OCS Dec/Jan advising, 0-2 interviews, updates, Choose Your Med School Tool, MD/PhD acceptances, Financing Your Med Education Workshop
by Morimoto, Emiko Taira Adachi
Dear Applicants,
We know that at this point in time, there are many different experiences out there. Some of you may already have an acceptance, but many of you do not. Some of you have had many interviews and some have had few. Wherever you are in the process, your House tutors and the advisers at OCS are here to assist and support you.
1. OCS Advising Hours. Our office closes starting December 21 and will reopen on January 4. Appointments can be made through Crimson Careers as usual.
1. Zero to two interviews. If you have had zero to two interview invitations (or, for example, if you have had three invitations, but have been rejected at one or two of those schools), if you have not already done so, then please get in touch with your House tutors and us. There may or may not be anything further to be done, but we would like to hear from you and help you strategize. Lots of people who were in your situation last December are several months into their first year of medical school at this point.
1. Updates. There is no clear right answer as to when and whether you update your schools but we can try to offer some guidelines.
* If a school tells you they do not want updates, do not send updates.
* It is fine to send an update any time you have truly major news-award of a major fellowship, publication of a paper, a major award, etc.
* If you had only a few interviews and sent updates to all your schools in late October to early November, it would be fine to send them again about six weeks later-either late December or early January. Only send updates to schools that you haven't heard from yet about an interview invitation (or schools where you have been placed on hold for an interview). You do not need to send updates to schools that have rejected or accepted you already. The most meaningful updates are going to be to schools where you have not yet been invited to interview.
* If you have not sent updates at all, you may want to send some now or in early January. You can include your fall grades if you are still in school, can briefly tell them how you have spent your fall, can indicate continued interest in the school, and can tell them graciously that while you know not everyone is invited for an interview, you would be honored to be invited.
* Updates should not be long- certainly less than half a page.
1. AMCAS Choose Your Medical School Tool and acceptance protocols. Once you have been accepted, many schools will ask you to send in a deposit and/or a written notice that you accept the spot. There are clear "Application and Acceptance Protocols" that govern acceptances (Application and Acceptance Protocols- Applicants<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__students-2Dresidents.a…>; Application and Acceptance Protocols--Admissions Officers<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__students-2Dresidents.a…>). As long as you are holding a maximum of three acceptances on April 15th and only one acceptance on April 30th, all of the deposits you have paid will be returned, except for the one at the final school that you plan to attend. As you get a first acceptance, you should withdraw in writing from schools where you do not intend to matriculate. Many of you may need and want to hold on to multiple acceptances until you hear about financial aid offers. That is completely appropriate. For many schools, however, you might know that you will attend school A over school B regardless of what the financial aid package looks like and in that case it is appropriate to withdraw from school B once you have been accepted to school A. Once you have an acceptance to any medical school, neither OCS nor your House will be able to advocate on your behalf at any school, but your House tutors and OCS premed advisers are both happy to discuss your choices with you at any point.
1. Acceptances into MD/PhD programs. The same rules apply for applicants accepted into MSTP slots. However, since you will know at the outset that you will be fully funded, it is usually not necessary for you to hold multiple acceptances for any period of time. At times, you may feel unable to decide without a re-visit or without further information about your research options. That may mean that some applicants need to hold spots at two or three programs for a period of time. If you are lucky enough to have more acceptances than that and while you are technically allowed to hold up to three offers until April 30th, we would urge you to go ahead and narrow down the spots you are holding so that you can free up spots for other applicants.
1. Financing Your Medical Education Workshop, Tuesday, February 9, 4-5pm ET. Wondering how you will pay for medical school? Join us for this "Financing Your Medical Education" program with Siobhan Keenan, Assistant Director of Financial Aid at Harvard Medical School. Ms. Keenan will lead a discussion on financial aid options and resources. Her comments will be relevant to all medical schools and all types of applicants, including international students. First-year students through alumni are welcome to attend.
To participate, pre-register at: https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_b6NXAxGTQMGDk98kx0HUMQ
Please join at least five minutes before the workshop is scheduled to begin. You must register using your Harvard (@college, @post, or @alumni) email address.
We hope you have some time to relax and enjoy the holidays in the coming weeks.
Best,
Emiko & Oona
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.
