What Is Harvard Known For? A Closer Look at Its Reputation

Harvard University, founded in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. But what is Harvard known for?

The university has become a symbol of academic excellence. Harvard’s rich history has also made it known for groundbreaking research in medicine and science, an accomplished alumni network who are leaders in various fields, and cultural, artistic, and athletic contributions that have further enhanced its global reputation.

Our article today will talk about the different aspects that make Harvard an iconic institution with an undeniable impact on society.

• Harvard’s Academic Excellence
• Research and Innovation at Harvard
• Notable Harvard Alumni
• Harvard’s Cultural and Artistic Contributions
• Harvard Extracurriculars
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Takeaways

What Is Harvard Known For?

Harvard’s Academic Excellence

Aspiring Harvard applicants are well aware of the university’s reputation for academic excellence. It has an extremely low acceptance rate of 3.6%, making it one of the most selective institutions in the country. To stand out from other applicants, you should ideally aim for a GPA of 4.2, a SAT score of 1580, and an ACT score of 36.

Once you’re in, you get to experience why Harvard is known for its rigorous academic standards. The school pushes students to improve their skills in critical thinking, independent research, and intellectual exploration.

Majors at Harvard

Harvard has a broad liberal arts and sciences education for its undergraduates since the school believes that you have to understand the world before you try to change it.

Harvard University ranks #3 among national universities and ranks in other certain programs and aspects:

• #2 in Psychology programs
• #5 in Biocomputing/Bioinformatics/Biotechnology
• #5 in Economics
• #7 in Undergraduate Research/Creative Projects
• #17 in Most Innovative Schools
• #27 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs

Harvard is also known for offering the same rigor to its graduate students to ensure they become future leaders in their field.

For instance, the Harvard Business School has the same required curriculum for everyone in their first year to give them a firm grasp of broad-based fundamentals. The second year has an elective curriculum, where you can choose from 100 courses in ten subject areas, including field-based learning opportunities for a wider and deeper graduate business education.

Research and Innovation at Harvard

Harvard is known for being a global leader in groundbreaking research and innovation across various disciplines. Below are just a few examples:

• Medicine. Harvard Medical School researchers have created technologies that can make mRNA vaccines more potent and longer-lasting but at smaller doses and with fewer side effects.
• Science. Francois Fressin of Harvard University led the paper presentation on the discovery of new extrasolar planets.
• Technology. Scientists at Harvard Medical School led a project that uses artificial intelligence to repurpose existing drugs to treat rare diseases
• Social sciences. Economist Raj Chetty uses big data to know why upward mobility has stalled and how it can be fixed.
• Arts. Kat Owens uses art to explore and give attention to political and environmental problems. She is especially passionate about addressing plastic pollution as an existential threat to the environment.

To support research and innovation, Harvard had $1.4 billion worth of funding, coming from both external grants and the university itself.

Harvard is also known for having many state-of-the-art facilities and resources. For one, the university has more than 20 buildings that are exclusively used for scientific research. You can also conduct research at the school’s affiliated hospitals. You can work with fellow students and esteemed faculty, who can help offer insights for your research as well.

Harvard also has a multi-library system that houses a range of resources, from the Gutenberg Bible to the paintings of John James Audubon, making it the largest university library collection in the world.

Different departments and schools also have more specific resources available for their students. For instance, Harvard’s Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology is known for having impressive research collections, such as the Arnold Arboretum with its 265 acres of botanical gardens, housing 6,500 species and varieties of woody plants.

Notable Harvard Alumni

Harvard is known for its impressive alumni network, which includes U.S. presidents, Nobel laureates, and influential leaders in various fields. Examples include:

• Barack Obama. The 44th president of the US and the first African-American who has held the office in the nation’s history. Before that, he was a senator representing Illinois.
• John F. Kennedy. The 35th president of the United States who also represented Massachusetts in both houses of the U.S. Congress prior to his presidency. He was also the youngest person elected president.
• Natalie Portman. An Israeli-born American actress who received multiple awards, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards.
• Noam Chomsky. Dubbed “the father of modern linguistics,” who is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He has written at least 150 books on topics like linguistics, war, and politics.
• Ban Ki-moon. A South Korean politician and diplomat who was the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations. Before that, he was also the South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg. An American lawyer and jurist who was the associate justice of the Supreme Court. She was the first Jewish woman and the second woman to serve on the Court.
• Judy Garland. The first woman to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. She attained international stardom and critical acclaim as an actress and recording artist. Other awards she earned are the Academy Juvenile Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Special Tony Award.

Harvard’s Cultural and Artistic Contributions

Harvard is known for its strong contributions to culture and the arts, encouraging creativity and preserving history through its esteemed museums, libraries, and performing arts programs.

The university has curated collections in art, science, and history museums. Those that can be viewed by the public are:

• Art museums (Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Arthur M. Sackler Museums). This institution houses an extensive collection of artwork spanning centuries and cultures, from ancient Egyptian artifacts to contemporary art. It serves as a major resource for scholars, students, and the public, fostering art appreciation and historical understanding.
• Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. This museum showcases diverse human cultures worldwide, with collections ranging from ancient civilizations to contemporary indigenous communities.
• Harvard Museum of Natural History. This features stunning exhibits such as the Glass Flowers and extensive mineral collections.
• Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East. This museum has at least 40,000 artifacts, including pottery, cylinder seals, sculptures, coins, and cuneiform tablets, and aims to educate the general public on the civilizations of the Near East and their cultural legacies.

The Harvard Library is the oldest library system in the US, housing 20 million books, 1 million maps and spatial data sets, and 400 million other rare items—including letters, photographs, and manuscripts.

Harvard is also known for thriving in the performing arts scene. The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a leading theater company renowned for its innovative productions and collaborations with renowned artists. A.R.T. pushes the boundaries of theatrical expression, offering audiences unique and thought-provoking experiences.

Meanwhile, the Harvard University Band is a highly regarded musical ensemble that performs a wide range of music, from traditional marches to contemporary compositions.

Harvard Extracurriculars

Aside from being an academic powerhouse, Harvard is also known for the many extracurricular activities that students can get involved in.

Athletics

Harvard’s first college athletic event was in 1852, with a rowing crew race against Yale. This became an annual event and was eventually called “The Harvard–Yale Regatta,” “Yale-Harvard Boat Race,” or simply “The Race.”

Another legendary bout between the two schools has been dubbed “The Game,” which was a football match in 1875.

Nowadays, Harvard has 42 different Division I intercollegiate varsity teams for women and men, the most of any other Division I college.

Some of Harvard’s varsity sports include baseball, basketball, lacrosse, ice hockey, and water polo. Out of all of the sports, Harvard is still best known for its long history in crew. However, the university’s other sports have won championships as well, such as:

• Men’s Golf – 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1904
• Women’s Ice Hockey – 1998-99
• Women’s Rugby – 2019 (15s), 2023 (15s), 2024 (7s)
• Men’s/Co-ed/Open Sailing – 1952, 1953, 1959, 1974, 2002 (Team Race), 2003 (Team Race), 2023 (Team Race), 2024 (Fleet Race)

If you still want to practice a sport but don’t want too much pressure in competitiveness or don’t have the skills for varsity, then you can join club teams instead. These are typically formed by students and are less formal than varsity sports. That means it normally has more relaxed practice schedules and may not be as highly competitive as varsity.

Some club teams you can join include aikido, archery, badminton, cheerleading, and ultimate Frisbee.

Student organizations

If you’re not a sports person, that’s okay! Harvard is also known for having a wide array of student organizations you can join. In fact, the university has at least 450 organizations with different interests, from music to public service.

• If you love performing music, Harvard has orchestras, choral groups, and concert bands you can join. Or, if you’re more interested in music production, a club like the Electronic Music Collective might be better for you.
• If you love performing in general, there’s plenty of space for you at Harvard. The school has at least 50 student productions every year and at least 20 student dance companies you can join. If you’re starting from zero, join credit or non-credit courses in acting, directing, playwriting, and other aspects of theater at the Loeb Drama Center.
• Maybe you’re looking to learn or improve your skills in the visual arts. There are clubs that offer workshops for printmaking, ceramics, pottery, photography, and filmmaking.
• Passionate about media and journalism? Get involved in the student newspaper, an ethnic publication, or a student-run radio or television program.
• If you have a dedication to public service, you can offer after-school tutoring, lead health awareness campaigns, or engage in refugee projects.
• Looking for a club with members who share the same background or beliefs as you? There are lots of religious, LGBTQ, cultural, ethnic, and international organizations on campus.
• Harvard is also known for the Cultural Rhythms Festival—which is the university’s largest and oldest cultural festival. This is a week to celebrate the rich cultural and ethnic diversity of the student body, involving performances, culinary delights, and dialogues.

No matter what your interest and passion, you can find a student organization that’s perfect for you!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why is Harvard so famous?

Harvard is famous because of its academic excellence and contributions to research and innovation. Harvard is also known for its impressive alumni roster that includes big names like Barack Obama, Natalie Portman, and Ban Ki-Moon.

2. What does Harvard specialize in?

Harvard specializes in research, as seen in its many breakthroughs in different fields, such as medicine, technology, and science. The university also encourages its undergraduate students to engage in research by offering programs and fellowships (such as the Harvard College Research Program and the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program) that they can easily participate in.

3. What major is Harvard best known for?

Harvard is best known for its social sciences programs. Other popular majors are in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, and Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services.

Takeaways

Why Harvard? Harvard is internationally known in different aspects.

• Harvard is known for its academic excellence in its undergraduate and graduate programs, which has produced famous alumni. The university has also made many contributions to research and innovation in various fields.
• Harvard is known for its museums, libraries, and performing arts programs, which contribute to culture and the arts both locally and internationally.
• Harvard is known for the hundreds of extracurricular activities its students can join. Its athletics programs have achieved prominence thanks to the many championships that athletes have won, while student organizations contribute to the liveliness and culture on campus.
• Interested in trying for Harvard after learning about the different things it’s known for? Becoming someone who will stand out from the other applicants can be tough, but being in a private consulting program can help you navigate the academics and extracurriculars you need to hopefully succeed.