4 Great tips on How to get into Harvard Medical school

How to get into Harvard Medical school as an international student is pretty a much worked up load, since Harvard is one of the best Universities in the world.  

Harvard Medical School welcomes applications from international students who have studied for at least one year at an accredited institution in the United States or Canada, and should have completed the course requirements.

Few things to note About HMS:

Harvard is one of the most prestigious universities in the world. HMS has an acceptance rate of 6% for the MD program and that show how picky they are and how strict they are about meticulously going through the application they get and shortlisting the applicants.

They want to make sure they get someone they like, someone who is interested in pursuing a career in medicine. So, make sure you have an awesome profile and you stand out in your application.

HOW TO GET INTO HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL AS 
AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT

In this article, I will be elaborating on the following tips on How to get into Harvard Medical school:

1.  How you can get admission into Harvard Medical School

2.  What are the grades required to guarantee admission into Harvard Medical School?

3.  What do you need?

4. Finally The interview

HOW TO GET ADMISSION INTO HARVARD
MEDICAL SCHOOL AS A NIGERIAN STUDENT

Firstly, to get into Harvard medical school for international students, since we are dealing with two different education systems, let’s understand some terminology.

Let’s take Nigeria as an example. In Nigeria, when you are done with secondary school (high school) then apply for the university of your choice and spend 5 to 6 years as a medical student (bachelor of surgery and medicine).

In the USA the education system is quite different. In the USA, a doctor’s degree can only be pursued as a post-graduation degree. This means after grade 12 (high school), you need to enroll in an undergraduate degree for 3 to 4 years, and then you pursue a doctor of medicine (MD) for typically for years. Yeah, thinking the same thing. Let’s get down to business.

1. How can you get admission into Harvard Medical School?

 Let’s say you are a secondary school graduate (high school graduate) just thinking to practice medicine in the USA.” We accept applications from students with international educational backgrounds, and candidates with a degree from USA or Canada are strongly preferred.

to apply for Harvard medical school for international student, you are required to at least 3 years of college work and a baccalaureate degree before graduation” source Harvard medical school website, as I stated above.

Since is your goal to study medicine at HMS you have to take an undergraduate degree under medical-related courses in the field of biology, chemistry, or some biosciences courses. In this way, you can satisfy the prerequisites.

2.  What are the grades required to guarantee your admission?

 There is no set maximum or minimum grade for both secondary graduate and undergraduate degrees. They have been a testimony where students with outstanding scores are rejected and at the same time, the student with the average score is accepted though let this does not make you less hardworking.

I am just saying the opportunity is open for everyone to get into Harvard Medical school. The essential things to work on are: an awesome profile to show your character, personality, what you really what to do if you get admission into HMS, aim, passion, and goal with that degree are what matters.

Try and get the best score possible, if you do not get 100%, do not let that get you down for not even applying. You might not know what standard to get you that acceptance letter.

3.  What you need to get into Harvard medical school as an international student

Let’s say you completed your undergraduate degree and satisfied all the prerequisites. What do you need to get into HMS? You need to take a test called Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

This is an entrance test required to get in. “Although HMS does not set minimum grade point average (for an undergraduate degree) or minimum scores for MCAT academic excellence is expected” source Harvard medical school website. Deeply know that the better your scores the higher your chances are.

Another essential thing you need is the total cost of attendance which I will break down below (better thing na money kill am lol).

Though do not be scared of those numbers, HMS offer so many scholarships and loans to international students, especially the different ways you can get them.

Break down of some cost

Tuition fee

 $64,984                =                ₦‎29,571,619

Mandatory fee

    $1,803                    =                              ₦‎820,473

Health insurance fee

    $3,922                      =                           ₦‎1,784,745

Living expenses

    $26,435                     =                          ₦‎12,029311

The total cost of attendance

    $97,144                       =                        ₦‎44,206,348

4.  Final step: The interview

After all this, your required documents are ready you take can interview the admission panel and some professors at HMS.

This is where they going to know you, your research work, your life goal, and what you are going to do after your degree and this typically last about 30 to 40 minutes.

And that is it when you hit that interview you are going to be admitted into HMS. It is quite an easy right? Be alert when the application starts.

Below are the selection factors for Harvard medical school.

According to the Harvard medical school website

The committee on admission evaluates the application based on several factors, including the following

• Academic records
• Applicant essay(s)
• MCAT scores
• Letter of evaluation
• Extracurricular activities
• Life experiences
• Experience in the health field includes research or community work.

Conclusion

Given that the rate of rejection on applying for Harvard medical school especially for international student is very high about 96.4%.

That means the acceptance given that is about 3.6% which is very hard, but if you follow this simple guide on how to get into Harvard medical school as an international student you stand a chance to get accepted.

You can also get into Harvard medical school with scholarship, I will soon be dropping that also, all you need to do is believe and work towards being accepted.

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