MBI Student Information

Below, please find a list of resources and updates for both new and returning MBI students. Please use the navigation below for links to information and resources. If you cannot find what you are looking for on this page, please email mbi@hms.harvard.edu for additional help. 

New Student Onboarding Information

Final Transcript Requirements

Final enrollment in the Master of Biomedical Informatics program is contingent upon receipt of all official transcripts from degree-granting institutions. If your degree is still in progress, do not send your official transcript until after your degree has been conferred.

Official transcripts must be issued directly by the degree-granting institution.

If your college or university issues certified electronic transcripts, please have these sent to: Rebecca_Fitzhugh@hms.harvard.edu.

If your college or university only issues hard copies of official transcripts, please have these sent to:

Harvard Medical School

Office of the Registrar

Gordon Hall, Suite 213
25 Shattuck Street
Boston, MA 02115

Please request all transcripts to be sent by August 1, 2020.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, processing hard copy transcripts will take longer than usual

Curriculum for 2020 - 2021

Program requirements for students enrolled in the MBI program in the 2020 - 2021 academic year can be found at the following links: 

Accelerated (postdoc) MBI Program Requirements

48-Credit (postbacc) MBI Program Requirements

Tuition, Financial Aid, and Payment Information

Program Tuition and Fees

The full breakdown of the 2020 - 2021 tuition and fees for the MBI program can be found at https://meded.hms.harvard.edu/masters-cost-attendance.

Tuition Bills and Payment

Tuition bills are posted to a student's account in my.harvard.edu. 

Tuition payments for fall 2020 are due on August 3, 2020. 

Information on acceptable forms of payment and establishing payment plans can be found at the following pages of the Student Financial Services site:

 https://sfs.harvard.edu/news/graduate-students-important-fall-2020-information 

https://sfs.harvard.edu/student-accounts

Federal Financial Aid

U.S citizens and U.S. permanent residents may be eligible to apply for federal financial aid through Harvard Medical School. Information about Graduate Student Financial Aid for Master’s students can be found here: https://meded.hms.harvard.edu/masters-financial-aid.

Master’s Program Tuition Discount for Faculty and Staff at HMS and Affiliated Institutions

Full-time, benefits eligible faculty and staff at HMS and the affiliated institutions/hospitals are eligible for a scholarship equivalent to 10% of the tuition rate for any of the HMS Master’s Degree Programs (tuition only).  Please notify the program if you think you are eligible for this scholarship.  Students who are also considering applying for financial assistance should notify the HMS Financial Aid office of this scholarship opportunity.

Other Scholarship Opportunities

At this time, there are very few scholarship opportunities available to students applying to the Master of Biomedical Informatics program. Federal Financial Aid primarily in the form of loans is available to U.S. citizens and Permanent Residents. Admitted applicants who qualify for certain scholarships (Fulbright awardees, students from particular regional areas) will be contacted by the program with more information about these opportunities. We encourage all applicants to seek sources of outside funding to support their studies and are happy to assist students with any supporting material when they are applying to these opportunities.

Assistantships

The Master of Biomedical Informatics program and Harvard Medical School do not offer any assistantship opportunities to Master’s students. Some students are able to find paid employment as hourly research assistants or teaching assistants after their first semester in the program, but these positions cannot be used to offset the price of program tuition.

HMS Student Visa Information

Due the COVID-19 pandemic and switch to online offerings for the fall 2020 semester, Harvard University will only issue new I-20 documents for the MBI program for students who already hold a F-1 visa from a previous institution. Students who will need a first-time F-1 visa for the anticipated spring 2021 semester will be contacted directly by the program in summer 2020 with further instructions. 

Detailed information on the visa process and other frequently asked questions from international students can be found at the Harvard International Office website: https://hio.harvard.edu/

Student Visa Process

All student visas sponsored by Harvard University require both a visa document issued by the Harvard International Office (HIO) and a visa from a U.S. embassy or consulate outside the United States. Canadian citizens only need a visa document and do not need a visa from a U.S. embassy or consulate. The following  provides an overview of what to expect when requesting a visa document from Harvard University, applying for a visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate, and finally, entering the United States.

Admissions and Financial Certification

The first few steps of the visa process for international students coming to Harvard are managed directly by the program. If you accept our offer of admission, you will be sent a ‘Preliminary Data Sheet’ form that you must submit in order for the Harvard International Office (HIO) to issue you a I-20 form for your visa application. The financial certification process can be time consuming since you will need to compile evidence of guaranteed funding, often from several different sources, to cover the total Cost of Attendance (tuition, fees, and estimated living expenses) determined by Harvard Medical School. 

A breakdown of the 2020 - 2021 Cost of Attendance can be found here:  https://meded.hms.harvard.edu/masters-cost-attendance.

Students must be able to certify that they will have access to the full Cost of Attendance to cover program tuition, fees, and living expenses. It is highly recommend that students begin verifying that they will meet all the below documentation requirements before the final Cost of Attendance amount is posted.

The following documentation that is needed for each possible funding type is detailed below. All documentation must be submitted in USD and in English or accompanied with a certified translation.

  1. A fellowship, grant or scholarship: please send a copy of the official award letter that states the value of the award in the home currency and US dollars, as well as the period of time for which it is valid.
  2. Employer or agency sponsorship: please upload an official letter from your employer or agency on letterhead that states the amount of funding in the home currency and its US dollar equivalent, as well as the period of time for which the funding is valid.
  3. Personal savings: please upload a copy of a formal monthly bank statement. The bank statement MUST comply with the following criteria:
    1. The student’s name must be listed as the account holder or joint account holder. All bank accounts used for financial certification must be in the name of the student.
    2. In the event that financial support will be from a family member, the family member must submit financial documentation as outlined above as well as a notarized letter indicating financial support of the student.
    3. The account(s) must be in US dollar currency or US dollar equivalence and/or include a certification of deposit verifying the current US dollar equivalence of the account holdings.
    4. The account(s) must be held in a bank that has retail/consumer banking operations in the United States. Non-US banks with a branch in the United States or overseas branches of US banks will satisfy this requirement. Bank Offices, or private bank branches do not meet the requirement.
    5. The funds must be held in cash accounts. Any funding presented for financial certification must be immediately available to the student without restrictions, penalties or requirements for withdrawal. Stock, mutual fund or other investment accounts do not meet this criterion.
    6. These funds must remain in the documented bank account and committed for use toward expenses listed in the Financial Certification Budget. These funds may not be re-purposed or used only to satisfy visa requirements.
  4. Loan: please upload a copy of the promissory note or approval letter from the lending institution that states the amount of the loan(s) in the home currency and US dollars and the period of time for which the loan is valid.

Visa Documents

Once the financial certification is complete, your program manager will enter your information into a database shared with the HIO. Until this point the HIO does not have records of new students coming to Harvard. The HIO has been designated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of State to issue F and J student visa documents. In most cases, once the school requests the HIO to issue a visa document, it only takes a few days to prepare the Form I-20 (F-1 visa) or Form DS-2019 (J-1 visa). The HIO prepares instructional information for students regarding the next step of the process, which is to apply for a visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate. The visa documents are then sent to students with instructions on what the next steps are.

Most students who will have their visa sponsored by Harvard University will be issued an F-1 visa. If you expect to be funded through a current employer or government agency, you may qualify for a J-1 visa instead. If you believe that you will need a J-1 visa, please let us know.

Students whose visas are sponsored by another agency, such as Fulbright, LASPAU, OAS etc. receive their visa documents directly from the agency.

Documents Needed for Visa Application

1. HMS Visa Document

2. F1 Visa Transfer Form - for students directly translating a student visa from another institution

Admitted Students Information Session 2020

New Student Information Session, 02.27.20 Slide Deck

 

HUHS Student Immunization Requirements

Please read the following for updated immunization compliance information for remote students in Fall 2020. Immunization records do not need to be sent until January 4, 2020 ahead of the spring term. Information can be found at: https://huhs.harvard.edu/med-recs-immunizations/immunizations-0

Harvard Master's Programs Submit the 'Non-Clinical Healthcare Programs Immunization Packet'

If you are a remote student (not in Harvard classrooms, not in Harvard dorms, and not in Harvard University Housing) you will not need to provide the University and State required immunization documentation.

In the event that you have been notified that you have a Registration Hold due to immunization non-compliance even though you will be remote, your Hold will be removed in the upcoming weeks prior to course registration. When your Registration Hold is removed you will receive an automated email notifying you that the Hold has been removed.

If you are a remote student you are, however, encouraged to submit any immunization documentation that you may have to the HUHS Patient Portal. Your documents will be processed and stored in our electronic medical record. Submitting your documents ahead of a potential spring semester on campus will help expedite processing and compliance for spring registration. It is highly encouraged that you receive all of your required immunizations prior to arriving on campus. When receiving immunizations, be sure to check with your insurance carrier to understand your plan’s coverage and patient responsibility. At this time, HUHS does not know if immunization clinics will be held in August, as have been in the past. If and when clinics are scheduled, those dates will be communicated on our website and to your School.

Harvard University Student Health Plan

All students are automatically enrolled in the Harvard University Student Health Plan at the start of each academic year. 

Students who are receiving health insurance coverage from another source may be eligible to waive the student health insurance.

Instructions on how to waive the student health plan are found at: https://hushp.harvard.edu/waiver-eligibility-application. 

All students are assessed a Student Health Fee. 

A limited number of students who meet certain criteria are eligible to waive the Student Health Fee. Coverage by other health insurance coverage does not qualify as a reason to waive the Student Health Fee, even if it allows you to waive the Student Health Insurance Plan.

To be eligible to waive the Student Health Fee for the Fall 2020 Term, the student must meet one of the criteria below:

  • Enrolled as a half-time or less student (must also waive the Student Health Insurance Plan)
  • Enrolled member of the Harvard University Group Health Plan (HUGHP); a health insurance plan available to Harvard employees and their dependents
  • A student on active military duty and prohibited from receiving health care from any facility other than Hanscom Air Force Base (requires an attestation form)

Please note - if you are a part-time student and opt to waive the student health fee, this means that you will not be able to use resources provided through Harvard University Health Services, including Counseling and Mental Health Services workshops and groups. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Admitted Student FAQs

For some courses (such as deep learning) that are also offered at other institutions such as MIT, is it possible to take them at the other institutions? 

  • Courses at other institutions cannot be used to substitute BMI courses. However, students are able to take some elective courses at other Harvard schools or MIT with permission of the program director. 

For the capstone project, can students be funded by their mentor if they are willing to?

  • The capstone project is completed for course credit as a program requirement, therefore work towards the capstone project cannot be paid for.

For the capstone project, do students need to find their own mentor? Must the mentor be from the BMI department?

  • Students select and identify a mentor for their capstone project. MBI Program staff are available to help students identify potential mentors and introduce students to mentors when no previous relationship exists.
  • The capstone mentor must hold a faculty appointment at Harvard University at the assistant professor level or higher. This includes faculty from DBMI, HMS-affiliate hospitals, Harvard School of Public Health, and other Harvard schools.

New Student Information Sessions

May 2020 Session

May 2020 Slide Deck (Links to Google Drive)

Questions and answers from session

 

June 2020 Session

June 2020 Slide Deck (Links to Google Drive)

July 2020 Session

July 2020 Slide Deck (Links to Google Drive)

Prerequisite Resources

Programming Resources

The following are some recommended programming preparation materials that incoming students may wish to use prior to the start of the program to brush up or become familiar with basic concepts programming. It is not expected that students go over these materials, as BMI 713 - Computing for Biomedical Sciences is designed to be a rigorous introduction to R programming for those with no prior experience, but some students may find these useful. 

These resources are ones that the program is familiar with. There are many other introductory programming courses and resources online that may be a better fit for an individual student. 

 

R (Programming language used in BMI 713 and most BMI courses)

 

Python (Programming language used in MCB 112 and other upper-level electives)

 

 

 

 

General CS

Data Science Overviews

 

Scientific Communication