Application Requirements

Quickview

(A more detailed list can be found below.)

Application
$75 Application Fee or Waiver
Harvard Supplement
SAT or ACT
3 SAT Subject Tests
Secondary School Report and Mid-year School Report
Two Teacher Evaluations

Detailed View

Application

You may use either the Common Application or the Universal College Application. (Your personal essay is part of the application.)

Application fee of $75 (or a completed fee waiver request).

The $75 application processing fee can be paid online through the online application system (either the Common Application or the Universal College Application). Please note that the Common Application and Universal Application websites are operated independently, and their respective offices are better able to assist you with specific logistical issues you may encounter while submitting the application forms or your fee through their sites.

You may also send a check drawn on a U.S. bank in U.S. dollars to:

Harvard College Admissions
86 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Please be certain that the applicant's name appears on the check or money order, and staple it to the front page of the Application. If you mail your check separately from the application, please attach a note with your full name and address. For a fee waiver, have your guidance counselor attach a written request to the front of the application.

Harvard Supplement

The supplement can be filled out on-line while submitting the Common Application or Universal College Application. Or you can print a copy and mail it to the Admissions Office.

Official score reports from the SAT or ACT

All applicants must take the SAT or the ACT with the writing component, as well as any three SAT Subject Tests. Candidates applying from outside the U.S. whose first language is not English should not take the SAT Subject Test in their native language as one of the three required tests.

There are no score cutoffs, and we do not admit "by the numbers." Students applying to Harvard are free to use the College Board’s new Score Choice option and/or a similar option already offered by ACT.

While tests taken as late as January of the senior year may be used for admission, we strongly recommend that students submit at least one set of scores from or before the November series. Doing so enables the admissions staff to begin considering applications in December.

Test scores for the middle 50 percent (from the 25th to the 75th percentile) of recently admitted classes range from 700 to 790 on the SAT critical reading section and 690 to 790 on the SAT math section.

Harvard College official codes are 3434 for the SAT and SAT Subject Tests (the College Board) and 1840 for the ACT. When registering for tests, please use your name as it will appear on your Harvard application.

Read Harvard's statement about Score Choice.

Official score reports for Three SAT Subject Tests

You may take any three subject tests. A candidate whose first language is not English should not take the SAT Subject Test in his or her native language as one of the three required SAT Subject Tests. Why do we require three SAT Subject Tests?

Secondary School Report and Mid-Year School Report

These forms need to be filled out by your school counselor or college adviser. The Secondary School Report should be returned to the Harvard Admissions Office as soon as possible. The Mid Year School Report should be returned in February with your latest grades.

Two Teacher Evaluations

These evaluations must be completed by teachers in different academic subjects who know you well.

Updates

If you need to make changes to your application, please mail a letter or email fileroom@fas.harvard.edu with your full name, high school and the updated information. Please do not resend your application.

Application Acknowledgement

The Admissions Office begins sending email applications acknowledgements in early October. We then send acknowlegements (via email) weekly. If you do not receive an acknowledgement of receipt of your application within two weeks of submitting your application, please call the Admissions Office at 617-495-1551.