How Hard Is It to Get Into Harvard in 2022?

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You might be a valedictorian with perfect SAT and ACT scores, thousands of volunteer hours, and a list of extracurriculars and leadership positions a mile long, but it still doesn’t mean Harvard is going to roll out the red carpet for you. These days, having world-beating stats on paper isn’t enough. It’s simply too competitive. You need intangible qualities that separate you from the horde of brilliant hopefuls that show up on Harvard’s doorstep every year, imploring to be let in.

It’s extremely hard to get into Harvard in 2022. The acceptance rate is 3.2%, and it drops every year. Even top students struggle to get accepted. There are just too many applicants chasing too few spots. But you can boost your chances by understanding exactly what they’re looking for.

Harvard University
Harvard University

Table of Contents

The Harvard Class of 2026 Acceptance Rate

Harvard University received 61,220 applications for the class of 2026, an all-time record. Of these applicants, only 1,954 were admitted, making the Harvard class of 2026 acceptance rate a record-low 3.2%, down from 3.5% for the class of 2025 and 4.9% for the class of 2024. If you feel like being depressed, the Harvard acceptance rate hovered between 10-15% in the 1990s and reached as high as 20% in the 1980s. Being young has its benefits, but getting into Harvard, unfortunately, isn’t one of them.

The Harvard Early Action Acceptance Rate for the Class of 2026

If you absolutely know you want to go to Harvard, you can more than double your admissions chances by applying Restrictive Early Action. Out of 9,406 REA applicants for the class of 2026, Harvard accepted 740, making the Harvard early action acceptance rate 7.9% for the class of 2026. It’s also worth noting that the overwhelming majority of applicants not accepted REA weren’t outright rejected but deferred to the regular admission cycle, giving them a second chance at getting in. Fewer than 1,000 REA applicants were rejected during the early action cycle. It also bears emphasizing that Restrictive Early Action is binding — if Harvard lets you in, you can’t back out without creating a huge headache for yourself (and your guidance counselor). But why would you want to?

The Harvard Average SAT and ACT Scores for the Class of 2026

The Harvard average SAT and ACT scores for the class of 2026 were as follows:

  • Middle 50% SAT (EBRW): 710-770
  • Middle 50% SAT (Math): 750-800
  • Middle 50% ACT: 33-35

These numbers are actually down slightly from the class of 2025, which had middle 50% SAT scores of 730-780 (EBRW) and 750-800 (math), and a middle 50% ACT range of 33-36. Harvard was test optional for the class of 2025 and 2026, and it will continue to offer test-optional admission through the class of 2029. For the class of 2026, about 50% of admitted students submitted SAT scores and about 30% submitted ACT scores.

Should I Apply Test Optional to Harvard?

Here’s the problem with test optional: It has opened the floodgates for applicants by removing a major barrier to entry. There are FAR more high school students with excellent grades and solid extracurriculars who DON’T have SAT and ACT scores in Harvard’s middle 50% range and above than there are students who do. In years past, most students who lacked the scores wouldn’t waste an application on Harvard, knowing their scores would likely keep them out.

That isn’t the case anymore. These students apply to Harvard now (along with Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and the other elite schools that have gone test-optional in the era of Covid), which has driven up application numbers to insane levels.

What elite schools like Harvard are loath to admit, however, is that test scores still matter in a huge way, as they offer one way for students to separate their application from the others in the endless stack on the admission rep’s desk.

If you are anywhere near Harvard’s 50th percentile for the SAT or the ACT — meaning a 1,500 or 34 — you should absolutely not apply test-optional. If you have scores above the 25th percentile — 1,460 for the SAT and 33 for the ACT — you should still consider submitting your test scores, especially if you have another admissions “hook” (e.g., underrepresented minority, first-generation college student, unique leadership position, etc.) The fact is that if you have scores anywhere near Harvard’s range and you don’t submit them, Harvard is going to assume you scored a lot lower. After all, why would a kid with a 1,500-plus not want to show it off?

That said, if your scores are significantly below Harvard’s range — for instance, an SAT below 1,400 or an ACT below 30 — you should NOT submit those scores, as they’re almost guaranteed to expedite a trip for your application to the shredder.

The Harvard Average Unweighted GPA and Class Rank for the Class of 2026

The Harvard average unweighted GPA for the class of 2026 was above a 3.9, and remember that includes a healthy percentage of students from rigorous boarding schools where A’s aren’t handed out like candy. Ninety-three percent of incoming students for the fall of 2022 ranked in the top 10% of their high school class.

It should be noted here that the percentage of high schools that actually report class rank is dwindling every year. Only 30% of Harvard applicants for the class of 2026 came from high schools that reported class rank. Most elite private schools and many competitive public schools have stopped reporting or even measuring class rank, as they don’t want to disadvantage the majority of their students in the college admissions race.

What Harvard Looks For in a Student

Academic Factors

According to its common data set, Harvard considers the following academic factors when making an admissions decision:

  • Rigor of secondary school record
  • Academic GPA
  • Standardized test scores
  • Essays
  • Recommendations

Harvard does NOT consider the following academic factors:

  • Class rank

Non-Academic Factors

Harvard considers the following non-academic factors in its admissions decisions:

  • Admissions interview
  • Extracurricular activities
  • Talents and abilities
  • Character and personal qualities
  • First-generation student status
  • Legacy status
  • Geographical residence
  • Racial/ethnic status
  • Volunteer work
  • Work experience

Harvard does NOT consider the following non-academic factors:

  • State residency
  • Religion
  • Demonstrated interest

The last one is important. Unlike many schools, Harvard doesn’t concern itself with an applicant’s level of demonstrated interest when making an admissions decision — likely because it knows its yield will be insanely high regardless. So, you don’t need to stress out over attending every virtual event or emailing your admission rep constantly. You can put that time to better use — like finding good safety schools (kidding!).

The Harvard Rating System

Harvard uses a proprietary rating system to assign a quantitative value to each applicant it is seriously considering. The details of this system were made public in a recent high-profile lawsuit filed against the university on behalf of Asian students who claimed discrimination in the admissions process.

The system works as follows: Harvard’s admissions reps assign each applicant a “score” of 1-4 in four categories: academic, extracurricular, athletic, and personal. The lower the score, the better.

A valedictorian who never made below an A and took the hardest available classes in their high school might score a “1” for academics. A student with a solid transcript but who made a B here and there and barely squeezed into the top 10% of their high school class might score more like a “3”.

In the extracurricular category, David Hogg, the Parkland school shooting survivor and current Harvard student who co-founded the March for Our Lives movement, almost certainly ranked a “1”, regardless what you might think of his political positions. In contrast, a student whose application makes it obvious they just signed up for a bunch of clubs at the beginning of the year, showed up for the first meeting to take the yearbook picture, and then never participated beyond that would likely rank a “4”.

The athletic category gives you jocks a chance to shine. A year of JV tennis probably won’t get you much higher than a “3” at best, but if you’ve won accolades in multiple varsity sports, you might get bumped up to a “2”. To score a “1” in this category, you almost certainly need to be an athlete who’s being actively recruiting for one of Harvard’s teams.

The personal category is by far the most controversial, as it’s so amorphous and hard to define. This category was at the crux of the lawsuit against Harvard by Asians, who claimed the university reduced its percentage of Asian admits by using this category to give them low scores for nebulous reasons. Regardless, there are a few things you can do to potentially raise your personal score:

  • Be versatile: A quarterback who also directed his school’s drama club production is likely to get a high personal score.
  • Have a personality: Your essays shouldn’t read like something you wrote for English class. Make the admission rep who reads them think, “This is someone I’d like to hang out with.”
  • Have a passion: Pick a cause you’re passionate about and let it form a common thread that runs through your entire application. If you love working with special needs kids, don’t just talk about it in your essay but also highlight all the volunteer work you’ve done in that area.
  • Choose your recommendations carefully: Don’t just go to the teacher whose class you set the curve in every test. Think about who really knows your best qualities and who’s capable of writing a compelling recommendation on your behalf. As a general rule, all other variables equal, I’d pick an English teacher over a math teacher for that reason.

Who Gets Into Harvard?

As of this writing, Harvard hasn’t released the demographic breakdown for the class of 2026, but we can look at the university’s 2021-2022 common data set for the makeup of the class of 2025. Looking at ethnic identity, it breaks down as follows:

  • White: 37.4%
  • Asian: 25.9%
  • Black: 15.9%
  • Hispanic: 12.5%
  • Other/Not Reported: 7.2%
  • Native American: 1.1%

The Harvard class of 2025 was also geographically diverse. Its students came from the following regions:

  • Mid-Atlantic: 20.7%
  • South: 18.3%
  • New England: 16.6%
  • International: 15.6%
  • West Coast: 13.2%
  • Midwest: 11.7%
  • Mountain West: 3.4%

How to Apply to Harvard With the Best Chance of Admission

Like all elite schools in this era, Harvard’s admissions have become simply brutal, and the math doesn’t work out in the favor of any applicant, no matter how qualified. That said, you can maximize your chance of admission by keeping the following tips in mind:

  • Put a LOT of time into your supplemental essays and short answer responses. Think outside the box and make your writing stand out. The admission rep who reads it has already heard every sob story and “moment that changed my outlook on life” yarn you could possibly come up with, so try something different. To throw out a few random ideas, what about writing from the perspective of yourself 20 years in the future as a Harvard alum, or writing a letter to your as-yet-unknown roommate in which you describe yourself? At the very least, you’ll stand out for your creativity.
  • Try to schedule an alumni interview with someone in your area. No, Harvard doesn’t consider demonstrated interest, but it can’t hurt to have a potentially prominent graduate who endorses you. The Harvard network permeates every corner of the globe, so you should be able to find someone without much trouble, and the admissions office will help you.
  • If you still have a couple years of high school left and you’re just getting an early start, go back and read the sections on what Harvard looks for and their rating scale. Devise a plan to score as high as you can in every category.

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