updating schools, 0-2 interviews, 2 or more interviews or an acceptance, post-acceptance, choose your med school tool
by Morimoto, Emiko Taira Adachi
Dear Applicants,
1. Updating schools. We are getting lots of emails about updating schools you have not heard from. With questions about updates/letters of interest, please reach out to your House tutors first. If you have additional questions after consulting with them, feel free to reach out to us. You do not want to send updates to schools that do not accept them (some schools do not accept updates/letters of interest at all or only after you have interviewed), and you want to be careful if a school has a limited number of updates allowed. You may decide you want to be able to send those updates later in the process more than you want to send them now.
**We had a longer discussion of updating schools in our last post (on 10/14). I'm pasting that at the bottom of this message so you can review if you missed the first time around.
1. Zero to two interviews. If you have received 0-2 interviews, we recommend that you send emails now to the schools where you have not yet been rejected. In those emails, be gracious and acknowledge that you realize that not all people are granted interviews, but that you would be honored to receive an invitation. You can briefly comment on why you are interested in this school and can briefly give an update if you have something you would like to share. These should not be long notes. If you currently have 0-2 interviews, please get in touch with your House tutors and make an appointment with one of us at OCS. We can help you map out a strategy from here. Lots of people who were in this same situation at this point last year are now several months into their first year of medical school. We know that many schools are a little behind in offering interview invitations as well, so even more of you might be in this situation than is typical.
2. Two or more interviews or an acceptance. If you have had two or more interview invitations and have not been rejected from those schools (or even an acceptance!), you can either sit tight depending on the number of invitations you have received and how you feel about those schools or you can send updates to other schools.
3. Post-Acceptance. Once you have an acceptance to any medical school, your House is unable to advocate on your behalf at any school. We (and your tutors) are happy to advise you, of course, as you advocate for yourself in your quest to receive additional interview invitations.
4. AMCAS Choose Your Medical School Tool. (https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school/article/amcas-c…<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__students-2Dresidents.a…>) Please be aware of this tool and how you are supposed to use it. This link has a bunch of useful information, so be sure to read information provided there! The Choose Your Medical School tool will not be available until February 19, 2021.
Best,
Emiko & Oona
Hi all,
We are sorry if we caused panic/anxiety when we sent out the listserv post yesterday (particularly the section I've copied and pasted below).
Interviews and updating schools. Some of you have not received any interview invitations, and some of you have received one or two. Know that there are still many invitations to be given out. Also know that it is not unusual to receive a few rejections before receiving any interview invitations. In mid-October, in particular for those of you with zero to two interviews, we recommend that you send emails to the schools where you have not yet been rejected. In those emails, be gracious and acknowledge that you realize that not all people are granted interviews, but that you would be honored to receive an interview. You should briefly (1-2 sentences) comment on why you are interested in this school and if you have anything new to share, you should update them. With questions about updates/letters of interest, please reach out to your House tutors first. If you have additional questions after consulting with them, feel free to reach out to us. You do not want to send updates to schools that do not accept updates (some schools do not accept updates/letters of interest at all or only after you have interviewed), and you want to be careful if a school has a limited number of updates allowed. You may decide you want to be able to send those updates later in the process more than you want to send them now.
If you have zero to two interviews by mid-October, please get in touch with your House premed tutor and the advisers at OCS.
This timeline for updating your House and us by mid-October if you have 0-2 interviews is based on the usual, non-pandemic application timeline. This year, due to the impact of Covid on the medical schools and their commitment to reviewing all primary and secondary applications, including those received by the deadline for secondaries later in the fall (many of which have been extended to an even later than usual date), we are hearing from many schools that they expect to keep issuing interview invitations later into the cycle than they would normally do. As schools will vary in their timelines for interviewing this year (as in all years), there will be differences from school to school in how far into their interview season they are at this time, and how it may differ from past years. But with all these added caveats due to Covid, it is still a good idea to reach out to your House and us so that we know how you are doing, and if by November 1 you have not yet received additional invitations, we can work with you on communication with your schools.
An additional caveat that we should have mentioned...the mid-October guide really only applies to students who submitted their AMCAS by mid-June, were verified by the end of June, and turned around secondaries in 10-14 days. If you were unable to stick with these rough dates, then you should adjust that mid-October guide accordingly. We hope this makes sense and really do apologize for being confusing yesterday!
Emiko Morimoto, PhD
Assistant Director, Premedical and Health Careers Advising
617-495-2595 / morimoto(a)fas.harvard.edu<mailto:morimoto@fas.harvard.edu> / LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/in/emiko-morimoto-7282386/>
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Office of Career Services<http://www.ocs.fas.harvard.edu/>, Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
54 Dunster Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
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If you are applying to medical school in 2020 for matriculation in 2021, please subscribe to the Harvard OCS Medical School Applicant Listserv, by visiting https://lists.fas.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/harvardocs-medschool-applica… and signing up using a @college.harvard.edu address, a @post.harvard.edu address, or an @alumni.harvard.edu address.
