Harvard University Admission Requirements and Statistics

How hard is Harvard University to get into?

This page provides the latest information on Harvard University (Harvard)'s admission process, acceptance rate, and student profile. Harvard's acceptance rate is 3.65% for 2024-2025 admission. A total of 54,008 students applied and 1,970 were admitted to the school. Its acceptance rate is very low, which means it is very hard to get into Harvard.

To apply to Harvard, recommendations and personal statement (or essay) are required to submit. The SAT and ACT score is required to be considered.

• Harvard's acceptance rate is the lowest among 64 Massachusetts colleges with competitive admission.
• The median SAT score is 1550 and the ACT score is 35 at Harvard. Harvard's SAT score is 2nd highest among 41 Massachusetts colleges that consider SAT score for admission.
• Harvard's yield rate is 83.60%, which is significantly higher by 20.88 percentage points (approximately 33.3% higher) compared to similar colleges with acceptance rates between 0% and 10% (average yield: 62.72%). You can compare colleges with similar acceptance rates to Harvard at colleges with acceptance rates lower than 10%.

Admission Statistics

For the academic year 2024-25, Harvard's acceptance rate is 3.65% and the yield (also known as enrollment rate) is 83.60%. 25,613 men and 28,372 women applied to Harvard and 920 men and 1,050 women students were accepted.

Among them, 767 men and 880 women were enrolled in Harvard. You can explore the Harvard's admission rates and SAT score trends over the past decade, including year-by-year data and analysis, by visiting Admission Trends page.

Data source: IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) (Last update: December 11, 2024)

Median SAT and ACT Score

For the academic year 2025, 892 students (54% of enrolled students) submitted SAT scores and 321 students (19% of enrolled students) submitted ACT scores as part of the admission process at Harvard.

The median SAT score for admitted students is 1,550, including 760 in SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) and 790 in SAT Math. The 75th percentile SAT EBRW score is 780 and the 25th percentile is 740. For SAT Math, the 75th percentile score is 800 and the 25th percentile is 770.

The median ACT composite score is 35, with a 75th percentile score of 36 and a 25th percentile score of 34 at Harvard. The median ACT Math score is 35 and the median ACT English score is 35.

How competitive is Harvard's score?

The SAT and ACT scores at Harvard University are relatively high compared to similar colleges (SAT: 1,497, ACT: 34 - private (not-for-profit) research university with very high research activity).

Data source: IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) (Last update: December 11, 2024)

Application Requirements

It requires to submit High School Record (or Transcript), Recommendations, SAT / ACT, and Personal statement or essay to its applicants.

The SAT and ACT test score is required to be considered in admission process at Harvard. The english proficiency test is not required, but considered.

The next table summarizes the application requirements to apply Harvard University.

For more admission information such as minimum GPA and deadlines, see its online application page .

General Admissions Information

The following provides general admission information for applying to Harvard:

• Open Admission Policy: No
• Undergraduate Application Fees: -
• Graduate Application Fees: -
• Admission Information: college.harvard.edu/admissions
• Online Application: college.harvard.edu/admissions/apply/application-requirements
• Calendar System: Semester
• Course for High School Students: Not Offered
• Credits Accepted: No credits accepted
• Degree Offered: 1-Year Certificate, Associate, Bachelor, Post-Bachelor Certificate, Master, Post-Master Certificate, Doctoral (Research), Doctoral (Professional Practice)