Transferring to Harvard: your chances, deadlines and credits
Transfer acceptance rate: 0.6%
Transfer acceptance rate
Source: Official school data report, section D, 2025-2026
For fall 2025, Harvard admitted 13 of 2,042 transfer applicants (0.6%).
Checked November 9, 2026. Very few transfer seats
- Fall 2027 deadline
- Mar 1, 2027Source, 2026-2027
- SAT or ACT
- RequiredSource, 2026-2027
- Lowest grade that transfers
- CSource, 2026-2027
- Recommendation letters
- RequiredSource, 2026-2027
- Interview
- Not requiredSource, 2025-2026
Harvard transfer acceptance rate
Harvard's transfer acceptance rate for fall 2025 was 0.6%. 12 transfer students enrolled. The first-year rate the same year was 4.2%.
Source: Official school data report, section D, 2025-2026
The Common Data Set is the official data report colleges publish each year.
Transfer and first-year applicants are different groups. Use the first-year rate as context only.
A rate this low tells you how few seats exist. It says nothing about you. No GPA makes this safe.
Harvard says it typically enrolls about 12 transfers each fall, and that applicant pools have recently exceeded 2,000 a year.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
Our read: A class this small means one year of counts says little about the next. It also means a single strong or weak applicant in your intended field can change how a year looks.
What Harvard looks for
Harvard says it looks for a clearly defined academic need to transfer, a record of achievement at your current school, and strong faculty recommendations. It weighs achievement in a rigorous program, especially in your expected field of specialization.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
It also names extracurricular engagement and talents, leadership, creativity, resiliency, intellectual curiosity and independent thinking. Exceptional talents in music, art or research can go in as optional supplementary material.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
Harvard says it does not comment on individual eligibility questions, and that early submission does not improve your chances.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
The Common Data Set marks the essay, college transcripts, high school transcript, test scores and a statement of good standing as required of all transfer applicants. It marks the interview as not required.
Source: Harvard Common Data Set 2025-2026, section D, 2025-2026
Our read: The page asks for faculty who taught you in an academic setting. Start building those relationships now: go to office hours in the field you plan to study, and pick two instructors who can write about specific work you did.
What GPA do you need?
Our read: No GPA makes this safe. The transfer page gives no GPA line, and the Common Data Set leaves the transfer GPA field empty. A high GPA is not a promise, and a lower one is not a reason to skip. What the page asks for is a reason that only Harvard can answer.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027; Harvard Common Data Set 2025-2026, section D, 2025-2026
Transfer essays and supplements
The transfer page requires the Harvard College Questions and Writing Supplement for the Common Application. It does not print transfer prompts. The application requirements page lists five short questions of 150 words each and says most requirements apply to first-year and transfer applicants alike. It describes no separate transfer supplement.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027; Harvard College application requirements, undated page
Our read: Open the supplement inside your Common App account before you plan anything. Do not assume the text you read on a school page is the one you will answer this year.
Our read: Harvard asks for a clearly defined academic need to transfer. Write what you cannot study where you are now and what you would study in that concentration, with named courses or faculty. Blaming your current school is not an academic need.
Our read: At 150 words per answer, there is no room for a story about why you left. Say it once, plainly, and spend the words on what you have done and what you will do next.
Your grades are mostly set. Your essay is not. Get a free review against the six things a transfer essay has to do.
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Transfer requirements
Harvard requires an essay, recommendation letters, SAT or ACT scores and a minimum number of college credits. It does not require an interview.
Recommendation lettersRequired
Harvard requires two recommendations from college instructors.
Source, 2026-2027Minimum credits before you applyRequired
Applicants need one continuous academic year of full-time college work, and no more than two academic years, before they would enroll.
Source, 2026-2027
The College Report (also called the Dean's or Registrar's Report) must be completed by a college official. College transcripts must also be sent by a college official, by email or an electronic exchange such as Parchment, Scrip-Safe or the National Student Clearinghouse.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
Harvard cannot open personal file-sharing links or zip files, and password-protected files may cause delays. Choose online or mailed submission, not both.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
If you have been out of college for several years, a professional reference can stand in for one instructor recommendation. U.S. military veterans can use a commanding officer's reference.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
Self-reported test scores are accepted while you apply, but official scores are required of enrolling students. In exceptional cases where the SAT or ACT is not accessible, AP, IB, GCSE/A-Level or national leaving exam results can meet the requirement.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
You are not eligible if you already hold a bachelor's degree or other first university degree. You also cannot drop credits to restart your college record or regain eligibility. Students who are too advanced can look at the Visiting Undergraduate Student Program.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
Transfer deadlines for fall 2027
For fall 2027 entry, the application deadline is March 1, 2027.
Source: Harvard University transfer information, 2026-2027
- You send or do something
- The school answers
- March
- June
Transfer admission is for fall entry only. March 1 is the deadline for all application and financial aid materials, so aid paperwork is not a later step.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
Harvard asks for college transcripts between January and March so they show your latest grades. If you are enrolled now, there is an optional Midterm Report, to be uploaded around mid-April or when grades are available.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
Our read: Four things have to come from other people: two instructor letters, the College Report from a college official, and your transcripts. Ask for all of them in January, not February.
Other terms and dates
- Notification date reported for fall 2025 (Common Data Set 2025-2026)June 15Source, 2025-2026
Will your credits transfer?
Each course needs a C or better.
Lowest grade that transfers
C or better
Transfer credit requires a grade of C or the equivalent or better.
Source, 2026-2027
The Registrar's Office grants credit one course at a time and keeps no list of transferable courses. Harvard accepts up to 16 semester-long courses, roughly two years of academic work.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
A course must come from an accredited, degree-granting school, be comparable to Harvard's liberal arts curriculum, be taken full-time, in person and during the day, and earn a C or better.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
These do not transfer: online, hybrid, distance, night or extension courses, part-time coursework, technical, vocational or professional courses such as business, nursing or journalism, dual-enrollment courses counted toward a high school diploma, foundational or preparatory coursework, accelerated credit, and exam credit such as AP, IB or CLEP.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
Summer courses are eligible only at your current school or at Harvard Summer School. An isolated term or summer counts only if the sending college granted credit.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
Our read: The page does not say when you learn what counted, so assume it is after admission. If your last year leaned on online sections, business or nursing courses, or night classes, ask Transfer Admissions before you apply whether your record fits the program it describes.
Build a full list
All transfer applicants, including international students, may apply for need-based financial aid. Aid is not tied to nationality or citizenship.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
Harvard encourages applicants to consider multiple colleges.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
Our read: Decisions come by June. Other schools may ask for a deposit before then, so check each school's reply date and build a list that does not depend on hearing from Harvard first.
- Apply to schools across more than one tier. Do not build the list around one long shot.
- Keep your grades up this term. Most transfer readers see your latest work.
- Decide now what you do if every answer is no. Staying and finishing strong is a real plan.
- Princeton UniversitySimilar odds
- Massachusetts Institute of TechnologySimilar odds
- Stanford UniversitySimilar odds
- Washington University in St. LouisTakes more transfers
Questions students ask
Can I apply with three years of college done?
No. Harvard says the application is for students with at least one continuous academic year and not more than two academic years by the time they would enroll.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
Does part-time or online study count?
The eligibility line says a liberal arts, full-time, in-person degree program at one college. Part-time, online, hybrid and night courses are also excluded from credit.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
Do I need an interview?
The Common Data Set marks the interview as not required. The transfer page does not mention interviews.
Source: Harvard Common Data Set 2025-2026, section D, 2025-2026; Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
How do I ask for a fee waiver?
The fee is $95. To request a waiver, email adm-tran@fas.harvard.edu.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
Can I apply for spring entry?
No. Transfer admission is for fall entry only.
Source: Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
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Sources
- Official school data report, 2025-2026
- Harvard College transfer applicants, 2026-2027
- Harvard College application requirements, undated page
- Harvard Common Data Set 2025-2026, section D, 2025-2026
Numbers come from official reports, read by our tools and checked. Notes were drafted with AI tools from the official pages linked beside them. A person has not reviewed this guide yet. Admission decisions belong to each college, and no one can promise one.