Admission to Harvard: difficult but possible

Entering Harvard is a brave deed. Studying at Harvard University speaks not only of the student’s remarkable abilities, but also of his active position and personal qualities. The selection committee is interested in excellent marks in the document on secondary education, fluency in English, the ability to think outside the box, clearly express your thoughts - but even this may not be enough. A future student of the oldest American university should be a person, have his own mission - and this is what he should talk about in an essay about himself, starting from the general standard of living and ending with the solution of specific socially significant problems. It is advisable to have an active participation in olympiads, youth rallies, volunteer events, confirmed by documents and awards.

Admission to Harvard: where to start?

Admission to Harvard should begin with a serious reflection on the upcoming step: the procedure itself will cost considerable effort and financial investment. If everything goes well, the student will have to live in a foreign country, study, sparing no energy, and more likely to earn extra money. The cost of studying at Harvard for a year is more than $ 30,000: the university helps students who can not pay such huge amounts, but not to all and not in full. To receive grants, you need to show brilliant abilities in study, public life of the university.

If the applicant, after analyzing the upcoming difficulties, decided not to give up, it’s time to open the Harvard University website: here they place information on the deadlines for submitting documents, exams, requirements, there is an application form that can be filled directly on the website. For applicants who quickly prepared all the documents, there is a first admission stream - until November 1. The result will be known in mid-December. For those who did not have time, the next stream is until January 1: these applicants will find out whether they arrived or not later.

Although the package of documents includes a document on secondary education with grades, applicants will have to pass American exams confirming the results of secondary education (SAT I and SAT II). The exams are paid, for passing you must first register on the SAT website. 2 exams from 3 specialized and are related to the future specialty. Points must be high: with a maximum of 800 points, those with at least 600 become Harvard students.

An international TOEFL certificate of English proficiency at Harvard University is not always required, but if available, you must include it in the list of documents.

Admission to Harvard: Document Collection

Admission to Harvard depends on the thoroughness of the preparation of documents and compliance with the requirements. Some of them - motivational writing, for example - will require a creative approach.

Documents for admission to Harvard University:

1. statement

2. motivation letter

3. summary

4. school certificate (translation into English)

5. 2 recommendations

6. certificate of passing the SAT tests (2070 - 2350)

7. certificate of passing the SAT profile exams

8. documents confirming successful participation in socially significant projects.

Additionally, the list can include existing publications, TOEFL certificate. All documents are filled in English. The application is submitted on the site, and the translation of the certificate is done in the center, which has the right to translate and certify documents.

1. A special document is a motivation letter. This is the business card of the applicant, where he tells the admissions committee about yourself, about why you chose Harvard University and your specialty, what you wants to achieve. The letter plays the role of an interview, so it must be written so that the members of the selection committee selected the essay from many others. Harvard students, sharing their admission experience, recall the special importance of motivational writing, offer to abandon common high-profile phrases in favor of specific examples, facts from everyday life.
2. The resume indicates the place, time of study, cooperation with scientific, public organizations. Recommendations are given by school teachers, university teachers, academic leaders - these should be people who know future students, have been involved in common projects with them, and are related to education or their future specialty.
3. Documents confirming successful participation in socially significant projects are diplomas, diplomas of subject Olympiads, awards of sports competitions, certificates of participation in volunteer projects.
4. An applicant can be invited for an interview: at the university itself, in the home country of the future student, or elsewhere. Conducted by members of the selection committee or proxies from among Harvard graduates. If the future student was unable to get an interview, this will not entail negative consequences, however, personal communication with a member of the selection committee gives an additional chance to stand out from the mass of applicants and make a good impression.

Numerous useful tips from international students at Harvard University indicate that it is possible to enter there. You need to set a goal and move towards it, overcoming obstacles.