How to get into Harvard

What is Harvard’s reputation?

“the most prestigious university in the world” “elitist” “historic” “hierarchical” “exclusionary” “future world leaders” “self-serving careerists” “Saudi princes go here” “status obsessed” “professors are gods” “Cambridge is the quintessential college town” “ticket to any career” “joyless means to an end” “radically liberal”

As the oldest college in America, and arguably the most prestigious college in the universe, Harvard has earned its share of both loyal fans and ardent critics. But whether you love or hate Harvard — or “love to hate” Harvard, as many people do — you must concede that it is the most formidable institution of higher learning anywhere, which is why students from all over the world flock to go there.

Unparalleled prestige.

When you graduate from Harvard, doors magically open up for you, the way they would if you were a billionaire sheik or an 18 year-old supermodel from Croatia. Everyone will take a meeting with you, everyone will consider you for their graduate degree program, everyone will fantasize about adding you to their corporate staff. A Harvard degree confers that you are not only smart and successful, but that you have that special “X-factor” that made you good enough to get admitted in the first place. Whether you actually got in because you were a champion swimmer, or because your grandfather donated a library, or because of affirmative action isn’t the point; people will just assume you’re special.

Because of this, seemingly everyone wants to go to Harvard, even if they visit campus and don’t like it at all. Many students feel pressured to go there because it’s the “best,” and you don’t pass up a golden opportunity like that. All of this is to say that Harvard is a double-edged sword; it will undoubtedly improve your career prospects after graduation, but you have to consider whether it’s the right place for you now, because you can graduate from any of the Ivy Leagues (or any number of other top universities) and end up just as successful in life.

Ultimately, it’s who you are, and not where you graduated, that will have the greatest impact on your career. And there are plenty of Harvard grads who don’t amount to “much of anything” by conventional standards.

The Pros of Harvard…

The right kind of student will thrive at Harvard. That kind of person is someone with thick skin and a strong sense of self who doesn’t care what everyone else is doing, who doesn’t care if they get invited to the right parties (because they probably won’t) or accepted into the right clubs (because they might not); they’re just there to “do their own thing” and become incredibly good at it. At Harvard, you will find some of the best professors in the world, the most incredible student resources, and with a huge $50 billion endowment, you will have access to the absolute best of everything.

So if you’re strong-willed, focused, and don’t pay a lot of attention to adolescent campus politics, you can accomplish whatever you set out to do. And afterwards, as a reward for your effort, you will be welcomed at a top graduate school or offered a position at a leading company: mission accomplished.

The Cons of Harvard…

But life isn’t so rosy for many Harvard students, because like most adolescents, they do want to get into the right parties, they do want to get tapped for the right final clubs (members-only clubs), and they do want to get accepted into the best extracurricular organizations. In fact, in the exclusionary, hierarchical world of Harvard, their social status is quite important to them. And here’s where things get tricky, because Harvard is notorious for its hyper-competitive, status-obsessed, even “toxic” campus culture. Obviously this isn’t true for everybody, and there are some really nice, awesome people who go here. But this is not Brown; this is not “everyone is welcome at our table.” This is “what do you think you’re doing here?”

The old joke is that “while a Harvard student won’t stick out their leg to trip you, they won’t necessarily help you up either.” The prevailing sentiment is that while most Harvard students are undeniably “nice” and “friendly,” they’re also unapologetically ambitious and deeply self-serving, and that they too often prioritize their own personal success over everything and everybody else. In other words, no one’s going to help you with anything, unless it’s in their own best interest to do so.

The other knock on Harvard (and this comes from people who actually go there) is that many students suffer from “shifty eye syndrome,” which is where they’re talking to you, but they’re always looking around the room to find something else better. It makes you feel like you’re a “means to an end,” and they’re just using you until they can trade up for something else. Again, this is a gross generalization, and it won’t apply to everyone, but you don’t hear this a lot from students at the other Ivy Leagues (except maybe Princeton or UPenn).

What does Harvard look for in applicants?

Uncommon achievement. Yes, everyone is smart and everyone got good grades in high school. That’s a given. And that also applies to the 50,000 applicants who didn’t get in (and a lot of them were high school valedictorians, class presidents, scored 1600 on the SAT, etc.) The students who get admitted to Harvard do so because they stand out in some exceptional way. Yes, they’re a great student, but they’re also one of the top swimmers in America. Yes, they’re a great student, but they also successfully lobbied a gun control bill through congress. Yes, they’re a great student, but they’re also pansexual, low income, and would be the first in their family to ever attend college. While Harvard has its small share of geniuses (like all the Ivies), mostly they’re just smart kids who have that one extra thing that made them stand out.

The other quality Harvard prioritizes is exceptional leadership. They’re looking for future leaders in every field: athletics, academics, culture, society. They’re looking for “change makers” who are so good at what they do, and so dedicated to their cause, that they will help redefine a field. These types of students are not content to simply follow the herd; they’re proactively breaking the mold and reshaping the world around them.

It’s not enough to say that they were president of their student council, or captain of their swim team, because everyone does that. It may be impressive to some degree, but it’s not rare. They need to demonstrate extraordinary leadership and profound impact. Maybe they led a campaign to overhaul their school lunch program to draw 80% of their menu from local, sustainable farms. Or maybe they created a microloan app that helps Ukrainian refugees secure funding to launch new businesses. Think big.

How hard is it to get into Harvard if you’re white?

It’s very hard — unless you fall into a special category. A 2019 National Bureau of Economic Research study found that almost half of Harvard’s white students were VIP applicants, meaning they were either: a recruited athlete, a legacy student, children of faculty, or someone of “special importance” to the dean of admissions, such as a famous Hollywood actress or the son of a mega-donor. If that’s not you, your job just got twice as hard. Incidentally, these “VIP candidates” make up less than 5% of all Harvard applicants, which shows you the outsize influence they wield.

Harvard now requires the SAT or ACT.

Starting in Fall 2024, Harvard will once again require either the SAT or ACT for freshman admissions, joining Dartmouth, Brown, Yale and numerous other schools.

Final tips for getting in.

Getting into Harvard is a bit of a crapshoot for everyone, even the best of students. It is a “reach school” for all applicants, regardless of your credentials. You can apply Single-Choice Early Action (which is their new version Early Decision), and statistically it will improve your odds of admission from 4% (Regular Decision) to 7%. But realistically, that small bump probably has more to do with the higher caliber of early applicants, and less to do with any real admissions advantage, meaning it probably doesn’t really matter when you apply.

If you really want to go to Harvard, and your heart is dead-set on it, the best thing you can do in high school — other than being a great student — is to find one area outside of class where you can excel to such a degree that you gain national recognition. If you can rise to a level in that “one thing” where you’re one of the very best in the country, that’s your ticket for admission. And if you can convince them on top of that you come from: 1) an under-represented group, 2) a low income home, and you’d be 3) the first person in your family to ever attend college, all the better.