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- Expository Writing
The writing requirement is a one-semester course offered by the Harvard College Writing Program that focuses on analytic composition and revision. Expos courses are taken as first-year students and are taught in small seminars focusing on writing proficiency in scholarly writing. Students meet one-on-one with instructors (called preceptors) regularly to refine writing skills. Depending on the result of the summer writing placement exam, some students take a full year of Expos.
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Resources for Students
In addition to the resources listed in this section, the HWP publishes an array of writing guides focused on specific disciplines, courses, or genres of writing.
- Departmental Writing Fellows : advanced graduate students who provide one-on-one tutorials on writing in your concentration.
- HarvardWrites : an array of lessons on the fundamental elements of academic argumentation.
- Exposé: award-winning essays from Harvard's Expository Writing courses, annotated to highlight key writing strategies.
- Harvard Guide to Using Sources : a concise and useful introduction to the basics of using sources effectively and responsibly.
- The Writing Center : peer tutoring on any paper or writing project, including senior theses.
- Writing Workshops : occasional workshops on selected topics in argumentative writing, such as science writing, writing research papers, etc.
- Harvard Writers at Work lecture series : lectures focused on the ways that writing connects academic and professional work and the broader public.
- Departmental Writing Fellows
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EXPOS 20: Expository Writing 20
In this section.
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An intensive seminar that aims to improve each student’s ability to discover and reason about evidence through the medium of essays. Each section focuses on a particular theme or topic, described on the Expos Website . All sections give students practice in formulating questions, analyzing both primary and secondary sources and properly acknowledging them, supporting arguments with strong and detailed evidence, and shaping clear, lively essays. All sections emphasize revision.
Trying to devise a structure for your essay can be one of the most difficult parts of the writing process. Making a detailed outline before you begin writing is a good way to make sure your ideas come across in a clear and logical order. A good outline will also save you time in the revision process, reducing the possibility that your ideas will need to be rearranged once you've written them.
The First Steps
Before you can begin outlining, you need to have a sense of what you will argue in the essay. From your analysis and close readings of primary and/or secondary sources you should have notes, ideas, and possible quotes to cite as evidence. Let's say you are writing about the 1999 Republican Primary and you want to prove that each candidate's financial resources were the most important element in the race. At this point, your notes probably lack much coherent order. Most likely, your ideas are still in the order in which they occurred to you; your notes and possible quotes probably still adhere to the chronology of the sources you've examined. Your goal is to rearrange your ideas, notes, and quotes—the raw material of your essay—into an order that best supports your argument, not the arguments you've read in other people's works. To do this, you have to group your notes into categories and then arrange these categories in a logical order.
Generalizing
The first step is to look over each individual piece of information that you've written and assign it to a general category. Ask yourself, "If I were to file this in a database, what would I file it under?" If, using the example of the Republican Primary, you wrote down an observation about John McCain's views on health care, you might list it under the general category of "Health care policy." As you go through your notes, try to reuse categories whenever possible. Your goal is to reduce your notes to no more than a page of category listings.
Now examine your category headings. Do any seem repetitive? Do any go together? "McCain's expenditure on ads" and "Bush's expenditure on ads," while not exactly repetitive, could easily combine into a more general category like "Candidates' expenditures on ads." Also, keep an eye out for categories that no longer seem to relate to your argument. Individual pieces of information that at first seemed important can begin to appear irrelevant when grouped into a general category.
Now it's time to generalize again. Examine all your categories and look for common themes. Go through each category and ask yourself, "If I were to place this piece of information in a file cabinet, what would I label that cabinet?" Again, try to reuse labels as often as possible: "Health Care," "Foreign Policy," and "Immigration" can all be contained under "Policy Initiatives." Make these larger categories as general as possible so that there are no more than three or four for a 7-10 page paper.
With your notes grouped into generalized categories, the process of ordering them should be easier. To begin, look at your most general categories. With your thesis in mind, try to find a way that the labels might be arranged in a sentence or two that supports your argument. Let's say your thesis is that financial resources played the most important role in the 1999 Republican Primary. Your four most general categories are "Policy Initiatives," "Financial Resources," "Voters' Concerns," and "Voters' Loyalty." You might come up with the following sentence: ÒAlthough McCain's policy initiatives were closest to the voters' concerns, Bush's financial resources won the voters' loyalty.Ó This sentence should reveal the order of your most general categories. You will begin with an examination of McCain's and Bush's views on important issues and compare them to the voters' top concerns. Then you'll look at both candidates' financial resources and show how Bush could win voters' loyalty through effective use of his resources, despite his less popular policy ideas.
With your most general categories in order, you now must order the smaller categories. To do so, arrange each smaller category into a sentence or two that will support the more general sentence you've just devised. Under the category of "Financial Resources," for instance, you might have the smaller categories of "Ad Expenditure," "Campaign Contributions" and "Fundraising." A sentence that supports your general argument might read: "Bush's early emphasis on fundraising led to greater campaign contributions, allowing him to have a greater ad expenditure than McCain."
The final step of the outlining process is to repeat this procedure on the smallest level, with the original notes that you took for your essay. To order what probably was an unwieldy and disorganized set of information at the beginning of this process, you need now only think of a sentence or two to support your general argument. Under the category "Fundraising," for example, you might have quotes about each candidate's estimation of its importance, statistics about the amount of time each candidate spent fundraising, and an idea about how the importance of fundraising never can be overestimated. Sentences to support your general argument might read: "No candidate has ever raised too much money [your idea]. While both McCain and Bush acknowledged the importance of fundraising [your quotes], the numbers clearly point to Bush as the superior fundraiser [your statistics]." The arrangement of your ideas, quotes, and statistics now should come naturally.
Putting It All Together
With these sentences, you have essentially constructed an outline for your essay. The most general ideas, which you organized in your first sentence, constitute the essay's sections. They follow the order in which you placed them in your sentence. The order of the smaller categories within each larger category (determined by your secondary sentences) indicates the order of the paragraphs within each section. Finally, your last set of sentences about your specific notes should show the order of the sentences within each paragraph. An outline for the essay about the 1999 Republican Primary (showing only the sections worked out here) would look something like this:
I. POLICY INITIATIVES
II. VOTERS' CONCERNS
III. FINANCIAL RESOURCES
A. Fundraising
a. Original Idea
b. McCain Quote/Bush Quote
c. McCain Statistics/Bush Statistics
B. Campaign Contributions
C. Ad Expenditure
IV. VOTERS' LOYALTY
Copyright 2000, David Kornhaber, for the Writing Center at Harvard University
Harvard Extension Courses in Expository Writing
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Expository Writing
Expo e-5 section 1 (24511).
Spring 2023
Fundamentals of Grammar
Virginia Maurer MA, Senior Associate, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University
This course is a review of the elements of grammar. We examine sentence structure, correct verb forms, case of pronouns, agreement, punctuation, and restrictive and nonrestrictive (that/which) clauses. Along the way, we learn something of the power and the pleasure of controlling grammar to make our words work for us exactly as we want them to. Short readings illustrate the basic elements and the beauties of grammar and style. Short writing assignments offer students opportunities to practice the lessons of the course.
EXPO E-5 Section 2 (16886)
Jerusha Achterberg MPH
EXPO E-5 Section 1 (13175)
Jeffrey Robert Wilson PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
EXPO E-15 Section 2 (16733)
Fundamentals of Academic Writing
Laura Healy MA, Editor and Literary Translator
This course is designed for students seeking preparation for EXPO E-25 and for others wanting to review such basics of academic argument as thesis, evidence, and structure. Short writing assignments help students develop the skills essential for producing well-reasoned and substantiated academic essays. Students also learn strategies for reading and analyzing difficult texts.
EXPO E-15 Section 1 (15549)
Janet Sylvester PhD
EXPO E-15 Section 7 (24941)
Heidi Hendricks ALM, Coordinator, Harvard Library Preservation Services, Harvard University
EXPO E-15 Section 6 (26491)
Anthony B. Cashman III PhD, Director of the Office of Distinguished Fellowships and Graduate Studies, College of the Holy Cross
EXPO E-15 Section 5 (25251)
Matthew Davis PhD, Associate Professor of English, University of Massachusetts, Boston
EXPO E-15 Section 4 (23715)
Steven Wandler PhD, Director of Writing and Professional Communication, St. Catherine University
EXPO E-15 Section 3 (26086)
Expo e-15 section 2 (23434).
Allyson K. Boggess MFA, Writer
EXPO E-15 Section 1 (23882)
January 2023
Elisabeth Sharp McKetta PhD, Writer
EXPO E-15 Section 8 (16889)
Randy S. Rosenthal MTS, Editor
EXPO E-15 Section 7 (15944)
Expo e-15 section 6 (13498).
Paul A. Thur MA, Director of the Writing Center, College of General Studies, Boston University
EXPO E-15 Section 5 (15120)
Judith A. Murciano MA, Associate Director and Director of Fellowships, Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising, Harvard Law School
EXPO E-15 Section 4 (15916)
Expo e-15 section 3 (14356), expo e-25 section 5 (16142).
Academic Writing and Critical Reading
Lisa A. Gulesserian PhD, Preceptor on Armenian Language and Culture, Harvard University
This course introduces students to the demands and conventions of academic reading and writing. It focuses on analyzing texts, building effective arguments, and using evidence and secondary source material. Instruction on the stages of the writing process, from prewriting exercises through rough drafts and revisions, forms a key part of the curriculum. Students applying to the undergraduate program at the Extension School must complete this course, but it is open to any student interested in gaining an understanding of academic writing. Prerequisites: A satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course.
EXPO E-25 Section 8 (22801)
Expo e-25 section 7 (25403).
Sheza Alqera MTS, Preceptor in Expository Writing, Harvard University
EXPO E-25 Section 6 (25386)
Joan Feinberg MA, Editor
EXPO E-25 Section 5 (24515)
Expo e-25 section 4 (24751).
Sarah Ahrens PhD, Freelance Writer
EXPO E-25 Section 3 (25778)
Expo e-25 section 2 (25398).
Margaret C. Rennix PhD, Academic Coach, Academic Resource Center, Harvard University
EXPO E-25 Section 1 (24338)
Chris Walsh PhD, Associate Professor of English, Boston University
This course introduces students to the demands and conventions of academic reading and writing. It focuses on analyzing texts, building effective arguments, and using evidence and secondary source material. Instruction on the stages of the writing process, from prewriting exercises through rough drafts and revisions, forms a key part of the curriculum. Students applying to the undergraduate program at the Extension School must complete this course, but it is open to any student interested in gaining an understanding of academic writing. Prerequisites: A satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. The last day to take the test of critical reading and writing skills for this section is December 1. Students registered in the alternate expository writing course in the fall term may not register for this section.
EXPO E-25 Section 8 (16890)
Expo e-25 section 7 (14620).
Geraldine A. Grimm PhD, Lecturer on German, Harvard Divinity School
EXPO E-25 Section 6 (16038)
Ian Shank MFA, Preceptor in Expository Writing, Harvard University
EXPO E-25 Section 4 (15124)
Emilie J. Raymer PhD, Preceptor in Expository Writing, Harvard University
EXPO E-25 Section 3 (16152)
Greta Pane PhD
EXPO E-25 Section 2 (15935)
Expo e-25 section 1 (16132), expo e-34 section 1 (15544).
Business Rhetoric
Franklin J. Schwarzer JD, Attorney, Schlesinger and Buchbinder, LLP
This course helps business professionals improve their writing so that they are better equipped to accomplish their educational and professional goals. Students practice some of the essential forms of business writing, including e-mail messages, cover letters, memoranda, proposals, and presentations. Through frequent writing assignments of various kinds and regular feedback from the instructor and from peer reviewers, students learn to construct clear and precise sentences, develop coherent paragraphs, organize documents effectively, and use sources responsibly.
EXPO E-34 Section 5 (26533)
Expo e-34 section 4 (25682).
Jennifer Ann Doody ALM
EXPO E-34 Section 3 (25089)
Expo e-34 section 1 (25402), expo e-34 section 5 (15784), expo e-34 section 2 (14577).
Lori Friedman JD, Assistant Vice President of Corporate and Foundation Relations, Simmons University
EXPO E-34 Section 3 (14087)
Expo e-34 section 4 (15546), expo e-34 section 2 (25570), expo e-42a section 1 (15143).
Writing in the Humanities
This course is designed for students who wish to build upon the skills developed in EXPO E-25 in order to produce more advanced research and writing in the humanities. The course is also appropriate for students who wish to review their research and writing skills before embarking on a proseminar at the Harvard Extension School or graduate study elsewhere. Students are introduced to the work of reading, writing about, and conducting research on literary texts.
EXPO E-42a Section 2 (16888)
Kristen H. Starkowski PhD, Preceptor in Expository Writing, Harvard University
EXPO E-42a Section 1 (25736)
Patricia M. Bellanca PhD, Head Preceptor in Expository Writing, Harvard University
EXPO E-42a Section 2 (25910)
Expo e-42c section 2 (24821).
Writing in the Sciences
Thomas Akbari MA, Lecturer in English, Northeastern University
This course provides instruction in writing for students considering careers or advanced study in the natural, computational, or applied sciences. Through critical reading of key examples of the genres of scientific literature, students study how scientific texts address an audience, make claims, invoke prior claims, deploy key terms, and engage quantitative and visual evidence. The course's workshop approach fosters skills in revision, peer review, and research into the scientific literature. The course offers writing strategies for successful communication in the field, including concise sentences, coherent paragraphs, and well-ordered documents. Projects include an academic research paper on a topic of a student's choice in a form common to most scientific disciplines. The course is also appropriate for students who wish to review their research and writing skills before embarking on a proseminar at Extension or graduate study elsewhere.
EXPO E-42c Section 1 (26488)
Expo e-42c section 2 (14538), expo e-42c section 1 (16865), expo e-42b section 1 (24826).
Writing in the Social Sciences
Janling Fu AM
This course is designed for students who wish to build upon the skills developed in EXPO E-25 in order to produce more advanced research and writing in the social sciences. The course is also appropriate for students who wish to review their research and writing skills before embarking on a proseminar at Extension or graduate study elsewhere. Students are introduced to the various social science disciplines and their approaches, while also learning how to become critical consumers of social science research. Students develop their own independent research project in the social science field of their choosing. This project lasts the entire semester and involves developing a viable research question; learning how to find, analyze, and interpret resources appropriately; and, finally, developing and refining an original argument in a final paper.
EXPO E-42b Section 4 (26532)
Briana J. Smith PhD, Lecturer on History and Literature, Harvard University
EXPO E-42b Section 3 (26084)
Erin Danielle Routon PhD, Preceptor in Expository Writing, Harvard University
EXPO E-42b Section 2 (26109)
Thomas A. Underwood PhD
EXPO E-42b Section 5 (16887)
Expo e-42b section 4 (16884), expo e-42b section 3 (15918).
Evander Lewis Price PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Religion and the Human, Indiana University, Bloomington
EXPO E-42b Section 2 (16526)
Expo e-42b section 1 (15782), expo e-49 section 1 (26518).
Introduction to Strategic Communication and Public Relations
Terry Gipson MFA, Preceptor in Public Speaking, Harvard University
This course is a theoretical and practical introduction to the role of strategic communication and public relations in corporate, nonprofit, and political spheres. It includes analysis and practical application of the skills involved in building strategic communication relationships with various publics and core audiences.
EXPO E-90 Section 1 (15801)
Principles of Legal Writing
No matter who you are, or what your background is, you will one day have to encounter legal writing. This course is designed for students interested in law school and those interested in improving their technical and analytical writing skills. Students are expected to draft and edit a variety of legal writings through exposure to litigation pleadings, transactional documents, and journalistic and academic articles regarding legal issues. The goal of the course is to teach students how to read, analyze, and write effectively about the law. Students also learn how to brief a case, how to read a statute, the basics of legal citation, and major schools of legal reasoning and analysis. There are many different kinds of legal writing. Any given day, an attorney may need to draft a complaint to initiate a lawsuit, an indemnity provision in a lease, an opinion letter to advise a client of the legal risks inherent in a particular course of action, or an appellate brief arguing why a judge should agree with a contested interpretation of the law. Each of these tasks requires writing that is clear, concise, and convincing. Each also requires slightly different approaches to writing. Ultimately though, whatever the task, good legal writing should never be legalese.
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Expository Writing
Adaptive scenario exercise, in this activity, jerusha acterberg has students respond to a scenario where somebody is making a scientific assertion and then use the information from the readings to evaluate that assertion..
... Read more about Adaptive Scenario Exercise
Cumulative Fairy Tale Essays
Students experience what it is like to be an expert in a field by focusing their research and writing on a single fairy tale and its adaptations throughout the course of a semester..
... Read more about Cumulative Fairy Tale Essays
Elevator Pitch Paper Workshop
Students present an “elevator pitch” of their paper idea to their peers, and then receive feedback about their idea..
... Read more about Elevator Pitch Paper Workshop
Generating Reading Questions
Throughout the semester, jerusha acterberg gradually shifts the responsibility for coming up with reading questions from herself to her expos students. .
... Read more about Generating Reading Questions
Making a Persuasive Adaptive Argument
In this activity, jerusha achterberg has her students work in groups to develop persuasive arguments..
... Read more about Making a Persuasive Adaptive Argument
Paper Structure Exercise
When students are in the revision stage of their paper, jerusha achterberg uses fruits to teach students how to structure their papers so that the organization coordinates with the thesis. the idea behind this activity is to break the 5 paragraph mold students bring from high school. .
... Read more about Paper Structure Exercise
Student Paper Workshop
In jerusha achterberg's first and second expos workshops of the semester, she chooses two paper drafts from the section and all the other students read and comment on those two papers. the authors also serve as the moderators for each other's discussion..
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Workshop Conferences
For the third paper of the semester, jerusha achterberg has her students do small-group workshops where they read and provide feedback for each other in groups of 2-3. .
... Read more about Workshop Conferences
Writing the Methods Section
In her expos section, jerusha achterberg teaches how to clearly describe the methods that will be used in a subsequent paper. this activity was motivated by the fact that students were having trouble writing the methods section in their final paper proposals..
... Read more about Writing the Methods Section
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May 9, 2024
How to Get Into Harvard University: The Ultimate Harvard Admissions Guide
Maybe you’ve watched one of the many “how to get into Harvard ” movies out there, and felt inspired to throw your hat in the ring. Maybe you’ve simply heard about Harvard’s reputation for excellence and prestige, and set your sights on the Ivy League university. Many try and fail to achieve admission into Harvard, which ranked #3 on the 2024 US News & World Report annual college ranking. What sets apart those chosen few who make it through the Crimson gates?
What Is Harvard University?
Located just outside Boston in scenic Cambridge, MA, Harvard College consists of a student body with 7,240 undergraduates. According to the 2022-23 Common Data Set , 3,471 full-time undergraduate males and 3,735 undergraduate females are currently enrolled. The Class of 2027 profile reveals that 15.4% of current first-years come from outside of the United States, and 15.9% come from within New England. As far as the intended field of study, 16% say they will concentrate in the humanities, 28.2% in the social sciences, and 49.2% in STEM.
How to Get Into Harvard University
Harvard admissions requirements.
Getting into Harvard is no small feat. Every year, countless students with perfect grades and test scores face rejection. But all hope is not lost. By reviewing the characteristics of competitive applicants, and the strategies they use to gain admission, a clearer picture of how to get in emerges.
Harvard GPA Requirements
The Harvard College Office of Admissions and Financial Aid states that they conduct a “ Whole Person Review ” of applications that evaluates each applicant “in context.” This is a fancy way of saying that there is no minimum GPA or testing requirement, as academic performance is just one of several dimensions that are evaluated. However, Harvard still values students who have challenged themselves by taking the most rigorous coursework available to them.
Does Harvard Look at Class Rank?
According to the 2022-23 Common Data Set, 74.3% of enrollees in the Class of 2027 had a 4.0 GPA in high school. 20.47% had a GPA between 3.75 and 3.99, and 4.04% had a GPA between 3.5 and 3.74. 92.2% of enrollees graduated in the top tenth of their high school class, and 97.6% graduated in the top quarter. The average weighted high school GPA for a student admitted to the Class of 2027 was 4.2.
Is a 4.0 (or higher) necessary to be admitted to Harvard? Not necessarily , but it sure does help!
Harvard SAT/ACT Score Requirements
Harvard recently announced that SAT/ACT testing requirements have been reinstated for the upcoming application cycle. Students will be required to submit either an SAT or an ACT score.
Amongst members of the Harvard Class of 2027, 55% submitted SAT scores and 28% submitted ACT scores.
Does Harvard Superscore Students’ SAT or ACT scores?
A superscore combines the highest section scores from each individual test sitting for admissions evaluation. Harvard does not superscore test results. However, they “ note ” the highest test scores from each sitting.
At Ivy Coach , we caution against submitting more than one test administration for admissions evaluation. It shows Harvard that you had to work harder than many to achieve your highest scores, and that your testing performance has inconsistencies. That said, while it’s not ideal, sometimes students have no choice but to superscore.
What High School Courses Does Harvard Require?
Harvard recommends the following high school curriculum to prepare for the academic rigor of the College:
- “ The study of English for four years: close and extensive reading of the classics of the world’s literature
- Four years of a single foreign language
- The study of history for at least two years, and preferably three years: American history, European history, and one additional advanced history course
- The study of mathematics for four years.
- The study of science for four years: physics, chemistry, and biology, and preferably one of these at an advanced level
- Frequent practice in the writing of expository prose ”
It is not advisable to take history (or any core subject, for that matter) for fewer than four years. Highly selective institutions across America look for students who have excelled in their core subjects for all four years of high school. What’s more, foreign language study should begin by eighth grade.
What Extracurriculars Does Harvard Look For in Applicants?
There is no silver bullet extracurricular activity that will automatically wow Harvard admissions officers. Applicants should focus their efforts on pursuing their one passion or speciality to the fullest extent possible. Harvard prizes such “ well-lopsided ” students who “contribute significantly to the education of their classmates.”
Harvard admissions officers build incoming classes that are “dynamic, talented, and diverse.” Well-rounded students do not cut it , because they do not contribute much to the variety of an incoming class. The world-class painter, groundbreaking scientist, or budding politician, on the other hand, will always stand out over the well-rounded applicant.
Harvard University Application Requirements
Harvard accepts both The Common Application and the Coalition Application . Students must submit a counselor letter of recommendation, two teacher letters of recommendation, their standardized test results, and Harvard-specific supplemental essay responses.
Let’s focus on each individual component and discuss how students should complete them to give them the best shot of admission.
Who to Ask For Letters of Recommendation
Applicants to Harvard should ask two teachers — ideally two junior year teachers in core subjects — in addition to their school counselor for letters of recommendation.
Does Harvard Require an Alumni Interview?
No, any interviews conducted with Harvard alumni are at the discretion of the admissions committee . Students will only be assigned to interview with a Harvard alum if they live in a designated interview area. Across all highly selective colleges, the interview component of any given application is one of the least important aspects.
What are Harvard’s Supplemental Essay Topics?
Essays, on the other hand, are one of the most important aspects of a competitive college application. In addition to The Common Application Personal Statement or the Coalition essay, Harvard applicants have to complete the Harvard supplemental essay questions, a.k.a. “The Harvard Questions.”
The Harvard Questions are as follows:
“Each question has a 200 word limit.
- Harvard has long recognized the importance of enrolling a diverse student body. How will the life experiences that shape who you are today enable you to contribute to Harvard?
- Briefly describe an intellectual experience that was important to you.
- Briefly describe any of your extracurricular activities, employment experience, travel, or family responsibilities that have shaped who you are.
- How do you hope to use your Harvard education in the future?
- Top 3 things your roommates might like to know about you.”
Harvard University Application Deadlines
Harvard’s two admissions rounds are termed Restrictive Early Action and Regular Decision.
Restrictive Early Action applications are due on November 1st of each year. Admission through this round is non-binding. Regular Decision applications are due on January 1st of each year.
Harvard University Acceptance Rate and Statistics
The competitiveness of Harvard admission is notorious across the world, but just how competitive is the process? For admission to the Class of 2027, 56,937 students applied, and 1,966 were accepted, for a 3.5% overall acceptance rate.
How Much Does Harvard University Cost?
In the 2024-25 academic year, the full cost of attendance for undergraduates at Harvard will be $82,866, which breaks down as follows:
- Tuition: $56,550
- Health Services: $1,592
- Housing Rate: $12,922
- Student Services: $3,534
- Food Rate: $8,268
How Ivy Coach Helps Students Get Into Harvard
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Expository Writing. The writing requirement is a one-semester course offered by the Harvard College Writing Program that focuses on analytic composition and revision. Expos courses are taken as first-year students and are taught in small seminars focusing on writing proficiency in scholarly writing. Students meet one-on-one with instructors ...
Harvard College Writing Center 8 Thesis Your thesis is the central claim in your essay—your main insight or idea about your source or topic. Your thesis should appear early in an academic essay, followed by a logically constructed argument that supports this central claim. A strong thesis is
Expos 20. Expos 20 is the cornerstone course offering by the Harvard College Writing Program and fulfills the College's expository writing requirement. THE EXPOS PHILOSOPHY. When you enter your Expos classroom this fall or spring, you will be participating in one of Harvard's oldest traditions; a one-term course in expository writing has been ...
of reflection can come anywhere in an essay; the sec-ond is usually comes early; the last four often come late (they're common moves of conclusion). Most good essays have some of the first kind, and often several of the others besides. 10. Orienting: bits of information, explanation, and summary that orient the reader who isn't expert in the
Undergraduates at Harvard College can visit the Writing Center for help with any writing assignment, fellowship application, or graduate school admissions essay. Writing Resources. Guides for writing essays and papers. Meet the Staff. Writing Center staff listing. Contact / Employment.
For questions specific to the Writing Exam, please contact the Writing Program at: [email protected]. For general information and questions about other placement exams, contact: [email protected] or consult the Placement Exams website . For technical issues during the exam, contact: [email protected] | (617) 495-9000.
Tips for Reading an Assignment Prompt. Asking Analytical Questions. Thesis. Introductions. What Do Introductions Across the Disciplines Have in Common? Anatomy of a Body Paragraph. Transitions. Tips for Organizing Your Essay. Counterargument.
Exposé: award-winning essays from Harvard's Expository Writing courses, annotated to highlight key writing strategies. Harvard Guide to Using Sources: a concise and useful introduction to the basics of using sources effectively and responsibly. The Writing Center: peer tutoring on any paper or writing project, including senior theses.
THE COURSE Expos Studio 10 is designed to help students make the transition from the writing they've done before college to the writing that will be expected of them at Harvard. One of the most important goals of Expos Studio 10 is to help students approach their writing with confidence, both about what they have to say as well as about how best to communicate those ideas.
The structure of your expository essay will vary according to the scope of your assignment and the demands of your topic. It's worthwhile to plan out your structure before you start, using an essay outline. A common structure for a short expository essay consists of five paragraphs: An introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Expos Studio 20 continues the yearlong sequence designed to support students in their transition to college writing and in their growing development as writers. The Studio 20 course shares some essential goals with a standard Expos 20 course: both focus on developing original arguments, working with nuanced evidence, writing a research paper ...
EXPOS 20. An intensive seminar that aims to improve each student's ability to discover and reason about evidence through the medium of essays. Each section focuses on a particular theme or topic, described on the Expos Website. All sections give students practice in formulating questions, analyzing both primary and secondary sources and ...
In general, your introductions should contain the following elements: Orienting Information. When you're writing an essay, it's helpful to think about what your reader needs to know in order to follow your argument. Your introduction should include enough information so that readers can understand the context for your thesis.
- Into the Essay: Excerpts from actual papers show the ideas from the chapters in action because you learn to write best by getting examples rather than instructions. Much of my approach to academic writing developed during my time in the Harvard College Writing Program. I am especially grateful to Tom Jehn,
The final step of the outlining process is to repeat this procedure on the smallest level, with the original notes that you took for your essay. To order what probably was an unwieldy and disorganized set of information at the beginning of this process, you need now only think of a sentence or two to support your general argument.
Course Objectives: Expos 40 is designed to improve your understanding of the communication process and to develop your skills as a public speaker, listener and critic of public discourse. You will learn strategies for impromptu speaking, preparing and delivering presentations and speeches, and building your overall confidence in oral expression.
Emilie J. Raymer PhD, Preceptor in Expository Writing, Harvard University. This course introduces students to the demands and conventions of academic reading and writing. It focuses on analyzing texts, building effective arguments, and using evidence and secondary source material.
The essays here represent various interests of students who took expository writing during the 1991-1992academic year. We chose them because they are interesting, well written, and representative of the immense variety of student interests that is one of the joys of teaching at Harvard. We think they are good essays, and we are proud of them.
Writing the Methods Section. In her Expos section, Jerusha Achterberg teaches how to clearly describe the methods that will be used in a subsequent paper. This activity was motivated by the fact that students were having trouble writing the methods section in their final paper proposals.
a group of essays to celebrate the energy and variety of the writing done in its classes during the previous year. Expository writing is the one activity shared by allstudents at Harvard, and afirst-year course in "Expos" is the one academic experience required of every Harvard student. This has been so since the writing program was
Section 1 Essay structure An essay is a piece of writing made up of a number of paragraphs. Each paragraph has a specifi c role in an essay. In a fi ve-paragraph essay, the fi rst paragraph is an introduction; the second, third, and fourth paragraphs form the body of the essay; and the fi fth paragraph is a conclusion (see diagram on page 4).
In addition to The Common Application Personal Statement or the Coalition essay, Harvard applicants have to complete the Harvard supplemental essay questions, a.k.a. "The Harvard Questions." The Harvard Questions are as follows: "Each question has a 200 word limit. Harvard has long recognized the importance of enrolling a diverse student ...
Mission. The Purdue On-Campus Writing Lab and Purdue Online Writing Lab assist clients in their development as writers—no matter what their skill level—with on-campus consultations, online participation, and community engagement. The Purdue Writing Lab serves the Purdue, West Lafayette, campus and coordinates with local literacy initiatives.