Get into Harvard University

Everything you need to know about Harvard Admissions.

Ivy League harvard university admissions

About Harvard University

Harvard University ranks at #3 in U.S. News & World Report rankings of National Universities (tied with Stanford). Founded in 1636, it is both the oldest and most competitive of the Ivy League schools, admitting just 3.4 percent of applicants for the Class of 2027. Today, approximately 6,700 undergraduate students attend classes on Harvard’s urban campus in Cambridge, MA.

Almost all Harvard undergraduates (97%) live in on-campus housing throughout their college careers. All first-year students live with other freshmen in shared suites on Harvard Yard, allowing them to form strong bonds with each other. At the end of freshman year, students are welcomed into one of twelve residential Houses, each of which offers students a close-knit community within the larger college. Houses present students with a variety of educational and recreational opportunities, ranging from seminars and film screenings to intramural sports teams.

Harvard offers students many other extracurricular opportunities, including over 450 student organizations and 125 community service programs through the Phillips Brooks House Association. Harvard also holds multiple arts festivals each year — including Cultural Rhythms, ARTSFirst, and Yardfest — while Harvard’s extensive library system houses the oldest collection in the United States and the largest private collection in the world. In addition, Harvard students have the opportunity to participate in or cheer on Harvard’s athletic teams, which compete in the NCAA Division I Ivy League.

Academically, Harvard offers students the opportunity to pursue a wide variety of subjects. Undergraduates at Harvard University can choose from more than 50 concentrations, as well as a range of secondary fields, many of which offer interdisciplinary study. Undergraduate students at Harvard also have the ability to cross-register at most of Harvard’s 10 graduate schools and at MIT. For musicians, Harvard offers dual-degree programs with the New England Conservatory and the Berklee College of Music, allowing students to earn both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Music degree simultaneously. One of the most exciting opportunities for a Harvard undergraduate is the ability to conduct high-impact research with world-renowned faculty. Over the past few years, students have received more than $7 million in research support from more than 60 organizations, ranging from academic departments to scientific research initiatives.

College Acceptance Results for Top Tier Admissions

Top Tier’s students had GREAT results in both the early and regular rounds. Check out our successes!

Applying to Harvard

Students can apply to Harvard in either the early or regular rounds. For students who choose to apply early, Harvard offers a Restrictive Early Action option (REA), with an application deadline of November 1. The regular application deadline is January 1.

REA is non-binding, meaning that admitted students do not have to attend Harvard. Students applying to Harvard REA may also apply to public or foreign schools in the early round. However, students applying REA are not allowed to apply to any other private schools under either Early Action or Early Decision programs. In other words, a student applying REA to Harvard could also apply early to Penn State (public) and St. Andrews (foreign), but he or she would not be able to apply Early Decision to Brown or Early Action to Georgetown.

Students can apply to Harvard using the Common Application, Universal Application, or Coalition Application. Harvard is test optional for the Classes of 2027-2030. Students may submit the SAT or ACT (with or without writing). Applicants will typically have the opportunity to carry out an in-person interview, usually after their application is submitted. In the U.S., students can generally hold interviews either on campus or with a regional Harvard representative in or near their community. International students may be able to carry out an interview with a local representative, although students’ candidacy will not be negatively affected if no interviews are available in their country. Applicants should check Harvard’s informational page on interviews to see if interviews are available in their area.

Harvard Admissions Wrap Up

Class of 2028
Harvard accepted 3.59 percent of applicants to its Class of 2028. This year, Harvard received a total of 54,008 applications compared to 56,937 for the Class of 2027. With 1,937 admitted students to the Class of 2028, the rate of admission increased to 3.59 percent from 3.51 percent for the combined SCEA and regular decision. Harvard’s SCEA admit rate of 8.74 percent for the early round is substantially higher than the regular decision acceptance rate of 3.24 percent. In the early round, Harvard University received 7.921 applications and accepted 692 students.

Get Into Harvard – The Student Perspective

Here at Top Tier Admissions, we’re fortunate to work with some amazing families and even more spectacular students. Their hard work, focus, determination and dedication to following our proposed roadmap and application strategy helped these students make the cut at Harvard and become a part of the Class of 2028. Like notable alums President Barack Obama, President John F. Kennedy and Mark Zuckerberg, Harvard’s Class of 2028 is poised to inspire and uniquely influence their peers and professors alike.

Here is some advice from a couple of our students most recently accepted to Harvard:

“I couldn’t be more grateful to Top Tier Admissions for their assistance in formulating and executing my application strategy! I learned that it is important for applicants to not be deterred from applying to top schools by fear or insecurity, as the most selective are often the least predictable, and to know that very well-crafted essays, which always take a seemingly unreasonable amount of time and revision to finish, can make a meaningful difference in the quality of an application.”

– J.A., Application Boot Camp® Student

“Don’t be deterred from reaching for your top schools. I was told by every counselor I met that it was ‘foolishness’ to apply to Harvard, and instead to Early Decision to a school that I didn’t like. By all means work your hardest, and then reach for the stars.”

– C.C., Application Boot Camp® Student

Top Tier Admissions Can Help You Get Into Harvard:

Trust The Process. Those words are etched in my brain forever. We were so happy and excited to watch our daughter find out she had been accepted early into Notre Dame last night.
I felt like a millstone that had been hanging around my neck was taken off immediately.
Thank you for your patience and for your expertise in guiding our daughter. Her friends from ND are coming home this weekend and she is so happy and proud to be able to wear a ND sweatshirt she had been keeping in her closet since she picked it up at ND last June.
The Boot Camp was really awesome in teaching her how to write essays for the supplemental questions. I would say it also boosted her confidence, knowing that experts such as yourselves taught her the pearls of wisdom in writing college applications.
From South Dakota to South Bend… it was a journey uphill but our daughter is finally home… Thank you!

O.P.

Application Boot Camp parents

I wanted to share the good news that I was accepted to Wharton ED last night!! Thanks again to you and ABC for all the support.

W.P.

Application Boot Camp student

Without ABC I would have had a strictly mediocre application.

R.V.

Application Boot Camp student

We are enormously grateful for your nurturing presence in our lives and we can’t thank you enough for the gift of your extraordinary experience and expert advice during this nerve-racking process. I still can’t get over the collective brain power in the “room” at ABC.

You might be surprised at what I heard H say yesterday but it’s such a tribute to how hard he worked, how much support he received, and the connections he made. After his 3-hour nap on Friday, a celebratory dinner, and a great night’s, he got up on Saturday and said, “Mom, I want to go back to Bootcamp!” True story. I’m not sure how you do it with the pace and intensity of ABC but T felt truly seen, deeply respected, pushed in the best way possible, and overjoyed about the results. We appreciate your help more than words can express.

H.B.

Application Boot Camp parent

We wanted to let you know that L was accepted at Tufts – his first choice and ED app! Thanks again for all of your help!

G.Y.

Application Boot Camp parent

I KNOW that YOU were beyond instrumental in this process and I wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for your efforts from August in Boston onward. You were always available and such a massive help for K with her supplements.

H.T.

Application Boot Camp and Essay Guidance parent

I got into Brown University! I’m so excited to attend!! Thank you for all your guidance and support during the whole process. I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome, and Top Tier was critical in this result.

M.R.

Application Boot Camp student

She’s IN at Stanford! Thank you for all your support and hard work, and to the others at TTA who worked over her application. You are very much appreciated. K is a great kid and I trust her to do good in the world.

E.W.

Application Boot Camp parent

I just got my Brown Early Decision back and I wanted to let you all know that I got in!!!! Thank you, guys, so much for all the help with my application and my essays. I couldn’t have done it without your help! I am so happy that I got into my first-choice school!!! Once again, I can’t thank you all enough for all the help and guidance

C.A.

Application Boot Camp student

I just wanted to share with you the very exciting news that I was accepted into the University of Miami!!! Thank you so much for all your help and support during this process. All the team from Top Tier really made a difference and were extremely supportive.

L.W.

Application Boot Camp student

We are thrilled to inform you that H has been accepted to Duke University and will be joining his brother K there this fall. We were admittedly a little nervous when Application Boot Camp (understandably) went virtual, but we should not have worried as H came away super-prepared for application season. We really appreciate all of the frank advice and counsel we have received from everyone at Top Tier over the last few years as our sons have journeyed through this process.

W.R.

Application Boot Camp parent

I just wanted to let you guys know I’ve officially been admitted to Williams. I am SO excited and so grateful for all of your help along the way. Thank you so much. Woohoo!

E.A.

Application Boot Camp student

We want to share the good news that P was admitted ED to Williams yesterday! Thank you!

W.B.

Application Boot Camp parents

I wanted to share with you the great news that I was accepted to Tulane ED yesterday! Thank you both so much for your advice and help along the way. I can’t imagine how hard it would have been without it. I am so excited and looking forward to the fall. Thank you!!

E.R.

Application Boot Camp student

I’m not in complete TTA withdrawal after ABC, thanks to you continuing to keep us on track! My heartfelt gratitude for all you have done for the K family. Your care and calm have meant the world to us. So much appreciation for being our rock and guiding light!

P.L.

Application Boot Camp parent

While H awaits his early round decisions, I wanted to give you an update on R. He just finished his first semester at Occidental and he has been crushing it. He loves the school and he is motivated, curious and working so hard. It has been an ideal place for him.

We cannot thank you enough for all of your help and truly wonderful advice. We are so grateful!

T.C.

Application Boot Camp parents

MASSIVE thanks to you for all you did to shepherd us through this nerve-racking process! You are the rock, the hub, and the heart of TTA. H is so extraordinarily fortunate to have had you supporting, guiding, and believing in her.
I saw her grow right before my eyes during Bootcamp (which was phenomenally well run, due to your effort and skill). I still marvel at how much she accomplished in such a condensed period of time but I am most grateful for how you nurtured her spirit and confidence. Empowering her in that way has made all the difference this year.
I know everyone must say “we couldn’t have done it without you” but that sentiment is true beyond words. You have given her a gift that will keep giving for the rest of her life and you have changed us for good AND for the better.

R.C.

Application Boot Camp parent

Michele, I know E has already written you but I wanted to reach out and say thank you to you and R as well as the rest of the Top Tier Team. E is over the moon and being able to enjoy the rest of the year without the stress of college decisions is priceless. We all appreciate what you and your team were able to do to help guide the process as well as make the essay writing much smoother that it would have been otherwise.

C.B.

Application Boot Camp parent

I hope you are enjoying some extremely well-deserved R&R after the intensity of Bootcamp! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for offering R and I your warmth, encouragement, expertise, and seasoned insight. R was so very lucky to have the chance to work with you. We now count you as part of our beloved extended family! ABC was certainly rigorous but it was wonderful to see R’s pride and relief when she came home on Friday.

C.W.

Application Boot Camp parent

I wanted to share that M GOT INTO PRINCETON! We are so happy for her. She worked super hard. She couldn’t have done the application questions and created a niche without all of your support. Thank you so much for everything. We will forever be in gratitude.

D.J.

Application Boot Camp parent

I’m already envious of the red carpet you are rolling out for ABC; these kiddos are so fortunate to be in such caring and attentive hands! T is very excited for Bootcamp and that is a gift in and of itself. A million thank yous for creating an application experience that generates more enthusiasm than panic.

E.A.

Application Boot Camp parent

I just wanted to let you all know that I was accepted into Northwestern! Thanks for all your help!

R.G.

Application Boot Camp student

I wanted to share the good news that J was accepted to Duke early admission. Thank you for your support!

S.D.

Application Boot Camp student

I can’t thank you enough for all your guidance and encouragement during ABC! I’m still exhausted but also really happy about my essays. It’s a huge relief to have my common app in such good shape. I’ll never forget how much you and the rest of the amazing TTA team helped me.

K.R.

Application Boot Camp student