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Creative Writing, University Of Guelph

Added on March 28, 2024

Economics, Uvirginia, Penn State, Arizona State, Vanderbilt Please which of these schools is best for Macroeconomics and International Economics

Creative writing, university of saskatchewan, creative writing, university of british columbia - okanagan received email notification to check online system for the offer letter. accepted into mfa (fiction) with a scholarship and taship amounting to ca$20,800 per year., computer science, johns hopkins university, english, new york university finally 2a/2w/7r, mechanical engineering, university of california, santa barbara, sociology, new york university has anyone received the waitlist email from nyu, computer science, simon fraser university, physics, new york university general rej, hepth, has a master degree, one publication, physics, university of washington hep-ex, electrical and computer engineering, carnegie mellon university 1 research paper, 3 years work ex in a semicon company, polymer science - kcgip, university of oregon knight campus graduate internship program for polymer chemistry masters. did not have any internship or research experience., computer science, university of pennsylvania, agricultural and consumer economics, university of illinois rejections and offers have been sent and our admissions decisions are driven by a specific faculty member committing to a student to fund and mentor., applied analytics, columbia university off the waitlist. no gre. no mentions of financial aid., physics, university of washington cosmology theory., data science, suny stony brook interesting rejection given my other acceptances, but i probably wouldn't have accepted anyways. i would have thought a brand new program like this would have almost a high acceptance rate. not sure if yield protection exists for grad school or if i'm just coping but oh well. good luck to all, economics, new york university, economics, university of virginia accepted from the wl, excited. uva is tied with other offers and will decide after some research. gook luck to others also on the waiting list..

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Congratulations on your admission to the Harvard Graduate School of Education. On behalf of the  staff of the Office of the Registrar , I extend greetings and good wishes to you as you prepare to join the HGSE community. 

We have found that newly admitted students often need good, clear information before they arrive on campus. It is our hope that this pre-matriculation website addresses many of your initial questions and concerns as you make plans for academic year 2023-2024. However, we also recognize that some issues may require further clarification. Perhaps you need a better understanding of the items listed on your term bill or you are wondering why you are not in compliance with the Massachusetts immunization requirements. Maybe you are planning to cross-register and need to know more about the deadlines and processes of other faculties here at Harvard or at one of the other schools with which we have cross-registration arrangements.  

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Please visit the admitted student website that was included in your acceptance letter for more information. 

With all good wishes, Miguel Sahag ú n, Ph.D. Registrar of the Harvard Graduate School of Education [email protected] Website:  registrar.gse.harvard.edu  

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Find Yourself Here: Harvard Graduate School of Education

Registration is Open!

Welcome from dean bridget terry long.

         On behalf of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), I would like to warmly welcome you to our 34 th  Annual Find Yourself Here Program.  At HGSE, we strive to create a vibrant learning environment in which all people—regardless of their backgrounds and identities—are heard and valued.  As our authentic selves, we aspire to be a community that can question conventional wisdom and assumptions; engage in robust debate in the quest to advance our knowledge and understanding; and remain united in our shared respect for each other and in our faith in the power of education to change the world.

         To help cultivate diverse perspectives in our community, HGSE offers a rich and wide array of learning opportunities.  We prepare future education leaders through innovative courses, experiential internships and engagements with practitioners in the field, meaningful extracurricular activities, and collaborative research with our renowned faculty.  We offer master’s programs that train students from all over the world for impactful careers in every niche of the education sector; a three-year Ed.L.D. program that prepares system-level leaders to transform education; and a Ph.D. in Education program that equips students to tackle complex problems in education using interdisciplinary scholarship and methods. 

          At HGSE, simply appreciating diversity is not enough.  We aim to ensure that every member of our community can fully belong and can equitably access the extraordinary opportunities here.  From the Equity and Inclusion Fellows program to our many community-wide and program-specific opportunities to explore issues related to identity and difference, we strive to deeply embed diversity, equity, and inclusion into the HGSE experience.  But we know there is always room for improvement.  We invite and encourage you to share your own gifts and talents to help make HGSE, and the Harvard University community more generally, a better place for all people.  

          I am thrilled that you are here, and I hope these next two days will give you greater insight into life on Appian Way as well as a greater sense of connection to the faculty, students, and staff who make up our remarkable community.  Thank you for coming, and I hope to welcome many of you to HGSE next fall.

All Harvard Admission Deadlines for 2024-25 Academic Year

From Harvard Business School to Havard College, here’s your one-stop shop for all Harvard admission deadlines and decision dates for academic year 2024-25 .  Plus all application links!

Harvard Business School: HBS MBA

Submit your online application by 12 noon boston time:.

• Round 1 : Sep 6, 2023
• Round 2: Jan 3, 2024

The MBA Admissions Board Will Notify You About Its Decision by:

• Round 1 : Dec 6, 2023
• Round 2: Mar 27, 2024

Source for Harvard admission deadlines: HBS application page

Harvard Kennedy School: HKS Master’s Program

Application deadline: December 1, 2023 at 12 p.m. ET

Financial Aid deadline: Early January 2024 Decision letters are typically mailed by March, 2024

HKS application page

Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences: SEAS

Please find the Harvard admission deadlines for SEAS below:

SEAS Undergraduate Program

• Early Action Application Deadline: November 1, 2023
• Regular Action Application Deadline: January 1, 2024
• Decision letters mailed by: Late March, 2024

SEAS under-graduate admission page

SEAS Graduate Program

• Application deadline for Ph.D Programs : December 15, 2023 by 5 pm ET
• Application deadline for Masters Programs for S.M., M.E., and AB-SM : December 1, 2023 by 5 pm ET
• Decision notifications are made by GSAS and SEAS: Mid February, 2024

SEAS graduate admission page

Harvard College

• Early Action applicants application deadline: November 1, 2023
• Regular Action application deadline: January 1, 2024
• Regular Decision financial aid application deadline: February 1, 2024

Harvard College admission page

Notifications for admission decisions are sent by

• Regular action applicants: mid-December, 2024
• Regular action applicants: late March, 2024

Harvard Divinity School

• Application Deadline for Master of Divinity, Master of Theological Studies, Master of Theology, and Special Student programs: January 4, 2024 by 11:59 pm ET

All applicants: Mid-March, 2024

HDS application page

Harvard Graduate School of Arts & Sciences: GSAS

Gsas harvard admission deadlines for different subject areas (tbd).

Applications are due on: December 1, December 15, or January 2 by 5 pm, depending on your program of study, as follows:

• African and African American Studies (PhD):  Dec 15, 2023
• American Studies (PhD): Jan 5, 2024
• Anthropology Master of Arts (AM), (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Applied Mathematics SEAS (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• Applied Physics SEAS (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning (PhD): Jan 5, 2024
• Astronomy (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• Bioengineering SEAS (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• Biological and Biomedical Sciences DMS HILS (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Biomedical Informatics HILS (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Biological Sciences in Public Health HILS (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Biophysics HILS (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Biostatistics (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Business Administration (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Business Economics (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Celtic Languages and Literatures (AM), (PhD): Jan 5, 2024
• Chemical Biology HILS (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Chemical Physics (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Chemistry and Chemical Biology HILS (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• The Classics (PhD): Dec 15, 2024
• Comparative Literature (PhD): Jan 5, 2024
• Computational Science and Engineering SEAS Master of Science (SM), Master of Engineering (ME): Dec 1, 2023
• Computer Science SEAS (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• Data Science SEAS Master of Science (SM): Dec 1, 2023
• Earth and Planetary Sciences (PhD): Dec 15, 2024
• East Asian Languages and Civilizations (PhD): Dec 15, 2024
• Economics (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Education (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Electrical Engineering (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• Engineering and Applied Sciences Master of Science (SM), Master of Engineering (ME): Dec 1, 2023
• Engineering and Applied Sciences (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• English (PhD): Jan 5, 2024
• Environmental Science and Engineering SEAS (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• Film and Visual Studies (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• Germanic Languages and Literatures (PhD): Jan 5, 2024
• Government (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Health Policy (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• History (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• History of Art and Architecture (PhD): Jan 5, 2024
• History of Science (AM), (PhD): Dec 1, 2024
• Human Evolutionary Biology (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• Immunology DMS HILS (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Inner Asian and Altaic Studies (PhD): Jan 5, 2024
• Linguistics (PhD): Jan 5, 2024
• Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering SEAS (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• Mathematics (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• Medical Sciences (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Middle Eastern Studies (AM), (PhD): Jan 5, 2024
• Molecular and Cellular Biology HILS (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Music (AM), (PhD): Jan 5, 2024
• Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (AM), (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• Neuroscience DMS HILS (PhD): Dec 1, 2024
• Organismic and Evolutionary Biology HILS (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Organizational Behavior (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Philosophy (PhD): Jan 5, 2023
• Physics (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• Population Health Sciences (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Psychology (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• Public Policy (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Quantum Science and Engineering: Dec 15, 2023
• Regional Studies–East Asia Master of Arts (AM): Dec 1, 2023
• Regional Studies–Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia  Master of Arts (AM): Jan 5, 2023
• Religion (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Romance Languages and Literatures (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• Slavic Languages and Literatures (PhD): Jan 5, 2024
• Social Policy (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Sociology (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• South Asian Studies Master of Arts (AM), (PhD): Dec 15, 2023
• Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology DMS HILS (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Statistics (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Systems, Synthetic and Quantitative Biology HILS (PhD): Dec 1, 2023
• Virology DMS HILS (PhD): Dec 1, 2023

GSAS degree programs deadlines

Helpful Articles:

How to Write a Grad School Personal Statement or Essay

Harvard Graduate School of Design: GSD

Please find the Harvard admission deadlines for GSD below (by 11:59 pm ET):

• Application Deadline for Master of Architecture, Master of Urban Planning, Master of Landscape Architecture, Master of Architecture in Urban Design, Master of Landscape Architecture in Urban Design, and Doctor of Design (MArch, MLA, MUP, MAUD, MLAUD, MRE, DDes): January 3, 2024
• Application Deadline for Master in Design Studies (MDesS):  January 8, 2024
• Application Deadline for Master in Design Engineering (MDE):  January 11, 2024
• GSD Financial Aid deadline: Early February, 2024 (TBD)

GSD admission page

Admission decisions are sent by

All applicants: early March, 2024

Also read:  How to Pay for Harvard as an International Student

Harvard Graduate School of Education: GSE

Application deadlines.

• Ed.L.D.: December 15, 2023
• Ph.D.: December 1, 2023
• Ed.M.: January 5, 2024

GSE admissions page

Harvard Law School: HLS

Application deadline for hls graduate programs.

• LL.M. Program Deadline: December 1, 2023
• Visiting Scholar/Visiting Researcher Program Spring Deadline: September 15, 2023
• Visiting Scholar/Visiting Researcher Program Fall Deadline: April 15, 2024
• S.J.D. Program Deadline: April 1, 2024

HLS graduate program admission deadlines

J.D. Application Deadline

Submission deadline: February 15, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Decisions will begin releasing by: January, 2024 All applicants notified by: Early April, 2024

HLS J.D. application page

Harvard Medical School: HMS

Hms application deadlines.

• Deadline to submit the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) application:  October 15, 2023
• Deadline to submit HMS Supplemental Application: October 22, 2023
• Deadline to submit transcripts to AMCAS: October 30, 2023

Notification of Decisions

Applicants selected for interview will be notified by mid January, 2024 All admissions decisions are sent out via email by third week of March, 2024

Deadline for submission of all financial aid application: March, 2024

HMS application deadline page

Harvard School of Dental Medicine: HSDM

• Online application deadline: December 15, 2023 ; Apply through the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) AADSAS application service
• Complete application deadline: January 1, 2024

HSDM application page

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)

Phd program in biological sciences in public health.

Application deadline including all materials: December 1, 2023 For those invited, in-person interviews will take place from February 8th – February 9th, 2024 .

PhD BPH application page

Master in Health Care Management Program (MHCM)

Priority application deadline: December 1, 2023

Prospective students may apply after the priority deadline on a space available basis with prior permission from the program. The final, space available application deadline is February 15, 2024 .

MHCM application page

You can find the Harvard admission deadlines for other different HSPH programs below:

• Occupational and Environmental Residency Program (OEMR): October 15, 2023
• MHCM priority deadline, MPH, MPH-Epidemiology (online/on-campus), SM, DrPH, PhD in Biological Sciences, PhD in Biostatistics, PhD in Population Health Sciences: December 01, 2023
• Biological Sciences in Public Health (BPH): December 1, 2023
• PhD in Health Policy: December 1, 2023
• Joint JD/MPH Program with Harvard Law School: January 15, 2024
• Global Health Delivery Intensive, Program in Clinical Effectiveness non-degree deadline: February 1, 2024
• MHCM final deadline: February 15, 2024  (Priority application deadline : December 1, 2023)
• Global Infectious Diseases Summer Program and Summer Session for Public Health Studies non-degree deadline: March 1, 2024

Tip from HSPH admissions office: Try to submit application for admission and all supporting documents by mid-November for your application to be processed by SOPHAS in time to meet the Dec 1 deadline.

Financial Aid & Notification of Decisions

All admissions decisions are sent out via email in February and March, 2024

Deadline for submission of all financial aid application: January, 2024

HSPH admission deadlines page

Global Health Delivery Project

Application deadline: February 2024

Acceptance letters are sent by late March 2024

GHDI admission deadlines page

For any other programs, please find updated requirements & Harvard admission deadlines here on the Harvard official pages.

How Long Do College/ Masters Applications Take?

Also check out:

Harvard Application Process: Easy Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

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Graduate Admissions & Graduate Education Update

• Publication date September 27, 2023
• Categories: News , Strategic Planning

The GSAS Admissions & Graduate Education committee (GAGE) completed its work in summer 2023, releasing a final report in September. The report includes recommendations for advising, the scale and strength of the academic program, equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging, employment outcomes, teaching, and finances, with further recommendations for admissions.

In 2020, then-FAS Dean Claudine Gay created the FAS Study Group (FSG), tasking it with considering financial sustainability, organizational flexibility, and institutional resilience. The FSG identified several areas that required a deeper look, including graduate education.

To address this call, Harvard Griffin GSAS launched GAGE in spring 2022, charged with “Considering advising, teaching, employment outcomes, institutional finances, and equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging to develop actionable steps in how admissions slots are allocated and to outline what the PhD means in the 21st century.”

From April 2022 through May 2023, the GAGE Working Group met 26 times and reviewed materials that included data on mental health, advising, time to degree, outcomes, teaching loads, and finances. As the committee turned its attention from information gathering to making recommendations, members recognized that variation across 40 different FAS graduate programs would make blanket recommendations unfeasible due to the wide diversity of academic activities and cultural norms. The committee’s recommendations instead offer a framework for programs to follow, establishing a certain baseline standard.

For more information, visit  GSAS Admissions and Graduate Education Planning  or reach out to  [email protected] .

Learning Design, Innovation, and Technology

The Master’s in Education (Ed.M.) prepares students with the skills needed to change the world through education. HGSE’s Ed.M. centers on three pillars of study: Foundations, which focus on core skills and knowledge; Programs, which focus on specific areas of practice; and Concentrations, which are opportunities to deepen one’s knowledge. Together, these pillars empower students to create transformative learning at every level and in every role. In the Learning Design, Innovation, and Technology (LDIT) Program, students will tackle promising and challenging frontiers of education — innovating education technology, leveraging the science of learning, and developing powerful pedagogies to improve learning outcomes.

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Completing Your Application

• Accommodations for applicants impacted by extenuating circumstances
• Consent regarding Sensitive Personal Data

Search Degree Programs Apply for Degree Programs

If you are interested in applying to a degree program , you will be considered for admittance based on your potential to make contributions through your scholarship to your chosen field, whether in academia or in a nonacademic career. The Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (Harvard Griffin GSAS) welcomes applications for admission from individuals who have or will have by the time of matriculation a BA, BS, or equivalent undergraduate degree (for prospective international students, a three- or four-year undergraduate degree from an institution of recognized standing) and actively seeks applicants from groups historically underrepresented in graduate schools . All degree candidates are admitted for full-time study beginning in the fall term. 

Instructions on completing your degree program application

Applications become available in September and are submitted through the Applicant Portal. Admission is for the fall term only. Please note all supporting materials and required components must be submitted electronically as part of the application. Harvard Griffin GSAS does not accept any mailed materials. 

Deadlines vary by graduate program and are noted on graduate program pages. All materials must be submitted by the deadline. The School may request additional academic documents, as needed. 

Applications are reviewed by the admissions committee based on the program you applied to. 

Please note all supporting materials and required components become the property of Harvard Griffin GSAS. No materials will be returned to the applicant or forwarded to other schools or agencies.  

The Application 

The application fee is $105 payable by credit card. Harvard Griffin GSAS is committed to ensuring that our fee does not create a financial obstacle. Applicants can determine eligibility for a fee waiver by completing a series of questions in the Application Fee section of the application. Once these questions have been answered, the application system will provide an immediate response regarding fee waiver eligibility. The application fee is not refundable.  

Components and Requirements 

• application and application fee 
• transcripts 
• three letters of recommendation 
• statement of purpose 
• personal statement
• demonstration of English proficiency 
• writing samples, for select programs 
• GRE, for select programs.

All written parts of the application including the statement of purpose, supplemental data, additional materials (if applicable), short answers, resume/CV, and employment history must be authored solely by the applicant and not by a third party nor created by generative artificial intelligence or machine learning software. The use of a third party or generative artificial intelligence or machine learning software to develop an applicant’s work, as opposed to assisting their application to suggest minor edits or to identify grammatical errors, is forbidden.

Credit for Completed Graduate Work 

PhD students may be eligible to receive credit for graduate work that they completed while enrolled in a graduate program at other Harvard Schools or institutions. Review the Credit for Completed Graduate Work policy for more information.

Frequently Asked Questions 

How many times can i apply to harvard griffin gsas .

You may apply to Harvard Griffin GSAS three times only. Submitting additional applications may result in withdrawal of the application. Application fees are not refundable. Please note that applications to programs affiliated with the Harvard Integrated Life Sciences count toward this limit. 

How can I apply for financial aid? 

Consideration for financial aid, if available, is part of the application for admission. Information about funding your degree can be found on the Financial Support section of the School's website.  

If I applied to Harvard Griffin GSAS in a previous year, do I need to complete a new application? 

Yes. You must submit a new application, application fee, updated letters of recommendation, as well as upload transcripts and supporting documents. 

Where can I upload a note/document/information for the selection committee? 

You may upload a document in the Additional Materials section of the application. 

I want to apply to more than one program. How can I start my second application? 

Once you have created your first application, select “Home” in the application navigation panel. At the bottom of “Your Applications,” you will find a link to “Start New Application.” 

If I already hold a PhD or advanced doctoral degree, or if I am an advanced doctoral student at another institution, can I apply to a PhD program at Harvard? 

You may apply to a program in an unrelated field of study; however, preference for admissions and financial aid will be given to those who have not yet pursued a doctoral degree at Harvard or elsewhere. You may also consider non-degree study through our Visiting Students Program. 

What visa documentation should I submit? 

Visa documentation is not required at the time of application. Information about visa requirements will be provided to admitted students. 

Will my application be considered if I have been charged with or incarcerated for a crime? 

The application does not ask prospective students to disclose if they have been convicted of a crime. Program admissions committees review all applicants in a comprehensive way, considering their past educational attainments and the contributions they can make to the academic community and to their field of study. Applicants will not be denied admission based on their disclosure of conviction and should not be discouraged from applying. 

Are alternate payment methods accepted for the application fee? 

Application fees can only be paid with a credit card (debit cards may not be used). Harvard Griffin GSAS does not accept any other method of payment. 

Does Harvard Griffin GSAS offer joint degree programs with other Schools at Harvard? 

Harvard Griffin GSAS offers opportunities to pursue multiple degrees with other Harvard Schools. Visit combined degrees for more information. 

Accommodations for applicants impacted by extenuating circumstances 

We realize that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, recent natural disasters, and other extenuating circumstances may have significant impacts on applicants’ academic and personal lives, including the ability to provide all required application materials prior to our stated deadlines. We understand that these impacts may extend to recommenders and offices at institutions previously attended. 

If any of these conditions apply to you, we encourage you to apply even if required materials are missing. Our application form includes a section for you to let us know about any of your materials that may be unavailable. This information will be shared with the appropriate admissions committee and your admissions decision will be based on the materials available at the time of review. 

Please note that even though the online application system may indicate that your application is incomplete, it will still be reviewed by the appropriate admissions committee. If your application is incomplete and you are denied admission, Harvard Griffin GSAS will not count it toward our lifetime limit of three total applications that an individual may submit. 

Consent r egarding Sensitive Personal Data 

Certain kinds of personal data are regarded by some laws as sensitive and deserving of special protection (“Sensitive Personal Data”). For example, in Europe, Sensitive Personal Data can include personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership; genetic or biometric data; data concerning health; data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation; and personal data relating to criminal convictions and offenses. 

During the application process, you and others (such as recommenders) may provide Harvard Griffin GSAS at Harvard University with certain kinds of personal data about you that is regarded as Sensitive Personal Data. By submitting an application, you consent to Harvard’s processing of Sensitive Personal Data about you in order to evaluate your application for admission and your eligibility for financial aid, if applicable. Sensitive Personal Data about you also may be processed for other purposes permitted by applicable law. 

Additional EEA Privacy Disclosures provides further information about how Harvard Griffin GSAS uses personal data of individuals in Europe in the admissions process. 

Email the admissions team at [email protected] or call the hotline at 617-496-6100.

Phone Hours

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 9:00 a.m. to noon, Eastern Time   Tuesday and Thursday, 2:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m., Eastern Time

Degree program questions

If you still have questions after carefully reviewing your degree program of interest, reach out to the contact noted on the program’s page .

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Explore events.

Application deadlines for Fall 2024 have passed. If you have submitted an application during this cycle, you can access your status portal here .

The application for Fall 2025 will be available in September 2024.

When our applications go live in September of each year, please open an application to view the most up-to-date, program-specific admissions instructions. The list below is a summary of the components.

For more information, please review Navigating the Application . It is a compilation of questions applicants have asked, and we hope it becomes your go-to resource as you begin the application process.

Deadlines for Fall 2024

Submission time is 11:59pm eastern time., before applying.

• Review the academic program descriptions and prerequisites , with particular attention to the previous degree required in order to apply.
• You may apply a maximum of three times to the same GSD degree program. If an applicant has been denied admission for the third time, further applications to the same program will not be considered.
• If you’d like to apply to more than one program at the same time (but only wish to enroll in one), you will need to submit a separate application and supporting materials for each program. Please indicate your first choice on the application.
• If you’re looking to concurrently pursue two masters degrees offered by the GSD, you will need to submit a separate application fee and form for each program and must be admitted into each degree program independently.
• If you’re looking to simultaneously pursue degrees offered by the GSD and another Harvard University graduate school, you must apply and be admitted into each school independently.
• If you’re a prospective Ph.D. student , you must apply through the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences .
• Please note that if you are currently enrolled at another graduate school, the GSD does not accept transfer credits for work completed at another institution.

Application Guidelines

• Gather Your Transcripts You are required to upload transcripts from all colleges and universities from which you have earned credit or will or have received a degree. Make sure the scanned version is legible and oriented properly. Uploaded transcripts should include your name, school name, degree name, major, degree date if awarded, and a semester-by-semester course breakdown with corresponding grades. Screenshots of course websites or student self-service sites are not acceptable. Appropriate transcripts are very important for the application review process. Transcripts not in English must be accompanied by a certified English translation. Applicants are only required to request official transcripts to be sent directly from their previous institution to the GSD if they are admitted and decide to enroll at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Do not request that official transcripts be sent to the GSD prior to receiving an admissions decision; we do not retain any transcripts received prior to decision release. All previous degrees must be conferred by August 10 in order to enroll in the fall.

Optional: If you have taken the GRE and would like to submit scores in support of your application, you are welcome to do so. If you have not taken the GRE and have not submitted scores, the weight of other components of your application will be spread out across your materials during the review process. Your application will not be disadvantaged if you choose not to submit GRE scores.

Not required or accepted: GRE scores are not required. If submitted, GRE test scores will not be considered when applications are reviewed.

If you are applying to more than one degree program and choose to submit scores for the ‘optional’ programs, submitted scores will not be considered for the ‘not required or accepted’ programs.

• Have your TOEFL Scores Sent to the GSD International Students Only International students, except those from countries where English is the native language, must submit scores from the TOEFL internet-based test (TOEFL iBT). When requesting that scores be sent to Harvard University, applicants should use the institution code for the Graduate School of Design (3455); a department code is not needed. However, if you are required to enter a department code, choose the department that best aligns with the program you are applying to. Note that we will receive the scores regardless of the department code you submitted. Applicants required to take the TOEFL should schedule their test in time to receive at least their unofficial scores prior to submitting their application. Overall and individual section scores should be reported on the application form.Official TOEFL scores are due by the application deadline for your program. Scores are usually delivered to the GSD 8-10 business days after your test date. To account for weekends and winter holidays, we recommend taking the test no later than December 21, 2023.In cases where you are applying to two or more programs with different deadlines (ex. MArch II and MDes), your official TOEFL score is due by the earlier application deadline. Scores received after the deadline will be added to your application, but we cannot guarantee that the admissions committee will see late materials during the review process.TOEFL scores are valid for two years from the date of the test, and we are not able to accept test scores for expired tests.Please note that we do not accept the IELTS. Read our TOEFL FAQ in Navigating the Application for more details. (Please note we do not accept MyBest TOEFL score reports.)
• Edit your Resume Upload a resume that includes: employment; education; extracurricular collegiate and community activities (note whether an office held was elected or appointed); honors, awards, professional registration, professional societies, publications; avocations, hobbies, travel; if you served in the military, indicate rank on entry and rank on separation.
• Write Your Essay All applicants must submit responses to both the general GSD community essay and program-specific essays. The essay prompts differ depending on the program to which you are applying. For essay prompts for the current application cycle, please refer to the instructions provided within the application .

Compile your Prerequisite Information 

MAUD/MLAUD Two to three years of experience in professional practice is strongly recommended. You will be asked to provide information about your work experience on the resume tab in the application.

MRE The MRE program prefers that its applicants have two or more years of experience in real estate or related fields (related fields include, for example, planning and design professions). On the resume tab in the application, you will be asked to list the dates of your real estate or related experience, the name of the organization for which you worked, your title, and the name and email address of a supervisor who could confirm your employment if needed. Note that you should list only those positions that are either directly related to or adjacent to real estate. The relevant positions should also be listed in your resume alongside any other work experience.

MArch I /AP and MLA I /AP The MArch I /AP and MLA I/AP degree programs require several prerequisite courses, which are detailed in the text and chart below.

MArch I/AP and MLA I/AP prerequisite courses must be taken at the college level, for credit, and be completed with a grade of B- or higher. In the application, you will be asked to indicate how you have fulfilled, are in the process of fulfilling, or will fulfill the prerequisites. You will need to upload a course description, syllabus, and transcript for each course. While it is not a requirement that you complete all prerequisite courses before applying, it is recommended that you complete or are in the process of completing as many as possible at the time of your application.

If admitted, applicants will be notified as to whether the courses they submitted have satisfied the prerequisite requirements. If an admitted applicant has not fulfilled a prerequisite, they will be required to do so before enrolling at the GSD.

Although we provide examples of pre-approved courses below, we accept a wide range of courses, including courses taken at your undergraduate institution, online at an accredited institution, and at community colleges. Note that Coursera and similar programs do not fulfill these requirements because they cannot be taken for credit. Please see our Prerequisite FAQs in the Navigating the Application page for answers to commonly asked questions about the prerequisite requirements.

• Pay the Application Fee There is a $90, non-refundable fee for each application submitted. In order for your application(s) to be reviewed, the fee(s) should be paid, by credit card only, immediately after submitting your application. Try again with a different credit card should the system reject your card.If the application fee presents a financial hardship, please see our Navigating the Application for information about the fee waiver request process. Please note that you will need to start an application in order to access the fee waiver request form.
• Apply for Financial Aid Prospective students interested in receiving aid should complete the Financial Aid application. Read more information about paying for your program.

After You Submit

Once submitted, changes, additions, or any other edits cannot be made to the application and/or portfolio. Application materials, including the portfolio, become the property of the GSD and cannot be returned or forwarded to any other party.

All decisions are released within the first week of March. You will receive an email indicating that there is an update on your Applicant Status Page . We do not give out decisions over the phone. If you have not received notification by April 1, please contact the Admissions Office at [email protected] .

Please note that the GSD does not grant deferrals. If you are admitted but unable to attend, you would need to reapply.

Nondiscrimination Policy

In accordance with Harvard University policy, the GSD does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, national or ethnic origin, political beliefs, veteran status or handicap in admission to, access to, treatment in, or employment in its programs and activities. Every effort will be made to ensure fairness and consistency in the school’s relations with its students, faculty, and staff.

Annual Security and Fire Safety Report Availability

The University is required by federal law (The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, 20 U.S.C. 1092(f), known as the “Clery Act”) to publish an Annual Security Report and an Annual Fire Safety Report.

The Harvard University Police Department publishes the Annual Security Report, entitled “Harvard University Police Department Annual Security Report,” which includes information about the HUPD, how to report a crime, HUPD’s crime prevention programs, substance abuse, sensitive crimes, emergency notifications, and other important information about security and HUPD services on campus. It also contains three years of statistics on reported campus or campus-related crimes. A hard copy of the “Harvard University Police Department Annual Security Report” may be obtained by contacting the Harvard University Police Department at 1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 6th floor, Cambridge, MA 02138, (617) 495-9225.

The Harvard University Environmental Health and Safety Department publishes the Annual Fire Safety Report, which includes fire safety policies, evacuation procedures, and fire statistics. A hard copy of the “Annual Fire Safety Report” may be obtained by contacting Environmental Health and Safety Department at 46 Blackstone Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, (617) 496-7168.

The Annual Security Report is available at www.hupd.harvard.edu/annual-security-report .

The Annual Fire Safety Report is available at www.ehs.harvard.edu/programs/higher-education-opportunity-act-heoa .

The Next Phase of Ed.L.D.

• Posted October 11, 2023
• By Lory Hough
• K-12 School Leadership
• K-12 System Leadership

Tucked into a pocket in his wallet, Frank Barnes , Ed.M.'95, Ed.M.'07, Ed.D.'15, carries two Harvard IDs: The one he got back in 1994, when he came to Appian Way for the first of his three HGSE degrees, and the one he got about a month ago, when he became the new director of the Ed.L.D. Program . Looking at the IDs side-by-side, this full circle moment, he says, is right where he wants to be. “As a thinker, it was humbling to think that such an opportunity to come back was presented to me,” he says. “Ed.L.D. is one of the top educational leadership doctoral programs in the country. To be able to be a part of this program’s story, to help build on the foundation that is here, and take the program to the next step in its evolution, is a great opportunity. Who wouldn't be interested in such a thing?”

Recently, Barnes talked about that opportunity, how his past impacts his leadership, and what it means to be a die-hard Chicago sports fan.

The Ed.L.D. Program has been around for more than a decade. Where do you want to make changes? Right now, this is my fourth week on campus, so I’m still in a place where I’m listening and learning. My first step has been to hear from students and to get to know the students who are in the program. My next step will be to spend more time with the program faculty and alumni. I’ll learn through those different conversations and then be able to say where it could go.

What likely won’t change? There are some things that are novel to the Ed.L.D. Program that we do that no matter what happens, we'll preserve. For example, the third-year residency is a hallmark of our program that makes it special. I also think our ability to bring in students as part of a cohort is something that's unique that not all programs get a chance to do. But I really have a lot of listening to do. And so, to say what kind of direction we should go would be premature. Certainly, we're not going to make any sudden shifts or any sudden changes, but there's just a lot I have to learn about where we are. And it starts with seeing where our students are, seeing what their experience is like, and connecting with students who have been through the program.

What is special about the Ed.L.D. Program? Ed.L.D.’s greatest assets are our practice-based focus and the strength of our faculty. In the Ed.L.D. Program, we provide a mix of the theoretical and practical, creating spaces for our students to learn theoretical frameworks and leadership approaches, accompanied by immediate opportunities to put them into practice. Students, in their first year of the program, take the course Workplace Lab, in which they have a fellowship in a local school district serving alongside seasoned leaders to support that district’s improvement efforts. Several of these experiences had led to ongoing leadership opportunities and certainly deepen students’ learning. In the third year, students are engaged in a paid residency for the academic year, getting both practical experience and exposure to new leadership opportunities. Collectively, these experiential learning opportunities make our program a good fit for students seeking to be proximal to ongoing system-level leadership.   You’ve also mentioned the importance of the faculty. Alongside our practice-based focus is the strength of our teaching faculty. We have faculty that have served in senior levels of state government, led school districts, spearheaded major national initiatives for prominent foundations, and are some of the most prominent thinkers in their respective fields. They advise and consult corporations, national nonprofits, school districts, and state leaders, and that is just here at the Ed. School. During the second year of the program, our students also take classes at the Business School, Kennedy School of Government, at the Sloan School of Management at MIT, and occasionally at the Law School. Our faculty breathe life into our program. They’re an impressive yet approachable group.

Also impressive are Ed.L.D. alumni. Will you be able to connect with them at the big Ed.L.D. convening on campus this week? Yes. We’re trying to embed within the program a time for me to speak with them. I'll also be doing follow-up calls with alumni because I know that it’s cost prohibitive for some graduates to come to the convening. And I'll look for other opportunities to go where they are, talk with them, and get a different perspective.

What impact did COVID play on the program? The K–12 and higher ed space overall was jolted by COVID and we had a year where HGSE did not admit doctoral candidates. We're still in a place of recovery from that. Usually, we have three cohorts of students that we're working with at one time. Right now, we only have two with that gap year from COVID. We're still recovering from that in some ways.

With the next round of program applicants, will you still look for educators who can make an impact in the field at a very high level? Very much so. We all want to be able to see our program produce graduates who are ready to lead and who will be system leaders in different types of systems, whether it be state systems of education, local schools of education, or large national nonprofits. We want to be able to produce people who are going to change the education space. And that’s what this investment of time, energy, and money that our donors and the university give us an opportunity to do, starting with taking away the obstacle of financing a higher education degree and making it practice based. You can walk out after three years and begin applying the degree immediately for the benefit of students and families. We want big dreamers, big thinkers, people with experience who want to take the last step of preparation to help them make a big step in their leadership journeys so that they can impact larger numbers of students and families.

Speaking of leadership, how does your experience as the chief accountability officer for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina, and in a number of roles in Boston Public Schools, including as chief accountability officer, special assistant to the superintendent, and teacher, impact you as a leader? Both of those districts are different and alike at the same time. I think both have allowed me to have a perspective of what it looks like to be part of a larger ecosystem of educational organizations, particularly here in the Boston area. Both of those opportunities have given me the ability to understand: how do you take something from a concept to implementation? How do you navigate the various interests, diversity of opinions, and the changing tides of a local community’s politics in order to implement something that would tangibly impact the experience of students in a classroom? 

And as a compliment to that, my nearly decade at Brown University at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform also helped me think about that space. How do you create momentum in a field to be able to try out new ideas, to push new thinking? How do you inspire leaders and leadership teams and communities to try to do something that they haven't done previously but have within their agency to do? I think the collection of experience that I’ve had has put me in a position to think about, how do we prepare leaders to go into those types of spaces and be effective in leading and transforming organizations?

What was it like for you growing up? I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. Not born on the north side, and then driven to the south side — born and raised on the south side of Chicago. So, a humble beginning. My mother was a schoolteacher. My dad only had a high school diploma, but they always let me know that education was a pathway to greater advancement. That was instilled in me. My education was always primarily important for my parents, sometimes to my chagrin, because it wasn’t always my first priority. But I got to see, literally, when I looked to my left or my right, classmates who didn't make it, whether it was incarceration or drive-by shootings, whether it was just getting caught up in life. But I was very well nurtured, taken care of, and protected by my community. And I think it was only after I left adolescence that I got to see how many people were trying to make sure that I had a pathway that would be different than what the norm might’ve been for my neighborhood. My story is not one of individual exceptionalism. It’s really a tale of a community putting their arms around me.

Who is Frank Barnes, of Harvard ID #2, outside of work?  I have three kids. They're 23, 24, and 28. I have a wife and a mother who’s in Charlotte, who I love dearly. Like I said, I'm from Chicago, so I am a diehard Chicago sports fan, which means I suffer a lot of pain and humiliation. I like to eat way too much and I’m a bit of a foodie. But overall, and I hate to say it, for the past 15 years, it’s pretty much been work and family. So, this is the first time, in a very long time, that I've had something that’s not all encompassing and absorbing, and the seven-day-a-week press of life. I’m having to rediscover who am I outside of work and what do I like to do. I’m excited about that opportunity. And I’m equally as excited to be back at HGSE to be part of a program that has such a strong history. I want to help and see that this program thrives in the future.

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Harvard College accepted 3.59 percent of applicants to its Class of 2028 — the highest acceptance rate in four years — in the first admissions cycle since the fall of affirmative action prohibited the College from considering race during the process.

Harvard offered admission to 1,245 applicants at 7 p.m. on Thursday, all of whom join the 692 students who were accepted in the early admission cycle this December. In total, Harvard offered admission to 1,937 students to join the Class of 2028.

“We think they’re the greatest,” Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 said of the admitted class in a Thursday interview. “We really want to see them come here.”

Harvard received a total of 54,008 applications, a 5.14 percent decrease from last year even as it marked the fourth year in a row that it received more than 50,000 applications.

Thursday’s announcement also contained one notable omission: race and ethnicity data for the incoming class. The College did not release the statistics when it announced its early admission results in December, and intends to withhold the data until admitted students accept or decline their offers later this summer.

The College is still in the midst of processing transfer applications, and waitlist decisions will be released once admitted students accept or decline their offers.

Tuition continued to rise this year, climbing to $82,866 for students who do not receive financial aid — a 4.3 percent increase from last year’s tuition of $79,450.

But even as tuition continued to climb, Harvard did not increase its threshold for receiving full financial aid. The decision is a break from the past two years when the College steadily increased the threshold for full financial aid by $10,000.

Like last year, the cost to attend Harvard will be free for students with annual family incomes below $85,000. By maintaining its financial aid threshold at 2023 levels, the College will likely face questions about whether the recent donor backlash to the University contributed to that decision.

This year, Pell Grant eligible students make up 20.7 percent of the class, an increase from 19 percent last year. More than 20 percent of accepted students are the first in their family to attend college.

Despite delays in the release of federal student aid data after recent miscalculations by the U.S. Department of Education, Fitzsimmons dismissed concerns that students’ financial aid packages will be delayed.

“Anybody who sent in material, they will have an award tonight,” Fitzsimmons said.

For the seventh consecutive year, women make up a slight majority — 53.1 percent — of Harvard’s admitted class.

The Class of 2028 also comes from all 50 states and every region of the United States: 20.1 percent of admitted students hail from the mid-Atlantic, while 18.5 percent come from the Western and Mountain states, 16.6 percent from New England, 16.2 percent from the South, 11.4 percent from the Midwest, and 0.4 percent from external U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In addition, the Class of 2028 accepted 254 applicants from Massachusetts, the most of any state, followed by California, New York, and New Jersey.

“We think it’s very important for us to do our part in educating future leaders of Cambridge, Boston, of the state of Massachusetts,” Fitzsimmons said. “We take that very, very seriously.”

Harvard also joined the Small Town Outreach, Recruitment, and Yield consortium — a group of universities aiming to recruit applicants in rural communities — following the Supreme Court’s ruling in June.

The Class of 2028 is also “unusually international,” Fitzsimmons said. More than 15 percent of accepted applicants are international students, hailing from 94 countries. Canada, the United Kingdom, and China are the top three most represented countries.

The College also offered 21 veterans admission, while a total of 41 students expressed interest in the Reserve Officers Training Corps — a training program that prepares for service in the military.

This is the fourth class admitted under test-optional policies, where applicants can choose not to submit standardized test scores. While multiple other colleges and universities, including Dartmouth, Yale, and Brown, have returned to requiring testing , Harvard will remain test-optional through the Class of 2030.

In the interview on Thursday, Fitzsimmons maintained that the office has “nothing new to report” as to when they will announce the College’s future plans.

The Class of 2028 will be invited to campus from April 14-15 for Visitas, the two-day annual program for admits.

Students have until May 1 to accept or deny their offer of admission to join the Class of 2028.

—Staff writer Elyse C. Goncalves can be reached at [email protected] . Follow her on X @e1ysegoncalves or on Threads @elyse.goncalves .

—Staff writer Matan H. Josephy can be reached [email protected] . Follow him on X @matanjosephy .

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Truce Be Told

• Posted September 9, 2011
• By Lory Hough

A look at why some educators are starting to accept the online encyclopedia that anyone can write and edit.

On July 31, 2006, Stephen Colbert did a segment on his show, The Colbert Report , mocking the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. The site was five years old at the time and starting to become hugely popular. But it was also greatly debated. Bloggers referred to it as “wicked-pedia” and “irresponsible scholarship.” Headlines called for a “stand against Wikipedia” and proclaimed, “Wikipedia: more dangerous than crack.” A year after the Colbert episode, Senator Ted Stevens (R-AL) even introduced legislation that would have banned Wikipedia from public schools. By far, the biggest criticism — and the biggest jokes — revolved around trustworthiness. What makes the site unique is also what makes it potentially problematic: Anyone can anonymously create entries about anything and, with some exceptions, can also anonymously edit entries created by other “wikipedians,” as they’re called. There is no hierarchy of expertise. As a 2006 New Yorker article pointed out, it is “a system that does not favor the Ph.D. over the well-read 15-year-old.”

Colbert, with his laptop in front of him, jumped on this.

“Who is Britannica to tell me George Washington had slaves?” he said, referring to another encyclopedia, the oldest in the English language still in print and one that is often pitted against Wikipedia. After logging on to the Wikipedia site, Colbert continued, “If I want to say he didn’t, that’s my right. And now, thanks to Wikipedia,” (he clicks the keyboard) “it’s also a fact.”

At the time, this kind of random contribution — by a regular Joe who was having fun, or at least who wasn’t backing up his claim with scholarly research — was exactly what educators were worried about when it came to students using the free site for research. Teachers, librarians, and professors started discouraging Wikipedia. Others outright banned students from using the site as a resource for projects and papers.

But now, five years after Colbert’s segment, there are signs that attitudes about Wikipedia may be slightly shifting. There are fewer heated debates online about the site’s evils, and headlines are more likely to focus on Wiki leaks than Wiki tweaks. As one blogger noted last January, marking the site’s 10th anniversary, “A reporter told me the other day that mocking Wikipedia is so 2007.”

Even educators, it seems, are starting to throw out olive branches.

Librarian and media specialist Linda O'Connor is one of them. In the fall of 2007, news spread fast and far about her "Just Say No to Wikipedia" posters, which she had hung above every computer in the library at Great Meadows Middle School in New Jersey. The local newspaper ran a story about her actions, as did The Inquirer in London and The New York Times . She appeared on FOX & Friends morning show. Library listservs lit up.

"Kids just take it for gospel, they really do," she said in interviews about Wikipedia. "That's my concern about it." A year later, though, new posters carried a slightly softer message: "Wikipedia-Free Media Center."

"It too led to many good discussions and I used it as a teaching tool throughout the year," O'Connor says, including putting up a bulletin board with the sign, "Using Wikipedia as a research tool." On the board, she posted examples of incorrect Wikipedia entries for students to read, and presumably learn from, such as a piece about the death of Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) during President Obama's inauguration. (Kennedy actually collapsed at the inauguration luncheon and was released from the hospital the next day.)

More recently, O'Connor went one step further: She took down the anti-Wikipedia posters.

"Omitting my Wikipedia posters from the media center bulletin board this year was an easy decision," she says. "Students are using answers from Wikipedia on other websites without realizing it. I decided to concentrate on website evaluation in general," such as teaching eighth-graders how to validate sources.

The same transition happened to Beth Holland, Ed.M.'02. When she started working at a small independent school in Newport, R.I., in 2006, as director of technology, she also told her students not to use Wikipedia.

"During my first year, I really struggled with teaching online research," she says. In particular, she felt like Wikipedia was tricky for her elementary-aged students to navigate, especially when it came to recognizing the difference between opinion and fact-checked research. This became apparent when the fifth-graders had to do a project on a famous artist. "One student used Wikipedia when looking up Andy Warhol," she says. At the time, the site had fewer safeguards than it does now, such as not allowing unregistered users from making edits. "Essentially, this 11-year-old had information about Warhol as a sex maniac and off-color film producer."

While that information may not have been totally fictitious, Holland says, it also wasn't scholarly research, and it wasn't appropriate for someone that age. So she started steering students away from Wikipedia.

And then she began using other research sites like Answer.com, which gathers information from various sources, including Wikipedia, and allows users to compare sources. Over time, she realized that "sometimes, [Wikipedia] is the best, and fastest, way to get information in a manageable format."

These days, what has Holland, now with EdTech Teacher, more concerned is another site: Google.

"I think that Google is more detrimental to the research process than Wikipedia," she says. "At least Wikipedia is an actual source, with documentation and a means to cite information. On the other hand, students feel that Google is a source. I can't count the number of times that I have asked a student where they found their information and the response is 'Google.'"

Google, they believe, is the only place to get information.

"Kids expect research to be a fill-in-the-blank answer sheet rather than a process," she says, "and frequently want to switch topics because they claim that they 'can't find anything.'"

For many educators, what this has prompted in recent years is less of a focus on just saying no to sites like Wikipedia, and instead saying: Can we use this as a teachable moment? Starting in 2010, for example, dozens of college professors (including at Harvard) assigned students to write Wikipedia entries for credit about public policy issues as part of a project launched by Wikimedia. This past academic year, the students had contributed almost 5,800 pages worth of fact-checked information. Other educators, like O'Connor and Holland, are training students how to do research effectively in the digital age so that they make better decisions. As one blogger wrote about Wikipedia, "Educators shouldn't allow students to simply use the site at will, without filtering. Educators can use the site to teach about online credibility, fact checking, primary and secondary sources, crowd sourcing … rather than simply banning it."

This is exactly what is now happening in Burlington, Mass. Librarians in the elementary schools begin the process, teaching basic research skills and Internet safety. By middle school, teachers show students how to check sources. And then in the ninth grade, says Amy Mellencamp, Ed.M.'81, principal of the high school, there is a required, semester-long course that looks more deeply at Internet safety, research strategies, and appropriate resources.

Unfortunately, says Megan Birdsong, Ed.M.'94, a teacher librarian for the Santa Clara United School District, while this kind of training in critical thinking is more needed than ever for students, it's not always a priority everywhere.

"The credentialed librarians in my school district have … been pink-slipped," she says. "Less than 25 percent of California schools have credentialed librarians … and yet the skills that we teach seem more important than ever as discussions of new types and sources of information evolve."

Looking at the numbers, Wikipedia has more than evolved. Today, it consistently ranks in the top 10 visited sites on the Internet. As of August, there were more than 19 million available articles written in 280 languages. In interviews and during speeches, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales stresses that the site tries to be accurate, but also should only be used as a stepping stone when doing research, especially by students.

"For God's sake, you're in college," he said, speaking to students at the University of Pennsylvania in 2006. "Don't cite the encyclopedia." A year later, answering a question from a Time magazine reader who complained about a professor who badmouthed Wikipedia as a legitimate research source, Wales no doubt surprised the reader by answering, "I would agree with your teachers that that isn't the right way to use Wikipedia. The site is a wonderful starting point for research. But it's only a starting point because there's always a chance that there's something wrong, and you should check your sources if you are writing a paper."

Clint Calzini, Ed.M.'04, a former teacher and principal, and current doctoral student at the College of William & Mary, says he uses Wikipedia occasionally in his doctoral research "to get a snapshot of something." He advises his undergraduate students to do the same.

"I have always told students that Wikipedia is fine to start with to get an understanding of something, but due to its open source, it should not be quoted directly and that they need to verify information from a qualified source."

He acknowledges that the site has gotten better over the years, especially with footnotes.

"A recent example is [the entry on] daylight savings time," he says. "It has a stunning level of detail and 121 footnotes!" There's evidence that students, at least at the post-secondary level, may actually get this. A 2010 report, How College Students Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age , found that while nearly 75 percent of students reported using Wikipedia for school research, almost all of them said they turn first to course readings and consulted more with instructors and scholarly research than with Wikipedia.

Of course, not all educators have entirely jumped on the Wikipedia bandwagon. Matt Shapiro, Ed.M.'10, a secondary science teacher who wrote two op-eds in 2010 in support of students using Wikipedia — one for Education Week , one for Ed. — says he still sees some resistance from other teachers. Often, the level of acceptance depends on the subject matter. Anthony Parker, Ed.M.'93, principal of Weston High School, just outside of Boston, says his school doesn't have a uniform policy regarding Wikipedia, but some teachers feel more comfortable with the site's information than others.

"One math teacher thinks it is very good in computer science classes," he says. "As you might imagine, English and history teachers tend not to use it as much. In history, for example, it might be a decent starting place for a research project — with the caveat that you must check the Wikipedia source — but it is not counted as a source when the research project is turned in. As a former history teacher I am in the 'Wikipedia is not a great source and should be treated with great skepticism' camp."

Chris Kyle, a history professor at Syracuse University and an early critic of the site who has banned students from citing Wikipedia in papers since 2003, agrees.

"History is about being able to evaluate a number of sources, so it's important to know who wrote the piece: what viewpoint they've come from, what their religion is, etc.," he says. "I still feel like Wikipedia is an anonymous department store with no name, which is one-stop shopping. History, as a discipline, is about being able to shop around to a variety of specialists."

Luckily, Kyle says, students at the college level tend to use the site less as they move up in grade and get more sophisticated in their critical thinking. This may be why the librarians at the Ed School, who work primarily with master's and doctoral students, rarely use Wikipedia.

"All of us agree that Wikipedia never even comes up when we are discussing research strategies," says Gutman librarian Kathleen Donovan. "Students don't ask us about it, and we do not include it in our research strategy recommendations."

As the 10-year anniversary of Wikipedia comes to an end, where do educators go from here when it comes to their students and the site? A recent uproar on Wikipedia may provide one answer: This past summer, former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin offered an alternative theory about Paul Revere's famous midnight ride. Many historians publicly disagreed with her, and immediately, suspected Palin supporters rushed to the Paul Revere Wikipedia page and changed information to better fit with Palin's version of history.

And here's where the answer, and lesson, come in: The truth, in a sense, won out. Not only did Wikipedia editors instantly swoop in to delete misinformation, but the entry also ended up with more information and footnotes than before Palin's comments. It also got people talking, thinking, and, perhaps best of all, laughing. As Stephen Colbert said of the controversy, just before he donned a Paul Revere–type hat on his show while ringing a bell, firing a musket, and riding a coin-operated kiddie ride, "That doesn't mean Palin wasn't raising awareness of history. Without her, no one would have checked into what really happened. And more importantly, it did happen."

Note: Wikipedia was used in the writing of this article.

Ed. Magazine

The magazine of the Harvard Graduate School of Education

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College accepts 1,937 to Class of 2028

Students represent 94 countries, all 50 states

Harvard College has accepted 1,937 students to the Class of 2028 from a pool of 54,008 applicants. This marks the fourth consecutive year Harvard has received more than 50,000 applications.

Students accepted during the regular admissions cycle number 1,245. Last December, the College offered admissions to 692 students who applied under the Early Action Program .

“Beyond another strong applicant pool, we are delighted by the stunning array of talents and lived experiences the Class of 2028 will bring with them from throughout the United States and around the world,” said William R. Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid.

By the numbers

Nearly 1 in 4.

Undergraduates come from a family whose annual income is $85,000 or less

“Start-up grants” for first-year students and “launch grants” for juniors are given to students whose family incomes are $85,000 or less

$3 billion+

In undergraduate financial aid has been awarded since launching the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative

Of Harvard undergraduates receive financial aid

Average parent contribution for aided students

Of the Class of 2023 graduated debt-free

Members of the Class of 2028, who learned of the decisions Thursday evening, hail from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 94 countries. They are 53.1 percent women and 46.9 percent men. Students who will be in the first generation of their family to graduate from a four-year college or the equivalent represent 20.5 percent of the class. In this application cycle, 20.7 percent qualified for federal Pell grants, typically awarded to students from lower-income backgrounds.

International students make up 15.4 percent of the class, and 9.6 percent are U.S. dual citizens. An estimated 20.1 percent come from the mid-Atlantic states, 16.2 percent from the South, 16.6 percent from New England, 18.5 percent from Western and Mountain states, 11.4 percent from the Midwest, and 0.4 percent from U.S. territories.

Harvard continues efforts to recruit U.S. military veterans, working with groups affiliated with the Defense Department and through Service to School’s Vetlink program. Twenty-one veterans were admitted to the Class of 2028, and 41 students have expressed interest in ROTC.

Members of the admitted class will benefit from the recent expansion of the financial aid program. Last spring , the Griffin Financial Aid Office announced that students whose family income is $85,000 or less will receive full financial support to attend Harvard. It also announced last fall a new launch grant giving students who receive full financial support $2,000 in the fall of their junior year to help with costs associated with preparing for life after graduation. Since 2016, students receiving full financial aid have been eligible for similar startup grants to help them adjust to life on campus.

“We are always thinking about impact, and the new launch grant gives students extra resources — for graduate school test prep, or travel to a job interview — as they begin planning for their next chapters. This support — in combination with the work of the Mignone Center for Career Success — allows us to help the students who need it most,” said Jake Kaufmann, Griffin Director of Financial Aid.

The work to expand opportunities for students accessing financial aid includes the 2020 decision to remove the summer work expectation. Nearly one-quarter of students attend Harvard with no parent contribution. In the 2023-2024 academic year, the average parent contribution for aided students was $13,000.

For students who do not receive need-based aid, the total cost of attendance (including tuition, housing and food, and fees) is scheduled to increase 4.3 percent to $82,866 for the 2024-2025 academic year.

This application cycle benefited from a robust recruitment effort that included students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Admissions officers traveled to 150 cities in the U.S. and around the world to conduct in-person information sessions while more than 7,000 alums helped interview applicants and recruit students through college fairs and other events. 

“We often focus on the end results in admissions, but it is also important to acknowledge the tremendous work that goes into getting us here,” said Director of Admissions Joy St. John. “We could not build this talented and diverse pool of applicants without this support.”

Harvard welcomes admitted students to campus for Visitas programming April 14-15. At that time, the Class of 2028 is invited to attend classes and events as well as learn about resources and opportunities. Students will receive information about Visitas and Crimson Connect, an online platform for the Class of 2028, via the Admitted Student Website .

Students have until May 1 to reply to their offers of admission.

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University News | 3.28.2024

Harvard College Admits Class of 2028

A smaller undergraduate applicant cohort—the first since supreme court ended affirmative action .

1,937 of the 54,008 applicants to the class (3.6 percent) were granted admission. | PHOTOGRAPHS AND MONTAGE BY NIKO YAITANES/ HARVARD MAGAZINE

Harvard College today offered regular admission to 1,245 applicants to the class of 2028; combined with the 692 early-action applicants granted admission in December , 1,937 of the 54,008 applicants to the class (3.6 percent) were granted admission. The applicant pool declined 2,929 (5.1 percent) from the 56,937 who applied to the class of 2027 and 11.8 percent from the pandemic-enlarged cohort of 61,220 who sought places in the class of 2026 .

The overall rate of decline in applications this year lessened somewhat from that among the early-action cohort: applicants by the fall deadline decreased by 17 percent (from 9,553 in 2022 to 7,921 in the autumn 2023 cycle).

Nonetheless, in light of the changes in admissions mandated by the Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action last June , and the turmoil on campus last fall , observers and critics may be expected to weigh in from several perspectives on the diminished interest in applying to the College as they seek evidence or draw conclusions about these questions:

With Harvard the highest-profile defendant in the admissions cases, will admissions of black and Hispanic applicants decline (testimony in the trial and appeals suggested that would happen), as prospective applicants hesitate and the College proceeds to make decisions absent consideration of race and ethnicity as part of its holistic review process?

Did prospective black applicants pursue other options, given the harsh attacks on President Claudine Gay, the institution’s first black leader, in the wake of the Hamas terrorism last October 7?

Were Jewish applicants disinclined to pursue a place in the College given the extensive coverage of campus protests and the associated controversies over antisemitism (and related debate about bias against Palestinians and Muslims)?

Answers are not likely to be immediately at hand. To comply with the Supreme Court ruling, the University noted, “Based on advice from counsel, admissions readers will not be accessing applicants’ self-reported race or ethnicity data or aggregated data…at any time until the admissions process has concluded”—presumably, after final admissions from the wait list (if any) this summer. Data on the admitted early-action applicants released in December addressed socioeconomic characteristics, but not the racial or ethnic diversity statistics published in prior years. And admissions officers maintain silence on the other matters—noting, reasonably, that they don’t know why people decide not to apply. For what it is worth, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale each indicated that their undergraduate applications increased about 10 percent this year. But multiple factors may influence Harvard’s results (see “Selective Schools’ Admissions in Flux,” below).

Financial Aid Competition

The College maintained the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative at the level announced last year and applied to the first-year class that enrolled last August. Attending Harvard remains free for children of families with incomes below $85,000: their tuition, housing, food, and fees will be waived. Each eligible student will also receive a $2,000 transition grant to help with move-in and other expenses., and a $2,000 “launch grant” during the junior year to help defray costs in preparing for life after graduation (job searching, for example). The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) has to budget aid for both the College and graduate students, whose stipends—under sharp competitive pressure—were boosted substantially for the new academic year; see “Graduate Gains,” March-April, page 21.

The College thus has not increased the no-cost family-income threshold to approach or match peers Princeton (which is fully endowed for financial aid, unlike the FAS) and Stanford, both of which raised their threshold to $100,000 for the class of 2027. Upping the ante, on March 25, Dartmouth announced that a $150-million bequest would enable it to nearly double its free-attendance threshold from $65,000 of family income to $125,000—the highest in the country—effective with the new academic year: entering first-year students, and returning upperclassmen and -women, will be covered. More limited programs at Duke and the University of Virginia now make attendance tuition-free for students from local families with incomes under $150,000 (North and South Carolina) or $100,000 (Virginia), respectively, presenting still more competition.

At Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford, roughly one-quarter of undergraduates come from families under the income thresholds.

The Rising Term Bill

Harvard’s term bill —tuition, room, board, and fees—will increase 4.3 percent, to $82,866 (up $3,416 from the current $79,450). That rate of increase is higher than the 3.5 percent imposed in the prior year and 3.0 percent in preceding years. The acceleration may represent an attempt to catch up with inflation measured by the Higher Education Price Index: up 4.0 percent in fiscal year 2023 (down somewhat from the 5.2 percent of fiscal 2022).

For students who received financial aid during the current academic year, the average parent contribution was $13,000.

Class Characteristics and Demographics

According to the announcement, 20.7 percent of accepted applicants qualified for federal Pell grants, awarded to students from lower-income backgrounds, and 20.5 of those admitted are first-generation college students. Both proportions slightly exceed those in the cohort admitted to the class of 2027.

Of those admitted, 53.1 percent are women and 46.9 percent are men. The cohort is, as always, geographically far-flung, representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 94 countries beyond the United States. Some 15.4 percent are international students (9.6 percent are dual U.S. citizens). Among those accepted are 21 are veterans; 41 students expressed interest in ROTC.

Data on racial and ethnic diversity are no longer reported with this news release, as noted.

Selective Schools’ Admissions in Flux

Although much may be made of the size of Harvard’s applicant pool, it makes more sense to consider the changing context for admissions at the nation’s relatively few—if unquestionably high-profile—selective colleges and universities. Policies, practices, and prospective applicants’ responses to them are unsettled for numerous reasons, including:

•efforts to construct diverse classes in the wake of the June 2023 Supreme Court decision outlawing consideration of applicants’ race in schools’ holistic reviews of candidates ( “The Supreme Court Rules,” September-October 2023, page 14)—and associated changes in outreach and recruiting;

•evolving attitudes toward standardized testing; and

•legacy and other traditional admissions preferences, and new preferences possibly under development now.

•Diversity. Given the court ruling, colleges’ policies for admitting diverse classes clearly must change. Harvard was at the center of the 1978 Bakke decision which defined permissible ways of considering race in admissions—and again in the most recent litigation, which eliminated such practices. So it might be expected that prospective applicants would wonder how the College’s procedures would be altered, beyond the immediate steps taken to comply with the law (removing information about applicants’ race or ethnicity from all files, admission reviews, and aggregate data available during the process). It is a reasonable assumption that defining and promulgating new policies and practices was a high priority for Harvard during this academic year— until the campus turmoil following the October 7 Hamas attacks upended the campus, University leadership , and any existing agenda. As a result, other matters have had to be addressed urgently—but Alan Garber, interim president, has indicated that he will push ahead with work on admissions .

In the meantime, other institutions have more public about the steps they are taking to construct diverse classes while complying fully with the new legal realities. For example, Yale has been outspoken about pursuing outreach to students from lower-income and other communities underrepresented in its undergraduate population, and recently announced that the record cohort of applicants to the class of 2028 “By some measures…set new marks for diversity.” Cornell recently joined QuestBridge, a program through which low-income applicants seek early admission to selective colleges, commit to attend the highest-ranked school with which they match, and receive a full scholarship from the organization. Harvard is now the only Ivy institution not participating, and the College has, generally, been quieter about such matters than several peers.

Two interesting developments bear on what schools can and will do. In February, the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to the admissions criteria adopted by the elite Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, in Alexandria, Virginia . It eliminated an entrance exam and began offering admission to the top students from each middle school in its area (versus the top applicants from any school across the district), while also considering the “experience factors” students presented. Data on applicants’ race, sex, and name were withheld from admissions staff. Litigants objected that the effect was discriminatory, but an appeals court upheld the plan and the Supreme Court let that ruling stand. The school’s enrollment shifted from nearly three-quarters to slightly more than one-half Asian American, while becoming more nearly representative of the district’s population overall.

In light of that ruling, people who model admissions have theorized about what selective colleges might do to sustain diverse classes while considering data beyond test scores and applicants’ household income. In one vivid demonstration, a New York Times tool ( https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/03/09/upshot/affirmative-action-alternatives.html ) illustrates how admitted classes can be made increasingly diverse racially and ethnically as increased preference is given to applicants based on the relative poverty of their high schools and each applicant’s outperformance compared to peers, combined with more effective outreach to such students who don’t often apply to the most selective colleges. Such preferences would have to be adapted alongside, or in place, of, traditional ones (discussed below).

•Standardized testing. During the pandemic, when it was difficult to sit for the exams, many institutions waived the requirement that applicants submit SAT or ACT test scores. Since then, test-optional policies remained widely in place, in part, on the theory that the tests themselves and differential access to private tutoring disadvantage lower-income applicants or students enrolled in under-resourced high schools. Of late, however, the tide has begun to turn. MIT reinstituted a testing requirement, noting that SAT math scores indicate whether applicants have the capacity to take on a highly quantitative curriculum—and reported enrolling its most diverse class.

Citing research on the usefulness of test scores in identifying qualified but overlooked applicants, Dartmouth has reinstated its standardized test requirement beginning with its class of 2029. Yale followed suit, with a “test-flexible” standard requiring SAT, ACT, International Baccalaureate, or Advanced Placement scores. And Brown reinstituted a requirement for SAT or ACT scores. Harvard College remains test-optional through 2030 . (Just ahead of today’s announcement about class of 2028 admissions, Emi Nietfeld ’15 argued in favor of mandatory standardized testing from the perspective of a disadvantaged applicant in this New York Times essay , “How the SAT Changed My Life.”)

•Legacy and other preferences. In March, Virginia outlawed legacy preferences for alumni-related applicants to public colleges; both the University of Virginia and William & Mary, which are selective-admissions schools, are public institutions covered by the measure. Something of a movement may be afoot. Similar legislation, covering all institutions in those states, has been introduced in Minnesota and Connecticut. ( Yale has testified against; that state’s legislation would also ban preferences for donors .) In reinstituting its test requirement, Brown decided to retain early decision (thought to disadvantage students who need to compare aid offers) and family preferences (for children of alumni and Brown employees)—but with the latter subject to further review.

As on other matters, Harvard has yet to weigh in on legacies—but a conversation about such preferences, and perhaps how athletic preferences figure into the mix, has surely been percolating here as the College seeks to sustain a broadly diverse class, without resorting to practices now rendered impermissible.

In the meantime , the brilliant youngsters just granted admission can be thankful that luck favored them, too, with fewer applicants competing for spot in Harvard College’s class of 2028. Prospective students can kick the tires in person during Visitas, April 14-15 , or virtually. They have until the end of the day on Wednesday, May 1, to reply to their offers of admission.

Read the University announcement here.

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The Lottery of Getting Into Harvard

A t this time of year an aspiring group of high school seniors have their hopes set on gaining admittance to a university or college of their choice. For some, those aspirations lie with a small number of extremely selective institutions. Their anxieties and their parent’s anxieties may be running high in wondering what more they could have done to increase their chances of acceptance. Yet as they wait for a letter or email informing them of the university’s decision, they are probably unaware of a key factor influencing entrance to Harvard and other elites—luck.

As I describe in my forthcoming book, The Random Factor , in 2021 there were 57,435 students applying for admittance to Harvard University from around the United States and the world to be a part of Harvard’s class of 2025. Many of these applicants had sterling credentials—GPA’s at 4.00 or above; an array of advance placement courses; standardized test scores in the top five percent; a portfolio of volunteer and enrichment activities. Of the 57,435, 1,968 were admitted, for an overall acceptance rate of 3.4 percent .

Certainly there are factors that can increase a student’s chances of being admitted. Having high scores and grades is a prerequisite, but other factors also come into play. For example, one study analyzed Harvard admissions data from 2009 to 2014. The authors found that for students with a 10 percent chance of admission, if they were a legacy they would see a five-fold increase in their chance of admission; if a relative gave a donation to the university, they would experience a seven fold increase; and if they were a recruited athlete, they were practically certain of admittance.

In addition, admissions officers will tell you that they are looking for students who are not only highly qualified academically but who also will enrich the campus community. This includes wanting to construct an incoming class that is diverse in terms of race and ethnicity, social class, geographical location, life experiences, and so on. Furthermore, they are seeking young adults who are projected to become leaders in their fields.

All of these are undoubtedly important factors in deciding who will be admitted into highly selective universities such as Harvard. But what they probably will not tell you is that the selection from among this group of applicants is also influenced by another factor—the random factor. To acknowledge this would be to admit that the process is less than completely deliberative and systematic, which it most assuredly is.

Consider the standard procedure for choosing who will be admitted. We can think of this as a weeding out process. The first cut will eliminate any applicants who do not meet the basic requirements that are felt necessary to succeed academically at the institution. These would include grade point average, standardized test scores, rigor of the classes taken in high school, and so on. Frequently a computer program known as an academic index will provide a weighting of these criteria in order to rank order the applicants. Only those above a certain cutoff point will move to the next round.

At this stage other considerations come into play. They include the essay the student has written for their application, along with their extracurricular activities. In addition, larger university concerns are considered like the earlier mentioned desire of having a diverse incoming class or having students to fill a particular need such as the bassoon player for the orchestra or goalie on the soccer team.

Having served on graduate school admissions committees here at Washington University in St. Louis , I can attest to the fact that the element of subjectivity enters into the picture at this point. For example, when reading student essays detailing why they are interested in coming to our university, or describing an important life experience, it can be hard to distinguish among dozens of such essays. Certainly there may be some that are stand-outs or drop-outs, but most fall within a grey area. Likewise, the judging of extracurricular activities can be quite subjective.

And it is here that the random factor is present. One way of seeing this is that a specific student might be accepted at one highly selective school, but rejected at others. One university may have been looking for something in particular that year which influenced the decision to accept the student, while another university was interested in something else.

But just as important, a final decision could have reflected the mood of the admissions officer on a particular day. The difference between two students may be virtually nonexistent. The selecting of one versus the other might as well have been decided by a coin flip. As Michael Kinsley writes about getting into Harvard, “The luck may be in your genes, in your parent’s checkbooks, in their parenting skills, or in the dubious meatloaf the dean of admissions had for dinner the night before your application was considered.” While a highly qualified student applying to a dozen very selective universities will in all likelihood be accepted into at least one, the specific university they are admitted to may be the luck of the draw.

Harvard political philosophy professor Michael Sandel and others have proposed introducing a lottery system to the admissions process at highly selective universities as a straightforward way of simply recognizing randomness for what it is. Such an approach would first remove from the applicant pool those who do not have the basic qualifications to succeed during their four years. This might reduce the numbers at Harvard by 20 percent, leaving perhaps 40,000 applicants.

At this point, Sandel recommends , “Rather than engage in the exceedingly difficult and uncertain task of trying to predict who among them are the most surpassingly meritorious, choose the entering class by lottery. In other words, toss the folders of the qualified applicants down the stairs, pick up 2,000 of them, and leave it at that.”

Whether such a procedure will ever be adopted is probably a long shot. But as Sandel points out, “Setting a threshold of qualification and letting chance decide the rest would restore some sanity to the high school years, and relieve, at least to some extent, the soul-killing, resume-stuffing, perfections-seeking experience they have become.”

Sandel’s suggestion is reminiscent of a story often told about the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs . Those applying for first-year analyst positions at Goldman are obviously a very competitive and credentialed group, with many more qualified than positions available. One year, a managing director who was overseeing recruiting, randomly divided the stack of resumes into two piles on his desk. He thought for a moment, and then threw one stack into the wastebasket. A colleague standing next to him looked surprised. The managing director replied, “You have to be lucky in this business.” Pointing to the resumes still on his desk, he said, “We might as well pick from the lucky ones.”

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