Submitting Your Application

• Receiving confirmation of your application

  We will send an email acknowledgment of receipt within two weeks of receiving your application. If you have not received an acknowledgment after two weeks, please contact us. Choose the category “Admissions” and then the subject “Applicant Questions (if you've already submitted your application)” in the drop-down menu, or call 617-495-1551.

  Please note: we will not begin processing applications until late September, so the earliest acknowledgements will be sent in mid-September.

• Paying the application fee or requesting a fee waiver

  You may pay your application fee online with a credit card via the Common Application, Coalition Application, or the Universal College Application websites.

  You may also send a check or money order to Harvard College Admissions, 86 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Please include the applicant’s name with the payment.

  Fee waivers: Do not let the admissions application fee prevent you from applying! In the spirit of our honor code, if the admissions application fee presents a hardship for you or your family, the fee will be waived.

  If you meet the indicators of economic need on the Common Application or the Coalition Application, you can request a fee waiver directly through the application. If you do not meet the indicators of economic need or you are applying using the Universal Application, please fill out our Admissions Application Fee Waiver Request Form. Requesting a fee waiver will not disadvantage your application in any way.

• Completing the Harvard supplement questions

  Complete the Harvard Questions with the Common Application. If you are using the Universal College Application, complete the Harvard supplement and submit it online or mail it to the Admissions Office.

Additional application questions

• What if I am homeschooled?

  Each applicant to Harvard College is considered with great care and homeschooled applicants are treated the same as all other applicants. There is no special process, but all relevant information about your educational and personal background is welcome.  In addition to the application, all applicants are required to submit standardized tests, a transcript (you may create your own), and recommendations. If the application fee presents a hardship for your family, simply request a fee waiver.

  Hear from Harvard students who were homeschooled, in the Harvard Gazette article ‘Homeschooled en route to Harvard.’

• What if I need to make updates to my application?

  Do not resend your application in order to make updates. If you need to update your identification or contact information, or send updates, additional information, or corrections, please do so via the Applicant Portal.

• Misrepresentation of Credentials

  Be completely accurate in your application materials. If we discover a misrepresentation during the admissions process, you will be denied admission. If you have already been admitted, your offer will typically be withdrawn. If you have already registered, your admission will normally be revoked, and we will require you to leave the College. Harvard rescinds degrees if misrepresentations in application materials are discovered.

  The determination that an application is inaccurate or contains misrepresentations rests solely with the Admissions Office and will be resolved outside the student disciplinary process.

Midyear School Report FAQs

• What if I'm applying Early Action and I don't have my midyear grades yet?

  Early Action applicants are not required to submit the midyear report by the November 1 deadline. If you applied Early Action and are deferred to Regular Decision, please submit the midyear report and transcript in February, or as soon as your midyear grades are available.

• I'm an international student and my academic year is different. Do I still need to submit the midyear report?

  If you study the IB curriculum or the A-level curriculum, then we expect that your school will send predicted grades, based on your current classroom work and the results of any internal or mock exams you have taken up to that point. If your school does not issue official or predicted midyear grades for your final year of school, then you do not need to submit the midyear report form, although the item may remain on your checklist.

• What if I have already graduated from high school?

  If you have already graduated from high school, you should ignore the midyear report requirement (though the item may remain on your Checklist in the Applicant Portal) and simply ask your school to send a final school report if you have not already done so.

• What courses should I take to prepare for applying to Harvard?

  There is no “one size fits all” rule about which curriculum to study during secondary school years. Students should challenge themselves by taking courses deemed appropriate by their teachers and counselors. But some students believe that “more is always better” when it comes to AP, IB or other advanced courses.

  While some students prosper academically and personally by taking large numbers of such courses, others benefit from a more balanced approach that allows them additional time for extracurricular and personal development. For example, not everyone needs to enroll in calculus if another algebra or a statistics course would be a better fit. Even the best students can be negatively affected by taking too many courses at once, and might benefit instead from writing, reading or research projects on subjects of great interest to them.

  To learn more, read our Guide to Preparing for College. To avoid the “burnout” often seen among secondary school students, please refer to our article, Time Out or Burn Out for the Next Generation.

Standardized Testing FAQs

• How do I let Harvard know whether I would like my application reviewed with or without test scores?

  When you apply for admission, you can choose whether or not our review of your application will include your standardized test scores (SAT and ACT).

  • If your scores already are on file before you apply and you choose at the time of your application to proceed without scores, we will not consider those scores. 
  • If you initially chose an application review without scores and would now like to include scores in your file, you may make this request by submitting the [Change to consideration of test scores] form on your Applicant Portal. 
  • If you ask that our review includes your scores, either at the time of application or after you apply by submitting the form in the Applicant Portal, they will be part of your application throughout the admissions process.

• Can I self-report my test scores?

  Yes. Applicants may provide self-reported SAT and ACT test scores (including Subject Tests, Advanced Placement, IB, etc.). Admitted students who decide to enroll at Harvard College will be required to submit official test scores.

• How do I send my test scores?

  You are free to use the College Board Score Choice option or the similar option offered by the ACT. Our official codes are 3434 for the College Board SAT Reasoning and Subject Tests and 1840 for the ACT if you are submitting official test scores as part of your application.

  • How to send your SAT and SAT Subject Test scores
  • How to send your ACT scores

• Are there test score "cutoffs"?

  There are no score cutoffs, and we do not admit “by the numbers.” For the ACT, we will evaluate your highest composite score and any other scores you choose to share with us. We take into account your educational background when reviewing your scores.

• How can I prepare for standardized tests?

  Research indicates that short-term test preparation usually has little effect, but the free “test prep” now offered by the SAT and the ACT might make a significant difference for students who follow their programs for extended periods of time. Such free programs could help to level the playing field for students from under-resourced high schools by providing the academic skills that will serve them well on standardized tests and also in college.

  Students who attend well-resourced schools throughout their lives tend to do well on standardized testing. Those without such advantages can also do well by studying widely and deeply over a long period of time on their own with the help of family or school or community organizations.

• How does Harvard use ACT or SAT scores in the admissions process?

  Standardized tests provide a rough yardstick of what a student has learned over time and how that student might perform academically in college – but they are only one of many factors considered in our admissions process. High school grades can also be helpful in assessing readiness for college courses but secondary schools around the country and the world employ a wide variety of grading systems – and some students have no grades at all from their schools or are home-schooled.

SAT Subject Test FAQs

• What if I cannot afford to take two SAT Subject Tests?

  While we recommend two SAT Subject Tests, you may apply without them if the cost of taking the tests represents a financial hardship or if you prefer to have your application considered without them. If you were eligible for a fee waiver from the SAT or ACT, you are eligible for unlimited free score reports to be sent to institutions to which you are applying. We recommend you use your free score reports to share your scores with Harvard. Standardized testing is only one component of our admissions process and your application will be evaluated on the basis of all of the other information that you submit.

• How are SAT Subject Tests considered in the admissions process?

  Subject Tests can be helpful both for admissions and course placement purposes. Students whose first language is not English and those less familiar with standardized tests such as the SAT or ACT can often demonstrate their academic progress more effectively by also submitting Subject Tests. International students generally benefit from submitting Subject Tests and should take them if possible as they are unlikely to be admitted on the basis of SAT or ACT alone.

  The decision whether to take Subject Tests is entirely up to you. You should ask yourself whether other academic credentials including, but not limited to, AP results, IB marks, A Levels grades, etc., adequately represent your suitability for studying at Harvard. If there is any doubt, you should take two Subject Tests.

  Applicants may provide self-reported SAT and ACT test scores (including Subject Tests, Advanced Placement, etc.). Admitted students who decide to enroll at Harvard College will be required to submit official test scores.

• What is the role of SAT Subject Tests at Harvard?

  Subject Test results can be used to help assess which course levels are appropriate to take at Harvard and can enable you to pass our language requirement (700 or better on a language Subject Test) and take advanced courses from among 80+ foreign languages. Other standardized tests can also be used to meet the language requirement, for example, with a 7 in a Higher Level IB language exam or a 5 in an AP language exam or by successfully passing a placement test upon arriving at Harvard.

Material Types

• How to submit documents and articles

  Scholarly articles, research, creative writing or other documents of which you are the primary author should be submitted in the Upload Materials section of the Applicant Portal. This is the most efficient and direct method of submitting these materials, because they will be added directly to your official application. All submissions should include a list of any individuals with whom you collaborated in the production of the work. If appropriate, please identify your research sponsor, mentor, and/or laboratory or research group leader and provide a short description of your particular contribution to the work.

• How to submit media (video, audio, or images)

  You may submit optional supplementary media materials (e.g. videos, audio recordings, or images) electronically via Slideroom. Details for submissions in art, dance or choreography, musical performance or composition, will be found on the Slideroom website. There is a small submission fee, but if this fee causes you economic hardship, you may request a fee waiver at the point of submission. You may also contact us to request a fee waiver.