Harvard University: Narrative Description

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY E-12

Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: (617)495-1000; Admissions: (617)495-1551; E-mail: [email protected]; Web Site: http://www.harvard.edu/

Description: Independent, university, coed. Awards bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and first professional degrees. Founded 1636. Setting: 380-acre urban campus with easy access to Boston. Endowment: $19.3 billion. Total enrollment: 20,130. Faculty: 760. Student-undergrad faculty ratio is 8:1. 20,987 applied, 10% were admitted. 90% from top 10% of their high school class, 98% from top quarter, 100% from top half. Full-time: 6,635 students, 47% women, 53% men. Students come from 53 states and territories, 82 other countries, 1% Native American, 8% Hispanic, 8% black, 18% Asian American or Pacific Islander, 7% international, 1% 25 or older, 96% live on campus, 1% transferred in. Retention: 97% of 2003 full-time freshmen returned. Core. Calendar: semesters. Academic remediation for entering students, ESL program, services for LD students, advanced placement, accelerated degree program, self-designed majors, honors program, independent study, double major, summer session for credit, adult/continuing education programs, internships, graduate courses open to undergrads. Off campus study at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Study abroad program. ROTC: Army (c), Air Force (c).

Entrance Requirements: Options: Peterson's Universal Application, Common Application, early action, deferred admission. Required: essay, high school transcript, 2 recommendations, interview, SAT I or ACT, SAT II: Subject Tests. Entrance: most difficult. Application deadlines: 1/1, 11/1 for early action. Notification: 4/1, 12/15 for early action.

Costs Per Year: Application fee: $60. Comprehensive fee: $37,928 includes full-time tuition ($26,066), mandatory fees ($2994), and college room and board ($8868).

Collegiate Environment: Orientation program. Drama-theater group, choral group, marching band, student-run newspaper, radio station. Social organizations: 250 open to all; 'House' system; 99% of eligible men and 99% of eligible women are members. Most popular organizations: Phillips Brooks House, Asian-American Association, International Relations Council, Harvard Crimson (newspaper), Harvard/Radcliffe Chorus. Major annual event: Commencement. Student services: legal services, health clinic, personal-psychological counseling, women's center. Campus security: 24-hour emergency response devices and patrols, late night transport-escort service, controlled dormitory access, required and optional safety courses. 6,660 college housing spaces available; 6,425 were occupied in 2002-03. On-campus residence required in freshman year. Option: coed housing available. Widener Library plus 90 others with 14 million books and 97,568 serials. Operations spending 2002-03: $91 million.

Community Environment: Settled in 1630, Cambridge has been the home of such famous writers as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. It is also the birthplace in Massachusetts of high technology industry. With a population of about 95,000 concentrated in 6.25 square miles, Cambridge today is the sixth largest city in the state. A vital university town, Cambridge is also a city of long-established neighborhoods with strong ethnic roots and traditions. Just across the Charles River and connected by an efficient transit system, Boston offers historical landmarks, professional sports, cosmopolitan shopping, world-famous hospitals and outstanding cultural opportunities.