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Harvard University Admissions Statistics & Acceptance Rate

What Type of Student Gets Admitted to Harvard University?

By analyzing the admissions figures of recent freshman cohorts, get a better grasp of your likelihood of gaining admission to Harvard University, located in Cambridge, MA.

On this page you’ll find:

• What Admissions Stats Mean for You
• Selectivity of Harvard University
• Acceptance & Enrollment Stats at Harvard University
• Male to Female Ratio of Applicants
• Average SAT & ACT Scores
• Helpful Resources

How Admissions and Enrollment Stats Are Applicable to You

Selectivity and acceptance rates can be a big clue to how difficult it is to be admitted. Compare your test scores to prior applicants to get a good understanding of who you are competing against for entrance.

Looking for Harvard University application deadlines and requirements?

Selectivity: How Many Students Get Accepted?

The selectivity of a college indicates how competitive the admissions process is.

Open Admissions	No
Selectivity of College	Most Selective (<10%)
Acceptance Rate	4%
Application Fee	$85 (waivable)

Acceptance and Enrollment Figures

Harvard University received 54,008 applications. Among these applicants, 1,970 were admitted, and 1,647 chose to enroll.

Applicant Total	54,008
Accepted	1,970
Enrolled	1,647
Enrolled Full-Time	1,647

The acceptance rate at Harvard University is 3.6%. This level of selectivity means the school is extremely selective and highly competitive. Gender-specific acceptance rates at Harvard University: women are accepted at a rate of 4% versus 4% for men.

The yield rate at Harvard University is 84%. This indicates that 84% of students who were accepted decided to enroll. Broken down by gender, the female yield rate is 84% compared to 83% for male admits.

Boys vs. Girls: Who’s Applying More?

Here is the gender distribution for Harvard University.

	Men	Women
Applicants	25,613	28,372
Admitted	920	1,050
Enrolled	767	880

SAT and ACT Score Profile

Approximately 54% of admitted students at Harvard submitted their SAT scores (892 students).

The middle 50% of admitted students scored SAT Reading and Writing scores between 740 and 780. SAT Math scores ranged from 770 and 800.

SAT Section	25th Percentile	75th Percentile
Critical Reading	740	780
Math	770	800
Combined Total	1510	1580

Harvard saw ACT scores submitted by 19% of accepted students (321 students).

When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 34 and 36.

ACT Section	25th Percentile	75th Percentile
Overall	34	36
English	35	36
Math	32	36

Additional Question to Ask

• A college’s selectivity gives us an idea of how rigorous the studies are, and how competitive the students are. However, not all students thrive in a competitive atmosphere, even if their grades are good. Does this college have the best learning environment for you?

Notes and References

References

• National Center for Education Statistics
• College Scorecard
• Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
• Image Credit: By Elisa.rolle under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.