Notes

Requirements
Do I have to complete the required courses before applying to HMS?
No. All of our requirements must be completed prior to matriculation, not application. However, most successful applicants have completed most of the required courses prior to application.

Some of the required courses I took were, or will be, completed at an institution outside of the U.S. or Canada.
Will these courses count toward the requirement?
A limited number of required courses taken at an institution other than your "home institution" (the institution that will be granting your degree) may be used to fulfill requirements, to be determined on a case-by-case basis. Every effort should be made to take the majority of required courses at the institution that will be conferring your degree.
Required courses taken as part of a post-baccalaureate program of study do not need to be taken at your undergraduate institution.

I took some of the required courses at an advanced level. Will these still count toward the requirements?
Yes, upper-level courses may be used to satisfy our basic requirements. When reviewing the required courses, please pay attention to the specifics involved for each requirement, e.g. laboratory work in biology, general (inorganic) chemistry, and organic chemistry.

What courses count toward the expository writing requirement?
HMS matriculants should have one year of critical writing/thinking preparation, preferably in a course devoted specifically to the development of expository writing skills. Specific skills students may be expected to master and apply to the fields of medicine and scientific inquiry include the following:

a. Writing logically and with clarity and style about important questions across disciplines.
b. Articulating persuasively, both on paper and in oral presentations, focused, sophisticated, and credible thesis arguments.
c. Appreciating the methodologies that particular disciplines apply for understanding and communicating results effectively.
d. Approaching evidence with probity and intellectual independence.
e. Using source material appropriately with scrupulous and rigorous attribution.

Although a specific expository writing course meets this requirement most directly and optimally, potentially, these skills can be honed in a non-science course that requires extensive expository writing. Advanced placement credits cannot be used.

For the math requirement, I hope to apply statistics courses for the fulfillment. Will this be acceptable?
Some flexibility can be applied to meet this requirement as long as the courses are relevant to biology and medicine. For example, a semester course in calculus that covers derivatives and integration plus a semester course in statistics (preferably biostatistics) or a calculus-based physics course plus another science course that includes biostatistics. Preferably, students will have some combination that equals a unified two-semester course that covers important, biologically relevant concepts in calculus and statistics. As of the class entering in 2016, one semester of statistics is required.

What kinds of biology courses are suggested for the biology requirement?
Courses should be devoted to genetics and cell biology and should emphasize human biology (signal transduction, basic pharmacologic principles, homeostasis and feedback, an introduction to hormone receptors, neuronal signaling, and immunology). The focus on genetics should include nucleic acid structure and function, genetic recombination, and mechanisms of gene expression in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, i.e., molecular biology/genetics); the study of cell biology should include subcellular organization, differentiation, cellular metabolic function, energy transfer, structure-function relationships, reproduction, and membrane properties. Preparation in biology should place more of an emphasis on human biology and on principles of systems biology.

Does your chemistry requirement include courses in both organic and inorganic chemistry?
A one semester course in organic chemistry which covers the relevant material supplemented by a semester course in biochemistry may substitute for the traditional year of organic chemistry. As of the class entering 2016, biochemistry is required.

What are the statistics on the entering classes, the undergrad institutions they attended, etc.?
Questions regarding the statistics of our entering classes, etc. are available in our own, or the AAMC literature. Any questions regarding these statistics that are not answered in these sources are not available.

Do you have an early decision program?
HMS has no early decision program.

If I want to withdraw my application, can I get a refund?
Application fees are non-refundable.

Do you accept transfer applicants from other medical schools?
Due to constraints on class size, we regret that we are unable to accept transfers for any reason.

Do you only accept applicants who majored in the sciences as an undergrad?
No preference is given to applicants who have majored in science over those who have majored in other disciplines.
A study at Harvard Medical School has shown that students are successful in their medical studies regardless of undergraduate concentration, providing that they have had adequate science preparation. Students are urged to strive not for specialized training but for a balanced and liberal education.

What undergraduate institution should I attend? Do Ivy League students have an advantage over other students?
Harvard Medical School is looking for people with broad interests and talents, not for students from particular academic institutions. Attend an undergraduate college that will challenge you both academically and personally.

What are the average GPA and MCAT scores of entering students? Is there a minimum that I need to be above?
For the 2015 entering class, the average scores are given below. Please keep in mind that the scores of the students selected for admission included a broad range of scores that includes scores reflective of national averages.

average GPA: 3.8
average MCAT scores were:
Verbal-11.07
Physical Science-12.48
Biological Science-12.61

Although there is no application cutoff in terms of grade point average or MCAT scores, academic excellence is expected.