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does anyone have the most recent match list?
2015-2016 Harvard Medical School Application Thread
- Thread starter Ismet
- Start date
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- Jan 14, 2014
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I agree that everyone should talk to more students during revisit, but make sure you get the truth and not just the canned response that Harvard is great. As for the points you make:
Maybe changes will be smoothed, but based on their track record I doubt it. Remember, New Pathways has been "smoothed" for 30 years, and it's still utter ****. As for logistics being hard for 160 people, true, but I'm not complaining of some problems... more like utter incompetence.
True, but the same can be said of any other top 10 school. I don't know if other schools have their things together better, but I'm inclined to think they do. Also, remember that while HMS is affiliated with all these great hospitals, they don't actually own or have any power over any of them. Will you notice that? Maybe, maybe not- but when your Patient Doctor group meets in the cafeteria because no rooms are available, as they are all being used by other medical school's groups in the hospital, it's kind of annoying.
I can't speak to the first year curriculum, but I'm still of the opinion PBL is a waste of time. TBH the new curriculum sounds awful. Required class + group discussion (which at least in my year most people find useless) is a recipe for disaster.
As for teachers, maybe less people involved will be a good thing, but in my tenure here I've met maybe 3 decent lecturers.
I'm not keeping my fingers crossed for any resolution. The school does what it wants. And sure, you can still get fellowships, but how are you gonna live when you have to give 70% of your fellowship to the school as tuition?
Not only was it botched (announced via an email). But when we complained they dismissed us with a patronizing tone, claiming that they knew best and that they had been completely transparent in their decision making, communicating their decision as soon as it was made.
Your PCE site probably does not matter- it's true that you will learn the same regardless, but if you care about being at a top hospital for PCE, HMS cannot guarantee that. BIDMC is great, but it is not a top hospital (for example, almost no one from HMS even matches there for residency). At places like Hopkins you are guaranteed to be in a top hospital, as there is only one choice.
The way I see it, schools can either teach to the step, or teach clinically relevant material for the wards. HMS does neither.
I'm glad you are having a great time in medschool, and I don't want to undermine that by any means. I just want to make sure that people ask the questions before committing, and that they are aware that there is a substantial number of people who would gladly transfer in a heartbeat.
A word on financial aid- yes it is a personal decision to go to a more expensive school, however given Harvard's endowment, the fact that its financial aid is the worst among top schools tells you a lot about their priorities.
Maybe changes will be smoothed, but based on their track record I doubt it. Remember, New Pathways has been "smoothed" for 30 years, and it's still utter ****. As for logistics being hard for 160 people, true, but I'm not complaining of some problems... more like utter incompetence.
True, but the same can be said of any other top 10 school. I don't know if other schools have their things together better, but I'm inclined to think they do. Also, remember that while HMS is affiliated with all these great hospitals, they don't actually own or have any power over any of them. Will you notice that? Maybe, maybe not- but when your Patient Doctor group meets in the cafeteria because no rooms are available, as they are all being used by other medical school's groups in the hospital, it's kind of annoying.
I can't speak to the first year curriculum, but I'm still of the opinion PBL is a waste of time. TBH the new curriculum sounds awful. Required class + group discussion (which at least in my year most people find useless) is a recipe for disaster.
As for teachers, maybe less people involved will be a good thing, but in my tenure here I've met maybe 3 decent lecturers.
I'm not keeping my fingers crossed for any resolution. The school does what it wants. And sure, you can still get fellowships, but how are you gonna live when you have to give 70% of your fellowship to the school as tuition?
Not only was it botched (announced via an email). But when we complained they dismissed us with a patronizing tone, claiming that they knew best and that they had been completely transparent in their decision making, communicating their decision as soon as it was made.
Your PCE site probably does not matter- it's true that you will learn the same regardless, but if you care about being at a top hospital for PCE, HMS cannot guarantee that. BIDMC is great, but it is not a top hospital (for example, almost no one from HMS even matches there for residency). At places like Hopkins you are guaranteed to be in a top hospital, as there is only one choice.
The way I see it, schools can either teach to the step, or teach clinically relevant material for the wards. HMS does neither.
I'm glad you are having a great time in medschool, and I don't want to undermine that by any means. I just want to make sure that people ask the questions before committing, and that they are aware that there is a substantial number of people who would gladly transfer in a heartbeat.
A word on financial aid- yes it is a personal decision to go to a more expensive school, however given Harvard's endowment, the fact that its financial aid is the worst among top schools tells you a lot about their priorities.
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Paid $100 and Harvard can't even be bothered to reject me after 9 months of silence
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Do you know approx. what proportion of students end up at each hospital? Also, I read that some do PCE at Cambridge Health Alliance; is that new?
Edit: Also, any student discontent at a particular hospital site and/or discontent at not getting a preferred site?
Last edited:
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I'm also curious about the variability of student experiences at the different hospital sites. For example, though BIDMC may not be at the same caliber as the other major hospitals, would the PCE experience really reflect this at all?
In addition, @Gotmedical, do you know why Harvard's financial seems to be getting worse by the year? Why is the fifth year no longer covered, and why is the unit loan increasing every year? I find this bizarre given heightened investment in financial aid at other Harvard institutions (i.e. Harvard College) in recent years?
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From my year, the only people unhappy are those that did not get their first choice. For example, many people wanted MGH since they live in Cambridge/etc, but ended up getting one of the other ones. Understandably, they are not at all happy about this as their commute will be awful, and the school does not allow anyone to trade sites. Interestingly enough, all of HST got MGH (another example of the "transparency" in the school). As for it actually mattering, I haven't started yet, but I don't think it will as long as you use electives to do rotations at MGH/BWH in the areas you are interested in come 4th year. There is something to be said about networking in the hospital that you wanna do residency in, and if you are at BIDMC for PCE that might take a bit more work. I'm speculating here though, as I don't really know. The clinical cases you see will also differ (many zebras at MGH/BWH) but overall I think they'll end up being comparable.
As for the PCE at CHA. Thats an opt in program. It runs longitudinally instead of in blocks and I think you are with the same physician all throughout. It seems like a good experience, albeit probably more geared towards those people interested more in primary care/longitudinal experiences.
As for the financial situation, I am unsure. The school has been running at a deficit for several years, and they are trying to milk money out of the students to balance the budget. Why the school is in the red I have no idea. I can only speculate that it is a mix of the renovations to TMEC, the NRB construction and just overall bad management.
As for the PCE at CHA. Thats an opt in program. It runs longitudinally instead of in blocks and I think you are with the same physician all throughout. It seems like a good experience, albeit probably more geared towards those people interested more in primary care/longitudinal experiences.
As for the financial situation, I am unsure. The school has been running at a deficit for several years, and they are trying to milk money out of the students to balance the budget. Why the school is in the red I have no idea. I can only speculate that it is a mix of the renovations to TMEC, the NRB construction and just overall bad management.
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what proportion of students get BIDMC?
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1/3 at each hospital. Unsure how HST will fit in through coming years, but I'm guessing they'll be mainly placed at MGH/BWH.
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Just drove past here today for fun. such a gorgeous place. Maybe someday!
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For what it's worth, I did my PCE at BWH for 3rd year and loved it. Did my medicine sub-I at BIDMC and loved it as well (the only medicine sub-I site where there are no interns and you are essentially the intern on a team with another medical student and a senior resident). I know classmates who did their third years at each of the three main hospitals, and no one ended up being totally unhappy even if the hospital wasn't his or her first choice. Your experience during third year is extremely dependent on your team of residents and attendings, not necessarily the hospital itself. Lots of great rotations to choose from at all the hospitals, and networking can be done in the 4th year (when you can rotate at any of the hospitals) with electives to build relationships for residency applications. I personally think the importance of the hospital during 3rd year is overrated. Everyone is graduating from Harvard itself, and the name carries more weight than whatever hospital you are at for one clinical year.
Edit: BIDMC may not sound as good reputation-wise as the other two, but its focus on medical student education is highly deserved. Standout teachers during preclinical years come from BIDMC many times. When we had a choice, many students chose BIDMC specifically for the focus on education. Reasons for choosing a hospital to match at for residency are very different from things to consider when learning as a student.
Edit: BIDMC may not sound as good reputation-wise as the other two, but its focus on medical student education is highly deserved. Standout teachers during preclinical years come from BIDMC many times. When we had a choice, many students chose BIDMC specifically for the focus on education. Reasons for choosing a hospital to match at for residency are very different from things to consider when learning as a student.
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Hi all,
I'm a current student nearing the end of 3rd year. I'm at Cambridge Health Alliance (the 3rd year program/PCE is called the Cambridge Integrated Clerkship) and I've really loved it so far. I can answer questions that you might have about it.
@Gotmedical summarized it very nicely but I'll add a few details. It is indeed a longitudinal program, meaning that all of your clerkships (surgery, medicine, OB/GYN, psych, etc.) run over the course of the whole year. The schedule is relatively stable from week to week. You are assigned an attending physician to be your preceptor in each clerkship and work with them continually. The advantages of having it set up this way are: you get to know your attendings and residents better. You understand them and they understand you. You get to follow the same patient through different avenues of care (i.e. we have cancer patients and I might see them with their PCP, then with their surgeon, and then in psychiatry during therapy - you get the idea). It is a smaller hospital and more of a community setting. The complexity of the patients is less, but you get to be more involved in their care. You get to make some real decisions about your patients and have more independence. That's a tradeoff.
Further, I've spent time at the other 3 hospitals and the culture here is definitely healthier. There's no doubt about it. The attendings and residents are very down to earth. That makes a huge difference. We also spend the whole year with our other 11 classmates, which is great because it develops a real sense of camaraderie. Another difference is that CIC tends to be more like 70:30 or 80:20 outpatient:inpatient, whereas at the other sites it is inverted - that's something to take into consideration. Keep in mind that at the end of the day 4th year rotations and your residencies will most likely be overwhelmingly inpatient. Some people think that the program is specifically for people interested in primary care - it's not. Lots of us here are interested in primary care and that is really wonderful! But among my classmates there are also people planning to go into emergency medicine, orthopedic surgery, trauma surgery, radiation oncology, etc. so it is a good mix. CIC is both an educational model and a culture. There is definitely an emphasis on serving the community and marginalized people, as well as social justice here.
I can't speak as much to the other 3 sites, but most of us here are very happy. Added bonus is living in Cambridge and getting to feel like a "real person"
You'll get a great education at any of the hospitals. There are fantastic people at BWH, BIDMC, MGH. I completely agree with @Silverwing that the difference between the hospitals is magnified... it really doesn't matter at the end of the day. It's one of those things that matters just because it's a decision that you have to make. Whether you're at a "top hospital" or not for PCE will not make an ounce of difference for the subsequent future, so please relax and try to enjoy the ride!
P.S. Regarding "shelves" (NBME Subject Exams), it is a set schedule. We have our first shelf about 5-6 months into the year which gives us time to start up since we are starting all clerkships at once. Then we all follow the same shelf schedule for the remainder of the year. The way it has been ordered has been based on past student feedback on what the best order would be. For us it was Neuro, Psych, OB/GYN, Peds, Medicine, Surgery. We historically do very well on the shelves.
P.P.S. Regarding preclinical "woes," the concerns that have been brought up are very legitimate. It's tough to bear the brunt of inefficiencies. Medical education can and should improve. On the other hand, you CAN be happy with your education here! Too often I see people relying on the school itself to make or break their 4-5 year experience. Y'all - make your own experience. If you want to see change, start with yourself. What is it that is driving you? What is it that makes you so deeply upset when your curriculum isn't targeted towards Step 1? Just some food for thought. There are many people who are happy with their decision to be here and are not posting on SDN. I appreciate that it's been a difficult experience for others. I'm not telling you to come to HMS - you should make your own decision - but I want to provide a balanced viewpoint.
I'm a current student nearing the end of 3rd year. I'm at Cambridge Health Alliance (the 3rd year program/PCE is called the Cambridge Integrated Clerkship) and I've really loved it so far. I can answer questions that you might have about it.
@Gotmedical summarized it very nicely but I'll add a few details. It is indeed a longitudinal program, meaning that all of your clerkships (surgery, medicine, OB/GYN, psych, etc.) run over the course of the whole year. The schedule is relatively stable from week to week. You are assigned an attending physician to be your preceptor in each clerkship and work with them continually. The advantages of having it set up this way are: you get to know your attendings and residents better. You understand them and they understand you. You get to follow the same patient through different avenues of care (i.e. we have cancer patients and I might see them with their PCP, then with their surgeon, and then in psychiatry during therapy - you get the idea). It is a smaller hospital and more of a community setting. The complexity of the patients is less, but you get to be more involved in their care. You get to make some real decisions about your patients and have more independence. That's a tradeoff.
Further, I've spent time at the other 3 hospitals and the culture here is definitely healthier. There's no doubt about it. The attendings and residents are very down to earth. That makes a huge difference. We also spend the whole year with our other 11 classmates, which is great because it develops a real sense of camaraderie. Another difference is that CIC tends to be more like 70:30 or 80:20 outpatient:inpatient, whereas at the other sites it is inverted - that's something to take into consideration. Keep in mind that at the end of the day 4th year rotations and your residencies will most likely be overwhelmingly inpatient. Some people think that the program is specifically for people interested in primary care - it's not. Lots of us here are interested in primary care and that is really wonderful! But among my classmates there are also people planning to go into emergency medicine, orthopedic surgery, trauma surgery, radiation oncology, etc. so it is a good mix. CIC is both an educational model and a culture. There is definitely an emphasis on serving the community and marginalized people, as well as social justice here.
I can't speak as much to the other 3 sites, but most of us here are very happy. Added bonus is living in Cambridge and getting to feel like a "real person"
You'll get a great education at any of the hospitals. There are fantastic people at BWH, BIDMC, MGH. I completely agree with @Silverwing that the difference between the hospitals is magnified... it really doesn't matter at the end of the day. It's one of those things that matters just because it's a decision that you have to make. Whether you're at a "top hospital" or not for PCE will not make an ounce of difference for the subsequent future, so please relax and try to enjoy the ride!
P.S. Regarding "shelves" (NBME Subject Exams), it is a set schedule. We have our first shelf about 5-6 months into the year which gives us time to start up since we are starting all clerkships at once. Then we all follow the same shelf schedule for the remainder of the year. The way it has been ordered has been based on past student feedback on what the best order would be. For us it was Neuro, Psych, OB/GYN, Peds, Medicine, Surgery. We historically do very well on the shelves.
P.P.S. Regarding preclinical "woes," the concerns that have been brought up are very legitimate. It's tough to bear the brunt of inefficiencies. Medical education can and should improve. On the other hand, you CAN be happy with your education here! Too often I see people relying on the school itself to make or break their 4-5 year experience. Y'all - make your own experience. If you want to see change, start with yourself. What is it that is driving you? What is it that makes you so deeply upset when your curriculum isn't targeted towards Step 1? Just some food for thought. There are many people who are happy with their decision to be here and are not posting on SDN. I appreciate that it's been a difficult experience for others. I'm not telling you to come to HMS - you should make your own decision - but I want to provide a balanced viewpoint.
Last edited:
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@TheKDizzle I remember you from when you were applying and making the decision yourself!! Glad to see you're thriving here
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Hi all,
I'm a current student nearing the end of 3rd year. I'm at Cambridge Health Alliance (the 3rd year program/PCE is called the Cambridge Integrated Clerkship) and I've really loved it so far. I can answer questions that you might have about it.
@Gotmedical summarized it very nicely but I'll add a few details. It is indeed a longitudinal program, meaning that all of your clerkships (surgery, medicine, OB/GYN, psych, etc.) run over the course of the whole year. The schedule is relatively stable from week to week. You are assigned an attending physician to be your preceptor in each clerkship and work with them continually. The advantages of having it set up this way are: you get to know your attendings and residents better. You understand them and they understand you. You get to follow the same patient through different avenues of care (i.e. we have cancer patients and I might see them with their PCP, then with their surgeon, and then in psychiatry during therapy - you get the idea). It is a smaller hospital and more of a community setting. The complexity of the patients is less, but you get to be more involved in their care. You get to make some real decisions about your patients and have more independence. That's a tradeoff.
Further, I've spent time at the other 3 hospitals and the culture here is definitely healthier. There's no doubt about it. The attendings and residents are very down to earth. That makes a huge difference. We also spend the whole year with our other 11 classmates, which is great because it develops a real sense of camaraderie. Another difference is that CIC tends to be more like 70:30 or 80:20 outpatient:inpatient, whereas at the other sites it is inverted - that's something to take into consideration. Keep in mind that at the end of the day 4th year rotations and your residencies will most likely be overwhelmingly inpatient. Some people think that the program is specifically for people interested in primary care - it's not. Lots of us here are interested in primary care and that is really wonderful! But among my classmates there are also people planning to go into emergency medicine, orthopedic surgery, trauma surgery, radiation oncology, etc. so it is a good mix. CIC is both an educational model and a culture. There is definitely an emphasis on serving the community and marginalized people, as well as social justice here.
I can't speak as much to the other 3 sites, but most of us here are very happy. Added bonus is living in Cambridge and getting to feel like a "real person"
You'll get a great education at any of the hospitals. There are fantastic people at BWH, BIDMC, MGH. I completely agree with @Silverwing that the difference between the hospitals is magnified... it really doesn't matter at the end of the day. It's one of those things that matters just because it's a decision that you have to make. Whether you're at a "top hospital" or not for PCE will not make an ounce of difference for the subsequent future, so please relax and try to enjoy the ride!
P.S. Regarding "shelves" (NBME Subject Exams), it is a set schedule. We have our first shelf about 5-6 months into the year which gives us time to start up since we are starting all clerkships at once. Then we all follow the same shelf schedule for the remainder of the year. The way it has been ordered has been based on past student feedback on what the best order would be. For us it was Neuro, Psych, OB/GYN, Peds, Medicine, Surgery. We historically do very well on the shelves.
P.P.S. Regarding preclinical "woes," the concerns that have been brought up are very legitimate. It's tough to bear the brunt of inefficiencies. Medical education can and should improve. On the other hand, you CAN be happy with your education here! Too often I see people relying on the school itself to make or break their 4-5 year experience. Y'all - make your own experience. If you want to see change, start with yourself. What is it that is driving you? What is it that makes you so deeply upset when your curriculum isn't targeted towards Step 1? Just some food for thought. There are many people who are happy with their decision to be here and are not posting on SDN. I appreciate that it's been a difficult experience for others. I'm not telling you to come to HMS - you should make your own decision - but I want to provide a balanced viewpoint.
"Y'all - make your own experience. If you want to see change, start with yourself." Thank you for this beautiful comment
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For reference:
HMS 2016 Match List
Anesthesiology
BIDMC
BWH
BWH
MGH
Dermatology
UPMC
Duke
Stanford
UCSF
MGH
Harvard
Harvard
Harvard
NYU
NYP-Columbia
Emergency Medicine
JHU
UNC
Duke
Harvard
Harvard
Stanford
Georgia
NYU
Rutgers
Family Medicine
Contra Costa
Swedish Med Center
Harbor-UCLA
Brown
General Surgery
BIDMC
BWH
UCSF
UWashington
BMC
Internal Medicine
Stanford
Stanford
Stanford
BIDMC
BIDMC
OHSU
MGH
MGH
MGH
MGH
MGH
MGH
MGH
MGH
MGH
MGH
BWH
BWH
BWH
BWH
BWH
BWH
BWH
BWH
BWH
UCSF
UCSF
UCSF
UCLA
UCLA
JHU
JHU
UWashington
UWashington
NYU
CHA
NYP-Cornell
NYP-Columbia
NYP-Columbia
Brown
Brown
Brown
OB/GYN
BIDMC
BIDMC
BIDMC
UWashington
Brown
Duke
Yale
Northwestern
UCSF
JHU
JHU
Einstein
Child Neuro
CHB
Neurology
Mt. Sinai
Harvard
NYP-Columbia
Harvard
Harvard
Neurological Surgery
MGH
UCLA
Ophthalmology
UCSD
IEEI
BMC
USC
OMFS
MGH
MGH
Orthopedic Surgery
Navy
UCSF
Harvard
Harvard
Otolaryngology
MEEI
MEEI
JHU
UCSF
Pathology
BWH
MGH
Pediatrics
CHB
CHB
MGH
UCSF
UWashington
Plastic Surgery
UWashington
Einstein
Psychiatry
Case Western
Stanford
Stanford
Stanford
MGH
MGH
MGH
UCSF
Penn
UWashington
Harvard Longwood
Radiology
Penn
UCSF
Maine Med
NYP-Cornell
Radiation Oncology
Harvard
Harvard
NYP-Cornell
MD Anderson - Houston
MGH
UWashington
Jefferson
City of Hope
Urology
MGH
BWH
Mt. Sinai
Vascular Surgery
Penn
MGH
Non-Clinical
JP Morgan
Boston Consulting Group
Bain & Company
HMS 2016 Match List
Anesthesiology
BIDMC
BWH
BWH
MGH
Dermatology
UPMC
Duke
Stanford
UCSF
MGH
Harvard
Harvard
Harvard
NYU
NYP-Columbia
Emergency Medicine
JHU
UNC
Duke
Harvard
Harvard
Stanford
Georgia
NYU
Rutgers
Family Medicine
Contra Costa
Swedish Med Center
Harbor-UCLA
Brown
General Surgery
BIDMC
BWH
UCSF
UWashington
BMC
Internal Medicine
Stanford
Stanford
Stanford
BIDMC
BIDMC
OHSU
MGH
MGH
MGH
MGH
MGH
MGH
MGH
MGH
MGH
MGH
BWH
BWH
BWH
BWH
BWH
BWH
BWH
BWH
BWH
UCSF
UCSF
UCSF
UCLA
UCLA
JHU
JHU
UWashington
UWashington
NYU
CHA
NYP-Cornell
NYP-Columbia
NYP-Columbia
Brown
Brown
Brown
OB/GYN
BIDMC
BIDMC
BIDMC
UWashington
Brown
Duke
Yale
Northwestern
UCSF
JHU
JHU
Einstein
Child Neuro
CHB
Neurology
Mt. Sinai
Harvard
NYP-Columbia
Harvard
Harvard
Neurological Surgery
MGH
UCLA
Ophthalmology
UCSD
IEEI
BMC
USC
OMFS
MGH
MGH
Orthopedic Surgery
Navy
UCSF
Harvard
Harvard
Otolaryngology
MEEI
MEEI
JHU
UCSF
Pathology
BWH
MGH
Pediatrics
CHB
CHB
MGH
UCSF
UWashington
Plastic Surgery
UWashington
Einstein
Psychiatry
Case Western
Stanford
Stanford
Stanford
MGH
MGH
MGH
UCSF
Penn
UWashington
Harvard Longwood
Radiology
Penn
UCSF
Maine Med
NYP-Cornell
Radiation Oncology
Harvard
Harvard
NYP-Cornell
MD Anderson - Houston
MGH
UWashington
Jefferson
City of Hope
Urology
MGH
BWH
Mt. Sinai
Vascular Surgery
Penn
MGH
Non-Clinical
JP Morgan
Boston Consulting Group
Bain & Company
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@TheKDizzle I remember you from when you were applying and making the decision yourself!! Glad to see you're thriving here
I remember you too! Thank you for all the great advice that you gave me
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few questions -
1) i don't know why i can't find this but how much does vanderbilt cost per month?
2) does vanderbilt have parking available? can i bring a car? have not heard great things about the T.
3) is living not in vanderbilt a bad idea for the first year? i really don't like the idea of dorm living but don't want to miss out on an essential bonding experience.
1) i don't know why i can't find this but how much does vanderbilt cost per month?
2) does vanderbilt have parking available? can i bring a car? have not heard great things about the T.
3) is living not in vanderbilt a bad idea for the first year? i really don't like the idea of dorm living but don't want to miss out on an essential bonding experience.
Maybe we should just create one! lol
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Vandy looks to be about $900/month I think.
If you've heard bad things about the T and are thinking about bringing a car to the Longwood area as a solution... Then you haven't heard about Boston traffic/drivers yet. I would be really, really surprised if there was student parking in that area. Boston traffic is an experience. One time it took me 30 minutes to go less than five miles.
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We're answering your questions in real time: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LAyN6vRQPgiBr-04SVjh5TWRdDa-ZZuPoG_eyp_E7fc/edit
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When is second look for Harvard?
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Thursday April 14- Saturday April 16
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+1 Hope to see some SDNers there!
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That match list is pretty good, no? The only thing that worries me about it is that something like 51% of graduates matched at a Harvard-affiliated hospital. I think that should be more like 35%. Why might having so many people match at such awesome hospitals be a problem? Three reasons:
1) Graduates lack confidence - It's sort of a case of the mama bird pushing the little chicks out of the nest and seeing if they're able to fly. A majority of graduates don't feel confident that they can fly, and so they choose to stay in the nest. Why they don't feel confident is a whole other conversation.
2) Graduates are not competitive - HMS faculty have tons of connections within all of the Harvard hospitals. If Jimmy's residency application is a little weak, he's not doing well with his interviews, or he overestimated his chances, maybe Dr. Nepotism makes a call to the program director at MGH to talk about some of Jimmy's underrated qualities. Admittedly, this can also be seen as a wonderful strength of HMS!
3) Not building the HMS brand - One of the strengths of HMS is its outstanding reputation. And one of the ways that we build that reputation is by sending our well-prepared graduates to residency programs around the country. If fewer graduates are leaving Boston, then the brand may slowly lose value.
Of course some graduates will match at Harvard hospitals simply because they're great hospitals - that's the ~35% that I'd expect. When more than half of your graduates don't leave town, however, that should raise some eyebrows.
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I don't know, I think that the potential to train in the Harvard hospital system and Boston itself are two of the main reasons why many students choose HMS over similar caliber medical schools in the first place. Boston is the medical center of the United States, so it is not surprising that so many Harvard grads choose to stay there. I know that for me personally, I would love it if I could match to BWH when the time comes. Perhaps the internal matching rate is just reflective of the fact that many students actually do love it, and don't want to leave. It's hard to speculate that they are not competitive, since we don't know what proportion of that 50% put the Harvard hospital as his/her first choice.
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I agree and hope that you are correct. My points are merely hypotheses and should be considered when looking at the match list of any medical school. To be hypocritical, I also hope to match at a Harvard hospital. It's just that 51% seems... unhealthy. Regardless of their reason for staying in Boston, it does nothing to address #3 - An unfortunate long-term effect of this trend.
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deleted760180
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It was from a packet we were given during the revisit event. This is a list of all of those that were accepted as of that date.
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Someone posted this list in another thread. Seems a little more accurate than the one posted above. @the_ajax_kid , I've wondered about this too. 51% is absurdly high. I guess this highlights just how difficult it is to make sense of these match lists.
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Can you repost or point us to where that list of undergrad institutions is?
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deleted760180
@longtimelurker2015 See the 1st page of this thread.
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The target home-institution match percentage should be modified based on the ratio of available residency positions to students. Harvard will always have the advantage of promiscuous clinical affiliations. I added the number of positions available per year in the NRMP Main Residency Match at Harvard affiliates:
BWH - 195
CHB/BMC - 52
Longwood psych - 15
BIDMC - 152
MEEI - 5
Spaulding - 7
MGH - 192
Mt Auburn - 31
Harvard South Shore - 8
CHA - 31
Total - 688
This is about a 4:1 ratio of home residency positions to students. Even if you only count the first-tier programs, you'd still get a ratio of at least 2.5.
That is 30-130% greater than the ratio at other top schools like, for example, WashU, which matches 223 positions at Barnes Jewish plus St. Louis Children's, 120 students per class, and home-matches in the 30-35% range.
Therefore, I believe the 51% home-matching rate at HMS is not abnormal for a top medical school given the abnormal combined size of the GME programs at the affiliated hospitals.
(caveats to the above quick analysis: prelim and advanced positions are added together, ophtho and urology are not included)
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Thanks so much!
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Does anyone know if HMS sends some sort of confirmation that the pre-requisite classes that we listed on that sheet we submitted during our interview are adequate? I ask because I'm currently taking a class that covers genetics in much more detail than the bio courses that I listed. I'm wondering if I should re-send them that sheet with my current class listed just in case they question my understanding of genetic recombination.
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Yes, they do. I received my confirmation today.
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Sweet. Thank you. Was it an email?
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Yeah, it was an email stating that I met the requirements and to send a copy of my official transcript if I decide to matriculate at HMS.
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I like your work! It certainly helps to put things in perspective.
"Promiscuous affiliations" is a good way to describe it, and - as with most things promiscuous (I'm looking at you, @Tupacca
) - we should maintain a healthy skepticism regarding cause and potential fallout. As I mentioned, a 53% (not 51%, mea culpa) prevalence of consanguinity should raise some eyebrows, regardless of the quality of the breeding stock.- Joined
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Anyone yet to receive the email saying all is cleared regarding course reqs? Also, financial aid offers should be coming soon; my award was processed yesterday (Sarah emailed me asking for extra detail and confirmed afterwards).
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I received an email about my AP scores, and in a follow-up to that I was told I met the pre-requisites. Fin aid not applicable (MSTP).
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I haven't gotten the email regarding pre-reqs yet. But I received my financial aid award March 31st.
I think, as with many things in life, we can speculate about a phenomenon ad nauseum. Without data, we'll never know.
I'm a little frustrated because you imply that the percentage you observed reflects some weakness in HMS grads (vs other schools, who, by virtue of not matching at HMS-affiliates, are better). Regarding your earlier hypotheses - how would you be able to disclaim them? We can construct groups of 51% of students from any institution (Why do x% of ABC SOM grads do this? Or that?).
There are definitely things to improve/critique at HMS, but the fact that our grads match at, arguably, some of the best programs (as do grads of Stanford, Yale, etc.), is pointedly not one of them.
I'm a little frustrated because you imply that the percentage you observed reflects some weakness in HMS grads (vs other schools, who, by virtue of not matching at HMS-affiliates, are better). Regarding your earlier hypotheses - how would you be able to disclaim them? We can construct groups of 51% of students from any institution (Why do x% of ABC SOM grads do this? Or that?).
There are definitely things to improve/critique at HMS, but the fact that our grads match at, arguably, some of the best programs (as do grads of Stanford, Yale, etc.), is pointedly not one of them.
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As of last night, the revisit housing coordinators were still trying to finalize the last ~10 spots. I'm sure that they will send out notifications once everything is set.
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So, we got the email that said 50 on the waitlist, and the letter that said 30. Anyone know which it is?
Or care to take a guess at how much movement is likely?
Or care to take a guess at how much movement is likely?
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In other news, my friends and I made a video. It's very pertinent. Enjoy!
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Just got in off of the waitlist!!! Is this real life??????
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CONGRATS!! Do you mind letting us know if this was for Pathways or HST?
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Pathways!
