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Harvard University - SAT Scores & Other Admissions Data

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Harvard University

Harvard University

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Harvard University Description:

Harvard usually ranks #1 or #2 of all schools in the U.S. With an endowment around $35 billion, Harvard has more financial resources at its disposal than any other university in the world. The result is a world-class faculty, high-level research and AAU membership, state-of-the-art facilities, and free tuition for students from families with modest income. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this Ivy League school is in close-proximity to the hundreds of thousands of college students in the greater Boston area. Low achieving students need not apply -- Harvard has the lowest acceptance rate of any U.S. university.

Harvard Admissions Data (2012):

Enrollment (2011):

  • Total Enrollment: 27,392 (10,305 undergraduates)
  • Gender Breakdown: 49% Male / 51% Female
  • 70% Full-time

Costs (2012 - 13):

  • Tuition and Fees: $39,966
  • Books: $1,000 (why so much?)
  • Room and Board: $13,630
  • Other Expenses: $2,454
  • Total Cost: $57,050

Harvard Financial Aid (2010 - 11):

  • Percentage of New Students Receiving Aid: 81%
  • Percentage of New Students Receiving Types of Aid
    • Grants: 6709%
    • Loans: 11%
  • Average Amount of Aid
    • Grants: $35,673
    • Loans: $4,857

Scholarships for Harvard (powered by Cappex.com)

Most Popular Majors at Harvard:

Biology, Economics, English, History, Political Science, Psychology, Social Sciences

Graduation and Retention Rates:

  • First Year Student Retention (full-time students): 97%
  • 4-Year Graduation Rate: 87%
  • 6-Year Graduation Rate: 97%

Data Source:

National Center for Educational Statistics

Harvard and the Common Application

Harvard University uses the Common Application. These articles can help guide you:

Admissions Profiles for Other Ivy League Universities

Brown | Columbia | Cornell | Dartmouth | Harvard | Penn | Princeton | Yale

Harvard University Mission Statement:

The following mission statement applies to Harvard College, the undergraduate program at Harvard University. The statement is from the official Harvard website

Harvard College adheres to the purposes for which the Charter of 1650 was granted: "The advancement of all good literature, arts, and sciences; the advancement and education of youth in all manner of good literature, arts, and sciences; and all other necessary provisions that may conduce to the education of the ... youth of this country." In brief: Harvard strives to create knowledge, to open the minds of students to that knowledge, and to enable students to take best advantage of their educational opportunities.

To these ends, the College encourages students to respect ideas and their free expression, and to rejoice in discovery and in critical thought; to pursue excellence in a spirit of productive cooperation; and to assume responsibility for the consequences of personal actions. Harvard seeks to identify and to remove restraints on students' full participation, so that individuals may explore their capabilities and interests and may develop their full intellectual and human potential. Education at Harvard should liberate students to explore, to create, to challenge, and to lead. The support the College provides to students is a foundation upon which self-reliance and habits of lifelong learning are built: Harvard expects that the scholarship and collegiality it fosters in its students will lead them in their later lives to advance knowledge, to promote understanding, and to serve society.

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