How to Get Into Harvard: Acceptance Rate and Strategies

May 17, 2023

harvard acceptance rate, how to get into Harvard University

Outside of “Encourage your ultra-wealthy parents to donate a building” or “Be a heavily-recruited athlete who also happens to have an SAT score in the 99th percentile,” there is no meaningful succinct nugget of wisdom that is going to unlock the gates to Harvard Yard. Every successful Harvard applicant possesses a sparking transcript, perfect or near-perfect standardized test scores, and prodigious talents that extend outside of the classroom. Unfortunately, these attributes are necessary but often not sufficient, as the ultra-low Harvard acceptance rate implies. This university rejects valedictorians every single day of the admissions cycle. However, your quest to get into Harvard can be greatly enhanced from gaining a better understanding their admissions standards and how their decision-making process works.

The intent of this article is to give those considering applying to Harvard University a full understanding of the following topics:

  • Harvard’s Class of 2027 Restrictive Early Action acceptance rate
  • Harvard’s Class of 2027 overall acceptance rate
  • SAT, ACT, GPA, and class rank of accepted Harvard applicants
  • Admissions trends
  • Why being “well-rounded” won’t help you get into Harvard.
  • Harvard’s system for rating applicants
  • A look at the demographics of Harvard undergraduates
  • The percentage of accepted students that attend the university
  • Tips for applying to Harvard
  • Harvard supplemental essays prompts and tips
  • How to assess whether applying to Harvard is even worth the $85 application fee (for you)

Many students applying to Harvard may also find the following blogs to be of interest:

How to Get Into:

Where is Harvard University?

Harvard University’s 209-acre campus stretches from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Allston. Running along the Charles River, the famous university is situated a few northwest of Boston. Harvard Yard is the oldest portion of campus. This 25-acre space is surrounded by fences with 27 total gates.

When was Harvard Founded?

Harvard was founded in 1636. This makes it the oldest university in the American Colonies. It was founded by a Puritan clergyman named John Harvard shortly after the founding of Boston itself. It would be over 50 years before the next Colonial university was founded–that was William & Mary.

Harvard Acceptance Rate (REA) – Class of 2027

Those applying Restrictive Early Action to the Crimson Class of 2027 were accepted at an all-time low clip. The Harvard early action acceptance rate was 7.56. There were 9,553 early applicants and 722 were admitted. Harvard deferred 78% of applicants and rejected 10%. Historical rates are as follows:

  • Class of 2026 Harvard Acceptance Rate (REA): 7.9%
  • 2025 Harvard Acceptance Rate (REA): 7.4%
  • 2024 Harvard Acceptance Rate (REA): 13.9%

Harvard Acceptance Rate – Class of 2027

Out of 56,937 applicants, a mere 1,942 Class of 2027 hopefuls were admitted. This translates to a stunningly low Harvard acceptance rate of 3.41%. Recent historical Harvard acceptance rates are as follows:

  • Class of 2026 Harvard Acceptance Rate: 3.2%
  • 2025 Harvard Acceptance Rate: 3.4%
  • 2024 Harvard Acceptance Rate: 4.9%

Harvard GPA Requirements, SAT, ACT, Class Rank 

According to the most recent official statistics available, the average SAT score for enrolled freshmen was 1510; on the ACT the average was a 34. Ninety-three percent had earned a place in the top 10% of their graduating high school class and the average unweighted GPA was 3.9.

The university was test-optional when selecting the Class of 2027. Harvard will remain test-optional for Class of 2028 and Class of 2029 applicants.

Admissions Trends & Notes 

  • The Class of 2027 was the second-largest early applicant pool in school history.
  • The total number of applications decreased 7%.
  • Harvard admitted their highest proportion of Asian American students.
  • 19% of 2027 admits were Pell Grant-eligible.
  • 23 veterans were admitted into the Class of 2027.

“Well-Rounded” is Not Enough  

Being a so-called Renaissance man (or woman) was impressive in the 16th century. The local genius might be the very best person in their village at painting, writing, conducting scientific experiments, jousting, and playing the lute. However, in a technologically modern and globalized world, you don’t need to rely on the neighborhood genius when you have a hankering for some lovely lute music. Instead, you can listen to the very best lutenists in the world on Spotify whenever you like.

What does this have to do with Harvard admissions? Simple: Harvard is looking for young people who are among the best, or, have the potential to be among the very best at something in the world. They are less interested in a jack of all trades, master of none type of individual. Just look at the list of notable Crimson alumni and you’ll get a sense of what the university is looking for: the next generation of politicians, award-winning writers, scientists, intellectuals, actors and actresses, musicians, and tech geniuses whose inventions will literally change the world in which we live.

For advice about how to stand out on the extracurricular front, check out our previous blog entitled How Many Extracurricular Activities Do I Need for College?

How Harvard Rates Applicants

Like a jeweler sifting through piles of perfect diamonds trying to find the “most perfect” of the bunch, Harvard admissions officers need a way to categorize differing levels of excellence. As such, they assign a rating of 1-4 (or 1-6, according to some), with 1 being the top rating in four areas: 1) academic, 2) extracurricular, 3) athletics, and 4) personal. Pluses and minuses can be added on to the numeric rating for further distinction.

This gives us pretty good insight into how Harvard goes about sifting through its hordes of over-qualified applicants.

In order to project your chances at admission, try to accurately assess yourself in these four areas and remember our previous comments about Renaissance men/women. You aren’t going to earn a 1 or a 2 in athletics for playing a year of JV Volleyball in high school. Someone high in that category is being actively recruited by the coach of one of Harvard’s 42 Division I sports teams. Likewise for extracurriculars—Harvard is not going to be impressed that you filled the ten spaces on the Common App Activity List; they are looking for genuine excellence in one or more activities. For example, you won a prestigious international math competition or you are one of the top cellists in the United States. Perhaps you published original scientific research or started a charitable organization that made a monumental impact.

Who Actually Gets Into Harvard?

Let’s look at the demographics of the admitted Class of 2027.

Geographically, the Class of 2027 was comprised of students from:

  • International: 15.8%
  • Mid-Atlantic States: 22%
  • Southern States: 17.4%
  • Western/Mountain: 17%
  • Midwestern States: 10.1%
  • New England States: 15.9%

Competition is stiffest among those hailing from states with endless streams of qualified applicants (the entire Northeast & the West Coast). If you hail from a less-populated state like Wyoming or North Dakota, your location is more likely to boost your admissions chances. This is due to something called geographic diversity.

Harvard University Acceptance Rate (Continued)

Looking at ethnic identity, the breakdown of the admitted Class of 2027 was as follows:

  • Asian: 29.9%
  • Hispanic: 11.3%
  • African American: 15.3%
  • Native American: 2%

Amazingly, one study revealed that 43% of white students admitted into Harvard in the last six years were either legacies (their parents were alumni), recruited athletes, children of faculty members. or teens whose relatives had donated large amounts of money to the university. A case of alleged discrimination against students by Harvard made its way all the way to the United States Supreme Court, but the university prevailed.

The intended majors of those admitted to the Class of 2027 were:

  • Humanities: 16%
  • Social Sciences: 28.3%
  • Biology: 17.4%
  • Physical Sciences: 6.8%
  • Engineering: 9.5%
  • Computer Science: 8.8%
  • Math: 6.5%
  • Undecided: 6.7%

Harvard Yield Rate 

The percentage of accepted students who elect to enroll, divided by the total number of students who are admitted is 84%. This number is absurdly high and helps to explain why the acceptance rate is so very low. For comparison, elite schools such as Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory, and Georgetown all have yield rates closer to (or under) 50%.

Tips for Applying to Harvard

If you plan on joining the 56,000+ Harvard hopefuls for the next admissions cycle, you should know the following:

  • Harvard does schedule alumni interviews for most qualified applicants; over 15,000 alumni around the globe serve as interviewers. For advice on what types of questions you should be prepared to answer/ask visit our blog—College Interview Tips.
  • Harvard does not consider “demonstrated interest” so you will not be judged on whether or not you made a campus visit, contacted an admissions officer, etc.
  • Make sure to dedicate sufficient time and effort to the supplemental essay and short answers required by Harvard. In the 2022-23 cycle, they were as follows:
  1. Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (50-150 words)
  2. Your intellectual life may extend beyond the academic requirements of your particular school. Please use the space below to list additional intellectual activities that you have not mentioned or detailed elsewhere in your application. These could include, but are not limited to, supervised or self-directed projects not done as school work, training experiences, online courses not run by your school, or summer academic or research programs not described elsewhere. (150 words)
  3. You may wish to include an additional essay if you feel that the college application forms do not provide sufficient opportunity to convey important information about yourself or your accomplishments. You may write on a topic of your choice, or you may choose from one of the following topics:

Harvard University Acceptance Rate (Continued)

Essay 3: Topic Choices

  1. Unusual circumstances in your life
  2. Travel or living experiences in other countries
  3. What you would want your future college roommate to know about you
  4. An intellectual experience (course, project, book, discussion, paper, poetry, or research topic in engineering, mathematics, science or other modes of inquiry) that has meant the most to you
  5.  How you hope to use your college education
  6. A list of books you have read during the past twelve months
  7. The Harvard College Honor code declares that we “hold honesty as the foundation of our community.” As you consider entering this community that is committed to honesty, please reflect on a time when you or someone you observed had to make a choice about whether to act with integrity and honesty.
  8. The mission of Harvard College is to educate our students to be citizens and citizen-leaders for society. What would you do to contribute to the lives of your classmates in advancing this mission?
  9. Each year a substantial number of students admitted to Harvard defer their admission for one year or take time off during college. If you decided in the future to choose either option, what would you like to do?
  10. Harvard has long recognized the importance of student body diversity of all kinds. We welcome you to write about distinctive aspects of your background, personal development or the intellectual interests you might bring to your Harvard classmates.

For detailed advice on how to write the Harvard essay/short answers, visit our blog: Harvard University Supplemental Essay Prompt and Tips.

Should I Apply to Harvard?

If you are academically qualified, there is no harm in filling out a Harvard application. However, as with all uber-elite colleges in 2023-24—even the best and brightest teens need to have a rock-solid backup plan. For more on creating a balanced list, revisit our blog entitled: How Many Schools Should I Apply to?