Harvard University Admission Essay Writing Guide

Contents

Admission Requirements For Harvard University

To gain admission into this institution, you would need to have exceptional academic performance and write something similar to essays that worked at Harvard. More than 50% of students who made it into Harvard for undergraduate studies had a minimum of 33 on ACT Composite, 720 on SAT Reading and Writing, and 740 on SAT Math. This reflects a stiff competition; however, you stand a good chance if you can hit these scores. Other requirements are:

For Undergraduates:

  1. Your common or coalition application
  2. Your Midyear school report
  3. Completed teacher evaluation forms
  4. High school transcripts and Final school Report
  5. Letters of recommendation (optional)
  6. Standardized test scores

Additional materials that prove exceptional talents or accomplishments.

For Master’s Degree

  1. A completed application form
  2. Transcripts
  3. three letters of recommendation
  4. Statement of Purpose
  5. GRE General Test Results (If required by your program)
  6. Proof of English proficiency

Writing Sample

How to Write your Harvard University Supplemental Essays

A supplemental essay is important for a student applying for a bachelor’s program at Harvard University, and it is the most personal information you can give the admission office; it helps you showcase not just your writing skills; it’s one of the few parts where you can express your passions, talents, plans, and it is an avenue where your voice can shine through.

More so, this serves as a great opportunity to speak directly to the admission officers as you get a chance to showcase your personality. There are steps you have to follow when writing your Harvard essay for you to stand a chance of gaining admission.

Understand the question

The most crucial part of essay writing is understanding the question you have been asked, taking your time to read the question several times, and ensuring that you understand the task you have been asked to do before answering it.

Lack of understanding of questions is the most common reason for failure in essay writing. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you find the question hard to clarify, approach your teachers or colleagues to help you devise the essay question to understand what you have been asked to do and the complexity of the answer you are to provide.

Create an essay plan and schedule

After you have clearly understood the question and have an idea of what to write about, the next thing to do is start planning immediately. The first step is to create a sequential breakdown of points you intend to discuss; this will help you progress as you are writing your essay.

The next thing to do is create a schedule by setting deadlines for yourself and ensuring you abide by them. With that, you will be able to finish your essay on time and have enough time to proofread it and make amendments and corrections before your hand-in date.

Gather resources

It is vital to conduct research before attempting to write an essay. Journals, books, and online platforms can be used as support. Researching provides you with more knowledge of the essay question, which will help you develop a thesis to answer the question. You can also go to our website for Harvard University essay samples.

Write the first draft

When you are applying for a bachelor’s program or master’s degree at Harvard University, it is important to submit an incredible essay to boost your chance of gaining admission. Writing Harvard supplemental essay can not be done in haste; it requires time and patience. It is advisable to write the first draft of your essay, which you will later refine and edit. Your essay should be structured in a way that will help you communicate your thoughts and ideas.

Edit your Essay

After you have completed your first draft, don’t be in a hurry to submit it; proofread it several times to check for mistakes.

Examine the structure of your supplemental essay, ensure the introduction, body, and conclusion of your essay provide a clear response that relates to the question, make sure the paragraphs are arranged logically, check punctuations and spellings, and use a dictionary is important.

Ensure to use the appropriate format and font size. In case none is provided, make use of the generally accepted font size and format.

Harvard University Essay Prompt

As a key part of your admission requirements to Harvard University, you must write three essay prompts. The first two essays have a maximum of 150 words, while the third is a long-form essay with a maximum of 2000 words.

Two of the essay prompts are optional, and with an acceptance rate of 4.6%, it is advisable to attempt all the essays to stand a chance of gaining admission into Harvard University.

Prompt 1:

Your intellectual life may extend beyond the academic requirements of your particular school. Please use the space below to list additional intellectual activities you have not mentioned or detailed elsewhere in your application. These could include but are not limited to supervised or self-directed projects not done as school work, training experiences, online courses not run by your school, or summer academic or research programs not described elsewhere.

This essay prompt seeks to know how academically driven, self-motivated, and intellectually involved you are. You have been asked what activities you indulge beside academics and grades. Harvard wants to know how your intellectual involvement affects your everyday life, whether you have taken an online course or learned different languages. This is an avenue for you to express your interests and the impact it has on your life.

Prompt 2:

Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences.

This is the only compulsory essay for all applicants. This question aims to allow you to discuss who you are in the context of your activities and interests. In just 150 words length, Harvard wants to know more about you; what did you do? Why do you do it? How did this extracurricular activity contribute to and improve you? How did this contribute to the world around you? More importantly, Harvard wants to know how your experience can help improve the school community.

Prompt 3:

The third and final essay is extensive, with a maximum length of 2000 words; you have the opportunity to convey important information about yourself. You may write on any topic or from the topics listed below:

  • Unusual circumstances in your life
  • Travel, living, or working experiences in your own or other communities
  • What you would want your future college roommate to know about you
  • An intellectual experience (course, project, book, discussion, paper, poetry, or research topic in engineering, mathematics, science, or other modes of inquiry) that has meant the most to you
  • How do you hope to use your college education
  • A list of books you have read during the past twelve months

The Harvard College Honor code declares that we “hold honesty as the foundation of our community.” As you consider entering this community committed to honesty, please reflect on when you or someone you observed had to choose whether to act with integrity and honesty.

The mission of Harvard College is to educate our students to be citizens and citizen-leaders for society. What would you do to contribute to the lives of your classmates in advancing this mission?

Each year, many students admitted to Harvard defer their admission for one year or take time off during college. If you decided in the future to choose either option, what would you like to do?

Harvard has long recognized the importance of student body diversity of all kinds. We welcome you to write about distinctive aspects of your background, personal development, or the intellectual interests you might bring to your Harvard classmates.

About Harvard University

Harvard University, formerly called Harvard College, is a private Ivy League research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, founded in 1636. The school was named after its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard. Harvard University is the oldest higher institution in the United States and among the most reputable school in the world.

Harvard has ten academic faculties, including the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. As of the fall of 2020, Harvard has 5,222 undergraduate students and 13,996 postgraduate students. Only Arts and Sciences faculties offer the study in a wide range of academic courses for undergraduates and graduates, while the other faculties offer only postgraduate degrees, especially professional ones.

Harvard University’s main campus is situated in three different locations; the Cambridge campus on Harvard Yard, an adjacent campus located across the Charles River in the Allston neighborhood of Boston. The medical campus is situated in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area.

With an endowment valued at $53.2billion, it is the largest school by endowment, thus enabling the school to offer admissions to the student regardless of their financial background. The school boasts the largest academic library system in the world, having 20.4million academic items placed across 79 independent libraries.

Summary

The school alumni list comprises eight U.S. presidents who have been Harvard affiliates, 7 Fields Medal winners, 188 billionaires, 14 Turing Award laureates, 10 Academy Awards, 79 Nobel laureates, 369 Rhodes, 252 Marshall Scholars, and 13 Mitchell Scholars. Students and alumni have won 48 Pulitzer Prizes and 110 Olympic medals, 46 of which are gold, and are founders of many notable companies all over the world.

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) has ranked Harvard as the world’s top university.

With an acceptance rate of 4.6%, admission into Harvard can be difficult, but with good grades and a well-articulated supplemental essay, you stand a chance at entering this prestigious school. It is obvious you need solid supplemental essays.

If you find it hard to come up with standard essays that can get your foot in the door of this institution, you can contact us for your essays at a cheap price; we have experts who can help you write your essay. You can also check our website for Harvard University essay samples.

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