Harvard University: Complete Guide to Admission, Cost and Aid for 2027 Entry

As of 9 Oct 2026, Harvard's pages say you apply to Harvard College through the Common Application plus Harvard's five short-answer questions of up to 150 words and an application fee that is waived if it presents a hardship for you or your family, by 1 November 2026 for Restrictive Early Action or 1 January 2027 for Regular Decision, and that Harvard requires the SAT or ACT. Harvard lists a 2026-2027 cost of attendance of $95,134-$100,134; admission is need-blind and aid meets 100 percent of demonstrated need.

Harvard's 2026-2027 tuition is $62,226; health insurance of $4,954 for 2026-2027 comes on top of the cost of attendance unless you are covered under your family's health plan, and as of 9 Oct 2026 Harvard had not published its 2027-2028 costs. Harvard admission stays need-blind if you apply from abroad: decisions ignore whether you applied for aid, even if you are a foreign citizen, and international students get exactly the same aid as American students.

Three Harvard rules that catch applicants from abroad

• An English test cannot replace the SAT or ACT. Harvard requires the SAT or ACT; the TOEFL, IELTS and Duolingo cannot be used instead, and first-year applicants are not required to take an English proficiency exam. In exceptional cases when those tests are not accessible, one of these can meet the requirement: AP exam results, IB actual or predicted scores, GCSE/A-level actual or predicted results or national leaving exam results or predictions. Harvard still expects an SAT or ACT from students who have those, if financial considerations or test availability would not limit their ability to do so.
• Restrictive Early Action closes other early doors. In Harvard's Restrictive Early Action you may not apply early to any other private institution, or to a binding early plan at a public university. Non-binding early applications to universities outside the United States and US public universities stay open. Harvard's plan is non-binding and gives no advantage for applying early.
• Aid has its own forms and no merit track. Whatever your citizenship, you file a CSS Profile and an IDOC Packet (the 2027-2028 CSS Profile), due with your application in Restrictive Early Action but on 1 February 2027 in Regular Decision. Harvard has no merit-based awards.

Massachusetts Hall, Harvard University

Harvard in one table

For the other Ivy League universities, see our Ivy League guide; for daily life, read our guide to Harvard's campus and student life in Cambridge.

Harvard's resources and community

Harvard's endowment was $56.9 billion in the 2025 fiscal year.

Harvard College students come from all fifty states and more than eighty countries, and nearly all students choose to live on campus for all four years; from sophomore year, each House serves as your home base.

Harvard's reputation rests on a history that starts in 1636, a research record Harvard documents through its Nobel laureates, and an endowment of $56.9 billion in the 2025 fiscal year.

Harvard counts 24,317 undergraduate and graduate students across the university, from Harvard College to the graduate and professional schools.

Our Ivy League ranking guide compares Harvard with the other Ivy League universities.

From 1636 to today: a short history

Harvard was founded on 28 October 1636 as the first college in the American colonies, by a vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. When the Charlestown minister John Harvard died in 1638, he left the college his library of more than 400 books and half his estate.

Presidents, heads of state and Nobel laureates

Harvard counts 400,000+ alumni worldwide, and neither its About page nor its history timeline gives a count of U.S. presidents or heads of state among them. The Harvard history timeline names graduates who became U.S. presidents, among them John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, John F. Kennedy, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Counts of Harvard Nobel laureates found online depend on whether they count alumni, faculty or anyone linked to Harvard, so check the definition before you repeat one.

Harvard Yard at Night 03

Research behind the reputation

Harvard's Nobel pages show which discoveries it credits to its own researchers. John F. Enders, Thomas H. Weller and Frederick C. Robbins shared the 1954 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for growing the polio virus in tissue culture. Harvard's page says this work led to a vaccine for polio, and that without Enders' method of growing the virus Jonas Salk could not have brought his own work to its conclusion.

Gary Ruvkun, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, received the 2024 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for the discovery of microRNAs.

The Harvard Office of Technology Development turns Harvard research into licenses and companies. By its own figures, Harvard has 970 active technology licenses with 670+ industry collaborators and holds 5,710+ active patents as of 1 July 2026. The office also reports 90 startups in 5 years.

Harvard's endowment, $56.9 billion in the 2025 fiscal year, supports almost every aspect of the university's work. For where Harvard graduates go next, see our guide to careers after the Ivy League.

Harvard College sets no score cutoffs and says it does not admit “by the numbers”. For the latest class numbers, look at Harvard's own Admissions Statistics page; they describe a class that has already enrolled, not the autumn 2027 entry.

The Class of 2030 moved in at Harvard in 2026; you would apply for the class entering in autumn 2027. For the steps of a US application in order, see our US application process guide.

Restrictive Early Action gives no advantage

As of 9 Oct 2026, Harvard's first-year page says you apply under Restrictive Early Action by November 1 and hear in mid-December. Harvard does not offer an advantage to students who apply early. Apply early when your file is ready, not to raise your odds.

International applicants: one pool, no quota

Because all applicants follow the same procedures and timetables, Harvard says it does not need to categorize individual applicants as either international or domestic. Its international admissions pages generally use the term for applicants who apply from schools outside the United States.

Harvard states there are no quotas or limits of any kind at any point in the admissions process. All students are considered in the same pool for all places in the incoming class, regardless of citizenship or the secondary school they attend. Harvard also makes admissions decisions without regard to whether an applicant has applied for financial aid, even if the applicant is a foreign citizen, so asking for aid from abroad does not count against you.

Harvard College considers every applicant in the same pool for all places in the incoming class, with no quotas or limits of any kind at any point in the admissions process and no score cutoffs. Academic accomplishment is important, but Harvard's Admissions Committee considers many other factors.

Holistic review: what the Admissions Committee weighs

Harvard's First-Year Applicants page lists the factors beyond academic accomplishment: "potential contributions to our community, special talents or excellences of all kinds, perspectives formed by life experiences, the willingness to respectfully engage with differing ideas and opinions, and the ability to take advantage of the breadth of Harvard's resources and opportunities."

On tests, Harvard is explicit: "SAT and ACT tests are better predictors of Harvard grades than high school grades." Harvard finds it is difficult for high school grades to differentiate individual applications, though they are not unimportant, and takes into account your educational background when reviewing your scores.

What Harvard does not count against you

Harvard states that a student's chances for admission and financial aid are not affected by citizenship or by the location of the school that the student attends.

What a strong application from abroad shows

Harvard says all applicants follow the same procedures and timetables, so your school's documents have to explain your school to the Admissions Committee.

Harvard learns about your school from the Secondary School Report, a required form submitted by your school counselor or another school leader with your transcript(s), a letter of recommendation and a school profile (if available). Without a counselor, another teacher or school leader may submit an additional recommendation letter. Two teachers in different academic subjects write recommendations. If you study IB or A-levels, Harvard expects your school to send predicted grades, based on your current classroom work, at the midyear stage.

Per-country admission ranges in older guides contradict Harvard's statement that there are no quotas or limits of any kind at any point in the admissions process.

Harvard accepts other standardized tests or other academic credentials if you choose to submit them, and faculty may evaluate optional supplementary materials such as music recordings, artwork or selected samples of academic work. Harvard's pages name no achievement that guarantees admission. Your country, languages and schooling fit the Harvard short-answer question on how the life experiences that shaped who you are today will enable you to contribute to Harvard.

Waiting list, deferral and a gap year

Harvard's admissions pages do not describe how the waiting list works or when places from it are offered.

Harvard's admissions committee encourages admitted students to defer enrollment for one year. In that interval year you may not enroll as a degree or diploma candidate in a university or secondary school.

Reapplying or transferring later

Harvard's admissions pages publish no rules on reapplying as a first-year, and a student who enrolled at a college after high school is not permitted to relinquish credit earned in order to restart. The later route is transfer: Harvard welcomes a very small number of transfer students each fall (12 on average), from more than 2,000 applications a year recently, after at least one continuous academic year and not more than two academic years at one college. If you applied before, Harvard will have access to your previous application.

As of 9 Oct 2026, Harvard's pages say that Harvard requires the SAT or ACT, sets no score cutoffs and requests Restrictive Early Action test scores by the end of October, ahead of the 1 November 2026 deadline. For that round you may submit the November series if needed, and Regular Decision applicants may submit December scores (SAT) or February scores (ACT).

Harvard was not test-optional when we checked its pages on 9 Oct 2026: Harvard College requires the SAT or ACT to meet its standardized testing requirement. Harvard also says SAT and ACT tests are better predictors of Harvard grades than high school grades. That matters if you study abroad, because the thousands of secondary schools around the country and the world employ various high school curricula and a wide range of grading systems.

AP, IB, A-levels and national exams meet the requirement in exceptional cases

Harvard accepts other results in exceptional cases when those tests are not accessible: typically when paying for or reaching a test site is a problem, or when you cannot get a seat at a test site before the Regular Decision deadline. Harvard does not expect applicants to go to extraordinary measures.

Holding AP, IB, GCSE, A-level or national exam results does not exempt you: Harvard still expects you to take the SAT or ACT unless money or test availability limits you. TOEFL, IELTS and Duolingo cannot meet Harvard's testing requirement at all, though Harvard will review them as part of your application. For first-year applicants, Harvard's page as of October 2026 says AP or other examination results are not required, but may be submitted.

Harvard publishes no SAT or ACT cutoff

Harvard sets no minimum score: there are no score cutoffs, and Harvard does not admit by the numbers. For the ACT, Harvard evaluates your highest composite score and any other scores you choose to share, and it reads every score in light of your educational background. The digital SAT changes nothing: Harvard says the move to digital delivery will not impact the way in which Harvard reviews test scores. According to Harvard's page as of October 2026, Subject Tests and the essay portion of the SAT have been terminated, except in certain special circumstances.

Harvard's admissions statistics page publishes no SAT or ACT range for admitted students, so treat any Harvard SAT range you see elsewhere as unconfirmed unless it cites a Harvard document.

How to send SAT and ACT scores to Harvard

• Self-report first. You may enter your SAT and ACT scores yourself in the application. If you are admitted and decide to enrol, Harvard then requires official scores. Harvard's page as of October 2026 says applicants may provide self-reported test scores, including Advanced Placement and IB results.
• Codes. Harvard's ACT code is 1840.
• Choose your sittings. You are free to use the College Board Score Choice option, so you decide which results Harvard sees.

SAT and ACT dates that still count for 2027 entry

For Restrictive Early Action, Harvard asks for results by the end of October, accepts the November series because those scores should reach it in time, and needs REA scores by the end of November. For Regular Decision, Harvard recommends the November series or earlier but accepts December SAT or February ACT scores.

Confirm the date and registration deadline for your own test centre in your College Board account before you book. Look up the February ACT date for your country on the ACT's own site.

SAT and ACT fees when you apply from abroad

College Board and ACT give fee waivers to some domestic students from low-income families, but non-US citizens at secondary schools outside the US are not typically eligible. If the test fee is a real hardship, Harvard still encourages you to apply and to submit tests you can access, such as AP results or IB, GCSE, A-level or other national leaving exam predictions or results.

How to prepare for the SAT or ACT for Harvard

Harvard's timeline suggests taking the SAT or ACT in the spring or summer before the year you apply, and for 2027 entry that window has passed. If you apply Restrictive Early Action with no score yet, Harvard says the November series should reach it in time for consideration; for Regular Decision it recommends the November series or earlier, though you may submit December scores (SAT) or February scores (ACT). For preparation, Harvard points to free resources: Khan Academy, a free SAT bootcamp on Schoolhouse.world and the ACT's own sample tests.

Harvard's international applicants page, checked on 9 October 2026, says first-year and transfer applicants are not required to take an English proficiency exam, but may submit scores if they wish to do so, and Harvard publishes no minimum TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo score. Only the Visiting Undergraduate Students program has a firm rule: a TOEFL or IELTS score not more than two years old if your native language is not English.

No minimum TOEFL or IELTS score at Harvard

Harvard College publishes no TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo cut-off for first-year, transfer or visiting applicants. Treat any Harvard TOEFL threshold you read elsewhere as an outside estimate, not a Harvard rule.

English tests do not replace the SAT or ACT

Harvard requires the SAT or ACT to meet its standardized testing requirement, and TOEFL, IELTS and Duolingo cannot be used to meet the standardized testing requirement. A strong English score does not make up for a missing SAT or ACT; the exceptional alternatives Harvard accepts are in the SAT and ACT chapter.

When an optional English score is worth sending

Harvard does not say how much an optional English score weighs, or whether leaving one out counts against you. Our advice, not Harvard's: send a TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo score when it is strong and adds evidence your file lacks, for example when your school teaches in another language, and leave a modest score out, since Harvard does not require one.

Visiting Undergraduate Students: TOEFL or IELTS required

The Harvard Visiting Undergraduate Students (VUS) program lets students enrolled full-time at another university spend one or two semesters at Harvard College, and the VUS committee weighs a strong knowledge of the English language. If your native language is not English, a TOEFL or IELTS score is required, sent directly to the Admissions Office from the testing services; no minimum score is published. The VUS deadline is April 1 for the fall term or full year and September 1 for the spring term.

As of 9 Oct 2026, Harvard publishes no minimum grades and no conversion table for the IB, A-levels or any national diploma, and wants your final results only after an offer: the Final School Report and transcript no later than July 1, IB results in mid-July, A-level results by mid-August. While you apply, IB and A-level schools send predicted grades instead of midyear marks.

Harvard College's first-year application pages name none of the national diplomas, and all applicants follow the same procedures and timetables, whether you hold an Abitur, a French Bac, a Maturità, CBSE or ISC marks or the Gaokao. Harvard notes that schools use a wide range of grading systems, and your counselor's Secondary School Report gives the context: your transcript, a letter of recommendation and a school profile (if available).

If you send translated credentials to Harvard, do not translate the documents yourself; you do not need a professional translator, and the original goes with the translation.

Predicted grades while you apply, final results after an offer

If you study the IB or A-levels, Harvard expects your school to send predicted grades based on your classroom work and any internal or mock exams. If your school issues no official or predicted midyear grades for your final year, you do not need to submit the midyear report form.

According to Harvard's page as of October 2026, IB students should send their final results as soon as they are released in mid-July and Harvard expects to see final A levels results by mid-August. Every admitted student who chooses to enroll must send a Final School Report and transcript no later than July 1, and Harvard is unable to accept a transcript as an email attachment. For homeschooled applicants, the transcript can be created by the family member or agency overseeing your schooling.

Harvard publishes no rule on final results that fall below your predictions; its rule is about accuracy. If Harvard finds a misrepresentation during admissions, you will be denied admission; after an offer, your offer will typically be withdrawn; after registration, your admission will normally be revoked and you leave the College.

When IB, A-level or national exam results replace the SAT

Harvard requires the SAT or ACT; your diploma results can stand in for them in exceptional cases when those tests are not accessible, typically challenges in paying for or accessing a test site or no seat before the January 1 Regular Decision deadline. Otherwise Harvard still expects you to take an SAT or ACT.

Harvard's stated reason for leaning on tests is that SAT and ACT tests are better predictors of Harvard grades than high school grades, though Harvard adds that this does not make high school grades unimportant.

Subjects Harvard recommends before you apply

According to its page as of October 2026, Harvard recommends four years of math courses in high school; on the A-level track that points to keeping mathematics until the end of school. Harvard requires no specific course, because math records are viewed holistically, and states that calculus is not a requirement for admission to Harvard. Harvard also says that some students benefit from a more balanced approach that allows them additional time for extracurricular and personal development.

First-year or transfer applicant

According to its page as of October 2026, Harvard's first-year application is for students who have completed secondary school and are seeking their first bachelor's degree; if you already have a bachelor's degree, you are not eligible for admission to Harvard College. University courses taken while still at school, such as dual enrollment, keep you a first-year applicant, but if you enrolled at a university after finishing school, you are not permitted to relinquish credit earned to restart.

Harvard's transfer route needs at least one continuous academic year and not more than two academic years of full-time liberal arts study at one college by the time you would enroll. If you studied full-time at a university but your coursework misses those rules, Harvard warns you may be ineligible for both rounds. No student with a bachelor's degree, American or foreign, is eligible for Harvard College.

Harvard's application requirements page, as we checked it on 9 October 2026, asks for one Common Application personal essay plus five required short-answer questions for Harvard, the Harvard College Questions, each with a 150 word limit, and says these requirements are the same for domestic and international applicants; Harvard asks for no separate why-Harvard essay.

Harvard's deadline for your portions of the application is November 1 for Restrictive Early Action and January 1 for Regular Decision, so plan to have the personal essay and the Harvard answers final by then.

The five Harvard College Questions

Harvard asks you to complete the Harvard Questions with the Common Application. All five are required, and each answer has a 150 word limit:

The first two Harvard questions match factors that Harvard's first-year page says the Admissions Committee considers: perspectives formed by life experiences, the willingness to respectfully engage with differing ideas and opinions. In the disagreement question, Harvard's follow-ups ask how you engaged and what you learned, and that is where most of your answer belongs.

The Harvard activities question puts jobs, travel and family responsibilities next to extracurriculars, and your Common App activities list already shows the range, so go deeper on one or two things there. The Harvard education question looks forward: none of the five asks you to name professors, courses or student organizations.

The Common App personal essay and activities list

Harvard's first-year page lists what the Common Application itself contains: subsets of questions, an activities list and a personal essay. The prompts are the Common App's own, and Harvard's first-year and requirements pages give no word limit for the essay. The Common App has announced its 2026-2027 Common App essay prompts, so take the prompts and the length limit from the Common App before you draft. Plan the personal essay and the Harvard answers together so they cover different ground.

Optional extras: research, writing, art and music

Harvard supplementary materials are entirely optional. Harvard says its "standard application materials typically give us ample information for making admission decisions." Extras may be evaluated by faculty at the discretion of the Admissions Committee, and the requirements page gives no date or stage for that review.

The Applicant Portal opens after you submit: Harvard sends an email confirmation with a PIN to access the Applicant Portal. The Applicant Portal upload is for documents of which you are the primary author, and for research Harvard asks you, if appropriate, to identify your research sponsor, mentor, and/or laboratory or research group leader and provide a short description of your particular contribution.

Harvard leaves the details for art, dance or choreography, musical performance or composition to the SlideRoom website. You can request a SlideRoom fee waiver at the point of submission, and if SlideRoom fails technically, you may submit a document via your portal with YouTube video links.

Accuracy, outside help and misrepresentation

Harvard's application requirements page sets no rule on essay editors, counselors or paid consultants. Its rule is about truth: Be completely accurate in your application materials. The consequence depends on when Harvard finds a misrepresentation:

• During the admissions process: you will be denied admission.
• After you are admitted: your offer will typically be withdrawn.
• After you register: your admission will normally be revoked, and Harvard will require you to leave the College.
• After you graduate: Harvard rescinds degrees if misrepresentations in application materials are discovered.

Harvard says the determination that an application is inaccurate rests solely with the Admissions Office and will be resolved outside the student disciplinary process. Every fact, activity and achievement in your essays is application material, so it must be accurate.

Submitting the Common Application is needed to set up a possible alumni interview at Harvard College; as of 9 Oct 2026 it is due by 1 November 2026 for Restrictive Early Action or 1 January 2027 for Regular Decision, and Harvard says it is unable to interview all applicants. Harvard's international applicants page, checked on 9 October 2026, adds that the absence of an interview will not adversely affect your candidacy.

Harvard takes first-year applications through the Common Application, which opened on 1 August 2026, and asks you to submit it as early in the fall as possible. Submitting the Common Application is needed to open your admissions file, track your documents, and set up a possible alumni interview. Harvard calls these alumni interviews, so the person you talk with is a Harvard graduate. The Harvard admissions pages we checked do not say how interviewers are assigned or whether an interview abroad is held in person or online.

No Harvard interview offered: what it means

Harvard is unable to interview all applicants, so if it does not offer you an interview, your application is not weaker for it: Harvard states that the absence of an interview will not adversely affect your candidacy.

Format, length and weight of the Harvard interview

The Harvard admissions pages we checked do not state how long the alumni interview lasts, what the interviewer reports to the Admissions Committee or how much it weighs. The only format Harvard names is on its page for US military veterans: where an applicant is difficult to reach, Harvard may request a phone or Skype interview.

How to prepare for a Harvard alumni interview

Harvard publishes no list of interview questions and no preparation advice on the admissions pages we checked, so a list of Harvard interview questions found elsewhere does not come from Harvard. For arranging the interview, Harvard's international applicants page refers you to its guide What to expect after you apply on college.harvard.edu.

Our advice, not Harvard's: submit the Common Application early, since that is what sets up a possible Harvard interview, and watch your email after you apply so that an interview request does not go unanswered.

As of 9 Oct 2026, Harvard's first-year page sets the Restrictive Early Action deadline at 1 November 2026, 11:59pm your local time, with a decision by mid-December 2026; Regular Decision closes on 1 January 2027, with decisions at the end of March 2027. Neither round binds you: Harvard lets you compare offers and wait until 1 May 2027 to choose, and says it does not offer an advantage to students who apply early.

Harvard's admissions pages print the deadlines without a year; Harvard's financial aid instructions for prospective students are for the 2027-2028 school year, so the autumn dates fall in 2026 and the rest in 2027. In Restrictive Early Action, the financial aid application is due 1 November, and Restrictive Early Action applicants get an estimate of financial aid in mid-December.

What Restrictive Early Action allows and forbids

Harvard's Restrictive Early Action is a non-binding early program, so the restriction falls on your other applications: while you apply early to Harvard, you may not apply to any other private institution under an Early Decision, Early Action or Restrictive Early Action plan, or to a binding early program at a public university. Harvard's first-year page, as of 9 Oct 2026, lists these as still open:

• Early applications to any public university, military academy, or university outside of the United States under a non-binding program, such as a UCAS application to UK universities.
• Regular Decision or Early Decision II programs at other universities, including a binding Early Decision II once Harvard has deferred you.
• Scholarships or special academic programs with an early deadline elsewhere, if that timing is necessary and the outcome is non-binding.

Harvard's restriction does not mention rolling admissions; ask Harvard's Admissions Office before you file early at a private college that admits on a rolling basis.

Deferred in December: what you send next

Harvard releases Restrictive Early Action decisions in mid-December and describes two of the results: an offer, which you can hold until 1 May 2027 while you compare others, and a deferral to Regular Decision, after which Harvard asks for your midyear report and transcript. Harvard does not publish how many early applicants are admitted, deferred or turned down.

Early and regular rounds: no advantage for applying early

Harvard states that it does not offer an advantage to students who apply early, so choose the round by when your file is ready, not by an admit rate quoted elsewhere.

Choosing between the two rounds

Harvard's own guidance is that Restrictive Early Action may be an attractive choice if your record has been consistently strong over time. Choosing a round does not put aid at risk: Harvard's first-year page says it will meet the full financial need of admitted students regardless of whether they apply Restrictive Early Action or Regular Decision, and financial aid is available in the same way to all admitted students, regardless of citizenship or country of residence.

Our advice, not Harvard's: apply to Harvard early only if your SAT or ACT score, essays and recommendations are ready by 1 November. If a later test or your final-year grades would make the Harvard application stronger, Regular Decision on 1 January costs you nothing in aid or, by Harvard's account, in advantage.

As of 9 Oct 2026, Harvard's pages say you apply through the Common Application, with an application fee that is waived if it is a hardship for you or your family, by 1 November 2026 for Restrictive Early Action or by 1 January 2027 for Regular Decision, at 11:59pm your local time in both rounds. Harvard releases early decisions in mid-December 2026 and regular decisions at the end of March 2027; if you are admitted, you reply by 1 May 2027 and your school sends a final transcript by 1 July 2027.

Harvard accepts the Common Application; Harvard's admissions pages do not mention the Coalition Application that older guides list. Harvard's requirements are the same whether you attend school inside or outside the United States. Submit your own sections first: until you do, the Common Application releases none of your school's documents to Harvard, and your submission is what opens your admissions file and sets up a possible alumni interview.

Harvard's admissions pages give no arrival or move-in date for autumn 2027. As a new international student you may enter the United States no more than 30 days before the program start date on your Form I-20; the visa chapter of this report covers that step.

Documents, recommendations and the fee

Harvard waives the application fee when it is a hardship for you or your family. For a fee waiver, Harvard's international applicants page points you to its own fee-waiver instructions. Harvard states that a waiver request will not disadvantage your application in any way.

Harvard asks two teachers in different academic subjects who know you well to complete an evaluation form and a letter each. Harvard's Secondary School Report carries the counselor letter, and if your counselor cannot write one, another teacher or school leader may send an additional letter. Your confirmation email contains a personalized link for recommenders.

Harvard's Midyear School Report shows your grades from the first half of your final school year. If you follow IB or A-levels, Harvard expects your school to send predicted grades; if your school issues no official or predicted midyear grades, you do not need the form.

The Applicant Portal after you submit

Harvard emails a confirmation with a PIN for the Applicant Portal after you submit. If it has not arrived, check your spam folder and make sure you clicked Submit, not just Save. In the portal you:

• Track your file. Required items sit on your Checklist, and a midyear item can stay there even when you do not owe it.
• Send updates. Do not resend your application to make updates.
• Work around Slideroom. If Slideroom fails for optional media, you may upload a document with YouTube video links in the portal.

QuestBridge, transfer, veterans and visiting students

Harvard's QuestBridge route runs on QuestBridge's calendar: applications are due at the end of September, so for autumn 2027 entry that deadline has passed, and a student who matches with Harvard must withdraw every other application. For students at schools outside the United States, Harvard names only US citizens and permanent residents as eligible.

Harvard's transfer program is small: Harvard College welcomes 12 transfer students on average each fall, from more than 2,000 applications a year recently, and asks for two recommendations from college instructors.

Harvard's visiting undergraduate students get no Harvard financial aid, and if English is not your native language you must send a TOEFL or IELTS score not more than two years old.

Harvard College is a liberal arts and sciences college. Whatever you choose, you go deep in one field, your concentration, and graduate with an AB (Bachelor of Arts) or, in some engineering fields, an SB (Bachelor of Science). Asked whether you can concentrate in business, law or medicine, Harvard answers that its academic programs are not pre-professional.

A liberal arts and sciences education at Harvard College means breadth first and depth second. Harvard says you will explore the human experience from diverse points of view, and dive deeply into a particular field of study, with the freedom to shape your own course of study. The field you go deep in is your concentration, Harvard's word for a major.

Harvard College sets the rules for that path through its Office of Undergraduate Education, which is responsible for curriculum planning and requirements, and through your advisers, who help you plan your degree. Before you build a plan on them, confirm with Harvard College when you declare a concentration, which General Education courses you need, how long the SB and the AB/SM take, and whether degree students can cross-register at MIT.

Aerial of the Harvard Business School campus

AB, SB and secondary fields: how a Harvard degree is built

Harvard College awards the AB or the SB, and its transfer rules show the scale of either degree. A transfer student may bring in at most 16 semester-long courses, the equivalent of two full years of academic work, and then takes the remaining half of the courses required for the AB or SB at Harvard. A secondary field is Harvard's minor; the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences marks fields where a secondary (minor) is available. Here is what the Paulson School lists for undergraduates:

The table covers the Paulson School only, not every Harvard College concentration. The AB/SM pairs the bachelor's degree with a Master of Science.

Computer Science at Harvard: an AB, not an SB

Computer Science at Harvard leads to an AB. The Paulson School lists Bachelor of Arts (AB), Bachelor of Arts (AB)/Master of Science (SM) and a secondary field for Computer Science, and no SB. If you want an SB in a computing-related field, Electrical & Computer Engineering is the one on the list.

Calculus helps but does not gate your application to Harvard. Harvard says students intending to study engineering, computer science, physics, mathematics or statistics may benefit from taking calculus in high school, that calculus is not a requirement for admission to Harvard, and that you can start with an introductory calculus class that has no high school calculus prerequisite.

Applied Mathematics: AB, AB/SM or a secondary field

Applied Mathematics at Harvard follows the same pattern as Computer Science: the Paulson School lists Bachelor of Arts (AB), Bachelor of Arts (AB)/Master of Science (SM) and a secondary field, and no SB. The secondary field lets you add applied mathematics to a concentration in another subject.

Engineering SB programmes at the Paulson School

On the Paulson School's list, the SB appears only in engineering fields: Bioengineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Environmental Science & Engineering and Materials Science & Mechanical Engineering. Each of these fields also offers an AB, so in each of them you choose between the two degrees.

Economics, Government and the road to business or law

Economics and Government are Harvard College concentrations. Harvard's student ambassador profiles show both in practice: one junior is concentrating in Government with a secondary in Educational Studies, another is studying Economics with a secondary in English. Both pair the concentration with a secondary in a different subject.

If Economics or Government is your step toward business or law, Harvard's answer on concentrating in business, journalism, law or medicine is: while you can take courses related to these fields, Harvard's academic programs are not pre-professional, and both medicine and law are postgraduate programs in the United States.

How teaching works at Harvard College

Harvard College describes its teaching through close contact with faculty, and its Academics page puts numbers on it without saying which year they describe:

First-year seminars are among the student-focused programs of Harvard's Office of Undergraduate Education. Research is open to undergraduates too: Harvard says you can take part in hands-on research projects ranging from leading a study to performing lab work with a faculty mentor. Outside class, Harvard's Academic Resource Center offers academic coaching, peer tutoring, workshops and other study-skills support.

Study abroad, cross-registration and Harvard's graduate schools

Harvard College sits inside the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the division which includes Harvard College and Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Harvard's graduate and professional schools have their own deans, among them Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. The Harvard College Admissions Office is independent of these schools and their admissions policies, so a place at Harvard College does not carry into any of them.

For Visiting Undergraduate Students, Harvard's rules are that they may take graduate-school courses but are limited to one per term, and courses outside the Faculty of Arts and Sciences require additional cross-registration approval from an academic adviser. For study abroad, Harvard says your advising network can help you take advantage of unique academic opportunities such as study abroad.

If you plan to stay in the United States for medicine or another professional degree after Harvard College, Harvard's advice to applicants who are not U.S. citizens is to consult specific graduate and professional programs in advance, because each school sets its own admissions and financial aid policies for international students.

Harvard counts 400,000+ alumni worldwide. Harvard publishes no employment rate, salary figures or breakdown of where its graduates work on any official page we checked on 9 October 2026.

If another site quotes a Harvard placement rate or a list of top employers, check whether it links to a Harvard page. The table shows what Harvard states.

Graduate outcomes: the official data

Harvard's official pages that we checked publish no survey of what Harvard graduates do next: no share in jobs or graduate school, no survey year, no response rate and no breakdown by sector such as finance, consulting, technology or public service.

Our advice, not Harvard's: if graduate outcomes weigh on your choice, ask Harvard College whether it has recent data on its graduates. For the wider picture, see our article on Ivy League career prospects.

Harvard Medical School

Career support and the alumni network

Harvard College lists career services among the student-focused programs of its Office of Undergraduate Education, and says your advisers help you prepare for your career after graduation.

Harvard also funds experience outside the classroom. Beyond tuition aid, Harvard offers millions of dollars in student funding for public service, research and learning, international travel, and career opportunities; the Harvard pages we checked do not say how much of it goes to internships or who qualifies.

Harvard's About page counts 400,000+ alumni worldwide, the whole alumni body of the university rather than the members of one association. The Harvard Alumni Association dates from 1840; Harvard states no Alumni Association membership count on the pages we checked, so this guide no longer gives one.

Working in the US after Harvard

Your right to work in the United States after graduation depends on US immigration rules, not on Harvard; our visa chapter covers what is on record.

Once you are a Harvard student, the Harvard International Office gives information on employment authorization and training. US work rules are set by the US government, not by Harvard, and they can change before you graduate.

Harvard College charges $62,226 in tuition for the 2026-2027 academic year and puts the total cost of attendance at $95,134-$100,134 once fees, housing, food, personal expenses, books and travel are added, before any financial aid. Harvard's cost table shows one set of charges with no separate line for international students, and as of 9 Oct 2026 Harvard had not published the 2027-2028 charges that apply if you start in autumn 2027.

Harvard says these figures represent the full cost of a Harvard education before taking into account financial aid or scholarships. Harvard also requires health insurance, at $4,954 for 2026-2027, unless you are covered under your family's health plan. The How Aid Works page does not say whether a plan from outside the United States counts, so check with Harvard before you leave that line out of your budget.

Cost of attendance 2026-2027, line by line

Tuition, fees, housing and food are the charges on your Harvard student bill; the other lines are Harvard's estimates of what you spend yourself. The transportation estimate of $0-$5,000 depends on where home is, and Harvard's Net Price Calculator sets the travel allowance by world region for other international students. If you qualify for aid, Harvard says you may also receive an additional allowance for travel and personal expenses.

What the 2027-2028 year will cost

As of 9 October 2026, Harvard had not published its 2027-2028 charges: the newest table on Harvard's How Aid Works page was for 2026-2027, while the financial aid application instructions for 2027-2028 were already online. If you start in autumn 2027, your first Harvard bill will follow the 2027-2028 table.

Our advice, not Harvard's: until the 2027-2028 table appears, plan your first year with a total cost of attendance no lower than the 2026-2027 range of $95,134-$100,134.

One cost table for all students

Harvard's cost table shows one set of charges, with no separate line for international students. Harvard's international applicants page says "our admissions and financial aid processes are the same for all applicants", and international students are eligible for exactly the same aid as American students. Only US citizens, permanent residents and other eligible non-citizens file the FAFSA.

Harvard prices everything in US dollars and publishes no exchange rate. Convert the 2026-2027 total at your bank's rate when you plan, and again when the 2027-2028 bill arrives.

What aided students actually pay

The table shows the price before aid, and many Harvard families pay far less. Harvard meets 100 percent of each student's demonstrated financial need, 55% of students receive need-based Harvard scholarships, and 1 in 4 pays nothing to attend.

Harvard's income thresholds give a first guide: with typical assets, a family income of $100,000 and below means aid covers all billed costs, and up to $200,000 aid covers at least the full cost of tuition. Harvard notes that these thresholds are based on an average U.S. cost of living and taxes paid; the financial aid chapter covers the rules and how to apply.

For your own estimate, use Harvard's Net Price Calculator. Harvard warns that it is based on an average cost of living and taxes paid in the United States, and may not provide accurate results for families whose costs or taxes differ, and that it is not a guarantee of financial aid. More on paying for an American degree is in our Harvard cost and financial aid guide and our guide to US tuition costs.

Harvard College meets 100 percent of every admitted student's demonstrated financial need, and international students receive aid on exactly the same basis as American students. On Harvard's pages as of 9 October 2026, a family earning below $100,000 with typical assets has an expected parent contribution of zero, and up to $200,000 aid covers at least the full cost of tuition. Harvard's aid instructions for the 2027-2028 school year put the aid application deadline at 1 November 2026 in Restrictive Early Action and 1 February 2027 in Regular Decision.

International students receive Harvard aid on exactly the same basis as American students, while only US citizens, permanent residents and other eligible non-citizens file the FAFSA. The price before aid is in our cost chapter.

Need-blind admission and full need met

Harvard admits students need-blind: admissions decisions are made without regard to whether an applicant has applied for financial aid, even if the applicant is a foreign citizen. Harvard aid is need-based only. Families who have significant assets will be asked to pay more, but typically home equity and retirement assets are not considered.

Income thresholds and international families

Harvard's three income bands are the same for American and international families, and Harvard does not date them.

Harvard's bands assume typical assets and are based on an average U.S. cost of living and taxes paid. Harvard's pages give no version of them for other countries, so treat them as a first guide. Harvard's Net Price Calculator takes your family's most recent year's income and asset information (converted to U.S. dollars if applicable) but is based on an average cost of living and taxes paid in the United States, so it may not give accurate results where costs or taxes differ; your world region only sets the travel allowance.

In Harvard's Net Price Calculator, each parent's contribution is assessed separately when parents are divorced or separated, and Harvard can't provide extra aid for students whose parents withdraw financial support. Our advice, not Harvard's: agree on the family contribution before you apply.

What an aid package contains

A Harvard aid package combines scholarship funds, student employment and outside awards. After your parent contribution, job and outside awards, your remaining need will be covered by scholarship funds which are grant-based and never need to be repaid, and aided international students also get a travel allowance. Harvard's term-time job is often around 10 to 12 hours per week, with wages paid directly to you.

The optional Harvard Loan is open to need-based aid recipients regardless of citizenship who are Harvard Grant eligible: up to $3,500 a year at a fixed 4.0 percent, with interest paid by Harvard during enrollment and 10 years to repay. Aided Harvard students can also take a Harvard loan for summer school and request help with emergency expenses.

Harvard states that 55% of students receive need-based Harvard scholarships, and puts the share paying nothing at twenty-four percent of students on its aid overview and 25% of families on its instructions page.

How to apply: CSS Profile and IDOC

Harvard's instructions are for the 2027-2028 school year. Regardless of your citizenship, you file a CSS Profile, adding Harvard with code 3434, and then IDOC; only US citizens, permanent residents and other eligible non-citizens file the FAFSA. Separated or divorced parents each fill out their own CSS Profile.

For IDOC, Harvard wants parents' 2025 income tax document for both parents, for many international families whatever documentation of income and taxes paid your parents submit to their national government. Parents who file no return send a Tax Non-Filer Statement with a wage statement or employer letter; Harvard's international non-filer form for 2027-2028 covers 2025 income. Harvard wants the actual 2025 tax return as filed.

If the CSS Profile fee is unaffordable or cannot be paid from your country, Harvard has an alternate set of instructions. A late Harvard aid application brings no penalty or reduction in the amount of aid you can receive, only a later decision. Harvard takes no aid documents by email; prospective students can write to the Griffin Financial Aid Office at faoweb@fas.harvard.edu.

No merit scholarships, and how outside awards count

Harvard College has no merit-based awards: all Harvard-administered aid is based only on financial need. Outside scholarships, from sources such as secondary schools, civic organizations, your parental employers, corporations, must be reported to Harvard. 100% of the total outside award amount is first deducted from your work expectation, and outside awards cannot be used to replace your parent contribution; Harvard's example below shows when they begin to reduce the scholarship.

For funding from abroad, Harvard's international applicants page advises overseas students to ask the nearest U.S. Cultural Affairs Office about travel grants and other financial assistance. Check on each outside funder's own site that it funds a first degree at Harvard College.

Harvard College requires you to live on campus in your first year, in or adjacent to Harvard Yard, and for your sophomore, junior and senior years your home base is one of twelve Houses of 350 to 500 students. Harvard bills housing and food together with tuition and fees, before any financial aid.

None of the Harvard pages we checked uses the word guarantee for four-year housing. What Harvard does state is that nearly all students choose to live on campus for all four years, and that the House you learn on Housing Day is the one you've been assigned to live in for the remainder of your undergraduate experience.

First year in Harvard Yard

In the first year, Harvard's Dean of Students Office creates careful, intentional matches between first-year students for the dorms. Typically you share a suite with a common room and two to four bedrooms. All first-year students at Harvard eat in Annenberg Hall, which is located in Memorial Hall.

The Houses: years two to four

Harvard assigns your House during your first year, not after it. On Housing Day you learn which of Harvard's Houses you've been assigned to live in, and that House of 350 to 500 students is your home base through your sophomore, junior and senior years. Each House is led by Faculty Deans, faculty members who live in the Houses with their families, and Harvard describes House life as House meals, extracurriculars, intramural sports, and other activities.

The Harvard admissions pages we checked do not explain how a House is chosen for you. They describe no blocking groups, no random assignment and no 'Sophomore Lottery' so treat any account of the Harvard process from outside Harvard as unconfirmed.

Harvard College accepts that some students elect to live off campus rather than in College housing. Those students remain affiliated with one of the twelve Harvard Houses and have access to advising.

How Harvard bills housing and food

Harvard bills housing and food alongside tuition and fees. The 2026-2027 year is the latest on Harvard's How Aid Works page as of 9 October 2026, so the 2027-2028 figures for autumn 2027 entry were not yet published there.

Harvard financial aid can cover housing and food. For $100,000 family income and below, with typical assets, Harvard says financial aid covers all billed expenses, including food and housing (a band Harvard bases on an average U.S. cost of living and taxes paid), and Harvard states that international students are eligible for exactly the same aid as American students.

Student life at Harvard College centres on the Houses, where from sophomore year you live with 350 to 500 students and share House meals, extracurriculars, intramural sports, and other activities, in a community Harvard describes as coming from all fifty states and more than eighty countries. Harvard's history page says the Office for the Arts, founded in 1975, has programmes that "to this day serve more than 3,000 undergraduates annually", and downtown Boston is a ten-minute subway ride away. Harvard does not date these pages; we checked them on 9 October 2026.

Harvard considers your extracurricular activities alongside your academic achievements and life experiences when it reads your application. Our guide to extracurriculars for top US and UK universities covers that side; this chapter covers what Harvard offers once you are a student.

Clubs and student organisations

The Harvard Crimson does appear on Harvard's own timeline: in 1903, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president of the Harvard Crimson. Much of Harvard College's activity outside class runs through the Houses, which the housing chapter explains.

Sport at Harvard

Harvard's sporting tradition starts on the water against Yale. Harvard's timeline entry reads 1852: "Harvard wins first intercollegiate sports event, a boat race against Yale", and Harvard's history page adds that Yale hosted the first Harvard-Yale football game in 1875.

Sport at Harvard is not only for varsity athletes: intramural sports run inside the Houses.

Museums, theatre and culture

The Harvard Art Museums took their present form in 1984, when the Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Sackler Museums combined, and the American Repertory Theater came to Harvard in 1980.

For making art yourself, Harvard's Office for the Arts is the place to start: President Derek Bok established it in 1975, and Harvard's history page says its programmes to this day serve more than 3,000 undergraduates annually. When Harvard celebrated 50 years of the Office for the Arts, the event featured live music, dance, storytelling, poetry and visual arts by students and alumni. The Harvard pages we checked publish no concert or lecture calendar, so this chapter gives no schedule.

Cambridge and Boston

Harvard puts downtown Boston a ten-minute ride on the nation's first subway system from campus. Harvard offers discounted event tickets and 'pre-paid museum tuition' in Boston, and names the Museum of Fine Arts, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Museum of Science, plus performances from the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Ballet to the Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins.

Support for international students

The Harvard International Office (HIO) offers services to international students and scholars at Harvard College, the graduate and professional schools. The HIO gives information on immigration issues (work permits, travel), financial questions, adjustment to life in the United States, and points you to resources at Harvard and in the community.

Once you arrive in the US, you must register your arrival with the HIO within 30 days of the start date on your visa document; the visa chapter covers the arrival rules. The HIO's "Getting Started - Part 1" group orientation covers banking, social security numbers, driver's license and state IDs, health insurance, transportation, things to do in the local area, lasts about 75 minutes and takes place virtually via Zoom.

None of the Harvard pages we checked describes a First-Year International Program, so we cannot confirm whether one runs for autumn 2027 entrants or what it involves.

This chapter covers the arrival steps the Harvard International Office (HIO) sets for students coming from abroad. Once you are in the United States you must register your arrival with the HIO within 30 days of the start date on your visa document, and you may arrive no more than 30 days before the program start date listed on page 1 of your Form I-20. US immigration rules and policies can change, so confirm each step with the HIO and with the US embassy in your country before you travel.

Arriving at Harvard and registering with the HIO

After you enter the United States, save a screenshot of your I-94 record: you will need to access your I-94 record online to register with the Harvard International Office (HIO).

The Harvard International Office offers services to international students and scholars at Harvard College and the graduate schools. The Harvard and HIO pages we checked on 9 October 2026 give no orientation dates for autumn 2027 entrants.

Working during your Harvard degree

Harvard aid students are likely expected to contribute through employment, often around 10 to 12 hours per week. The HIO gives information on employment authorization and training; US work rules are set by the US government, so ask the HIO before you take any job.

Harvard suits you if you want to shape your own course of study, need financial aid and can sit the SAT or ACT: as of 9 Oct 2026, Harvard's pages give 1 November 2026 for Restrictive Early Action and 1 January 2027 for Regular Decision, and Harvard meets 100 percent of its students' demonstrated need. Harvard does not suit you if you want a merit scholarship or vocational training from your first year.

Harvard suits families who need aid, wherever they live. Harvard admission is need-blind, and your chances for admission and financial aid are not affected by citizenship or by where your school is. International students are eligible for the same amount of aid as US students, and there are no quotas or limits of any kind. With a family income of $100,000 and below and typical assets, Harvard aid covers all billed expenses; at $200,000 and below, it covers at least the full cost of tuition. Harvard says these bands are based on an average U.S. cost of living and taxes paid, so treat them as a first guide if your family lives abroad.

Harvard suits students who want to explore before choosing a concentration, Harvard's term for a major. Harvard College is a liberal arts and sciences college that gives you the freedom to shape your own course of study.

Harvard suits applicants who can sit the SAT or ACT and bring a strong record. Harvard requires the SAT or ACT, and the TOEFL, IELTS and Duolingo cannot be used to meet that requirement. Build your list with other universities too.

Who Harvard does not suit

Harvard does not suit you if you are counting on a merit scholarship: there are no merit-based awards, and every Harvard award follows financial need. Harvard does not suit you either if you want to specialise from your first day. Harvard's academic programs are not pre-professional and do not provide vocational training: you can take courses related to law or medicine, but both are postgraduate programs in the United States.

Harvard and the other Ivy League universities

Harvard is one of the Ivy League universities, and its early round differs from a binding Early Decision plan. Harvard's Restrictive Early Action is non-binding, but while you use it you may not apply early to any other private institution, so you choose between Harvard and an Early Decision plan at another private university. Harvard does not offer an advantage to students who apply early, and you can still apply early, non-binding, to universities outside the United States.

Next steps for an applicant from abroad

As of 9 October 2026, your next fixed date is the end of October, when Harvard asks for your test scores for Restrictive Early Action. If you apply for aid, Harvard needs a CSS Profile and an IDOC Packet regardless of your citizenship. Harvard prints no year next to its dates; the years below follow the 2027-2028 CSS Profile cycle.

If you prefer the ACT, take its test dates from act.org. If you are an international student who cannot afford the CSS Profile fee, Harvard gives you an alternate set of instructions. Every student on aid, American or international, gets a travel allowance. For the whole US process, read our step-by-step guide for international students.

Official pages of Harvard University and the Common Application.

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