Harvard is an Ivy League institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Harvard University acceptance rate is about 4. 6 percent. It is home to several research centers and the oldest historical buildings in the country. Students can easily access Boston’s downtown and thousands of nearby colleges thanks to Cambridge’s location.
Harvard University only admitted 1,968 students in 2021 out of 57,435 applicants. This makes the 2021 Harvard acceptance rate 3. 43 percent — the lowest admissions percentage in College history.
SAT and ACT Requirements
The SAT or ACT is required for admission to Harvard, along with the rest of the Ivy League and the majority of other colleges. They don’t have a preference, so pick the test that fits you best, study hard for it, and prepare to take it more than once.
Students accepted to Harvard have a range of average SAT and ACT composite scores (see table below). However, bear in mind that unless you belong to certain privileged groups (athletes, legacies, donors, etc.) in order to increase your chances of admission, your SAT/ACT score should be closer to the 75th percentile than the 25th percentile.
Harvard Average ACT and SAT Scores
| Test/Section | 25th Percentile | 50th Percentile (Mean) | 75th Percentile |
| SAT Total | 1460 | 1510 | 1580 |
| SAT Reading | 720 | 750 | 780 |
| SAT Math | 740 | 760 | 800 |
| ACT Composite | 33 | 34 | 35 |
Note that Harvard University “superscores” the SAT, not the ACT. This means that for the SAT, they will combine section scores from various days, but they will only look at composite ACT scores.
Last but not least, Harvard advises applicants to submit two SAT II, or subject test, scores. Although Harvard does not specifically require these exams, if your SAT subject test scores are in the 90th percentile or higher, you should submit them.
To decide, use percentiles rather than scores because the scores are scaled based on the number of test takers in a given year. For instance, a 750 on the SAT Subject Test for Math 2 is considered to be significantly lower than a 750 on the English Language and Literature test.
Other Harvard Application Requirements
Those are the overall academic requirements for Harvard. But what about everything else? Harvard admissions officers want to know about everything else in your life in addition to your academic performance. Besides submitting your grades and SAT results, there are a few other crucial elements of the Harvard admissions procedure:
• High school transcript; • Mid-year report; • $75 application fee or fee waiver; • Completed Common Application; • Harvard-specific essays; • SAT and two SAT Subject Test scores, or ACT scores;
First, Harvard will request letters of recommendation from two of your teachers as well as your school counselor in order to learn more about you as a student beyond your transcripts and test scores. Focus on the people who know you well and will write excellent, personalized letters rather than just the teachers who gave you the best grades when choosing who to approach.
Counselor Recommendation & School Documents
In addition to your transcript and his or her letter, your school counselor will also submit the following materials: • A mid-year report, which will inform Harvard of your senior year grades that may not have been officially posted when you applied, • A school report, which will outline the demographics and most notable characteristics of your school.
These will also help Harvard contextualize your application.
The Common Application & Essay
After that, you must submit the Coalition Application or the Common Application. You’ll become very familiar with this online interface when you apply to colleges; it’s where you’ll go to apply not only to Harvard but also to Yale, Brown, and Princeton. The majority of the Common Application is standard demographic and educational information. Additionally, you must complete a section titled “Activities” in which you must list all of your extracurricular activities.
Additionally, the Common Application requires one personal essay that will be sent to all of your schools. You have the opportunity to tell Harvard and the rest of your schools about a significant event or theme in your life in this essay, which must be 650 words or less. Plan to revise your Common App essay several times if you want to submit a competitive application.
Last but not least, Harvard and many other schools require additional, school-specific essays in addition to the main essay. These can vary from year to year, but typically they inquire about your interest in the institution and/or further information regarding your prior accomplishments. Last year, Harvard University asked three short-answer essay questions. • Please briefly describe one of your extracurricular activities or professional experiences. What would you want your future college roommate to know about you? Harvard College’s mission is to prepare its students to be active members of society and citizen-leaders. What would you do to help this mission be successful while improving the lives of your classmates?
For admission to competitive universities like Harvard and the rest of the Ivy League, having a solid application strategy to get these essays written, revised, and finished is crucial.
The $75 application fee is the final cost for submitting your application through these online interfaces. These fees can be waived by showing financial hardship.
Keep in mind the following deadlines as you compile all of your materials for Harvard: • November 1 for Single-Choice Early Action • January 1 for Regular Decision
Mid-December marks the release of Early Action decisions, and applicants for Regular Decision will hear online by April. Accepted students have until May 1 to decide whether or not to enroll.
Demographics of Admitted Students at Harvard
Harvard University admits students from all over the country and from diverse backgrounds. According to The Harvard Crimson, the demographic breakdown of students admitted into the Harvard Class of 2023 was:
• 50% men, 50% women • 25. 4% Asian American • 14. 8% African-American/black • 12. 4% Latinx • 2. 4% Native American/Pacific Islander • 16. 4% first-generation students.
Final Thoughts about Applying to Harvard
The last thing to remember is that because Harvard University is so selective, it makes sense to apply to other schools that are comparable to Harvard, such as Yale University, Princeton University, and Columbia University, even if you are a competitive applicant there.
Good luck and keep in mind that you can contact us if you need help with anything related to this, including how to understand your GPA, when to take the SAT or ACT, what extracurricular activities to participate in, how to spend your summers, or what on earth to write about for all those essays.
Can I get into Harvard with a 3.7 GPA?
FAQ
Can a 3.5 GPA get me into Harvard?
A 3. At many colleges, admission with a 5 GPA will be highly competitive, but it’s not the most competitive at schools like Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth, which typically accept students with GPAs above 4. 0.
Can I get into Harvard with a 3.0 GPA?
Your GPA must be at least a 4 to be admitted to Harvard. 0 and even then, if you’re lucky, they still need at least a 4 18 GPA only .
Will a 4.0 GPA get you into Harvard?
Harvard’s GPA requirements However, because high schools weight GPAs differently, unweighted GPAs are not very useful. In truth, you need close to a 4. 0 unweighted GPA to get into Harvard. That means nearly straight As in every class.
Is 1500 SAT good for Harvard?
In other words, a 1460 places you below average, while a 1580 raises you to above average according to the Harvard SAT Score Analysis (New 1600 SAT). Although Harvard doesn’t have a strict SAT requirement, they really want to see at least a 1460 to be considered