University of Harvard

History of the University of Harvard

The establishment of the University of Harvard dates back to 1636 by a vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who approved £400 to start a school or college in the name of “New College”. After the death of its first benefactor, John Harvard of Charlestown, in 1638, the Great and General Court ordered that the college be called Harvard College. He bequeathed a will and left half of his estate and entire library to the school after his death. 

In 1780, the Massachusetts Constitution officially recognized Harvard with university status, and the students received their first medical instruction in 1781, thereby leading to the foundation of the Medical School in 1782. 

Education at University of Harvard

The University of Harvard has the largest endowment of any school globally and conducts research across a range of disciplines in more than 100 centres. Apart from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, the 209-acre campus is home to 10-degree granting schools, five museums and two theatres. Some of the other eminent degree-granting institutions at Harvard include the highly ranked Business School, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Law School and Graduate School of Education. 

The University of Harvard also boasts of a medical school based in the nearby city of Boston. The Harvard Medical School is affiliated with several teaching hospitals such as Brigham Women’s Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The academic calendar at the university is semester-based, with English being the medium of instruction. 

USPs of University of Harvard

Being a student at Harvard is a perk in itself because of the name it holds. However, some of the unique features of the university are as follows:

• The library at Harvard is the largest globally, with 19 million volumes at its 70+ libraries, including rare manuscripts, letters and more.
• From the Harvard Yard, stacks below the Widener Library, research hospitals in Mission hill to the top of Harvard stadium, the campus at Harvard is full of history and culture.
• Boasts of one of the oldest business schools in the world, founded in 1908. 
• Unlike other business schools with one or two buildings, the Harvard Business School campus comprises 34, including five Execution Education buildings and five on-campus residence halls. 
• It hosts more than 5000 scholars, the highest among US universities.

Career Opportunities Available for Harvard Graduates

Finding a rewarding and fulfilling job for a Harvard graduate is not cumbersome since they get a lot of opportunities not just off campus but also on the campus. A student at the University of Harvard can work with a faculty member at a paid research assistant position, lead tours for the Admission Office, learn to run a business at the student-operated Harvard Student Agencies and much more. 

The off-campus career opportunities vary depending on the student’s field of study. While a Harvard Medical School can expect to intern or conduct research at Massachusetts General Hospital, an MBA student will work at some of the premium companies. Here’s a list of the job profiles that a Harvard graduate can work for, along with the annual average salary.

• Vice President (VP) Finance: $151,732 (INR 1,13,32,013.38)
• Chief Financial Officer (CFO): $135,741 (INR 1,01,37,735.14)
• Private Banker: $70,245 (INR 52,46,205.68)
• Senior Financial Analyst: $81,081 (INR 60,55,485.84)
• Investment Banker: $100,783 (INR 75,26,917.89)
• IT Consultant: $150,000 (INR 1,12,02,660)
• Financial Advisory Consultant: $130,000 (INR 97,08,972)
• Strategy Consultant: $150,000 (INR 1,12,02,660)
• Management Consultant: $149,000 (INR 1,11,27,975.60)
• Information Technology Director: $120,788 (INR 90,20,979.31)
• Senior Product Manager: $125,384 (INR 93,64,228.81)
• Senior Project Manager (IT): $114,822 (INR 85,75,412.18)
• Technical Program Manager: $124,636 (INR 93,08,364.88)

Notable Alumni of the University of Harvard

The University of Harvard has a massive worldwide alumni network of 4,00,000+ graduates, including Pulitzer Prize Winners, Heads of State, Academy Award Recipients and CEOs of corporate heavyweights. Some of the celebrated actors, best-selling authors, intellectuals and scholars have called Harvard their home, which is as follows. 

• John F. Kennedy – 35th President of the United States
• Mark Zuckerburg – CEO and Co-founder of Facebook
• Sheryl Sandberg – Chief Operating Officer at Facebook
• Natalie Portman – Academy Award-winning Israeli-American actress
• Margaret Atwood – Canadian Novelist, poet, and writer of “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
• W.E.B. DuBois – American Sociologist and Writer
• Ratan Tata – Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons
• Rahul Bajaj – Chairman of Bajaj Conglomerate
• Anand Mahindra – Chairman, Mahindra Group
• Kapil Sibal – Lawyer and politician, held various portfolios in the Congress government such as HRD, Science and Technology, Law and Justice and IT and Communications.
• P. Chidambaram – Congress leader, former Union Minister
• Jyotiraditya Scindia – MP from Madhya Pradesh
• Mira Nair: Well-known Indian film-maker
• Asish Nanda – Director, IIM Ahmedabad
• Jayant Sinha – Member of Lok Sabha, former Minister of State for Finance

University of Harvard: Location

The University of Harvard is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The main university campus lies along the Charles River, about 3 miles (5kms) west of downtown Boston, extending into the surrounding Harvard Square neighbourhood. 

Type of University: Public or Private

The University of Harvard is a private institution with an admission process that is most selective, and only academic elites get to study over here. The University of Harvard’s acceptance rate is 5% and an early acceptance rate of 13.9%. 

QS World University Rankings and Other Rankings

According to the QS World University Rankings 2022, the University of Harvard ranking stands at 5th position. Each educational institution was assessed according to six metrics like academic reputation, citations per faculty, employer reputation, international faculty ratio, faculty/student ratio, international student ratio.

The US News and World Report ranked the university on #2 in the 2022 edition of Best Colleges and bagged the same position on the Times Higher Education Ranking of 2022. 

Top Courses Offered at the University of Harvard

The University of Harvard has its legacy of being the best for more than 350 years. It has successfully positioned itself as the best ivy league university, both in the US and in the world. This is because the institution offers a host of top-ranked courses which attracts students from all over the globe, which are as follows.

• MBA in Finance
• MBA in Marketing
• MBA in Business
• A joint degree program in Law and Business
• Master in Design Engineering
• M.Arch
• MS in Health Data Science
• MS in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
• PhD in Computer Science
• PhD in Evolutionary Biology
• PhD in African and African American Studies

Here’s a sketch of the University of Harvard fees across undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs for the 2022-2023 academic calendar.

Full-time graduate school students (per academic year)

Fees: $51,904 (INR 38,76,419.10)

Part-time graduate school students (per academic year)

Fees: $25,952 (INR 19,38,209.55)

Full tuition fees for PhD and Master’s students (required for first two years of study)

Fees: $50,928 (INR 38,03,527.12)

Reduced tuition fee (required for the third and fourth year of study)

Fees: $13,240 (INR 9,88,821.46)

Required Exams and Admission Requirements for the University of Harvard

The University of Harvard admission requirements have changed over time. While furnishing the standardized test scores earlier was mandatory, it has been made optional now. Not just that, not every international student at Harvard needs to take an English proficiency test. Here are some of the University of Harvard requirements a student needs to fulfil.  

• After receiving a confirmation of their application via -mail, students need to pay an application fee of $75 (INR 5,601)
• Complete the Harvard supplement questions with the Common Application or Coalition Application
• A school official or counsellor should send a completed final school report and transcripts through Parchment/Docufide or Scrip-Safe International. 
• Standardized test scores such as SAT and ACT are no longer mandatory for College Classes of 2027-2030.
• There is no cutoff for students who wish to submit their standardized test scores. However, the highest composite score and educational background will be considered while reviewing the scores.
• Though it is not mandatory for first-year and transfer applicants to take an English proficiency test, Visiting Undergraduate Students Program applicants must take the TOEFL test.
• Supplementary materials such as personal statement/essay, resume and portfolio might have to be submitted, depending upon the school the student is seeking admission to. 

Available Scholarships at the University of Harvard

Around 55% of students at the University of Harvard receive need-based scholarships, whereas 1 out of 5 need nothing to get a degree. Scholarship funds come from various sources, including Harvard endowment funds, general tuition revenues, gifts from alumni, and federal and state grants. While there are a lot of scholarship programs at Harvard, they offer a separate one for international students. Here are a few scholarships available at the university for international students.

• Boustany MBA Harvard Scholarship
• Horace W. Goldsmith Fellowship
• The Robert S. Kaplan Life Sciences Fellowship
• Need-Based Fellowships
• HGSE Financial Aid

Placements at the University of Harvard

Being a Harvard graduate automatically makes an individual a highly employable prospect for corporate giants such as Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Boston Consulting Group, Facebook, Blackberry, Tesla, IBM, Twitter, etc. From curating their CVs/resume, finding them the right internship, mentoring them on how to prepare for interviews to career advising and financial plans, the Office of Career Services at the University of Harvard supports students at every stage of their professional journey.