Harvard University

Private · Elite · MA

Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel (CC BY 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationMA · Northeast

SettingUrban

Undergrads7,601

Student:faculty7:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate55.7%

6-yr grad rate97.6%

Drop-out rate1.7%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$62k

Out-of-state tuition$62k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity69.2%

Gender diversity53.8%

International14.6%

Identity—

Overview

Harvard, founded in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the oldest institution of higher education in the country and one of the most resource-rich, with library, museum, and faculty depth that spans nearly every academic field. Undergraduates enter Harvard College, the liberal arts and sciences core of a much larger university that also includes law, medical, business, and public policy schools students can cross-register toward or aim for later. The sheer scale of the institution — dozens of departments, hundreds of student organizations, and a name recognized virtually everywhere — gives students enormous latitude to build very different four years depending on what they seek out.

Academics

Students choose a concentration (Harvard's term for a major) at the end of freshman year after a period of exploration under the university's general-education requirements, with strength distributed unusually evenly across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences rather than concentrated in one signature program. Research opportunities and independent study, including honors theses in many concentrations, are widely available, and cross-registration with MIT and other Boston-area institutions adds even more range. The sheer number of course offerings, small seminars alongside large lecture courses, and access to faculty who are often leaders in their fields is a defining feature of the academic experience.

Campus & student life

First-years live together in Harvard Yard, then join one of twelve residential houses — Adams, Cabot, Currier, Dunster, Eliot, Kirkland, Leverett, Lowell, Mather, Pforzheimer, Quincy, and Winthrop — through a randomized lottery, and that house, with its own dining hall and traditions, anchors social life for the rest of college. Student life ranges from storied publications like The Harvard Crimson and Lampoon to a competitive Institute of Politics and Division I athletics, capped by The Game, the football rivalry with Yale. Cambridge and Boston sit just outside the gates, giving students a much larger city to draw on while still living inside a self-contained campus core.

Getting in

Harvard's process is holistic and among the most selective anywhere, weighing academic strength alongside personal qualities, recommendations, and evidence of real impact or leadership in whatever a student pursues, rather than simply a long list of activities. Essays and interviews — conducted by local alumni rather than admissions staff — are taken seriously as a way to see beyond the transcript and test scores. The university has long said it looks for students who will have an outsized, positive effect on their Harvard classmates and on the world afterward, not just strong individual résumés.

After graduation

Graduates move into an unusually broad range of fields — finance, law, medicine, academia, government, and increasingly technology and entrepreneurship — aided by one of the largest and most globally active alumni networks of any university. Recruiting from Wall Street, consulting firms, and top graduate and professional programs is intense on campus, and the name carries weight across nearly every industry and country.

Worth knowing

Financial aid is entirely need-based and generous enough that many lower- and middle-income admits attend essentially free, which shifts the real cost conversation away from sticker price for a large share of families. The house system, not the concentration a student eventually declares, is often what shapes daily life most — a student's house is where they eat, socialize, and often make their closest friends for four years.

harvard.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate3.6%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1510–1580 · ACT 34–36

Test policyrequired

Rec letters3

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Early actionNov 1

Regular decisionJan 1

Verified from the school’s admissions page ↗

Applying (2026-27 cycle)

Apply through Common App or QuestBridge.

Restrictive early actionNov 1

Financial aid formsFeb 1

Harvard's early option is a restrictive early action plan: it isn't binding, but it limits applying early anywhere else at the same time.

Interviews: Alumni interviews may be offered where available, but they aren't guaranteed for every applicant.

Supplemental essays (5)

Harvard has long recognized the importance of enrolling a student body with a diversity of perspectives and experiences. How will the life experiences that shaped who you are today enable you to contribute to Harvard?
150 words · Required
Describe a time when you strongly disagreed with someone about an idea or issue. How did you communicate or engage with this person? What did you learn from this experience?
150 words · Required
Briefly describe any of your extracurricular activities, employment experience, travel, or family responsibilities that have shaped who you are.
150 words · Required
How do you hope to use your Harvard education in the future?
150 words · Required
Top 3 things your roommates might like to know about you.
150 words · Required