Harvard College

Introduction

Harvard College is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees (the other being Harvard Extension School). Founded in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world.

Applying

When applying to Harvard University, it's important to note the application deadline is January 1, and the early action deadline is November 1. Scores for either the ACT or SAT test are due March 6. The application fee at Harvard University is $75. It is most selective, with an acceptance rate of 6 percent.

Academics

About 2000 students are admitted each year, representing between five and ten percent of those applying; of those admitted approximately three-quarters choose to attend.  These figures make Harvard perhaps the most selective and sought-after college in the world. Very few transfers are accepted.

Midway through the second year, most undergraduates join one of fifty standard fields of concentration many also declare a secondary field  Joint concentrations (combining the requirements of two standard concentrations) and special concentrations (of the student's own design) are also possible.

Most Harvard College concentrations lead to the Artium Baccalaureus (A.B.), normally completed in four years, though students leaving high school with substantial college-level coursework may finish in three. A smaller number receive the Scientiarum Baccalaureus (S.B.), normally requiring five years. There are also special degree programs, such as a five-year program leading to both a Harvard undergraduate degree and a Master of Arts from the New England Conservatory of Music.

Undergraduates must also fulfill the General Education requirement of coursework in eight designated fields:

•       Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding
• ·         Culture and Belief
• ·         Empirical and Mathematical Reasoning
• ·         Ethical Reasoning
• ·         Science of Living Systems
• ·         Science of the Physical Universe
• ·         Societies of the World
• ·         United States in the World

Academic Life

The student-faculty ratio at Harvard University is 7:1, and the school has 74 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors at Harvard University include: Social Sciences, General; Biology/Biological Sciences, General; History, General; Mathematics, General; and Physical Sciences. The average freshman retention rate, an indicator of student satisfaction, is 97 percent.

Athletics

By the late 19th century critics of intercollegiate athletics, including Harvard president Charles William Eliot, believed that sports competition had become over-commercialized and took students away from their studies, and they called for reform and limitations on all sports. This opposition prompted Harvard's athletic committee to target 'minor' sports—basketball and hockey—for reform and regulation in order to deflect attention from the major sports—football, baseball, track, and crew. The committee made it difficult for the basketball team to operate by denying financial assistance and limiting the number of overnight away games in which the team could participate. Several losing seasons, negative attitudes toward the commercialization of intercollegiate sports, and the need for reform contributed to basketball's demise at Harvard in 1909.

Today Harvard, one of the eight members of the Ivy League, claims to have the largest Division I intercollegiate athletics program, with 41 varsity teams and over 1,500 student-athletes.

Begun in 1852 the Harvard-Yale Regatta is the oldest intercollegiate athletic rivalry in the United States. Better known is the annual Harvard-Yale football game—"The Game", to insiders—first played in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1875, and now played on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, making it one of many significant games played on "Rivalry Day."

Undergraduate organizations

Harvard has hundreds of undergraduate organizations.  Every spring there is an "Arts First week," founded by John Lithgow during which arts and culture organizations show off performances, cook meals, or present other work; in 2005 over 40% of students participated in at least one Arts First event. Notable organizations include the student-run business organization Harvard Student Agencies, the daily newspaper The Harvard Crimson, the humor magazine the Harvard Lampoon, the a cappella groups the Din & Tonics and the Krokodiloes, and the public service umbrella organization the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA).

Summary

Harvard University is a private institution that was founded in 1636. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 6,694, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 5,076 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Harvard University's ranking in the 2016 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 2. Its tuition and fees are $45,278 (2015-16).

Harvard is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. Harvard's extensive library system houses the oldest collection in the United States and the largest private collection in the world. There is more to the school than endless stacks, though: Harvard's athletic teams compete in the Ivy League, and every football season ends with "The Game," an annual matchup between storied rivals Harvard and Yale. At Harvard, on-campus residential housing is an integral part of student life. Freshmen live around the Harvard Yard at the center of campus, after which they are placed in one of 12 undergraduate houses for their remaining three years. Although they are no longer recognized by the university as official student groups, the eight all-male "final clubs" serve as social organizations for some undergraduate students; Harvard also has five female clubs.

In addition to the College, Harvard is made up of 13 other schools and institutes, including the top-ranked Business School and Medical School and the highly ranked Graduate Education School, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Law School and John F. Kennedy School of Government. Eight U.S. presidents graduated from Harvard College, including Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. Other notable alumni include Henry David Thoreau, Helen Keller, Yo-Yo Ma and Tommy Lee Jones. In 1977, Harvard signed an agreement with sister institute Radcliffe College, uniting them in an educational partnership serving male and female students, although they did not officially merge until 1999. Harvard also has the largest endowment of any school in the world.