degree Programs
MD-PhD/MSTP (Medical Scientist Training Program)
If you are interested in research training, be sure to discuss with your premedical advisor whether
MD-PhD or MSTP programs may be right for you. Most of these programs are geared toward
the basic sciences, and many offer attractive financial incentives. Below is a list of schools that
offer MSTP programs.
University of Alabama School of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine
University of California—Los Angeles
University of California—San Diego
University of California—San Francisco
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
University of Chicago
University of Colorado
Columbia University
Cornell University Medical School (with Rockefeller
University)
Duke University Medical Center
Emory University School of Medicine
Harvard Medical School (with MIT)
University of Iowa College of Medicine
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
University of Michigan Medical School
University of Minnesota Medical School
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
New York University School of Medicine
SUNY—Stony Brook
Northwestern University Medical School
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh (with Carnegie-Mellon University)
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Stanford
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center—Dallas
Tufts University School of Medicine
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
University of Virginia
Washington University School of Medicine
University of Washington (Seattle) School of Medicine
Yale University School of Medicine
MD-MPH
The Masters of Public Health degree can be useful if you plan to do clinical (patient-related) or
population-based research. Many MPH students are mid-career physicians who have taken time
off to learn epidemiology, biostatistics, and other essentials of research and public health, but
more and more medical students opt to combine their initial medical training with the MPH.
Many schools offer an MD-MPH combined program; you should check with each school’s
website for details. Some schools combine the MPH such that you finish both degrees in 4 years;
others add an extra year that you can take at any point in your 4 years of medical school. You
can also opt to take time off and do your MPH at a different institution.
MD/JD
Yale University School of Medicine
University of Illinois—Urbana/Champaign
University of Chicago—Pritzker
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
Duke University School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
MD-MPA
Columbia University
Harvard University
MD/MBA
University of California—Davis
University of California—Los Angeles
University of Chicago—Pritzker
University of Illinois—Urbana/Champaign
Dartmouth Medical School
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve U
MCP Hahnemann School of Medicine
Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson
University
University of Pennsylvania
Vanderbilt University
Medical School Deferral Policies
Not all medical schools grant deferrals for matriculation. Please consult your Resident Tutors or
OCS if you are thinking about deferring before beginning medical school.
Medical Student Education
The AAMC Graduate Questionnaire (GQ) was established in 1978 as a method for the AAMC,
medical schools, and other organizations to identify and address issues critical to the future of
medical education and the wellbeing of medical students. The GQ also includes information on
career choice, student debt, diversity, and mistreatment. Visit https://www.aamc.org/data/gq/ for
more information.
Other Useful Resources
- Considering a medical career: https://www.aamc.org/students/considering/
- Applying to medical school: https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/
- Succeeding as a medical student: https://www.aamc.org/students/medstudents/
o Includes how to finance your medical education
- Managing your residency: https://www.aamc.org/students/residents/
Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) (adapted from AAMC website)
Everything you want to know about the MCAT can be found at:
http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/mcatessentials.pdf
- What is it? The MCAT is a standardized, multiple-choice examination that assesses
knowledge of pre-medical science concepts, problem solving, critical thinking, and
writing. The MCAT yields scores in Verbal Reasoning, Physical Sciences, Writing
Sample, and Biological Sciences. The exam takes half a day and is given in a
computerized format at specific testing centers around the country.
- What is this I hear about the MCAT changing? The MCAT exam will change in 2015 “to
keep pace with changes in medical education and health care.” Until that time there is a
Trial Section that you can volunteer to take which will be the last section of the test and
will take 45 minutes to complete. How you do on the Trial Section will not contribute to
your score in any way and your advisors and the medical schools you apply to will never
know how you did. But if you put in a “good-faith effort” you will receive a $30 Amazon
gift card and feedback on your performance relative to others who participated in the
Trial Section.
- When is it offered? The exam is offered >30 times in 2014:
https://www.aamc.org/students/download/355270/data/2014mcatcalendar.pdf You
should aim to have completed the exam by May in the year before you submit your
AMCAS. The best dates are at the end of J-term. There is extremely high demand for
these dates so plan to sign up more than 2 months in advance. Please get in touch with
your Resident Tutors about when is the best test date for you. Remember that medical
schools will consider MCATs within 3 calendar years from the year of matriculation.
- How do I prepare for it? There are a variety of methods to prepare, including prep books,
or a prep course. We highly recommend taking multiple practice AAMC e-MCAT tests
which are available for purchase:
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/preparing/85158/orderingpracticetests_mc
at.html
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How do I register? Register online at:
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/reserving/.
Yikes! I can’t afford to take this test! If you have extreme financial limitations that may
prevent you from registering for the MCAT, you should look into the MCAT Fee
Reduction. The MCAT Fee Reduction Request Form is included with the MCAT
registration materials, or it can be downloaded from the website.
What do I do with the scores? If you release your MCAT scores directly to the American
Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) at the time of the test, AMCAS will
automatically forward the two most recent MCAT scores with application materials to
your choice of AMCAS-participating schools. You can also designate six non-AMCAS
institutions (i.e., non-AMCAS allopathic medical schools, schools of osteopathic,
podiatric and veterinary medicine) as score recipients at no cost.
AMCAS: American Medical College Application Service
- What is it? The American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) is a non-profit,
centralized application processing service for applicants to the first-year entering classes
at participating U.S. medical schools. Applicants to medical schools that do not
participate in AMCAS, as well as all advanced standing and transfer applicants should
contact schools directly for application instructions.
- How does it work? You submit just one application to AMCAS online and an official
transcript from each college of registration in the United States and Canada. AMCAS
ensures that the application materials are complete and correct by verifying information
on the application against the official transcripts. AMCAS then copies and distributes
your application to your designated medical schools, along with your latest two released
MCAT scores. When medical schools receive your AMCAS application, they will notify
you of any additional fees, letters of evaluation, or other items that may be required (e.g.,
“secondary” applications).
- What about the deadlines for each school? All deadlines are set by the individual medical
schools and represent when materials (application and fees) must be received by AMCAS.
If you pay by credit card, you can certify and submit your application and pay on-line up
to midnight on the day of the deadline. However, if you plan to pay your application fee
by check, you must print an invoice from the web-application and send it with your check
to AMCAS. The check must be received (not postmarked) by 5pm on the deadline day.
Submitting materials as early as possible avoids any processing delays or missed
deadlines. You are responsible for ensuring that all required information is received by
AMCAS according to the school-specific deadlines set forth in the application. In
addition, applicants are responsible for checking the status of their submitted application.
- So what do I do? Go online and begin work on your AMCAS application as early as
possible, usually in May. Submit your Official Transcript when spring semester grades
are in!
- When can I submit my AMCAS application? AMCAS begins accepting application
materials each year on June 1.
- What’s the fee? The AMCAS application fee is $160 for the first school, and $30 for each
additional school. Applicants unable to pay this fee may apply for a fee waiver through
the AMCAS Fee Waiver Program. Detailed instructions and the application for the fee
waiver are included in application materials.
GPA calculation instructions
Refer to these instructions as you do the “academic coursework” section of the AMCAS
application. You can also find them in the “help” function of AMCAS.
What courses do I have to list?
AMCAS requires that you list “any course you have ever attempted at any US, US Territorial, or
Canadian post-secondary institution, regardless of whether credit was earned.” This includes, but
is not limited to:
- Courses from which you withdrew
- Courses for which you received a grade of “incomplete” and for which no final grade has
been assigned
- Courses which have been repeated
- Courses which have been failed, regardless of whether they have been repeated
- Courses in which you are currently enrolled or expect to enroll in prior to entering
medical school
- Remedial/developmental courses
- College-level courses taken while in high school even if they were not counted toward a
degree by any college
- Courses taken at an American college overseas
- Courses removed from your transcripts or GPA as a result of academic bankruptcy or
similar institutional policies
Do not list AP courses taken in high school unless you received college credit for them!
What’s “academic status”?
Academic status refers to the academic year you took the course, e.g. freshman (FR), sophomore
(SO), junior (JR), senior (SR). If you are advanced standing, courses taken your first year should
be labeled FR, your second year courses are labeled SO, and your last year courses are SR.
Courses taken in the summer are listed under the upcoming year (e.g., orgo taken the summer
between sophomore and junior years should be labeled “JR”). Graduate level courses taken as an
undergraduate should not be labeled “GR.”
BCPM/A??
BCPM/A stands for Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics/All other courses. The labels are
based on the content of the courses, not the course title or department. You will have to use your
judgment for certain biochemistry, engineering, and psychology courses. Statistics counts as
math. Cores can count, depending on content. Each course can have only one code. If you have
questions, ask your advisor or resident tutors!
GPA conversion equivalents
o A+, A 4.0 A half course at Harvard equals 4 credit hours, a full course is 8 hours.
o A- 3.7 Multiply the grade’s numerical equivalent by the number of credit hours.
o B+ 3.3 Add all of the resulting numbers and divide by the number of total credit hours.
o B 3.0 Omit Pass/Fail and unsats.
o B- 2.7 and etc. This yields your GPA.
Example:
Moral Reasoning 32 half-course, B+ 3.3 x 4 = 13.2
History of Science 97A half-course, A- 3.7 x 4 = 14.8
History of Science 120 half-course, C 2.0 x 4 = 8.0
Lit Art C-37 half-course, A- 3.7 x 4 = 14.8
History of Science 97B half-course, B+ 3.3 x 4 = 13.2
Hist Std A-18 half-course, B+ 3.3 x 4 = 13.2
Social Analysis 10 full-course, A- 3.7 x 8 = 29.6
32 hours, 106.8; 106.8 / 32 = 3.34
Okay, so now what do I do?
On your AMCAS application and on your Personal Information Form, list all the courses you
took by year, starting with freshman year (include college courses you took in high school).
Label each by academic status and by BCPM/A. Calculate the “AMCAS grade” as demonstrated
above. For your PIF, calculate each of the following:
1) Science (BCPM), non-science, and overall GPAs for each academic year, including
summer courses
2) Science, non-science, and overall GPAs averaging over your entire college career
These GPAs are crucial as we write your House letter and help you decide what schools are
reasonable for you to apply to. Don’t worry about one abysmal grade or horrible semester; we
also look for trends and mitigating circumstances that can help explain the yuckier parts of your
record. Remember that we need you to calculate your GPAs now (for your PIF) as well as again
after you receive your grades from spring semester of your application year. You can simply
send us a copy of your AMCAS application, but have the numbers neatly calculated and labeled.
The House Letter of Recommendation
- What is it? The House letter is an essential component of your medical school application:
your application will not be considered complete without it! It is written by one member
of the committee and is reviewed and signed by the Chair of the Premedical Committee
and the Resident Dean. The House letter and 3-5 individual letters of recommendation are
sent to each medical school you apply to.
- What is in it? In the House letter, we present your record, your interests, and your
personality. We use information from interviews, your application, our personal
acquaintance with you, and letters of recommendation. The House letter is one of
advocacy and evaluation, discussing your academic accomplishments, explaining any setbacks or detours, discussing the origins of your interest in medicine, your career plans
and commenting upon your achievements and potential. We try to make it honest and in
your favor. College policy requires us to reveal any requirement to withdraw for
disciplinary or academic reason and any probation for disciplinary or academic reasons.
Supporting Letters of Recommendation
- When to ask? If you have not already done so, you should start asking for letters of
recommendation NOW. In general, the best time to ask for a letter of recommendation is
soon after a course, job, or extracurricular activity has ended. Your letter writer is likely
to be quite busy, and it can take a long time for a letter to get into your file, so make sure
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to ask well ahead of the June deadline. (See Timetable. Remember, a waiver must
accompany each letter sent to the office).
How many letters do I need? Late letters of recommendation mean a late House letter,
which in turn means late secondaries and interviews. While 3-5 letters are eventually sent
with your application, more can sometimes be helpful in writing the House letter.
Whom to ask? The ideal letter of recommendation is from a person who has worked with
you closely, knows you well, and has been impressed by you and/or your work. Ask the
people who know your academic ability and personal qualities best, and who can write a
detailed letter with concrete examples, anecdotes, and as many sincere superlatives as
possible. You should ask both science and non-science instructors: science concentrators
need to show strengths in writing, the humanities, and social sciences, whereas nonscience concentrators need to demonstrate strengths in the sciences and math. Letters
from an extracurricular activity advisor, employer, or coach can also round out your file.
The bottom line: everyone should have at least 2 science letters and 1-2 non-science
letters. 1-2 extracurricular letters may also be helpful but you MUST have the academic
letters.
Professors vs. teaching fellows. If you must decide between a generic letter from a
professor and a thorough, detailed letter from a TF, choose the TF. However, always ask
if the professor would be willing to cosign the letter.
How to ask? You can ask for a recommendation over the phone or via e-mail, but you
should meet with the prospective letter writer to discuss your interests and plans. Ask the
person if he or she can write a strong letter for you. If he or she says "no" or "not by the
deadline," try to find someone else. Again, the most important criterion is not whether he
is a professor or lab instructor but that he or she knows you well. If you ask a teaching
fellow, you may ask if the professor could co-sign the letter.
What can I do to help my recommendation letter-writers? The more information you give
to your letter writers, the more detailed their letter can be. So give them (at a minimum):
o CV
o Personal statement (brief) about yourself including academic and extracurricular
interests, and why you want to go into medicine
o Waiver form (signed)
o Stamped envelope addressed to the office of the Resident Dean
o Deadline (make it up if you have to), because most busy people work best if they
have some kind of deadline and because they may have many letters to write and
you need to get in line
Be polite but persistent. Don’t feel bad about calling or sending e-mail again if the letter
is still not in after a month
To waive or not to waive? We suggest that you waive your rights of access to all your
letters of recommendation. Whether you waive your right or not, you must sign a waiver
for each letter. Be aware that we cannot use non-confidential letters in a confidential
House letter. All letters should be confidential or none of them should be.
Where do letters go? All letters should be addressed to: Office of the Resident Dean,
Cabot House, 60 Linnaean Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Finally: Remember to keep track of your letters of recommendation by checking with the
Office of the Resident Dean. It is your responsibility to make sure that your file is
complete!
Suggested Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Your Name
Mailing address
Phone number
Email address
Permanent address
Education
- 2008-2012 Harvard College, Cambridge, MA.
- AB cum laude in Psychology. (If desired, add GPA and any special coursework)
- 2004-2008 My High School, Hometown, State. (If desired, add any graduation honors,
class rank, SATs)
Research experience:
- 2009-present Department of Immunology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
(Include short description of project, whom you worked with, and your responsibilities)
Work experience:
- Duration, job title, institution, location (Include short description of responsibilities)
Honors:
- 2010 John Harvard Scholarship (for Rank List I)
- 2009 Detur Prize (awarded to top 10% of freshmen)
- 2008 National Merit Scholarship
Publications:
List the scientific publication exactly as it would be cited (use the citation format standard in
your field) and bold your name. e.g. Cabot J, Pforzheimer T, Your Name, Currier Q.
Minimizing the number of trips from the Quad to the Yard Journal of Harvard Precocity 2010;
365: 311.
Extracurricular and volunteer experience:
Duration, group, institution, and location.
o President (2009-2010)
o Editorial board member (2008-2010)
o Coordinator, specific project or committee (years)
Personal
Languages & hobbies
Personal Statement
This is probably the most difficult part of your application. How do you define yourself, your
motivations, your aspirations, etc. in a 1-page essay? What they want to hear about is, literally,
why you want to be a doctor—i.e., your motivation for going into medicine. You can approach
this question in several different ways (these are not exclusive!):
- Write about a significant experience you’ve had with the medical profession (e.g., when
you or a family member was a patient, when you volunteered in a hospital or healthrelated activity, when you shadowed a physician, etc.)
- Describe a series of experiences (e.g., through volunteering or extracurricular activities,
life events) that added to your conviction that medicine is the right field for you. (see
below for hints)
- Describe the personal qualities & strengths that would make you a good physician (and
give specific examples). Some suggestions:
o Write about things that you feel are important to you. If you’re bored while
writing them, others will be bored while reading them.
o When describing a series of events, people often use chronological order. This
isn’t incorrect, but a stronger essay will result if you write by themes and use
examples for each theme. E.g. instead of “I first began to be interested in
medicine in my sophomore year of high school when… In my junior year, I began
to volunteer at the local hospital… In my senior year, my sister was diagnosed
with leukemia….” Try “Through my experiences with medicine, I have come to
realize how difficult and rewarding a medical career can be… As a patient, I
viewed my pediatrician as all-knowing and brilliant….As the brother of a young
girl with leukemia, I found out to my frustration and anger just how much the
doctors didn’t know….As a volunteer, I realized that patients and families needed
reassurance and….” There’s no law that you can mention an experience only once
in an essay, if there are multiple aspects that apply to different themes.
o If you write about your research, show how it might be applied to clinical
medicine. (But don’t stress out too much if you can’t apply it; not all scientific
research is relevant to medicine.)
o Be specific! Give examples!
o Write good, clear English.
o Again, have a few people read your personal statement with an eye for clarity,
conviction, and grammar. After reading your personal statement, a person should
have a clear sense of who you are & what you might be like in person.
o Have the people who read your statement identify what aspects of your
personality or experiences are not addressed in your essay. You should try to
write other short essays that cover those gaps, or be ready to bring them up in
your interviews.
o Finally, a word about “packaging.” Successful applications give a strong sense of
the actual person. Good packaging links together seemingly different aspects of
your life, personality, interests, etc. to build a consistent picture of you. To
package yourself well, everything you say or write (or is written about you,
ideally) should bring up the same few themes over and over again. This doesn’t
mean you present yourself as one-sided—just consistent. If this concept is
confusing to you, discuss it with one of the resident tutors.