This month, our University Spotlight highlights one of the world’s best-known universities: Harvard University. Harvard is one of the most prestigious universities in the world and is for many the dream place to study or even play sports for one of their top teams.
Harvard is a private university that competes in the Ivy league with its sports teams. A conference with eight elite universities, which are also very strong academically and have a strict selection for admission. There are currently about 20,000 students studying at this university, and about 1,700 new students are accepted each year. Despite the fact that it is a private university, they play with no fewer than 37 teams in Division I. According to many, it is a great honor to be able to study and play sports at this top school. Read more about what Harvard has to offer.
Location
Harvard University is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The university is also only a few miles from Boston. It is located in the northwestern state of Massachusetts, close to the coast where there is plenty to do in the summer. In Cambridge and Boston there are plenty of places to relax and enjoy, so you have a large river around the corner where all kinds of nice restaurants are located.
The Harvard Campus has a number of very old and beautiful buildings that are spread over Cambridge, Allston and Boston. When you walk around the campus, you really get the feeling that you are at a prestigious university. In the Harvard Library you can not only study well, but you can also really imagine yourself back in time.
Close to the university complex is the large city of Boston, where there is plenty to do apart from your own sport and study. For example, the home of the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, is definitely recommended if you want to get away from the campus.
Sports
Harvard University has 37 different sports teams, eighteen of which are for men and sixteen for women. The university also has some sports that you do not encounter every day, such as fencing, sailing and skiing, these sports are all combined. As mentioned, the sports teams come from NCAA Division I and are also called the Crimson. The mascot of the university teams is John Harvard, one of the contributors to the founding of the school in 1636. The teams are extremely successful and have won many NCAA titles, especially in the 20th century. The last few, especially in Squash, the university is winning all they can.
Most Crimson teams play in the Ivy league, which includes private schools with the same status as Harvard. These are eight universities, all known for their academic level with high entry requirements. Like other top schools like Yale, Columbia and Princeton.
Study
Most student-athletes who go to Harvard consciously choose Harvard because of its high academic level. Did you know that only about 5% of all applications are actually accepted? The average SAT-scores are between 1460 and 1580, but the main focus is on your GPA. At Harvard it is only possible to get an academic scholarship, study is more than paramount at this university. As a student-athlete you will therefore not receive any preferential treatment.
At Harvard you can study in all kinds of different fields, the most famous of which is the Harvard School of Law. But in addition, the university offers many more studies, such as:
- Economics
- Computer Science
- Social Research Science
- History
Hopefully you have now learned a little more about Harvard, but besides this immense university there are of course many more wonderful schools. Do you want to know more about the different universities or about combining studying and sports in America? Please contact us and we will be happy to help you!
