The Harvard University ranking is No. 1 in both the USA and the world on the University Review College Ranking Lists. It is ranked as the 2nd best college in the states by the USnews, and the 7th best by Forbes.
Harvard University Requirements for Admission, ACT & SAT Scores, and Tuition Fees (Quick Facts 2014 / 2015)
The total composite SAT Score range (verbal plus math; middle 50%) for accepted applicants is 1410 to 1600.
The Harvard University admission requirements for ACT (25th-75th percentile) at Composite is 32 – 35.
The Harvard University tuition fees are $43,938 for both in– and out– state students. It is an extremely selective college accepting 6% of applicants. Financial aid offered totals $176 million per year, an average of $45,120 per student.
Harvard University Information
Harvard is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was established in 1636.
There are approximately 16,000 faculty and staff serving over 24,000 students. Harvard university has an income of $2.6 billion per annum, and it is estimated that the overall costs for a student studying at Harvard are in the region of $63,000 per annum, though most people receive grants/financial aid. The school colour of this Ivy League university is crimson.
Harvard University Library
The Harvard university libraries contain over 15 million volumes. This makes it the second biggest university system in the USA, and the fourth biggest in the world. In all there are 80 individual libraries at Harvard.
Harvard University Address
The address of Harvard is located as follows:
Faculty of Arts and Sciences,
University Hall,
Cambridge,
MA 02138,
USA
Harvard University Logo
Other colleges in Massachusetts state include Northeastern University, Boston College, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Brandeis, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Tufts University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Boston University.
An In-depth Look at Harvard University Facts
Student body
Approximately 24,200 students attend Harvard. Of these, 7,200 study at the graduate level (c.6500 college, c.500 extension), 14,000 at the graduate level, and 3,000 completing non-degree or professional programs. Seventy-three percent of the total student body attends full-time.
This year’s intake included 11.1% international students. The male: female ratio is 49:51 at the undergraduate level, and 52:48 at the postgraduate level.
Of this year’s freshmen hailing from the USA, the regional demographics are Northeast (41.1%), West (14.5%), Midwest (13.8%), Southeast (11.7%), and Southwest (7.8%).
The class of 2017 ethnicity, excluding whites, was Asian American (20%), Hispanic/Latino (12%), African American (11%), and Native American and Pacific Islanders (3%).
Harvard is currently ranked by University Review as both the best college in the USA, and in the world.
Tuition fees
Tuition and fees for Harvard presently cost $43,939, on top of this Room & Board is $14,669, and the cost of books is estimated at $800 – $1000. When other personal expenses and travel costs are taken into account it is estimated that the overall yearly costs of attending Harvard are $63,150.
Fifty eight percent of freshmen surveyed by the Crimson received some form of financial aid, with those from a rural background the most likely to be granted help from the university (86.5%). Although, fees are high the readily availability of financial aid means that 90% of American families would find it cheaper to send their offspring to Harvard than to send them to a state school. Sixty percent of all undergraduates receive Harvard scholarships, with the average overall contribution to total education costs by parents just 11%; families earning less than $65,000 do not need to contribute anything to the cost of their children’s education. However, students are expected to contribute some additional work, with two-thirds of all students expected to work 10 to 12 hours per week during term-time.
So although Harvard is an elite institution it is surprising cheap to study there for most people, and even those who have to pay in full can rest assured that their money is buying the best education available.
Academic programs
There are twelve degree granting schools at Harvard. These offer 46 concentrations (equivalent to majors) at undergraduate level. There are also 134 graduate and and 32 professional degrees on offer.
The university employs a Semester calendar (September to May), and students must maintain a yearly four course average to be deemed full-time scholars.
Campus Details
The Main campus of Harvard is located in an urban setting and covers 210 acres, the Medical campus covers 21 acres, the Allston campus 360 acres, other scattered areas cover a further 4,500 acres.
Harvard competes in 42 intercollegiate varsity sports, more than any other university at the Division I level. The sports teams are known as the Harvard Crimson and compete in NCAA Division I and the Ivy League.
Number of faculty
Staff and faculty account for over 16,000 of people present on the campus. There are over 2,400 full-time instructional faculty, and a further 2,063 part-timers.
Graduation rates, time to graduate
Approximately 7,000 people graduate Harvard University each year, the qualification break down is as follows Bachelor’s degrees (23.6%), Master’s degrees (5.7%), Doctoral degrees (7.3%), and Professional degrees (63.4%).
As expected with such an intake of exceptionally gifted students the four year graduation rates, at 88%, are amongst the highest in the country; at the six year stage 98% of entrants have graduated. And of the other 2% who dropped out? Well they include people like Bill Gates (now an honorary doctorate), Mark Zuckerberg, Matt Damon, Pete Seeger, and Elisabeth Shue.
Student Admission
It is no surprise that as the highest ranked college in the world and a member of the Ivy league to boot that it is incredibly difficult to get into Harvard, with the amount of applicants accepted second only to Stanford. For the latest intake, there were 35,023 applicants, of which 2,047 (5.8%) were admitted – from these, 1,659 (81%) matriculated, with a further 20 applicants being accepted from the waiting list.
Applying to Harvard costs $75. For non-overseas applicants ACT or SAT scores are required (Usually, two SAT subjects), as are two teacher evaluations. Remember, that one of the main areas in which a university of this stature is able to separate the wheat from the chaff of so many excellent applicants is through the quality of your application essay, so take your time during your application to absolutely nail this, and get advice and feedback on it from as many people as possible.
The average Harvard freshman (80% of intake surveyed) scores a 2237 on their SAT, with recruited students, such as athletes averaging 2064.
There is little difference in the SAT scores based on ethnic background, though Asians were slightly higher (2299). Likewise it was close between the sexes, with females having an average SAT 17 points higher than males, with women being stronger in critical reading (743.5 vs 733.9) and writing (752.8 vs 734.0) than men, and men being slightly stronger at Math (747.2 vs 739.5). Again, there was a slight variation in SAT scores between school backgrounds, with privately educated students scoring an composite score 20 points higher than publicly educated ones.
Ninety percent of students submitted SAT scores (the remaining 10% are likely from overseas). The middle 50% percentiles of applicants accepted ranged from 700 – 800 in Math, 690 – 790 in Reading, and 690 – 790 in writing. Thirty-two percent of students submitted an ACT: the Middle 50% percentiles were 32 – 35 for English, 31 – 35 for English, 8 – 10 for writing, and a composite of 31 – 35.
On average (out of 80% of freshmen replying to the Harvard Crimson survey) an Harvard freshman applied to 6.57 schools, and was accepted by 4.68, for further information see here.
Interestingly, 35% of incoming freshmen were still virgins, 39.4% had need tried alcohol, and 12.5% had received con selling for some type of mental health issue, all of these are probably linked to the amount of hours required to study to gain entrance into such an elite establishment. Computer-wise, 68% of Harvard Freshmen are Mac users.
To help gain access to the university, 13% of freshmen make use of private admissions counselor services.
The university’s application page can be found here, the main admissions address is Massachusetts Hall Cambridge, MA 02138, and the telephone number (617) 495-1000.
Student Experience
With the level of education offered and the easy ability of financial aid available it is no surprise that nearly all students consider Harvard to be incredible value for money.
Many comment on pleased they are that Harvard tries to pair up people in their housing who lead similar lifestyles, but make an effort so that people will not be from exactly the same backgrounds and interests as you to spice things up just a little bit.
Although Harvard has some fantastic faculty members (After all the establishment is associated with over 150 Nobel prize winners) some students feel that they are often more dedicated to their research than to improving their lecture skills to improve their teaching. That said, like at most universities the faculty are very approachable (when they’ve got the time).
Although the Campus is beautiful, many students complain that it is always full of tourists. As the association with the league suggests a lot of the buildings are covered with Ivy. Many feel that the campus is a little bit mix and match, with beautiful old red buildings with fantastic architecture mixing it up with newer, not quite so appealing (indeed many people use ugly) buildings.
Dorms are housed in attractive buildings and are more than adequately equipped. Freshmen are located in Harvard square, which is delightfully located around the green.
Safety wise, the university offers shuttle buses, a blue pole emergency system, and its own police force. The campus is considered safe, and the surrounding city to be generally a good area, with people advising that like with any other city you need to keep your wits about you late at night.
Overall, the student experience at Harvard is considered very-good to exceptional.
Harvard University Ranking Facts
Harvard Motto – Veritas (Truth)
| Ranking – Times 400 (UK) |
1
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| University world Ranking – Jiao tong 500 (China) |
1
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| University world Ranking – Newsweek 100 (USA) |
1
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| PBA Top 100 Colleges |
1
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| USnews American ranking |
1
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| American Rank (Jiaotong) |
1
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Harvard University Cambridge Facts
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| Students (Undergraduates / PG/ Total) |
19,140
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6,715
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12,425
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| Where is Harvard University? | Cambridge, MA, USA | ||
| Faculty / Staff |
2,400 / 13,100
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| Established |
1636
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| Endowment – USA Rank | $32,334,293,000 – 1st | ||
| Endowment per student |
$1,510,750
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| Research Spending – USA Rank | $447,196,000 – 27th | ||
| Number of foreign students |
3,669
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| Affiliations |
AAU, Ivy League
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