Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts | Admissions Phone: 617-495-1551
E-mail: college@fas.harvard.edu | Website: www.college.harvard.edu
ADMISSION
Admission Rate: 5%
Admission Rate - Men: 5%
Admission Rate - Women: 5%
EA Admission Rate: 15%
ED Admission Rate: Not Offered
Admission Rate (5-Year Trend): -1%
ED Admission Rate (5-Year Trend): Not Offered
% of Admits Attending (Yield): 82%
Transfer Admission Rate: 1%
# Offered Wait List: N/A
# Accepted Wait List: N/A
# Admitted Wait List: N/A
SAT Reading/Writing (Middle 50%): 720-780
SAT Math (Middle 50%): 740-800
ACT Composite (Middle 50%): 33-35
Testing Policy: ACT/SAT Required
SAT Superscore: Yes
ACT Superscore: No
% Graduated in Top 10% of HS Class: 94%
% Graduated in Top 25% of HS Class: 99%
% Graduated in Top 50% of HS Class: 100%
ENROLLMENT
Total Undergraduate Enrollment: 6,788
% Part-Time: 0%
% Male: 51%
% Female: 49%
% Out-of-State: 84%
% Fraternity: Not Offered
% Sorority: Not Offered
% On-Campus (Freshman): 99%
% On-Campus (All Undergraduate): 97%
% African-American: 8%
% Asian: 20%
% Hispanic: 11%
% White: 38%
% Other: 7%
% Race or Ethnicity Unknown: 2%
% International: 13%
% Low-Income: 15%
ACADEMICS
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 7:1
% of Classes Under 20: 72%
% of Classes Under 40: 87%
% Full-Time Faculty: 85%
% Full-Time Faculty w/ Terminal Degree: 94%
Top Programs
Biology
Chemistry
Economics
Mathematics
Political Science
Physics
Psychology
Statistics
Retention Rate: 98%
4-Year Graduation Rate: 87%
6-Year Graduation Rate: 98%
Curricular Flexibility: Somewhat Flexible
Academic Rating: 
FINANCIAL
Institutional Type: Private
In-State Tuition: $47,730
Out-of-State Tuition: $47,730
Room & Board: $17,682
Required Fees: $4,195
Books & Supplies: $1,000
Avg. Need-Based Aid: $56,771
Avg. % of Need Met: 100%
Avg. Merit-Based Aid: $0
% Receiving Merit-Based Aid: 0%
Avg. Cumulative Debt: $13,372
% of Students Borrowing: 17%
CAREER
Who Recruits
1. Putnam Investments
2. Akuna Capital
3. Atlantic Media
4. Vertica
5. Environmental Defense Fund
Notable Internships
1. McKinsey & Company
2. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
3. Jane Street Capital
Top Industries
1. Business
2. Education
3. Research
4. Operations
5. Media
Top Employers
1. Google
2. Microsoft
3. Goldman Sachs
4. McKinsey & Company
5. IBM
Where Alumni Work
1. Boston
2. New York City
3. San Francisco
4. Washington, DC
5. Los Angeles
Median Earnings
College Scorecard (Early Career): $89,700
EOP (Early Career): $81,500
PayScale (Mid-Career): $146,800
RANKINGS
Forbes: 1
Money: 14
U.S. News: 2, National Universities
Wall Street Journal/THE: 1
Washington Monthly: 2, National Universities
Inside the Classroom
The oldest university in the United States, founded 140 years before the United States itself was even a concept, it is also the most iconic and, in many ways, revered institution of higher learning. Worldwide, Harvard is the envy of other universities and the dream destination for countless teenage geniuses and overachievers. For 6,800 young people, the Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is their reality, and learning from Nobel Laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and global leaders in every field is an everyday occurrence.
There are fifty undergraduate fields of study referred to as concentrations; many are interdisciplinary. Nearly 3,900 courses are on the menu, so learning options are extensive. Core requirements are minimal outside of expository writing, which all freshmen must conquer, proficiency in a foreign language (which must be achieved by the end of sophomore year), and a trek through the program in general education. The latter requirement ensures that undergrads are exposed to four main areas: aesthetics and culture, ethics and civics; histories, societies, and individuals; and science and technology in society. Roughly half of students complete some type of senior thesis, but there are no requirements in that area.
Even with a graduate population of almost 14,000 to cater to, undergraduate class sizes still tend to be on the smaller side with 42 percent of sections having single-digit enrollments and 72 percent being capped at nineteen. Graduates report an 82 percent satisfaction rate with the experience within their academic concentration. Summer research experiences are taken advantage of by 38 percent of the student body. Approximately 60 percent of students study abroad at a number of locations in South America, Africa, Europe, or Asia.
Economics, government, and computer science are the three most popular areas of concentration at Harvard. Those programs, along with ones in biology, chemistry, physics, math, statistics, sociology, history, English, and psychology all sit atop most departmental ranking lists. The university also occupies the top position in the all-time Rhodes Scholar rankings with 347 to its credit, more than the combined total from Stanford, Penn, Dartmouth, Brown, MIT, Cornell, and Columbia. Other prestigious postgraduate fellowships are awarded to Harvard students with regularity including the Fulbright, which was captured by sixteen members of the Class of 2018. The list of all-time alumni accolades could go on forever and includes ninety-six Nobel Laureates and eight US presidents.
Outside the Classroom
Possessing a bottomless endowment, the school never needs to cut corners on any programs, campus infrastructure, or amenities—and it shows. Freshmen live together at a centralized campus location adjacent to the famed Harvard Yard and then, as sophomores, move into one of twelve stately, upper-class houses, each with its own set of traditions and sense of community. Greek life, once thriving, has taken a dip in recent years after university officials enacted new regulations to deter membership in single-sex clubs. Students who participate forfeit eligibility for leadership positions in athletics or student government and will not be recommended for prestigious scholarships. Fortunately, a bevy of other social clubs exist in the form of 450 student-run organizations including the history-rich Hasty Pudding Club and the Phillips Brooks House Association that runs eighty-six volunteer organizations. Of course, studying is also a popular “hobby,” and the Harvard Library is the largest academic library in the world and boasts a staff of nearly 800. The Harvard Crimson is a premier college newspaper with a long and storied history—Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy are among its alums— and The Harvard Lampoon is one of the world’s oldest humor magazines, one that has helped launch talents ranging from John Updike to Conan O’Brien. Athletics also play a prominent role in Harvard’s culture, both past and present, as the school fields forty NCAA Division I sports teams, evenly split between men’s and women’s squads. Cambridge itself is a bustling hub of culture, nightlife, and entertainment. Downtown Boston is only a twelve-minute ride away on the city’s easily accessible public transit system.
Career Services
The Center for Career Development (CCD) has nineteen professional staff members (excluding students, assistants, and IT staff) who are dedicated to tasks including employer relations, career counseling, and summer funding opportunities. The 352:1 student-to-advisor ratio is about average compared to other schools featured in this guide. Yet, the closer you look into Harvard’s career services, locating another “average” feature is a nearly impossible task.
The CCD hosts more than 300 events annually that are attended by 9,600 students. It also organizes twenty independent career fairs, each targeting a particular sector that attracts just under 6,000 net attendees. The OCS logs 6,700 advising appointments per year and manages to engage with 70 percent of the total undergraduate student body. Crimson Careers, the office’s online database, posts 8,000+ jobs/internships from thousands of unique employers. On-campus recruiting occurred on a regular basis with 180 employers, including just about any big-name company you can think of, conducting over 5,100 interviews on site in Cambridge. More than three-quarters of students participate in a summer internship during their four years of study. In short, career services are what you would expect from America’s preeminent university—exceptional.
Professional Outcomes
The Crimson class of 2018 saw 15 percent of students head directly into graduate/professional school. Of the 65 percent of graduates entering the world of work, 18 percent were entering the financial services field, another 18 percent were entering the world of consulting, and technology/engineering attracted 14 percent. Over 1,000 Harvard alumni presently work for Google and over 500 for Microsoft, McKinsey & Company, and Goldman Sachs. More than 250 are employed at Amazon, Facebook, and Bain & Company. Postgraduation, Harvard students tend to cluster in three main states—New York, California, and Massachusetts. Those three states collectively reel in 57 percent of newly minted alumni. Remuneration is excellent with 53 percent of graduates reporting starting salaries over $70k and 11 percent taking home $110k+ in base pay. By midcareer, grads have the third highest median salaries in the Ivy League.
Turning our attention to those moving on to graduate school, Harvard grads with at least a 3.5 GPA typically enjoy acceptance rates into medical school of 90 percent or greater, demolishing the national average. Harvard grads tend to trade one high prestige school for another when pursuing an advanced degree. Many also stay close to home—Harvard Medical School (HMS), Harvard Law School, and the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences all accept more Harvard College graduates than those from any other single institution. It is estimated that approximately one-fifth of the HMS student body already spent four years in Cambridge as an undergraduate.
Admission
Harvard’s admission rate for the Class of 2022 was 4.6 percent, an all-time low. Applicants fare better in the early action round that sports a 14.5 percent acceptance rate; the regular round rate is an almost comically low 2.9 percent. This was the first year in school history that the overall percentage of admitted students dipped below 5 percent. For historical context, at the turn of the millennium, 12 percent of applicants were welcomed aboard. The mid-50 percent SAT range for enrolled freshmen in 2018-19 was 1460-1590; over 85 percent of students scored above a 700 on each portion of the exam. It’s not shocking that 94 percent of students admitted earned a place in their high school class’s top decile. An insanely high number—84 percent—of admitted students elect to enroll. In other words, Harvard is second choice for few students.
The admissions staff does not rank any factor as being “very important” or even “important.” All of the usual factors—grades, SATs, essays, and so on—are “considered.” Demonstrated interest is not considered, which is unsurprising in light of the aforementioned yield rate. Legacy students comprise roughly one-third of the student body and enjoy an acceptance rate five times that of non-legacy applicants. For information about the role of race in admissions at Harvard, simply consult any newspaper. Getting into Harvard is the subject of plenty of (mostly awful) movies for a reason—it is a mammoth task set against harrowing odds. Even valedictorians with perfect test scores are not immune from rejection. However, impeccable credentials of that nature will at least allow you the opportunity to roll the dice with a realistic chance of success.
Worth Your Money?
Asking if Harvard is worth the money is a bit like John C. Reilly’s character in Stepbrothers, Dale Doback, asking if bonito fish are big. Yes, Dale, bonito fish are big, and Harvard is worth the $78,300 annual cost of attendance. Merit aid barely exists at the university but, thanks to a $38 billion endowment, the 54 percent of the undergraduate population that is eligible for financial aid sees 100 percent of its need met; the total annual value is an extremely generous $57,000. Harvard is one of the rare schools where the average graduate’s salary exceeds the annual cost of attendance, so even if you did have to take out loans to attend, it would be more than worth the expense.