Harvard today

Today Harvard is composed of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, including Harvard College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Division of Continuing Education.The University has a regular enrollment of 17,000, plus some 30,000 other students who take credit courses, non-credit courses, and seminar...

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History of Harvard University

A Brief History When you attend Harvard College, you become a part of the rich, storied history of the nation’s oldest institutions of higher learning. Founded in 1636, Harvard has undergone countless changes over the centuries, yet has always maintained its core as a haven for the world’s most ambitious scholars. Academics Harvard was founded in 1636 and named for its first donor, the Reverend John Harvard. It was granted a charter by the Colony of Massachusetts in 1650, under whose authority the University of today still operates.For...

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Mission & Vision Harvard University

Mission The mission of Harvard College is to educate the citizens and citizen-leaders for our society. We do this through our commitment to the trans-formative power of a liberal arts and sciences education. Beginning in the classroom with exposure to new ideas, new ways of understanding, and new ways of knowing, students embark on a journey of intellectual transformation.  Through a diverse living environment, where students live with people who are studying different topics, who come from different walks of life and have evolving...

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How to Apply Harvard College

Let us Help you Apply Each applicant to Harvard College is considered with great care. While there is no formula for gaining admission, we hope you will explore the information in this section to understand what we look for in our holistic admissions process. When to Apply Early Action applicants apply by the November 1 deadline and hear from us by December 15. If you apply to Harvard under our Early Action program, you may also apply at the same time to any public college/university or to foreign universities...

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University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)

(Los Angeles, CA, USA) 10th in U.S. With over 72,000 applications for the fall of 2012 alone, UCLA receives more applications than any other school in America. This is all the more impressive when one considers the institution was only founded in 1919 as a two-year, undergraduate teacher-training program. Today, the university can claim 13 Nobel Laureates, 12 Rhodes Scholars, 12 MacArthur Fellows, 10 National Medal of Science...

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Yale University

(New Haven, CT, USA) 9th in U.S. Yale University has everything one would expect from a major research university: it is one of the eight original Ivy League schools; it has a $20 billion endowment; and roughly one in six of its students come from foreign nations. Yale has also had a disproportionate influence on American politics. Numerous major U.S. political careers have begun at Yale—the school’s notorious Skull and Bones secret society...

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Oxford University

(Oxford, UK) Oxford University traces its origins back to the 13th century. With its intellectual roots firmly planted in medieval scholasticism, Oxford has survived the centuries, adapted to the times, and grown into what it is today—one of the world’s most impressive centers of learning. Perhaps more than any other school in the world, Oxford’s name has become synonymous with knowledge and learning. This is because the school runs...

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University of Chicago

(Chicago, IL, USA) 8th in U.S. The University of Chicago was only founded in 1890, making it one of the youngest elite universities in the world. But despite its youth, the school has spearheaded many of the world’s most important scientific achievements. It was here that Italian physicist Enrico Fermi created the world’s first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in 1942. It was likewise at Chicago that Stanley...

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Columbia University

  (New York, NY, USA) 7th in U.S. As one of the colonial colleges and the fifth-oldest school in the United States, Columbia has a lot of history. That history has created an internationally recognized, elite university with an $8.2 billion endowment and a library containing nearly 13 million volumes. Columbia University is spread across five distinct campuses in New York City, including Columbia College, the undergraduate...

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California Institute of Technology

(Pasadena, CA, USA) 6th in U.S. Any school can assign a textbook for you to read on your own, but research universities pride themselves on giving you the opportunity to work alongside leaders in their respective fields who write the textbooks. Of course, in order to do this efficiently a school needs a decent student/faculty ratio. Few schools can beat Caltech’s three-to-one ratio—which is one of the many reasons why this relatively...

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Princeton University

(Princeton, NJ, USA) 5th in U.S. Princeton University is one of the oldest, most historic universities in the United States. Its famous Nassau Hall (right) still bears a cannonball scar from the 1777 Battle of Princeton, and its former president, John Witherspoon, was the only University president to sign the Declaration of Independence. The school’s nearly three-century history has given it ample time to develop an impressive $18.2...

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University of Cambridge

(Cambridge, UK) As one of the oldest universities in the world (founded in 1209), Cambridge is an ancient school steeped in tradition. It is small exaggeration to say the history of western science is built on a cornerstone called Cambridge. The roster of great scientists and mathematicians associated with the university includes Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, James Clerk Maxwell, Augustus De Morgan, Ernest Rutherford, G.H....

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University Of California at Berkeley

(Berkeley, CA, USA) 4th in U.S. Berkeley is unique among the elite universities of the world. Most of the schools it competes with are privately owned, but Berkeley is a state school—albeit one with the elite status of a private school. The university is nestled in a pleasant city by the same name, within easy commuting distance of San Francisco. With over 36,000 students, Berkeley is also one of the larger elite universities. An impressive...

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA, USA) 3rd in U.S. In the century and a half since its founding in 1861, MIT has become the world’s preeminent science research center. The university is known for a focused approach that uses first-class methodologies to tackle world-class problems. This pragmatic creativity has produced legions of scientists and engineers, as well as 80 Nobel Laureates, 56 National Medal of Science...

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Stanford University

(Stanford, CA, USA) 2nd in U.S. With an $18.7 billion endowment Stanford has access to numerous world-class research resources. The school’s 1,189 acre Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve lets scientists study ecosystems first hand. Its 150-foot radio telescope, nicknamed “The Dish,” studies the ionosphere. Stanford also boasts a 315-acre habitat reserve which is actively trying to bring back the endangered California tiger salamander....

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