I applied with no real expectations, somehow got an interview, and got rejected. Maybe this post is slight cope because I probably would've attended if I got in, but I was genuinely trying to understand this while preparing for my interview.

What I noticed about the school:

1) Somewhat outdated curriculum (mandatory lecture, no research year). No AOA and P/F clerkships (I've heard P/F clerkships might be going away eventually? Can't verify this though) are great, but other top schools have those as well.

2) Not a single student or faculty member I met could explain why they attend or work there without vaguely deferring to, "It's Harvard, why wouldn't I come here?" Even the info session was "it's Harvard lol you know who we are" without providing much of an explanation for what makes them unique.

3) Stingy with aid. If you don't get REACH, there's no merit aid and they don't really negotiate aid with other schools. I assume most admitted students are getting scholarships at other elite schools.

I get that they have elite hospitals and research, but realistically, how much of a difference is that going to make relative to places like UPenn, UCSF, and WashU, which also have incredible hospital systems, world-class faculty, lots of funding, and phenomenal match lists? Even clinically, how much is a medical student going to learn from the "medical firsts" that happen there? Residency/fellowship seem to be where you'd benefit from seeing the unique mega-rare cases, no?

Any thoughts?