Harvard University - acceptance rates of all degree programs

[cclangdell]

This is what I have found thus far from the open sources on the web.

Is there anyone who can fill in the blanks below?

I'm piling up Harvard's acceptance rates, partly for fun, partly for curiosity.

Just acceptance rates, please. (I know there are so many deeper issues than the rates, but, please. Rates.)

Harvard University - acceptance rates

English (PhD) - 2%

Clinical Psychology (PhD) - 2%

Medical School (MD) - 4.7%

Kennedy School (PhD) - 4.7%

Psychology (PhD, General)- 5%

Sociology (PhD) - 5%

Linguistics (PhD) - 5%

Philosophy (PhD) - 5%

Economics (PhD) - 5.7%

Business School (DBA, PhD) - 6.5%

College (AB, SB) - 7.1%

History (PhD) - 7.5%

Public Health (DSc) - 8%

Education School (EdD) - 8.9%

Political Science (PhD) - 9.2%

Divinity School (ThD) - 9.5%

Statistics (PhD) - 10%

Law School (JD) - 13%

Physics (PhD) - 13%

Business School (MBA) - 13.5%

Near Eastern Studies (PhD) - 15%

East Asian Studies (PhD) - 15%

Statistics (AM) - 25%

Divinity School (MDiv, MTS) - 27%

Kennedy School (MPP/MPA, etc.) - 35%

Kennedy School (MCMPA) - 50%

Education School (EdM) - 55%

East Asian Studies (AM) - 60%

Law School (SJD) - N/A (chosen from LLM)

Architecture (MArch) -

Architecture (DDes) -

Computer Science (PhD) -

Russian Literature (PhD) -

Biology (PhD) -

Chemistry (PhD) -

Mathematics (PhD) -

Dental School (DMD) -

* These rates are obtained from, and thus verifiable at, various internet websites.

[noojens]

* These rates are obtained from, and thus verifiable at, various internet websites.

Cute, but not particularly useful until you cite your actual sources.

[cclangdell]

Cute, but not particularly useful until you cite your actual sources.

Well, you can easily look up the numbers when you google with several key words. Also the majority of them are already up on their degree programs websites such as http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/programs_of ... ograms.php

Is there anyone who wants to (or can) add to the list?

[purplepepper]

those numbers seem to be pretty standard. i bet you'd get a 2% acceptance rate and any top English program, be it harvard or not.

The misleading thing is, for the most part you compete against people only in your subfield. so between 30 applicants who want to study the same thing--they'll take only 1 or 2.

[circumfession]

For the most competitive programs, the numbers might also be somewhat misleading because the sample size is so small, and there are so many factors that can affect the results. I know that Harvard English made far fewer offers this spring than usual, in part because far more students from the previous year accepted the offer than they had anticipated, so they cut the cohort size the next year to compensate. The acceptance rates--especially for those programs that matriculate fewer than 15 students a year--can vary widely, and can double or drop in half from year to year.

Top English programs tend to accept anywhere between 2-10% of their applicants (2-5% is more common). In reality, however, many applicants at these top programs really don't have much of a chance to begin with. Rather than a pool of 500, a strong applicant is really competing with, say, perhaps 100 well qualified peers for 10-25 offers. And as others have noted, the situation is even more complicated since at some programs (some, not all!)you're actually competing for certain fields and/or topics. It's pretty absymal, but not *quite* as bad as it seems.

"Fit," however, does make a huge difference. One ivy league English program did not accept *any* student who worked in either of two fields last year. Any applicant in those fields who paid close attention to the faculty list probably would not have applied in the first place, since this school was no longer a strong place for it, but a less observant student who was applying blindly to all the Ivy's wouldn't have stood a chance.

[OD09]

Is there any chance you remember where you got the statistics for the Kennedy School? They are not published online. From what Kennedy's admission committee suggests, its admission rate for its MPP program is 20%, for their MPA 25%, and for their PhD (Government/Public Policy) 7%.

[cclangdell]

Is there any chance you remember where you got the statistics for the Kennedy School? They are not published online. From what Kennedy's admission committee suggests, its admission rate for its MPP program is 20%, for their MPA 25%, and for their PhD (Government/Public Policy) 7%.

I remember their old official website (when it was KSG, not the current HKS) clearly stated in the FAQ section that the average acceptance rate for their master's programs is about 1/3 (confirmed by various websites), and the doctoral program less than 5%. Government/Public Policy PhD is a GSAS program, I believe, which I labeled as Political Science in the original post. The exact rates for every year will be fluctuating slightly around the average. I'm pretty sure about KSG's rates.

[cclangdell]

.

[manhong]

i think the information up there is quite reliable. I heard from the admission director of the Kennedy School that their acceptance rate for the PhD program has been lower than 5% for the past several years.

[cclangdell]

.

[quadsbaby]

Engineering is 15% over all disciplines

[cclangdell]

Harvard University - acceptance rates

English (PhD) - 2%

Clinical Psychology (PhD) - 2%

Medical School (MD) - 4.7%

Kennedy School (PhD) - 4.7%

Psychology (PhD, General)- 5%

Sociology (PhD) - 5%

Linguistics (PhD) - 5%

Philosophy (PhD) - 5%

Economics (PhD) - 5.7%

Business School (DBA, PhD) - 6.5%

College (AB, SB) - 7.1%

History (PhD) - 7.5%

Public Health (DSc) - 8%

Education School (EdD) - 8.9%

Political Science (PhD) - 9.2%

Divinity School (ThD) - 9.5%

Statistics (PhD) - 10%

Law School (JD) - 13%

Physics (PhD) - 13%

Business School (MBA) - 13.5%

Near Eastern Studies (PhD) - 15%

East Asian Studies (PhD) - 15%

Engineering Majors (PhD) - 15+%

Statistics (AM) - 25%

Divinity School (MDiv, MTS) - 27%

Kennedy School (MPP/MPA, etc.) - 35%

Kennedy School (MCMPA) - 50%

Education School (EdM) - 55%

East Asian Studies (AM) - 60%

Law School (SJD) - N/A (chosen from LLM)

Architecture (MArch) -

Architecture (DDes) -

Computer Science (PhD) -

Russian Literature (PhD) -

Biology (PhD) -

Chemistry (PhD) -

Mathematics (PhD) -

Dental School (DMD) -

Edited January 11, 2010 by cclangdell

[cybe2001]

The acceptance rate for Harvard is actually 4.1% if I am to believe the Admission Committee.

[DrFaustus666]

Harvard University - acceptance rates

English (PhD) - 2%

Clinical Psychology (PhD) - 2%

Medical School (MD) - 4.7%

Kennedy School (PhD) - 4.7%

Psychology (PhD, General)- 5%

Sociology (PhD) - 5%

Linguistics (PhD) - 5%

Philosophy (PhD) - 5%

Economics (PhD) - 5.7%

Business School (DBA, PhD) - 6.5%

College (AB, SB) - 7.1%

History (PhD) - 7.5%

Public Health (DSc) - 8%

Education School (EdD) - 8.9%

Political Science (PhD) - 9.2%

Divinity School (ThD) - 9.5%

Statistics (PhD) - 10%

Law School (JD) - 13%

Physics (PhD) - 13%

Business School (MBA) - 13.5%

Near Eastern Studies (PhD) - 15%

East Asian Studies (PhD) - 15%

Engineering Majors (PhD) - 15+%

Statistics (AM) - 25%

Divinity School (MDiv, MTS) - 27%

Kennedy School (MPP/MPA, etc.) - 35%

Kennedy School (MCMPA) - 50%

Education School (EdM) - 55%

East Asian Studies (AM) - 60%

Law School (SJD) - N/A (chosen from LLM)

Architecture (MArch) -

Architecture (DDes) -

Computer Science (PhD) -

Russian Literature (PhD) -

Biology (PhD) -

Chemistry (PhD) -

Mathematics (PhD) -

Dental School (DMD) -

could you add Musicology to the list?

It's a tiny field, but extremely competitive -- all 4,000 or so of us in the entire USA want to get into Harvard or Princeton or Stanford, each of which accepts about 3 persons per year. I'd like to extrapolate from the %-accepted how many people actually apply.

[snbjsdw]

This is what I have found thus far from the open sources on the web.

Is there anyone who can fill in the blanks below?

I'm piling up Harvard's acceptance rates, partly for fun, partly for curiosity.

Just acceptance rates, please. (I know there are so many deeper issues than the rates, but, please. Rates.)

Harvard University - acceptance rates

English (PhD) - 2%

Clinical Psychology (PhD) - 2%

Medical School (MD) - 4.7%

Kennedy School (PhD) - 4.7%

Psychology (PhD, General)- 5%

Sociology (PhD) - 5%

Linguistics (PhD) - 5%

Philosophy (PhD) - 5%

Economics (PhD) - 5.7%

Business School (DBA, PhD) - 6.5%

College (AB, SB) - 7.1%

History (PhD) - 7.5%

Public Health (DSc) - 8%

Education School (EdD) - 8.9%

Political Science (PhD) - 9.2%

Divinity School (ThD) - 9.5%

Statistics (PhD) - 10%

Law School (JD) - 13%

Physics (PhD) - 13%

Business School (MBA) - 13.5%

Near Eastern Studies (PhD) - 15%

East Asian Studies (PhD) - 15%

Statistics (AM) - 25%

Divinity School (MDiv, MTS) - 27%

Kennedy School (MPP/MPA, etc.) - 35%

Kennedy School (MCMPA) - 50%

Education School (EdM) - 55%

East Asian Studies (AM) - 60%

Law School (SJD) - N/A (chosen from LLM)

Architecture (MArch) -

Architecture (DDes) -

Computer Science (PhD) -

Russian Literature (PhD) -

Biology (PhD) -

Chemistry (PhD) -

Mathematics (PhD) -

Dental School (DMD) -

* These rates are obtained from, and thus verifiable at, various internet websites.

My field is the highest. Is it good news?...

[ben778]

According to the Harvard Crimson in April 2010, the Kennedy School MPP program had an acceptance rate of just under 20% for the class that entered in Fall of 2010. As for who gets funding, that's where the real competition comes in. With financial aide at the Kennedy School it is either feast or famine.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/4/15/kennedy-percent-school-number/

[chhouston]

English (PhD) - 2%

Clinical Psychology (PhD) - 2%

Medical School (MD) - 4.7%

Kennedy School (PhD) - 4.7%

Psychology (PhD, General)- 5%

Sociology (PhD) - 5%

Linguistics (PhD) - 5%

Philosophy (PhD) - 5%

Economics (PhD) - 5.7%

Business School (DBA, PhD) - 6.5%

College (AB, SB) - 7.1%

History (PhD) - 7.5%

Public Health (DSc) - 8%

Education School (EdD) - 8.9%

Political Science (PhD) - 9.2%

Divinity School (ThD) - 9.5%

Statistics (PhD) - 10%

Law School (JD) - 13%

Physics (PhD) - 13%

Business School (MBA) - 13.5%

Near Eastern Studies (PhD) - 15%

East Asian Studies (PhD) - 15%

Engineering Majors (PhD) - 15+%

Statistics (AM) - 25%

Divinity School (MDiv, MTS) - 27%

Kennedy School (MPP/MPA, etc.) - 35%

Kennedy School (MCMPA) - 50%

Education School (EdM) - 55%

East Asian Studies (AM) - 60%

Law School (SJD) - N/A (chosen from LLM)

Architecture (MArch) -

Architecture (DDes) -

Computer Science (PhD) -

Russian Literature (PhD) -

Biology (PhD) -

Chemistry (PhD) -

Mathematics (PhD) -

Dental School (DMD) -

Pretty sure that this is bogus. Where does this data comes from? For instance, how were you able to find the admissions rate for these GSAS programs? As an example, I tried looking at East Asian Studies (masters and PhD) and found nothing online, not even a suggestion.

[DrFaustus666]

Pretty sure that this is bogus. Where does this data comes from?

Not to be a pain, but I always wonder what it means to say that Harvard's acceptance rate is 5% and, say, the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople accepts 25% of applicants ...

I mean, uh, ..., by extrapolation, does anyone really think that 1/5 of U-SND-H applicants would be admitted into Harvard if they chose to apply there? The whole thing seems misleading at the very least.

[Bukharan]

Not to be a pain, but I always wonder what it means to say that Harvard's acceptance rate is 5% and, say, the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople accepts 25% of applicants ...

I mean, uh, ..., by extrapolation, does anyone really think that 1/5 of U-SND-H applicants would be admitted into Harvard if they chose to apply there? The whole thing seems misleading at the very least.

What? I don't see the correlation between the two at all.

[DrFaustus666]

What? I don't see the correlation between the two at all.

That's my point. There's no correlation. Thus the statistic "Harvard accepts 5% of applicants in x field, while U-SND-H accepts 25% of applicants in the same field" is all-but totally meaningless.

Unless I'm missing something. If I am, please enlighten me. I've wondered what this "percentage of applicants accepted" statistic means, for decades.

The only use I can see is in the service of the universities' marketing strategies. For example, U-SND-H may publish a statistic like that as a means of saying, "You have a shot here, give us a good look" ... while Harvard may use the statistic to say, "Don't even bother unless you're REALLY well qualified, and maybe not even then."

That's how I see it, but is there something I don't see? Honest question. I'm trying to understand this, and why it even matters to anybody.

[psygrad81]

That's my point. There's no correlation. Thus the statistic "Harvard accepts 5% of applicants in x field, while U-SND-H accepts 25% of applicants in the same field" is all-but totally meaningless.

Unless I'm missing something. If I am, please enlighten me. I've wondered what this "percentage of applicants accepted" statistic means, for decades.

The only use I can see is in the service of the universities' marketing strategies. For example, U-SND-H may publish a statistic like that as a means of saying, "You have a shot here, give us a good look" ... while Harvard may use the statistic to say, "Don't even bother unless you're REALLY well qualified, and maybe not even then."

That's how I see it, but is there something I don't see? Honest question. I'm trying to understand this, and why it even matters to anybody.

[/quote/]

Think of it in terms of applicant pool. Not sure what real numbers would be, but hypothetically, I can see that Harvard might get more applicants than say U-SND-H....obviously a lot of applicants are looking for prestige, and apply to Harvard (or some place similar) as a long shot just to do it. So, if there are say 10 slots in each program, and 200 Harvard applicants, that would be 5% of applicants getting admitted. But for U-SND-H, say there are also 10 slots open but only 40 applicants - hence 25% admitted.

This is a very crude representation, but its 'misleading' because some schools might not explicitly explain the nature of their stats. Its really comparing apples to oranges. Look back at the degree areas with high acceptance rates. They are probably the areas with the least amount of applicants, thus increasing the odds. So yes, the numbers do mean something, it does allow students a snap shot into how competitive admission is to school X. But you can't really make direct comparisons.

[enrique]

does anyone have any knowledge about the admission rate for the film and visual studies program at harvard?