Harvard University

🎓 Academic Program

No standalone Accounting major. Economics or Applied Mathematics concentration with HBS exposure.

🎯 Admissions

📊 Exam Requirements

📅 Deadlines

💰 Financial Aid & Scholarships

📑 Scholarship requirements

• Submit CSS Profile (international form) by deadline
• Family financial documents (tax returns, bank statements, property documents)
• Income verification from employer
• Demonstrate financial need through Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
• No separate scholarship application — automatic with admission

🔄 Scholarship maintenance

Annual CSS Profile resubmission. Maintain satisfactory academic progress (no fixed GPA minimum). Continue to demonstrate financial need.

⚠️ Conditions & restrictions

• Must remain enrolled full-time
• Aid recalculated each year based on family finances
• Withdrawal could trigger pro-rated aid return

📝 Application requirements

• 2 teacher recommendations
• 1 school counselor recommendation
• Common App essay
• Harvard supplemental essays (5 short answer)
• Mid-Year Report
• Optional alumni interview

✍️ Supplemental essay prompts (2025-2026)

1. How will the life experiences that shaped who you are today enable you to contribute to Harvard? (150 words)
2. Describe a time when you strongly disagreed with someone about an idea or issue. How did you communicate or engage with this person? What did you learn from this experience? (150 words)
3. Briefly describe any of your extracurricular activities, employment experience, travel, or family responsibilities that have shaped who you are. (150 words)
4. How do you hope to use your Harvard education in the future? (150 words)
5. Top 3 things your roommates might like to know about you. (150 words)

⭐ "Why Us?" — Essay hooks & school personality

Oldest US university (1636). House system creates lifelong community. Faculty includes Nobel laureates and Pulitzer winners. Phillips Brooks House Association leads urban community service. Cambridge is intellectual hub with Harvard Square. Cross-registration with MIT for STEM courses. Crimson newspaper is oldest US daily.

🏆 Unique advantages

Need-blind for ALL students worldwide. Largest endowment in higher education ($50B+). Highest yield rate of any US college (~82%). Lifetime alumni network includes 8 US Presidents.

💼 Career outlook

~30% in finance/consulting. Top recruiter for Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, Bain. Median starting salary $80,000+ for finance majors.

⏰ Work while studying

F-1 visa: up to 20 hrs/week on-campus during semester, full-time during breaks. Federal work-study available for aid recipients ~$3,500/yr. Library, dining, research positions ~$15-20/hr.

🎯 Backup plans

• If denied REA: apply RD with stronger application
• Defer admission for gap year, work, save money
• Consider transferring after 1 year at another school
• Apply for external scholarships (Mongolian govt, private foundations)

🔗 Official sources

• college.harvard.edu/admissions
• college.harvard.edu/financial-aid
• Harvard Common Data Set 2024-25