harvard essays 2019

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Photos by Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

Manisha Aggarwal-Schifellite

Harvard Staff Writer

First-years recount the agony and the ecstasy

Late nights. Discarded drafts. That one great idea. Most high school seniors would agree that the admissions essay is the hardest part of a college application. The Gazette asked first-year students to reflect on theirs — the writing, the inspiration, the hand-wringing — and the lessons learned.

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Louisville, Ky.

I stayed up really late at first, when my inhibitions were down, so I could write without being self-critical and brainstorm ideas. I probably went through 20 ideas, narrowed them down to five, wrote drafts of five, and then picked one and edited and edited and edited until I finished. All of the days writing the essay were stressful. I wrote about the transition from independence to interdependence and my personal growth that was catalyzed by my parents’ divorce. I reflected on my early independence as a child and how that transitioned to me depending on other people, working together in teams, and leading people to accomplish important things in our community.

“I stayed up really late at first, when my inhibitions were down, so I could write without being self-critical and brainstorm ideas.”

Nick Nocita

Arlington Heights, Ill.

I distinctly remember writing my Harvard essay at Thanksgiving on my phone. The inspiration just came in waves while I was spending time with my family. I talked about my grandmother, who passed around five or six years ago. She was someone who really influenced me in terms of seeing what one can do with a selfless attitude. She had only ever earned a high school education, and she didn’t have the opportunity to go beyond that. Seeing what someone can do with a high school education was amazing for me, to think about what I could do with the power of a prestigious college education. It was such an inspiration that I immediately wanted to start writing about her. My family was watching a football game, and I was pumping out this essay.

“The inspiration just came in waves while I was spending time with my family.”

Divya Amirtharaj

Portland, Ore.

There were a couple of weeks when I was sitting in front of my laptop and getting nothing. But once I figured out what I wanted to write, it was fast; in a day, I was done. In one of my essays, I wrote about growing up in a predominantly white area and a skin condition that I have called vitiligo. I wrote about how those things impacted my identity as an Indian woman. In another, I wrote about how I went from competitive swimming, to lifeguarding, to teaching lessons, to starting a program for free swim lessons for underprivileged kids in my area. It was interesting to go back at the end and see what I had written, summing up my entire life for 17 years.

“It was interesting to go back at the end and see what I had written, summing up my entire life for 17 years.”

Sophie Clivio

Kingston, Jamaica

I did submit my essay with a typo! I wrote it on Google Drive and made a comment to myself and a reference to switching something around. It’s at the bottom of my essay, and I didn’t realize until yesterday. I also wrote the essay as kind of a spoken-word poem. How many people have done that? I did not want to do the whole paragraph thing. I wrote about the culture shock I experienced moving from Jamaica to Milton, Mass., to attend boarding school, in terms of race and identity, because I’m a mixed-race person. I was really happy with the essay. It was very emotional to write, and I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders when I finished it. The typo was disappointing, but it’s fine! I’m here!

“I wrote the essay as kind of a spoken-word poem.”

Marcus Miller

For my essay, I wrote about being an athlete and finding your way after athletics by applying yourself in school. In eighth grade, I broke my femur, and I wrote about overcoming that. Then in my senior year of high school I tore my UCLs in both hands playing football. [That experience] brought me back to the process of rehabbing through injury. My essay was about finding your identity afterward. I’m more of a math and numbers guy, and I probably went through three or four ideas before I found this one.

“I’m more of a math and numbers guy, and I probably went through three or four ideas before I found this one.”

Kylie Simms

Travelers Rest, S.C.

I wrote about living in Milan when I was younger and how it opened my eyes to other perspectives and taught me not to be so quick to judge other people. In middle and high schools, I lived back in my small town in the U.S. and missed those interactions that helped me grow, so I also wrote about wanting to attend Harvard because I wanted to experience those different perspectives again. I didn’t edit my essay a lot because I wanted it to sound authentic and like my voice. I didn’t want to go through and replace all the words with fancier words. I wanted to sound like a person.

“I wanted it to sound authentic and like my voice.”

Alexander Park

Belmont, Mass.

I had just gotten out of the shower and thought, “Oh, I got this.” I remembered this anecdote of me sitting in the back of my grandfather’s car in Korea, and he was telling me about when Korea was a kingdom and about these kings from the Chosun dynasty. It was really interesting learning about this history that I wasn’t able to learn in America from somebody who was super-knowledgeable and cared a lot about it. I remember my sister was leaning on me, and we were driving on the highway. It was very calming and peaceful. So, I wrote about my love for history and my love for listening to stories. A lot of people say that you have to write down your entire life story in however many words you’re given, but you can highlight one really essential aspect of your identity. Telling a story about that is much more compelling than trying to fit everything in.

“Telling a story about that is much more compelling than trying to fit everything in.”

Nayleth Lopez-Lopez

When I started middle school, my mom went back to college. She emigrated from Venezuela and worked in her own convenience store for 17 years. When she started college, I took on the role of helping her edit her essays. In my essay, I wrote about asking for help and how she inspires me to ask for help, because she had the courage to ask her young daughter for help. It was so emotional to write. The first time I asked my mom to read it, I freaked out because she said she didn’t know if she liked it. She thought it was too much about her. But I think it all turned out OK.

“I wrote about … how [my mother] inspires me to ask for help, because she had the courage to ask her young daughter for help.”

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How to Write the Harvard University Essays 2023-2024

Harvard University, perhaps the most prestigious and well-known institution in the world, is the nation’s oldest higher learning establishment with a founding date of 1636. Boasting an impressive alumni network from Sheryl Sandberg to Al Gore, it’s no surprise that Harvard recruits some of the top talents in the world.

It’s no wonder that students are often intimidated by Harvard’s extremely open-ended supplemental essays. However, CollegeVine is here to help and offer our guide on how to tackle Harvard’s supplemental essays. 

Read this Harvard essay example to inspire your own writing.

How to Write the Harvard University Supplemental Essays

Prompt 1: Harvard has long recognized the importance of enrolling a diverse student body. How will the life experiences that shape who you are today enable you to contribute to Harvard? (200 words)

Prompt 2: Briefly describe an intellectual experience that was important to you. (200 words)

Prompt 3: Briefly describe any of your extracurricular activities, employment experience, travel, or family responsibilities that have shaped who you are. (200 words)

Prompt 4: How do you hope to use your Harvard education in the future? (200 words)

Prompt 5: Top 3 things your roommates might like to know about you. (200 words)

Harvard has long recognized the importance of enrolling a diverse student body. How will the life experiences that shape who you are today enable you to contribute to Harvard? (200 words)

Brainstorming Your Topic

This prompt is a great example of the classic diversity supplemental essay . That means that, as you prepare to write your response, the first thing you need to do is focus in on some aspect of your identity, upbringing, or personality that makes you different from other people.

As you start brainstorming, do remember that the way colleges factor race into their admissions processes will be different this year, after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in June. Colleges can still consider race on an individual level, however, so if you would like to write your response about how your racial identity has impacted you, you are welcome to do so.

If race doesn’t seem like the right topic for you, however, keep in mind that there are many other things that can make us different, not just race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and the other aspects of our identities that people normally think of when they hear the word “diversity.” That’s not to say that you can’t write about those things, of course. But don’t worry if you don’t feel like those things have played a significant role in shaping your worldview. Here are some examples of other topics that could support a strong essay:

• Moving to several different cities because of your parents’ jobs
• An usual hobby, like playing the accordion or making your own jewelry
• Knowing a lot about a niche topic, like Scottish castles

The only questions you really need to ask yourself when picking a topic are “Does this thing set me apart from other people?” and “Will knowing this thing about me give someone a better sense of who I am overall?” As long as you can answer “yes” to both of those questions, you’ve found your topic!

Tips for Writing Your Essay

Once you’ve selected a topic, the question becomes how you’re going to write about that topic in a way that helps Harvard admissions officers better understand how you’re going to contribute to their campus community. To do that, you want to connect your topic to some broader feature of your personality, or to a meaningful lesson you learned, that speaks to your potential as a Harvard student.

For example, perhaps your interest in Scottish castles has given you an appreciation for the strength of the human spirit, as the Scots were able to persevere and build these structures even in incredibly remote, cold parts of the country. Alternatively, maybe being half Puerto Rican, but not speaking Spanish, has taught you about the power of family, as you have strong relationships even with relatives you can’t communicate with verbally. 

Remember that, like with any college essay, you want to rely on specific anecdotes and experiences to illustrate the points you’re making. To understand why, compare the following two excerpts from hypothetical essays.

Example 1: “Even though I can’t speak Spanish, and some of my relatives can’t speak English, whenever I visit my family in Puerto Rico I know it’s a place where I belong. The island is beautiful, and I especially love going to the annual party at my uncle’s house.”

Example 2: “The smell of the ‘lechón,’ or suckling pig greets me as soon as I enter my uncle’s home, even before everyone rushes in from the porch to welcome me in rapid-fire Spanish. At best, I understand one in every ten words, but my aunt’s hot pink glasses, the Caribbean Sea visible through the living room window, and of course, the smell of roasting pork, tell me, wordlessly yet undeniably, that I’m home.”

Think about how much better we understand this student after Example 2. If a few words were swapped out, Example 1 could’ve been written by anyone, whereas Example 2 paints us a clear picture of how this student’s Puerto Rican heritage has tangibly impacted their life.

Mistakes to Avoid

The biggest challenge with this particular “Diversity” essay is the word count. Because you only have 200 words to work with, you don’t have space to include more than one broader takeaway you’ve learned from this aspect of your identity. 

Of course, people are complicated, and you’ve likely learned many things from being Puerto Rican, or from being interested in Scottish castles. But for the sake of cohesion, focus on just one lesson. Otherwise your essay may end up feeling like a bullet-point list of Hallmark card messages, rather than a thoughtful, personal, reflective piece of writing.

The other thing you want to avoid is writing an essay that’s just about your topic. Particularly since you’re going to be writing about an aspect of your identity that’s important to you, you’ll likely have a lot to say just about that. If you aren’t careful, you may burn through all 200 words without getting to the broader significance of what this piece of your personality says about who you are as a whole. 

That component, however, is really the key to a strong response. Harvard receives over 40,000 applications a year, which means that, whether you write about being Puerto Rican or Scottish castles, it’s likely someone else is writing about something similar. 

That doesn’t mean you need to agonize over picking something absolutely nobody else is writing about, as that’s practically impossible. All it means is that you need to be clear about how this aspect of your identity has shaped you as a whole, as that is how your essay will stand out from others with similar topics.

Briefly describe an intellectual experience that was important to you. (200 words)

Harvard admissions officers are being considerate here, as they’re telling you explicitly what they would like you to write about. Of course, there are still nuances to the prompt, but in terms of brainstorming, just ask yourself: What is an intellectual experience that’s been important to me?

Keep in mind that “intellectual” doesn’t necessarily mean “academic.” You absolutely can write a great response about a paper, project, or some other experience you had through school. But you could also write about attending a performance by the Berlin Philharmonic, or about a book you read for fun that made a big impact on you. So long as the experience was intellectually stimulating, you can write a strong essay about it.

Once you’ve picked an experience, the key is to describe it in a way that shows Harvard admissions officers how this experience has prepared you to contribute to their classrooms, and campus community as a whole. In other words, don’t just tell them what you did, but also what you learned and why that matters for understanding what kind of college student you’ll be.

For example, say you choose to write about a debate project you did in your American history class, where you had to prepare for both sides and only learned which one you would actually be defending on the day of the debate. You could describe how, although you came into the project with pre-existing opinions about the topic, the preparation process taught you that, if you’re thoughtful and open-minded, you can usually find merit and logic even in the polar opposite position from your own.

Alternatively, you could write about a book you read that had been translated from Danish, and how reading it got you interested in learning more about how to translate a text as faithfully as possible. After watching many interviews with translators and reading a book about translation, you have learned that sometimes, the most literal translation doesn’t capture the spirit from the original language, which to you is proof that, in any piece of writing, the human element is at least as important as the words on the page.

Notice that both of these examples include broader reflections that zoom out from the particular experiences, to show what you took away from them: increased open-mindedness to different perspectives, for the first, and a more nuanced understanding of what makes art, art, in the case of the second. 

A strong response must include this kind of big-picture takeaway, as it shows readers two things. First, that you can reflect thoughtfully on your experiences and learn from them. And second, it shows them a skill or perspective you’d be bringing with you to Harvard, which gives them a better sense of how you’d fit into their campus community.

The only real thing you need to watch out for is accidentally selecting an experience that, for whatever reason, doesn’t allow you to incorporate the kind of bigger-picture takeaway described above. Maybe the experience just happened, so you’re still in the process of learning from it. Or maybe the lessons you learned are too nuanced to describe in 200 words. 

Whatever this reason, if you find yourself unable to articulate the broader significance of this experience, head back to the drawing board, to select one that works better for this prompt. What you don’t want to do is try to force in a takeaway that doesn’t really fit, as that will make your essay feel generic or disjointed, since the “moral of the story” won’t clearly connect to the story itself.

Briefly describe any of your extracurricular activities, employment experience, travel, or family responsibilities that have shaped who you are. (200 words)

This is a textbook example of the “Extracurricular” essay . As such, what you need to do is well-defined, although it’s easier said than done: select an extracurricular activity that has, as Harvard says, “shaped who you are,” and make sure you’re able to articulate how it’s been formative for you.

As you brainstorm which extracurricular you want to write about, note that the language of the prompt is pretty open-ended. You write about “any” activity, not just one you have a lot of accolades in, and you don’t even have to write about an activity—you can also write about a travel experience, or family responsibility. 

If the thing that immediately jumps to mind is a club, sport, volunteer experience, or other “traditional” extracurricular, that’s great! Run with that. But if you’re thinking and nothing in that vein seems quite right, or, alternatively, you’re feeling bold and want to take a creative approach, don’t be afraid to get outside the box. Here are some examples of other topics you could write a strong essay about:

• A more hobby-like extracurricular, like crocheting potholders and selling them on Etsy
• Driving the Pacific Coast Highway on your own
• Caring for your family’s two large, colorful macaws

These more creative topics can do a lot to showcase a different side of you, as college applications have, by their nature, a pretty restricted scope, and telling admissions officers about something that would never appear on your resume or transcript can teach them a lot about who you are. That being said, the most important thing is that the topic you pick has genuinely been formative for you. Whether it’s a conventional topic or not, as long as that personal connection is there, you’ll be able to write a strong essay about it.

The key to writing a strong response is focusing less on the activity itself, and more on what you’ve learned from your involvement in it. If you’re writing about a more conventional topic, remember that admissions officers already have your activities list. You don’t need to say “For the last five years, I’ve been involved in x,” because they already know that, and when you only have 200 words, wasting even 10 of them means you’ve wasted 5% of your space.

If you’re writing about something that doesn’t already show up elsewhere in your application, you want to provide enough details for your reader to understand what you did, but not more than that. For example, if you’re writing about your road trip, you don’t need to list every city you  stopped in. Instead, just mention one or two that were particularly memorable.

Rather than focusing on the facts and figures of what you did, focus on what you learned from your experience. Admissions officers want to know why your involvement in this thing matters to who you’ll be in college. So, think about one or two bigger picture things you learned from it, and center your response around those things.

For example, maybe your Etsy shop taught you how easy it is to bring some positivity into someone else’s life, as crocheting is something you would do anyways, and the shop just allows you to share your creations with other people. Showcasing this uplifting, altruistic side of yourself will help admissions officers better envision what kind of Harvard student you’d be.

As always, you want to use specific examples to support your points, at least as much as you can in 200 words. Because you’re dealing with a low word count, you probably won’t have space to flex your creative writing muscles with vivid, immersive descriptions. 

You can still incorporate anecdotes in a more economical way, however. For example, you could say “Every morning, our scarlet macaw ruffles her feathers and greets me with a prehistoric chirp.” You’re not going into detail about what her feathers look like, or where this scene is happening, but it’s still much more engaging than something like “My bird always says hello to me in her own way.”

The most common pitfall with an “Extracurricular” essay is describing your topic the way you would on your resume. Don’t worry about showing off some “marketable skill” you think admissions officers want to see, and instead highlight whatever it is you actually took away from this experience, whether it’s a skill, a realization, or a personality trait. The best college essays are genuine, as admissions officers feel that honesty, and know they’re truly getting to know the applicant as they are, rather than some polished-up version.

Additionally, keep in mind that, like with anything in your application, you want admissions officers to learn something new about you when reading this essay. So, if you’ve already written your common app essay about volunteering at your local animal shelter, you shouldn’t also write this essay about that experience. Your space in your application is already extremely limited, so don’t voluntarily limit yourself even further by repeating yourself when you’re given an opportunity to say something new.

How do you hope to use your Harvard education in the future? (200 words)

Although the packaging is a little different, this prompt has similarities to the classic “Why This College?” prompt . That means there are two main things you want to do while brainstorming. 

First, identify one or two goals you have for the future—with just 200 words, you won’t have space to elaborate on any more than that. Ideally, these should be relatively concrete. You don’t have to have your whole life mapped out, but you do need to be a lot more specific than “Make a difference in the world.” A more zoomed-in version of that goal would be something like “Contribute to conservation efforts to help save endangered species,” which would work.

Second, hop onto Harvard’s website and do some research on opportunities the school offers that would help you reach your goals. Again, make sure these are specific enough. Rather than a particular major, which is likely offered at plenty of other schools around the country, identify specific courses within that major you would like to take, or a professor in the department you would like to do research with. For example, the student interested in conservation might mention the course “Conservation Biology” at Harvard.

You could also write about a club, or a study abroad program, or really anything that’s unique to Harvard, so long as you’re able to draw a clear connection between the opportunity and your goal. Just make sure that, like with your goals, you don’t get overeager. Since your space is quite limited, you should choose two, or maximum three, opportunities to focus on. Any more than that and your essay will start to feel rushed and bullet point-y.

If you do your brainstorming well, the actual writing process should be pretty straightforward: explain your goals, and how the Harvard-specific opportunities you’ve selected will help you reach them. 

One thing you do want to keep in mind is that your goals should feel personal to you, and the best way to accomplish that is by providing some background context on why you have them. This doesn’t have to be extensive, as, again, your space is limited. But compare the following two examples, written about the hypothetical goal of helping conservation efforts from above, to get an idea of what we’re talking about:

Example 1: “As long as I can remember, I’ve loved all kinds of animals, and have been heartbroken by the fact that human destruction of natural resources could lead to certain species’ extinction.”

Example 2: “As a kid, I would sit in front of the aquarium’s walrus exhibit, admiring the animal’s girth and tusks, and dream about seeing one in the wild. Until my parents regretfully explained to me that, because of climate change, that was unlikely to ever happen.”

The second example is obviously longer, but not egregiously so: 45 words versus 31. And the image we get of this student sitting and fawning over a walrus is worth that extra space, as we feel a stronger personal connection to them, which in turn makes us more vicariously invested in their own goal of environmental advocacy.

As we’ve already described in the brainstorming section, the key to this essay is specificity. Admissions officers want you to paint them a picture of how Harvard fits into your broader life goals. As we noted earlier, that doesn’t mean you have to have everything figured out, but if you’re too vague about your goals, or how you see Harvard helping you reach them, admissions officers won’t see you as someone who’s prepared to contribute to their campus community.

Along similar lines, avoid flattery. Gushy lines like “At Harvard, every day I’ll feel inspired by walking the same halls that countless Nobel laureates, politicians, and CEOs once traversed” won’t get you anywhere, because Harvard admissions officers already know their school is one of the most prestigious and famous universities in the world. What they don’t know is what you are going to bring to Harvard that nobody else has. So, that’s what you want to focus on, not vague, surface-level attributes of Harvard related to its standing in the world of higher education.

Top 3 things your roommates might like to know about you. (200 words)

Like Prompt 2, this prompt tells you exactly what you need to brainstorm: three things a roommate would like to know about you. However, also like Prompt 2, while this prompt is direct, it’s also incredibly open-ended. What really are the top three things you’d like a complete stranger to know about you before you live together for nine months?

Questions this broad can be hard to answer, as you might not know where to start. Sometimes, you can help yourself out by asking yourself adjacent, but slightly more specific questions, like the following:

• Do you have any interests that influence your regular routine? For example, do you always watch the Seahawks on Sunday, or are you going to be playing Taylor Swift’s discography on repeat while you study?
• Look around your room—what items are most important to you? Do you keep your movie ticket stubs? Are you planning on taking your photos of your family cat with you to college?
• Are there any activities you love and already know you’d want to do with your roommate, like weekly face masks or making Christmas cookies?

Hopefully, these narrower questions, and the example responses we’ve included, help get your gears turning. Keep in mind that this prompt is a great opportunity to showcase sides of your personality that don’t come across in your grades, activities list, or even your personal statement. Don’t worry about seeming impressive—admissions officers don’t expect you to read Shakespeare every night for two hours. What they want is an honest, informative picture of what you’re like “behind the scenes,” because college is much more than just academics.

Once you’ve selected three things to write about, the key to the actual essay is presenting them in a logical, cohesive, efficient way. That’s easier said than done, particularly if the three things you’ve picked are quite different from each other. 

To ensure your essay feels like one, complete unit, rather than three smaller ones stuck together, strong transitions will be crucial. Note that “strong” doesn’t mean “lengthy.” Just a few words can go a long way towards helping your essay flow naturally. To see what we mean here, take the following two examples:

Example 1: “Just so you know, every Sunday I will be watching the Seahawks, draped in my dad’s Steve Largent jersey. They can be a frustrating team, but I’ll do my best to keep it down in case you’re studying. I also like to do facemasks, though. You’re always welcome to any of the ones I have in my (pretty extensive) collection.”

Example 2: “Just so you know, every Sunday I will be watching the Seahawks, draped in my dad’s Steve Largent jersey. But if football’s not your thing, don’t worry—once the game’s over, I’ll need to unwind anyways, because win or lose the Hawks always find a way to make things stressful. So always feel free to join me in picking out a face mask from my (pretty extensive) collection, and we can gear up for the week together.”

The content in both examples is the same, but in the first one, the transition from football to facemasks is very abrupt. On the other hand, in the second example the simple line “But if football’s not your thing, don’t worry” keeps things flowing smoothly. 

There’s no one right way to write a good transition, but as you’re polishing your essay a good way to see if you’re on the right track is by asking someone who hasn’t seen your essay before to read it over and tell you if there are any points that made them pause. If the answer is yes, your transitions probably still need more work.

Finally, you probably noticed that the above examples are both written in a “Dear roomie” style, as if you’re actually speaking directly to your roommate. You don’t have to take this exact approach, but your tone should ideally be light and fun. Living alone for the first time, with other people your age, is one of the best parts of college! Plus, college applications are, by their nature, pretty dry affairs for the most part. Lightening things up in this essay will give your reader a breath of fresh air, which will help them feel more engaged in your application as a whole.

Harvard is doing you a favor here by keeping the scope of the essay narrow—they ask for three things, not more. As we’ve noted many times with the other supplements, 200 words will be gone in a flash, so don’t try to cram in extra things. It’s not necessary to do that, because admissions officers have only asked for three, and trying to stuff more in will turn your essay into a list of bullet points, rather than an informative piece of writing about your personality.

Finally, as we’ve hinted at a few times above, the other thing you want to avoid is using this essay as another opportunity to impress admissions officers with your intellect and accomplishments. Remember, they have your grades, and your activities list, and all your other essays. Plus, they can ask you whatever questions they want—if they wanted to know about the most difficult book you’ve ever read, they would. So, loosen up, let your hair down, and show them you know how to have fun too!

Where to Get Your Harvard Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your Harvard essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools.  Find the right advisor for you  to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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50 Successful Harvard Application Essays, 5th Edition: What Worked for Them Can Help You Get into the College of Your Choice Paperback – May 9, 2017

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Fifty all-new essays that got their authors into Harvard - with updated statistics, analysis, and complete student profiles - showing what worked, what didn’t, and how you can do it, too. With talented applicants coming from top high schools as well as the pressure to succeed from family and friends, it’s no wonder that writing college application essays is one of the most stressful tasks high schoolers face. To help, this completely new edition of 50 Successful Harvard Application Essays , edited by the staff of the Harvard Crimson , gives readers the most inspiring approaches, both conventional and creative, that won over admissions officers at Harvard University, the nation’s top-ranked college. From chronicling personal achievements to detailing unique talents, the topics covered in these essays open applicants up to new techniques to put their best foot forward. It teaches students how to: - Get started - Stand out - Structure the best possible essay - Avoid common pitfalls Each essay in this collection is from a Harvard student who made the cut, is accompanied by a student profile that includes SAT scores and grades, and is followed by a detailed analysis by the staff of the Harvard Crimson that shows readers how they can approach their own stories and ultimately write their own high-caliber essay. 50 Successful Harvard Application Essays ’ all-new examples and straightforward advice make it the first stop for college applicants who are looking to craft essays that get them accepted to the school of their dreams.

• Print length 224 pages
• Language English
• Publication date May 9, 2017
• Dimensions 5.45 x 0.75 x 8.2 inches
• ISBN-10 9781250127556
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• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1250127556
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Griffin; 5th edition (May 9, 2017)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781250127556
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250127556
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.9 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.45 x 0.75 x 8.2 inches
• #31 in College Guides (Books)
• #86 in College Entrance Test Guides (Books)

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Harvard University Essay Guide 2019-2020

The oldest university in the United States and one of the most renowned higher education institutions in the world, Harvard is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a few miles west of Boston. Harvard College is the university’s undergraduate school with a student body of approximately 6,700 students. The College’s acceptance rate for the Class of 2023 was 4.5% of applicants. Throughout this essay guide, we will give tips for applicants to best express themselves in their personal statements as prospective Harvard students. For more guidance on personal essays and the college application process in general, sign up for a monthly plan to work with an admissions coach 1-on-1.

*For the 2020-2021 Harvard University Essay Guide, click here .

Life as a Harvard Undergrad

At Harvard College, students are offered a liberal arts and sciences education. The liberal arts program is flexible and allows students to shape their own academic experience. All students complete the interdisciplinary General Education curriculum and choose their own concentration to explore in more depth from 50 undergraduate fields of study. Harvard College students may also cross-register for courses offered by any of the Harvard University graduate schools including Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. Students have complete access to the Harvard Library which boasts the largest private and academic library system in the world, as well as its own edition of the Gutenberg Bible!

Harvard’s tight-knit undergraduate community follows in the gilded footsteps of many notable alumni by partaking in centuries-old student traditions like the annual Harvard-Yale football game in the fall and Housing Day in the spring. Freshmen live in Harvard Yard, the heart of this historic campus. From their sophomore year onwards, students move into one of twelve residential houses nestled alongside the Charles River or in Radcliffe Quadrangle.

In summary, Harvard College offers successful applicants an enriching and prestigious academic experience and membership of a vibrant undergraduate community, alongside access to a multitude of life-changing opportunities and networks. The Harvard College Admissions Office is highly selective and the first step towards getting an offer is making your application stand out. The Admissions Office looks for candidates who are open-minded and intellectually curious with interesting stories to share about themselves. The supplementary essays provide the opportunity to demonstrate that you possess all of these qualities.

Prompt 1: Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences (150 words and mandatory)

The Admissions Office asks this question because they want to know that you will contribute to the college community and add value outside of academics. In your response, they mostly want to see that you are passionate about something outside of your studies and have committed time and effort towards that passion.

It is worth thinking carefully about which activity or experience you choose to talk about. If you are involved in multiple extracurricular activities, consider writing about the activity that is most significant to you or the activity you are most likely to continue pursuing in college. Of course, if you are admitted there is no expectation that you will continue that activity at Harvard; the admissions office understands that students may change their minds after they arrive. Alternatively, talking about work experience is a good idea if you can explain how that work experience has inspired you to pursue a certain career path or has made you interested in exploring a specific academic field.

In your response, you only have 150 words to play with so be sure to write with focus and concision. When describing your chosen experience or extracurricular, be sure to explain exactly what it is and how you participated. In addition, you might want to explain what you personally took away from engaging in this activity or experience. I f you’ve chosen an extracurricular activity, you can describe why you love doing it and what it has taught you. Perhaps you love being a member of a sports team because you’ve developed self-discipline and you enjoy working towards a goal with your friends. If you’ve chosen a work experience, you can describe what you learned from that job and how it has shaped your perspective of your future career or studies. For example, an internship with your local government might have stimulated your interest in politics, or working as a camp counselor might have made you passionate about teaching and education. Let your personality and interests shine through in your response to this prompt!

Prompt for International Students only: What specific plan do you have, if any, for using the education you hope to receive?

Harvard has a large and flourishing international student body. Therefore, in response to this question you’re not trying to convince the Admissions Office that you are more deserving of a place than a domestic student. Rather, they want to know a bit more about why you’ve chosen Harvard and why you’ve chosen to move to another country for your undergraduate degree. In your response, you want to convey that you’ve seriously thought about how an undergraduate experience at Harvard, rather than at the equivalent top institution in your own country, fits more broadly into your plans.

It’s fine if you’re not sure exactly what you want to do after you graduate. You can say this while indicating that studying at an internationally renowned university will not limit your aspirations or options; on the contrary, it will open more doors for you. If you do have some idea of what you want to do after graduation, then awesome! Make sure you add a sentence or two that explains how you think a Harvard education will help you achieve these specific goals.

It is important to remember that this isn’t a trick question and it’s okay to be honest if you’re not certain of your career aspirations, or even if you don’t know which country you want to be in after college. In fact, you could indicate that Harvard is where you hope to figure out a lot of this stuff!

This essay guide was written by Miranda Sadler , Harvard Class of 2019. If you want to get help writing your Harvard application essays from Miranda or other CollegeAdvisor.com Admissions Experts , register with CollegeAdvisor.com today.

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How To Write The Harvard University Supplemental Essays (2019-2020)

***Interested in reading our Harvard supplemental essay guide for the 2020-2021 application cycle? Click here! https://www.hceducationconsulting.com/post/how-to-write-the-harvard-university-supplemental-essays ***

Welcome to the Harvard supplementals for the 2019-2020 application cycle. Buckle up—there are a ton of questions. The good news is you don’t have to write about them all: question three gives you a zillion prompts to choose from. Question three is also optional. In fact, Harvard only has one obligatory prompt, which is very straightforward. But before you breathe a sigh of relief, you should know that when Harvard calls their prompts “optional,” this is a trap. Think about it: why are they asking these questions if they don’t really care whether or not you respond? Harvard is one of those schools where no one is a shoe-in (unless you’re Malia Obama or something). Take every opportunity you can to make an impression. In other words, you’re going to want to take Harvard up on the chance to write “optional” essays.

Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (150 words)

Get straight to the point with this one, since you need to be brief. Pick your most meaningful activity—the one you’ve dedicated serious time and energy to, and the one that’s allowed you to demonstrate significant leadership. Go beyond the simple facts of your accomplishments. (The basics are already there on your activities list). Tell us why this endeavor was important to you, why it was personal. Remember that the idea here isn’t to exaggerate or brag. Also avoid false modesty (“I have helped dozens of people, but in the end, they did more for me than I did for them”). Be straightforward and matter-of-fact.

As a side note, the fact that Harvard (and other incredibly selective schools like Stanford and Princeton ) include this obligatory question gives you a hint as to what they’re looking for in applicants. They’re looking for kids who have done one really notable thing. They want pointy students.

Additional Intellectual Experiences: Your intellectual life may extend beyond the academic requirements of your particular school. Please use the space below to list additional intellectual activities that you have not mentioned or detailed elsewhere in your application. These could include, but are not limited to, supervised or self-directed projects not done as school work, training experiences, online courses not run by your school, or summer academic or research programs not described elsewhere. (Optional. 150 words)

Unlike the extracurricular question, this one is optional, probably since not everyone is able to answer it. Again, this gives you a big hint as to what Harvard is looking for in a successful applicant: they want to see a true love for learning—one that extends beyond the classroom.

If you haven’t undertaken intellectual projects outside the classroom which aren’t already listed on your application, there isn’t much you can do to answer this question. Better to leave this one blank than to repeat yourself, or to list one or two books you read for fun.

Hopefully, though, you will have something to say here. Be specific about what you did. It needs to be a truly independent project that you decided to undertake. It can’t already be listed somewhere. There needs to be some kind of quantifiable outcome you can point to. A great response would be about how you wrote a novel, got it published, and have sold a meaningful number of copies, or how you developed an app that is now available in the Apple App Store and has a substantial number of downloads and reviews (good ones, hopefully). If achievements like these sound intimidating, just remember: this is Harvard. This is what they’re looking for.

Additional essay. You may wish to include an additional essay if you feel the college application forms do not provide sufficient opportunity to convey important information about yourself or your accomplishments. You may write on a topic of your choice, or you may choose from one of the following topics. (Optional)

Before I go through all the topics that Harvard proposes, I’ll tell you what I tell all my students when it comes to choosing a topic for the Common Application essay. The last choice on the Common App is always “any topic of your choice.” Harvard is doing the same thing here: “You may write on a topic of your choice.” Choosing to write about anything you want is just fine—this isn’t a trick option they’re giving you. Think of the choices here as a number of possible topics among infinite others. You should not let yourself feel constrained by these questions. You can write about anything you like. In fact, in most cases this is what I recommend. Think of it as a second Common App essay. (And, as with the Common App, I would recommend aiming for no more than 650 words.) Tell a compelling story with a beginning, middle, and end. Tell us something about you we don’t already know.

Unusual circumstances in your life

The most obvious candidates to choose this response are students who have lived in six different cities in the past six years, students who worked every day after school and during the weekends on the family farm, students who had enormous family responsibilities, such as taking care of a sibling or parent, and so on. Not only do stories like these show something unique about who you are, they also provide perspective on your activities list, which, if you’re one of these students, may not be that long. As always, the idea is not to come across as a victim of your circumstances. Tell a story, rather than “explaining” your unusual circumstances: if, for example, you struggled with a serious illness during your sophomore year, tell a specific story about a moment during that time. Show us (rather than tell us) what that was like through an anecdote.

Travel, living, or working experiences in your own or other communities

First off, be careful when talking about travel. While you may have extraordinary stories from the month you spent with your family in Monaco last summer, these kinds of tales will simply make you look like a rich kid—someone admissions officers have a hard time relating to. Similarly, best to avoid stories from expensive summer study abroad programs.

You probably also want to avoid talking about service trips. Admissions officers read too many of these, and everyone does community service in high school. Many students are in fact required to. On a similar note, please don’t write about how twice a week you leave your private school in Manhattan to go and help “the poor and underserved students” at a public high school in the Bronx. Once again, these stories highlight your own privilege, and very few high school students who grew up comfortably have the perspective and maturity to talk about the experiences of others with any real perspective or self-awareness, especially across social class gaps. No offense meant—there are, of course, exceptions to this rule.

On the other hand, if you and your family recently moved from, say, Montana to Chicago, or from Paris to Cleveland, that could be an interesting story.

What you would want your future college roommate to know about you

I’m a big fan of prompts like these, since they allow students to show lots of creativity and personality. A serious warning, however: topics like this one are very difficult to pull off. You need exceptional self-awareness and writing abilities to execute this one. Do not use this as a chance to brag, e.g. “I would want my future roommate to know that I logged over 400 community service hours last year.” Harvard will be as put off as your future roommate. Beyond this, you can talk about any of your quirks and eccentricities, provided that you do so in a truly brilliant way. No pressure.

An intellectual experience (course, project, book, discussion, paper, poetry, or research topic in engineering, mathematics, science, or other modes of inquiry) that has meant the most to you

You might consider tackling this one if you left the question about “Additional Intellectual Experiences” blank. Maybe you did something really impressive and meaningful that didn’t exactly qualify as an independent project, or that is listed on your transcript. At some high schools, for instance, seniors are required to undertake a senior project. These may be “done as school work,” and so don’t qualify for the “Additional Intellectual Experiences” prompt. But if you’ve done a project like this, and went way beyond the minimum requirements, it might be worth discussing here. Go ahead and nerd out.

How you hope to use your college education

I don’t have much to say about this prompt, except that if you choose to answer it:

You risk sounding a bit pompous (“With my Harvard Diploma in hand, I will set out to change the world”);

You will be talking about things you haven’t actually done, and anyone can make him- or herself sound great when describing an imaginary future that includes a Harvard degree. It’s always better to discuss what you have done than what you hope to do.

A list of books you have read during the past twelve months

I’m convinced this question is a trap. They tell you they want an additional essay , and then one of the prompts asks you for a list ?

If you’re reading this 12 minutes before your Harvard application is due, and this is the only prompt you have time to respond to, you better hope you have a very long list of very unusual books, some of which you read in the original Sanskrit. Don’t bother listing any required reading.

The Harvard College honor Code declares that we “hold honesty as the foundation of our community.” As you consider entering this community that is committed to honesty, please reflect on a time when you or someone you observed had to make a choice about whether to act with integrity and honesty.

Well, for starters, you probably don’t want to write about someone else’s ethical dilemma, especially if you were the one who came to the rescue and provided guidance, setting your poor, confused friend back on the righteous path. You’ll just look sanctimonious. And if you think this goes without saying, you’d be surprised.

If you choose to write about your own experience, you run into a similar problem: do you discuss a time when you made the hard choice to do what was right and risk looking holier-than-thou? Or do you write about a time when you failed to do what was right and look like a jerk? The second option is probably preferable, frankly, but even talking about a failure usually leads folks to conclude on some predictable moral platitude about what they learned.

I wouldn’t recommend this prompt to most students, but there are always exceptions to the rule.

The mission of Harvard college is to educate our students to be citizens and citizen-leaders for society. What would you do to contribute to the lives of your classmates in advancing this mission?

See my comments on “How do you hope to use your college education.” It’s very difficult to talk about what you hope to do in the future in a convincing way. Most people would promise to do just about anything in exchange for an acceptance letter from Harvard. Better to focus on what you have done.

Each year a substantial number of students admitted to Harvard defer their admission for one year or take time off during college. If you decide in the future to choose either option, what would you like to do?

Don’t choose this one unless you’ve already thought about it. If this is something you have given serious thought to, as always, you want to focus on what you have done, not what you hope one day to do. I know I’m repeating myself, but anyone can write something like, “After my sophomore year at Harvard, I plan to take a year off and selflessly serve in the Peace Corps.”

Your response to this prompt will be most effective if you’ve already got something lined up for a gap year after high school. Maybe you’ve already been offered a job by a shipbuilder in Maine, and you plan to take it and work for a year before you start college. Very cool.

Whether or not you have something concrete in place, you’ll want to talk about your past experiences and how they inform your decision to take time off. Maybe you’re applying to work as a stage manager at a couple local theaters so you can continue to pursue a passion you’ve been developing since you were ten. Great—that’s compelling.

You may be wondering if taking a gap year is a bad thing to do in Harvard’s opinion. It definitely isn’t, unless you’re taking time off simply because you’re burned out, and are looking forward to another year living at home with someone cooking for you and doing your laundry. A gap year during which you plan to buy an RV with your friends and drive to Argentina also may not impress Harvard. (For the record, I would definitely endorse this plan, but don’t mention it on your application.)

Harvard has long recognized the importance of student body diversity of all kinds. We welcome you to write about distinctive aspects of your background, personal development or the intellectual interests you might bring to your Harvard classmates.

As always, the point of these essays is to stand out and differentiate yourself. So think about how your background differs from most students’ at Harvard, and how that background will contribute to Harvard’s community.

There’s an elephant in the room here that should be addressed. Since 2014, Harvard has been embroiled in an affirmative action lawsuit , which has revealed biases against Asian American applicants on the part of Harvard University in the admissions process. (At the end of the linked article, the question of writing about being of East Asian descent on college applications is addressed explicitly.) This year, Harvard accepted a record number of Asian American students , and is clearly doing its best to show that it is not judging any group unfairly in the admissions process. Nevertheless, if you are Asian American and planning on applying to Harvard, this question may not be the best for you. Even if Harvard has changed its ways, and has made the admissions process fairer for Asian Americans, over a quarter of the accepted class last year was made up of Asian Americans. All other ethnic groups (except caucasians), and also first-generation college students, are far less represented. You can find statistics on the Harvard Admissions website .

In any event, remember that for your “optional” essay for Harvard, you can always choose to write about whatever you like. In most cases, this is the best approach.

If you’re unsure of what to write about or simply want to be sure your essays are the best they can be, our Ivy League consultants are here to help.

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How to Write the Harvard Supplemental Essays 2020-2021

Padya Paramita

July 20, 2020

Harvard University is without a doubt one of the most well-known schools anywhere in the world. To nobody’s surprise, it’s also one of the most selective. With an acceptance rate of less than 5%, the competition to receive an acceptance letter from this college is naturally very high. So if you’ve got your heart set on strolling through Harvard Yard in a crimson sweatshirt, use the Harvard supplemental essays 2020-2021 to show admissions officers that you’re not just in it for the bragging rights . 

Choose supplemental essay topics that allow you to discuss your interests and goals by showing admissions officers how you think and act. To guide you through the prompts for this year, I’ve outlined each question, elaborated on the approaches you should take, and added more tips to help you make the most out of your Harvard supplemental essays 2020-2021 .

Prompts for the Harvard Supplemental Essays 2020-2021

Required questions.

Your intellectual life may extend beyond the academic requirements of your particular school. Please use the space below to list additional intellectual activities that you have not mentioned or detailed elsewhere in your application. These could include, but are not limited to, supervised or self-directed projects not done as school work, training experiences, online courses not run by your school, or summer academic or research programs not described elsewhere. (150 words)

Hidden in the Academics section under Harvard’s Common Application tab, this prompt asks you to share your intellectual curiosity. Since the school can already see your courses and grades, it wants to know whether you’ve expanded beyond just your regular required schoolwork. Harvard appreciates students who have taken the initiative to strive for academic growth, so don’t miss out on the chance to talk about your intellectual pursuits. 

Even though the prompt says to “list,” if you have space, mention one or two facts about the courses or projects, such as your motivations behind pursuing them, whether they have impacted your goals, and your biggest takeaways from the experiences. Since admissions officers want to see whether you’re an individual who isn’t shy about pursuing new opportunities, take advantage of this prompt to provide new information about yourself that they might not have guessed from the rest of your application. 

Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (150 words)

When admissions officers read your answers to the Harvard supplemental essays 2020-2021 , they want to know whether you’ve fully taken advantage of your extracurricular opportunities. They’ll also use this mini essay - tucked in under the Activities section - to gauge how you might contribute to the Harvard community, so it would also be wise to choose an activity that you’re genuinely passionate about and can see yourself continuing after high school.

In order to make the most out of this essay, write about an activity that you haven’t described in your personal statement, preferably one where you’ve demonstrated leadership and can highlight tangible achievements. Talk about why the activity appeals to you, what it has taught you or if it has inspired growth in some way. Since you don’t have a lot of space, make sure to use your words carefully and elaborate on your commitment as much as you possibly can.

Download Every Supplemental Prompt Here!

Optional essay.

You may wish to include an additional essay if you feel that the college application forms do not provide sufficient opportunity to convey important information about yourself or your accomplishments. You may write on a topic of your choice, or you may choose from one of the following topics (No word limit; max file size is 2000 KB):

This really is a “topic of your choice” essay, but Harvard provides suggestions to give you a sense of the kind of narrative they are looking to hear. You can write about anything that captures a strong story that isn’t mentioned elsewhere in your application. Even though there’s no word limit for the essays, your response shouldn’t be longer than 500 words. Admissions officers have a lot of reading to do, and if you can’t get your point across in a couple of pages, they’re not going to appreciate slogging through thousands of words. This is not the place to write a research paper, so keep that in mind when thinking about how you will frame your answers to the prompt of your choice. 

The Harvard supplemental essays 2020-2021 might be optional, but you should fight all temptations to finish your application faster by skipping this essay. As you already know, Harvard does not run short on applicants. Missing out on a chance to further distinguish yourself from the rest of the application pool is not a risk you want to take. Choose the prompt that calls out to you over others and that can bring out the most powerful story. Here are some ways that Harvard suggests for how to approach the different prompts:

Unusual circumstances in your life

The word “unusual” is a relative term here. You might want to write about adversity you’ve faced or your ethnic background. But remember, these might not be as unique when it comes to the wide variety of students that Harvard attracts. When brainstorming your focal point, ask yourself whether your peers might have been in similar situations. Ask your friends or teachers whether the situation is actually unique.

If you have a niche interest or activity that you haven’t written about, that could be a strategic choice to use when answering this prompt. No matter what the circumstance you're covering, talk about how the situation began, how it’s developed, or if it’s something that is more of a challenge than a blessing. Remember, this is your college application. Don’t write about something your brother is involved in or you’ve only heard about in the local news. Since you have nine other topics to choose from, don’t take this route if you’re unsure about whether your situation is truly unusual and personal. 

Travel, living, or working experiences in your own or other communities

This prompt among the Harvard supplemental essays 2020-2021  might be a good place to explore how you’ve chosen to interact with different communities around you. Carefully think about the “travel,” “living” or “working” aspects. You could have done all three during a study abroad experience that fits right into the theme. 

Be very careful however if you want to write about a short-term community service experience or brief service trip abroad. Many students participate in extracurriculars like that, and they will not help you stand out in any way. In fact, it could actually end up seeming more as a display of your privilege if your essay solely talks about travel experiences. Your essay should focus on your biggest takeaways from the experience. Make sure you connect it back to yourself. Just citing what you did and where you were isn’t enough. How did the travel or work shape you? How has the event influenced your perspective? Are there lessons or values it taught that you’ll carry with you throughout college?

What you would want your future college roommate to know about you

Think about the impression you want to make on the reader. You might want to come across as someone who would be an accommodating roommate. Or you might want them to learn more about your goals, or how you spend your free time. Use your essay accordingly to talk about your hobbies, living habits, and plans for both your freshman year of college and life in general. Since there is no direct “Why Harvard” essay, you could also include what excites you when you think about the opportunity to attend the university. You could talk about a course you can’t wait to take or a club you’re planning to join to show that you’re aware of the unique opportunities Harvard offers. 

This prompt is a chance for you to show admissions officers how you function in your everyday life, so it could be one of the safer options to pick if you’re afraid that writing about bigger issues could put you in more of a controversial spot.

An intellectual experience (course, project, book, discussion, paper, poetry, or research topic in engineering, mathematics, science or other modes of inquiry) that has meant the most to you

The key phrase here is “the most.” You might have many different books that you’ve enjoyed, courses that you’d take again, or discussions that you’ve participated in that you always play over in your head. But which of these have been the most meaningful and, of course, why? Since you have space, guide the reader through your journey of discovery of the experience, any anecdotes associated with the impact it has had on you, or how it might have influenced what you’re passionate about. Name the experience, but mainly dedicate your essay to the “why.”

On another note, the topic doesn’t have to relate directly to your primary academic interest and can instead show that you are multifaceted. If there’s a deeper connection between your interests, that would also be interesting to write about here. Avoid common answers - dedicating your Harvard supplemental essays 2020-2021 to common books like A Brief History of Time or the topic of Einstein’s theory will not help you stand out. When editing this essay, think about whether admissions officers will sense your enthusiasm and be convinced that the paper or book means more to you than any other. 

How you hope to use your college education

This is another prompt where you can casually insert your knowledge of Harvard University. Although it doesn’t specifically ask about what you hope to gain from a Harvard education, you could still connect your answer to a specific major or course that can prepare you to take on greater challenges. Think about your academic passions, where you see yourself in ten years, and how Harvard concentrations such as “Folklore and Mythology” or “Developmental and Regenerative Biology” can help you reach those levels. 

Cliché answers to avoid for this question would be issues that are noble but overly-broad, such as finding the cure to cancer or ridding the world of poverty. While these are definitely worth the concern, you must think about more specific issues on an attainable scale that you hope to address in the near future. How will you use your Harvard education to make a significant impact? Your answer can be used to demonstrate your dedication to your community, how you operate as a leader, and how you can take advantage of the resources and facilities of the prestigious Cambridge institution.

Remember, this question strictly asks about the application of academics. Keep your focus narrowed. In order to impress the admissions officers, your strategy should lie in outlining a strong connection between your intended academic and extracurricular endeavors in college with the role they can play in your goals in the future. 

A list of books you have read during the past twelve months

Be honest in your answer to this prompt. If you haven’t read more than one or two books, or looked beyond books that were required reading at school, pick another prompt. If you’re an enthusiastic reader whose reading list for the year consisted of a wide variety of genres or drew from one particular area of interest, this option is a good one. Admissions officers will appreciate knowing that you’re well-read, intellectually curious, or knowledgeable about certain subjects.

Since you aren’t limited to a tight word limit, you could go ahead and add a line about your thoughts on the book - what you enjoyed (or didn’t), how you came across it or if it deepened your curiosity about the subject. The essay should be about you - use your book list to show who you are. Don’t summarize the plot - the Harvard supplemental essays 2020-2021 don’t ask for a book review. But it’s not a bad idea at all to take the reader deeper into your thought process about each book that you mention.

The Harvard College Honor code declares that we "hold honesty as the foundation of our community." As you consider entering this community that is committed to honesty, please reflect on a time when you or someone you observed had to make a choice about whether to act with integrity and honesty. 

This is a prompt that could leave you treading on dangerous waters if not answered with caution. Looking at this question, consider whether the topic you might be thinking of would shed a negative light on you. Colleges - especially ones like Harvard - want nothing to do with students who’ve been involved in illegal activities or immoral actions (as proven by the recent application rescission case). Think about how an incident would reflect on your character and whether you’d want such a person at your school if you were in the admissions officers’ shoes.

But you can definitely try your hand at this essay if there was a situation where you acted with integrity and it might be a good chance to showcase your qualifications as a leader and desirable candidate. Admissions officers don’t want you to draw conclusions such as “honesty is the best policy” - they already know that! They want to see how you act when faced with a tough situation and whether you’re someone who is reliable under pressure or who has grown from their mistakes.

The mission of Harvard College is to educate our students to be citizens and citizen-leaders for society. What would you do to contribute to the lives of your classmates in advancing this mission? 

This question follows the standard “how would you contribute to our campus community?” template that many schools use in their supplemental essays. Some factors Harvard considers when evaluating your application are whether “ other students want to room with you, share a meal, be in a seminar together, be teammates, or collaborate in a closely-knit extracurricular group. ” 

To answer this prompt, think about your biggest strengths. Which is the area where you’ve been the most successful in establishing yourself as a leader? What issues are you passionate about where your knowledge surpasses that of your peers? Think about the topics that light the biggest fire in you or inspire you to work harder. Your answer doesn’t have to be limited to academics. You can talk about social issues or local concerns. Show admissions officers that you aren’t afraid to actively engage with your community members and include them in your interests.

Each year a substantial number of students admitted to Harvard defer their admission for one year or take time off during college. If you decided in the future to choose either option, what would you like to do? 

You can attempt this essay if you’re hoping to take a gap year, and show that you’ve put active thought into plans for the upcoming twelve months. Even if this isn’t your plan, the prompt could be used to talk about your passions outside of academics, or things on your bucket list. Hypothetically, if you had a year to pursue something, what would you do?

You could include places you might want to travel, projects you want to embark on or new hobbies that you want to try (Netflix doesn’t count). If you want to get a job, would it be something related to your academic field or something completely different? Whatever you write about, make sure the reader understands why the activity is important to you and why you would invest a year to pursue it. 

Harvard has long recognized the importance of student body diversity of all kinds. We welcome you to write about distinctive aspects of your background, personal development or the intellectual interests you might bring to your Harvard classmates. 

This is one of the most open-ended options among the Harvard supplemental essays 2020-2021 . There are, of course, many different parts of your identity to choose from - your cultural background, gender identity or sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, or even an activity that you participate in that is unusual. Whether it’s learning languages or playing a little-known instrument, your essay should stay focused on one or two things that make you different so that you can dedicate more words to each of these qualities. 

Remember, don’t repeat anything you’ve already mentioned in your personal statement. Each component of your application is meant to add an extra layer to your profile. Tell admissions officers about an aspect(s) of your identity that you find valuable. Do you feel like you’re a part of a bigger community? How has your perspective been shaped by these components of yourself? Have you faced any challenges because of them?

Note that this essay explicitly asks about diversity. What part of your identity most significantly distinguishes you from others? Admissions officers have seen plenty of students whose main extracurricular activity has been debate club. It won’t help you stand out!

Topic of Choice

All of the pre-assigned prompts in the Harvard supplemental essays 2020-2021 ask you to reflect on a different side of yourself - from your academic interests to what kind of roommate you’re likely to be. Use these topics as inspiration for brainstorming your own topic if you so choose. 

More Tips for Writing the Harvard Supplemental Essays 2020-2021

• Be as specific as possible - Not only are the Harvard supplemental essays 2020-2021  quite open-ended, there’s no strict word limit enforced for the optional essay. It can be very tempting to fit in as much information as possible in order to maximize your chances. However, admissions officers don’t want to know every single thing about you. They’ve only got a limited amount of time to look through your essays, so make sure your responses stay focused and show how you would benefit from a Harvard education. Don’t go off on tangents; avoid general statements; stick to characteristics and experiences that make you unique! 
• Demonstrate the characteristics that Harvard is looking for - Harvard looks for students who demonstrate “maturity, character, leadership, self-confidence, sense of humor, energy, concern for others, and grace under pressure.” When choosing a topic, think about how you can bring these qualities forward in your essays. During your brainstorming process, ask yourself whether your topic depicts you as a mature individual, whether you’ve shown that you work well under pressure, and if there are any places you can sprinkle your sense of humor in without it sounding forced. Since a lot of students who apply to Harvard have strong numbers and extracurriculars, you need to further establish yourself as the perfect fit for the school when writing your supplemental essays.
• Your choice of topic could make a difference - You have no shortage of options when it comes to picking your topic for the Harvard supplemental essays 2020-2021 . If you have a vague idea about what to answer for how you would use a year off, but feel much more comfortable talking about the books you’ve read in the past year, you should obviously choose the latter topic. If you feel like the essay you’ve written fits a prompt other than the one you initially tackled, that’s okay. Don’t forget to adjust accordingly to specific requirements asked by the new question!

Your Harvard supplemental essays 2020-2021  should complement your personal statement and discuss experiences that are unique to you. While it’s hard to stand out among over 44,000 applicants, if you carefully read through the prompts, avoid common answers, and show admissions officers that you possess the values that Harvard looks for, you’ll set yourself up for a chance at admission. Show admissions officers how you think and guide them through your aspirations and who knows, maybe this is the component that helps you get one step closer to that crimson sweatshirt. Best of luck!

Tags : applying to harvard , how to get into harvard , getting into an ivy league school , ivy league essays , writing harvard essays , harvard supplemental essays , harvard supplemental essays 2020-2021

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100 Successful College Application Essays (Updated, Third Edition)

The Largest Collection of Successful College Application Essays Available in One Volume   These are the essays that helped their authors gain admission to Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia, Wellesley, Pomona, and other outstanding schools—followed by invaluable comments by experts in admissions, placement, and college counseling at some of the best learning institutions around the country. This helpful guide includes:   100 complete essays with professional commentary Examples of essays on common topics (family background, athletics, work experience), as well as the more offbeat Essays on the immigrant experience by foreign-born students A section of drawing and cartoon essays Insider advice from a Princeton Dean of Admission And more   Compiled by members of The Harvard Independent, the weekly newsmagazine of Harvard University, this revised and updated edition is an invaluable resource for students who want to write the best possible essay—and improve their chances of admission to the best possible school.

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Hundreds at Harvard Protest Suspension of Pro-Palestinian Group

Students flooded Harvard Yard, the oldest part of the university’s campus, which officials recently closed to the public. The students set up tents for an “emergency rally.”

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By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs

• April 24, 2024

Hundreds of students gathered on Wednesday in Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Mass., to protest Israel’s war in Gaza and the Ivy League university’s suspension of a student group, the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee.

In addition to the suspension, the university restricted access over the weekend to Harvard Yard, the oldest part of the university’s campus, to only Harvard students and faculty. It was an apparent effort to prevent protests like the ones that have overtaken many other American campuses in the past week, including at Columbia, Yale and the University of Southern California.

But Harvard’s actions appeared to have galvanized students, who flooded the yard’s grassy patches and erected tents as part of an “emergency rally” against the suspension of the student group, also known as Harvard for Palestine.

Jason Newton, a Harvard spokesman, said in an emailed statement that the university was monitoring the protest and “prioritizing the safety and security of the campus community.”

Harvard for Palestine was suspended after it, along with others, organized a protest last week in Harvard Yard. An email from the university that was obtained by the university’s student newspaper , The Harvard Crimson, demanded that the group “cease all organizational activities” through the spring term.

Pro-Palestinian groups at Harvard have faced a backlash over how they described the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7. The group leading Wednesday’s protest issued a letter at the time — initially signed by many other campus groups — saying that the Hamas-led attack “did not occur in a vacuum” and that, given the history of the region, the group held “the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”

The university has been at the center of a series of controversies since the war. Its former president, Claudine Gay, resigned after being accused of plagiarism and while trying to fend off allegations that she had not done enough to protect Jewish students on campus.

Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs reports on national stories across the United States with a focus on criminal justice. He is from upstate New York. More about Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs

Our Coverage of the U.S. Campus Protests

News and Analysis

President Biden broke days of silence to finally speak out on the unrest disrupting campuses  across the United States, denouncing violence and antisemitism even as he defended the right to peaceful dissent.

At the University of California, Los Angeles, police officers dismantled a pro-Palestinian encampment  and made arrests after a tense hourslong standoff with demonstrators.

Police officers in riot gear arrested pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Fordham University’s Manhattan campus , the third university in New York City to face mass arrests.

Choosing Anonymity:  In an online world, doxxing and other consequences have led many student protesters to obscure their identities by wearing masks and scarves. That choice has been polarizing .

Seeing Links to a Global Struggle:  In many student protesters’ eyes, the war in Gaza is linked to other issues , such as policing, mistreatment of Indigenous people, racism and climate change.

Ending the Unrest:  Across the nation, universities are looking for ways to quell the protests . Columbia has taken the spotlight after calling in the police twice , while Brown chose a different path .

A 63-Year-Old Career Activist:  Videos show Lisa Fithian, whom the police called a “professional agitator,” working alongside protesters at Columbia  who stormed Hamilton Hall.