Photo credit: Annie E. Schugart
Makeup of the Class

By Brian P. Yu and Pradeep Niroula

The Crimson's survey of more than 70 percent of incoming freshmen in Harvard College’s Class of 2020 asked them about their backgrounds and expectations for life on campus. Read Part I of The Crimson's three-part series on the freshman survey here.

Demographics

  • Gender

    A small majority of respondents identify as male; 50.2 percent of respondents identify as male, while 49.3 percent of respondents identify as female.

  • Ethnicity

    Fifty-six percent of respondents identify as white, compared to 58.2 percent of respondents to The Crimson's 2015 survey of the Class of 2019.

  • Athletics

  • Recruited Athletes by Family Income

    Among recruited athletes, 21.0 percent of respondents have parents with a combined annual income of greater than $500,000, and 4.2 percent of respondents have parents with a combined annual income of less than $40,000.

  • Sexuality

  • Birth Order

  • Secondary School

  • Legacy by Community

    Among students from an urban community, 14.3 percent of respondents reported having at least one parent that went to Harvard College. Among students from a rural community, 6.4 percent of respondents reported having at least one parent that went to Harvard College.

  • Legacy by Family Income

    Among students with parents who have a combined income of $500,000 or greater, 26.6 percent of respondents have at least one parent who went to Harvard College. Among students with parents who have a combined income of less than $40,000, 0.6 percent of respondents have at least one parent who went to Harvard College.

  • Legacy

  • Legacy by Secondary School

    Among students who attended a private school, 17.4 percent of respondents reported having at least one parent that went to Harvard College, compared to 10.0 percent of respondents who attended a public school.

  • Transgender Students

  • First Generation Students

  • First Generation Student Ethnicity

    Twenty-nine percent of respondents who are first-generation college students are white, compared to 51.6 percent of respondents who are not first-generation college students.

  • First Generation Students Receiving Financial Aid

    Ninety-five percent of first-generation respondents receive financial aid from Harvard.

  • First Generation Students' Family Income

    Among first-generation students, 47.8 percent of respondents have parents with a combined income of below $40,000, and 3.8 percent of respondents have parents with a combined income of greater than $500,000.

Geography

    • 2017
      2018
      2019
      2020

    Mouse over region to see data.

    41.1%
    of students are from the Northeast.

    73.4%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    88.7%
    of students from the Northeast expect to return after graduating.

    11.7%
    of students are from the Southeast.

    2.5%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    12.2%
    of students from the Southeast expect to return after graduating.

    13.8%
    of students are from the Midwest.

    2.6%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    18.6%
    of students from the Midwest expect to return after graduating.

    7.8%
    of students are from the Southwest.

    1.3%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    10.0%
    of students from the Southwest expect to return after graduating.

    14.5%
    of students are from the West.

    10.7%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    42.2%
    of students from the West expect to return after graduating.

    43.1%
    of students are from the Northeast.

    70.7%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    34.7%
    of students from the Northeast have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    10.6%
    of students are from the Southeast.

    2.6%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    20.3%
    of students from the Southeast have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    11.0%
    of students are from the Midwest.

    2.3%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    22.8%
    of students from the Midwest have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    6.8%
    of students are from the Southwest.

    2.4%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    21.8%
    of students from the Southwest have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    16.9%
    of students are from the West.

    14.2%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    24.6%
    of students from the West have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    11.6%
    of students are from outide the US.

    7.8%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    14.9%
    of students from outside the US have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    38.3%
    of students are from the Northeast.

    70.8%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    35.9%
    of students from the Northeast have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    12.5%
    of students are from the Southeast.

    1.4%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    26.6%
    of students from the Southeast have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    12.3%
    of students are from the Midwest.

    2.5%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    23.6%
    of students from the Midwest have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    7.0%
    of students are from the Southwest.

    1.1%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    13.6%
    of students from the Southwest have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    18.5%
    of students are from the West.

    13.7%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    28.6%
    of students from the West have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    11.2%
    of students are from outide the US.

    10.2%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    14.0%
    of students from outside the US have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    39.2%
    of students are from the Northeast.

    90.0%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    46.8%
    of students from the Northeast have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    12.0%
    of students are from the Southeast.

    9.2%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    32.1%
    of students from the Southeast have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    11.2%
    of students are from the Midwest.

    20.5%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    30.4%
    of students from the Midwest have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    6.7%
    of students are from the Southwest.

    16.5%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    20.3%
    of students from the Southwest have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    18.1%
    of students are from the West.

    46.2%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    38.5%
    of students from the West have a relative that went to Harvard College.

    12.6%
    of students are from outide the US.

    39.6%
    of students plan to live there after college.

    15.0%
    of students from outside the US have a relative that went to Harvard College.

  • Community Type

Employment

  • Anticipated Starting Salary

  • Anticipated Starting Salary by Gender

  • Anticipated Employment Field by Gender

  • Anticipated Post-Graduate Occupation by Secondary School Type

The Application

  • GPA vs. SAT Score

  • Average SAT Scores by Ethnicity

  • Average SAT Scores by Gender

  • Average SAT Scores by School Type

  • Average SAT Scores by Legacy

College Costs

  • Harvard Financial Aid Recipients

    About 57 percent of freshman respondents reported receiving financial aid from Harvard.

  • Family Income Distribution

  • Financial Aid by Community Type

    About 80 percent of students from rural areas requested financial aid. Similarly, about 57 percent for students from urban areas and 53 precent of students from sub-urban areas requested financial aid for college education.

  • College Counseling

    About 15 percent students reported having received counseling from a private counselor.

  • Private Admissions Counseling by Income Bracket

    Like last year, private admissions counselors were more popular among students from wealthier families. 34.5 percent of students with family income above $500k reported benefitting from private admissions counselor while only 11.4 percent of students family income below $40k reported having received assistance from private counselor.

College Acceptances

  • Applications and Acceptances

  • Early Action

    50.8 percent of all students were admitted through the College’s single-choice early action program.. Last year, this number was 55.5 percent.

  • Legacy Admission

    About 79 percent of students reported having Harvard as their first choice for college.

  • Legacy Diversity

  • Was Harvard Your Top Choice?

  • Early Action Top Choice

  • Early Admission by Income Bracket

    Consistent with earlier years, the proportion of students admitted via the College’s single-choice early action program increased with increase in income brackets.

  • Early Admission by School Type

    Fifty-eight percent of respondents admitted early come to Harvard from public high school and forty-one percent from private school.

Athletics

  • Recruited Athletes

    About 10 percent of students reported to have been recruited athletes. Harvard does not offer athletic scholarships to recruited athletes or give out merit scholarships of any kind.

  • SAT Scores by Recruitment Status