Campus & Community

Harvard College to enroll small number of transfer students

2 min read

Beginning next fall, Harvard College will resume enrolling a small number of undergraduate transfer students from other colleges and universities.  The College’s transfer program was temporarily suspended in 2008.

In a statement posted on the Admissions Office Web site, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael D. Smith and Dean of Harvard College Evelynn Hammonds announced that a recent review has determined that adequate residential space is now available to accommodate a small number of students in the coming academic year.

“Over the years, the transfer program has been a source of superb students who have gone on to make important contributions to the nation and the world,” Smith and Hammonds wrote.  “The College looks forward to welcoming a new class of transfer students this coming fall.”

“Residential space is essential to our ability to support a successful transfer program,” they noted.  “Harvard does not admit transfer students to nonresidential status because, in important respects, undergraduate education at Harvard College is residential in character. Students learn a great deal from the House experience, which complements activities in our classrooms and laboratories.”

In general, students who have completed at least one year, but not more than two years, of full-time study at another college or university are eligible to apply for transfer admission.  Harvard’s generous financial aid policies will apply to transfer students.

“Harvard seeks students with clearly developing academic interests that can be well served by Harvard,” said Marlene Vergara Rotner, director of transfer admissions.  “Students who apply should be enrolled in a challenging liberal arts curriculum that includes mathematics, science, and a foreign language.”

“Transfer admission closely mirrors that of freshman admissions, insofar as it looks beyond good grades and test scores and considers the qualities of creativity, intellectual curiosity, and independent thinking,” Rotner said.  “Other factors weighed in the evaluation of transfer candidates include significant nonacademic talents and personal qualities such as a capacity for leadership, energy, character, motivation, and a sense of responsibility.”

Additional information about the program is available online.