Harvard Medical School Mission Statement
To nurture a diverse, inclusive community dedicated to alleviating suffering and improving health and well-being for all through excellence in teaching and learning, discovery and scholarship, and service and leadership.
Highlights
- Degree tracks: Pathways and HST (with MIT).
- Class profile snapshot: Applications 6,856, Interviews 757, Class size 165, Pathways 135, HST 30, about 72% receive aid.
- Prescreen: Harvard does not pre-screen. All AMCAS applicants receive a secondary.
- MCAT posting: MCAT must be on AMCAS by the secondary deadline (year-specific).
- Coursework: HMS has required and encouraged courses in chemistry, biology, physics, writing, and math. Review details before applying.
Before Applying to Harvard Medical School
Use this quick checklist to get ready for Harvard’s process. The goal is to be organized before you submit AMCAS so you can turn the secondary around quickly and keep your application consistent from start to finish.
- Application services: Start with the AMCAS primary, then complete Harvard’s secondary in the HMS portal once your AMCAS is verified.
What to aim for: submit AMCAS early in the cycle, track verification, and have your secondary materials drafted in advance so you can respond promptly when the portal opens. - No prescreen: All AMCAS applicants who select Harvard receive the secondary. You will not be filtered out before the essays.
What to aim for: plan a one to two week window to finish the secondary. Prewrite the likely prompts you will see in the portal, including the activities since graduation and the optional background or identity essay. - Prerequisite courses: Harvard requires specific coursework. You should either have these complete or clearly in progress with a plan to finish before matriculation.
- Chemistry: two years that include inorganic, organic, and biochemistry with lab
- Biology: one year with lab, with a cellular and molecular emphasis
- Physics: one year, lab encouraged
- Writing: one year of writing-intensive coursework
- Math: Pathways encourages calculus and statistics; HST encourages upper-level math
What to aim for: confirm your course list against Harvard’s page, list any remaining labs on your timeline, and keep syllabi handy if you studied at multiple institutions.
See full details: Prerequisite Course info on the HMS website
Harvard Secondary Application Questions
Harvard posts its secondary prompts inside the HMS portal, and the below are subject to change. Always follow the wording/character counts in your portal. Typical themes include post-grad activities, background/identity, track-specific fit (for HST), and interview availability within the Sept–Jan window.
A) Marital status (short answer)
B) Are your parents or guardians HMS alumni or faculty (short answer)
C) Average weekly paid employment during the academic year (short answer)
D) If you have already graduated, briefly summarize your activities since graduation. (4000 characters)
Our advice: build a simple timeline, then add two to three sentences per entry on responsibilities, impact, and what you learned. Tie at least one activity to clinical exposure or research depth and one to service or leadership. Avoid repeating bullets from AMCAS; focus on your reasoning and growth.
E) If there is an important aspect of your personal background or identity not addressed elsewhere that may illuminate how you could contribute to the medical school, you may share it here. (4000 characters)
Our advice: add context, not a repeat of your personal statement. Briefly describe the circumstance, how it shaped your perspective, and how that perspective will help classmates and patients. Keep the tone reflective and specific.
F) Interview season is held virtually. Indicate any significant restrictions on your availability from mid-September through January. (1000 characters)
Our advice: give only the truly unavoidable conflicts. Leave it blank if you are broadly available, which is preferable. The prompt itself confirms the season is virtual and mid-September to January.
HST applicants: Explain how your interests, experiences, and aspirations have prepared you for HST’s quantitative and analytic curriculum. (4000 characters)
Our advice: emphasize preparation for quantitative and analytic work. Useful signals include advanced math, engineering, computational biology, quantitative research methods, device or data projects, and close collaboration with PhD or engineering teams. The program language asks you to discuss preparation and fit rather than name-dropping labs.
How Harvard Evaluates Med School Applicants
Academic record, MCAT, letters, experiences, and essays are all considered in a holistic review. Source
Interview Format
- Interviews are conducted virtually. Source
- Historically, HMS uses traditional interviews and not an MMI format. The school previously hosted two interviews per applicant in person; the virtual format preserves a similar conversational style. Source
Interview Advice
Harvard uses traditional, conversational interviews that are conducted virtually. Interviews typically begin in September. Use the guidance below to prepare like a pro.
- Know your “Why HMS” in 45 to 60 seconds. Point to one or two concrete fits that make sense for your background, such as Pathways vs HST learning style, a clinical interest supported by Longwood affiliates, or a scholarly project you want to pursue. Keep it specific and personal.
- Own your research and projects. Be ready to explain the question you studied, your role, what was hard, how you handled messy results, and what you would try next. Interviewers listen for judgment, curiosity, and integrity more than perfect outcomes.
- Carry 6 to 8 short stories that map to core values. Examples include teamwork across disciplines, leadership in service, resilience after a setback, cultural humility, and ethical judgment. Tell each story in this format:
- Problem - what was at stake
- Actions - what you did and why
- Outcome - what changed
- Reflection - what you learned and how you grew
- Expect ethics and health equity scenarios. When you get a scenario, name the stakeholders, surface the competing goods, describe how you would seek guidance, and offer a measured plan. Show that you can weigh patient welfare, privacy, fairness, and team dynamics.
- Connect your experiences to patient impact. Tie research, service, or leadership back to how it will improve care, communication, or access for patients and communities.
- Ask thoughtful questions. Prepare two or three questions about early clinical exposure, advising and mentorship, scholarly projects, or how students navigate the Longwood ecosystem. Avoid questions easily answered on the website.
- Virtual setup checklist.
- Quiet space, stable internet, and a neutral background
- Camera at eye level and good front lighting
- Practice on your actual device and platform
- Notes in view, not on screen, and a printed schedule
- Mindset on interview day. Warm tone, steady pace, and concise answers. If you get a long question, summarize it back in one line before answering. If you do not know a detail, say what you would do to find out.
- After the interview. Jot brief notes and send short thank-you messages that reference something specific you discussed.
Harvard Medical School Application Timeline:
- AMCAS primary deadline: October 15, 2025
- Harvard secondary and all materials (incl. MCAT) deadline: October 22, 2025
- AMCAS transcripts deadline: October 30, 2025
- Interviews begin: September
- Decisions released: early March
Sources: Harvard timeline and “When to Apply” pages. Timeline • When to Apply
Choose Your Medical School (CYMS) tool milestones: Plan to Enroll by April 30 and Commit to Enroll by early June for HMS. Confirm the exact date in AMCAS. AAMC MSAR timeline
Check Out the Top Medical School Acceptance Rates - it's a highly competitive admissions environment, and we strongly recommend considering professional Medical School admissions consulting.
For more information about the Harvard Medical School process, reach out to us via any of the contact options below.