How to apply for admission in Nigeria to study in Harvard University

If your question is “how can I apply for Harvard University admission for study while I am in Nigeria?”, then this article is very important for you to pay attention to.

On a daily basis, we hear and read the news of Nigerians who successfully gained an admission to study in Harvard University.

If you know how to apply for admission of Harvard University online, you won’t spend a lot of money traveling to where its admission office is located (Cambridge, MA, USA).

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What to know to apply for Harvard University as a Nigerian

It’s not until you are a permanent US based citizen before you can apply for admission application of Harvard University, indeed applying for any top best university in US is free for all national and international prospective students.

You can gain admission into Harvard University with the aid of scholarship where by some parts of your tuition and other fees will be paid by the founder of the scholarship, for example, federal government scholarship, scholarship sponsoring by the biggest company, etc.

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If you are the one sponsoring yourself and want to study in Harvard University, how should you apply for its admission application in 2022?

Let’s now start!!

How to apply for admission to study in Harvard University in Nigeria

By far, no university can compete with Harvard University in terms of world best university ranking, world richest university or world famous university in the history.

Harvard university  has produced different heads of state, Nobel Laureates and Pulitzer Prize winners.

After researching on what it requires to gain admission into the most all time prestigious university in the world, I decide to share my idea with you to act as a guide.

Are you aware that in 2020, Harvard admitted only five percent of its applicants? And they did not make any effort to explain why.

That is about one out of every fourteen applicants. Don’t be scared! With the advice here, you will be among the 5%.

What Harvard University needs from you as a Nigerian

If you live in Nigeria while applying for admission application of Harvard University, i.e, you want to study in Harvard, the following things are what Harvard need from you:

1. Academic excellence

Harvard university is the center of excellence as such they celebrate excellence all round.

To gain admission into Harvard university as a Nigerian, you must maintain strong track record of academic excellence.

You must maintain straight A’s or at least 2 B’s in your WAEC (High school GPA). Many Harvard University admission applicants fall within the top 10% of their class, so you should aim to be above best educational range to be seriously considered.

If your GPA or WAEC is well below this range, the other parts of your application will have to be incredibly impressive to make up for it.

Meanwhile, please don’t be discouraged by only average Grade of your result as it is not the only criteria considered by Harvard university to offer you an admission, hence, continue reading!!

2. Leadership heart

If you are intending to gain admission to study in Harvard University, having a leadership heart may boost them to offer you an admission.

Harvard university is a great university, hence, it tends to produce great leaders in every aspect, i.e, they want an individual who has an ability to lead.

Before applying to Harvard university, make sure you involve yourself in one or two leadership positions, for example, in your formal school.

• It must not necessarily be everywhere, but ensure you have one or two leadership roles on your profile, with positive record.
• Accept leadership position in your school, try and earn as many leadership badges as you can in school, church, clubs, etc.
• There are many schools in Nigeria such as OAU, ABU Zaria, etc which love producing leaders and they easily accept students

3. Get involved in some curriculum activities

Harvard university aimed at producing world great leaders including world talented athlete, artist, musician, actors, etc.

It looks at how many clubs, groups, etc you belong and your leadership role in those associations.

To be eligible in this criteria, simply find two or more groups where you can develop your talent and join them.

Finding two or three clubs you’re interested in and making an effort to excel in those areas and even reaching a leadership role will show that you are a dedicated, well-rounded individual.

Try and join a club early enough and start writing, playing instruments, art, photography, inventing, research, sports, try posting some of your extracurricular activities on your social media platforms such as Facebook, Youtube and try to get enough followers.

See this article: top 12 fastest growing social media platforms in 2021.

4. Try to get high scores at SAT exam

Prospective students or individuals who English is not their native language, Harvard university may not give them admission.

However, to a Nigerian, your WAEC or GPA at high school, good grade in SAT and TOEFL will increase your chances of gaining admission at Harvard university.

Just like having a perfect GPA or straight A’s in WAEC won’t give you direct admission , a high SAT score results won’t guarantee you a spot in Harvard.

Surely, it is one of the criteria to be considered by the Harvard University admission officer.

Start preparing for SAT early enough, even though you fail in the first time, you will still can write another.

See this also: how to study for JAMB examination in 2022 using two weeks.

5. Engage in competition on your area of interest

Find competition on your niche and engage yourself. Always look for opportunity to represent your school or better still find some, both national and international.

Prepare very well in order to have a good reputation in any competition you engage because it can increase and boost your profile over time.

6. Involve in community development

• Find one or two things lacking in your community, then try how you can solve it, for example, you can start teaching people with any important thing you know for free in your community.
• Find other things you can do to impact your community.

By doing any two things listed above, you are showing yourself as a patriotic individual which Harvard is looking for.

7. Provide a compelling essay

Your essay is your speech, as such it should be original, interesting, persuasive and creative to sell your idea out to others.

Take your time to write your essay, have enough time to proof, cross-check and read your essay.

Usually, the essay should be a minimum of 250 words to maximum of 500 words.

Read this also: how to write application letter to bank for everything In Nigeria.

8. Teacher evaluation

Admission officers of Harvard University may request you to submit two teacher evaluations form in order to determine your unique personality in the class room and to have further insight about your strength and weakness.

At this point, my advice for you is to pick a teacher who has really seen you at your academic best, who trust you and willing to say something positive about you.

Please make sure that your teacher is a straight-minded person and he/she must be unique in describing you, otherwise pick another teacher to help you.

Do you think it is very hard to gain Harvard university admission? No, of course but note that Harvard is looking for leaders not ordinary individual.

All you have to do is just be preparing for it and you will get it.

Start studying in both day and night to get Harvard University admission. Studying in the night only is not scientifically proven, but sometimes, it may help.

How to apply for admission in Nigeria to study in Harvard University

Here you’ll find a detailed explanation of each admission application requirement.

However, please don’t forget to also read Harvard University admission application tips for more important guidance on filling out the application form.

To apply for Harvard University admission as a first-year or transfer student for this year, you will start with an online application.

• Fill out the Common Application or the Coalition Application (choose one, we have no preference)
• Followed by the supplement to help Harvard get a better sense of who you are.

Not sure where and how to start to apply for Harvard University? Now, some helpful tips on how to fill out the main application forms are discussed below.

A. Profile

The Profile section is a place where you’ll share detailed information about yourself, including contact information, demographics and fee waiver request.

It’s always a good idea to review the information of your profile and update any details if necessary before finally submitting.

Please note that none of the demographic questions in this section are required.

B. Application Fee Waiver

The application fee covers a very small portion of the administrative costs of processing Harvard University admission application.

However, if the fee presents a hardship for you or your family, it will be waived. Each applicant applying with a fee waiver should select an option for a need-based fee waiver.

Please do not let the application fee stand in the way of applying!

C. Family

In the family section, you’ll share information about your household, your parents, and any siblings.

Most colleges in USA collect this information for demographic purposes. Even if you’re an adult or an emancipated minor, you’ll need to fill out this section.

D. Education

The education section is where you will share information about your current school or coursework, academic honors, and future education plans.

Education page which you will fill when applying for admission application of Harvard University is a page where some tips on commonly asked questions are presented.

E. Testing

The Testing section is where you’ll enter your self-reported scores for any standardized tests that you’ve taken and wish to report to Harvard University.

However, remember that if you self-report your test scores and you are admitted and choose to enroll at Harvard, you’ll be required to submit your official or original score reports.

Please never provide an incorrect testing record if you want to apply for admission in Nigeria to study in Harvard Harvard University because at the end of the day, you may get expelled.

F. Activities

The activities section gives you the opportunity to tell schools more about who you are and activities you’re involved with outside the classroom.

You’ll also have the opportunity to list up to ten activities, but that doesn’t mean you need to enter all ten.

G. Writing

The first section is the personal essay. Harvard University requires the submission of the personal essay with your application.

They also offer an opportunity to add an additional information.

Do not feel obligated to fill this space, but some students have used this opportunity to tell Harvard University about challenging circumstances in their lives such as illness or other difficulties that may have affected their grades.

Any information that can tell them more about the person behind the test scores and grades can be helpful.

H. Harvard Questions

Harvard University is interested in learning more about your academic, extracurricular, and personal interests.

The Harvard-specific questions of this section are also required and help us understand how you expect to make the most of your time here. 

While it is known that students might well change their minds once they are in college, it is helpful for Harvard to get a sense of their current interests and those academic areas in which they have already spent time and effort.

Very importantly, Harvard does not admit students into specific academic programs and they have no quotas or targets for academic fields.

I. Writing Supplement

Applicants use this space in a variety of ways:

ome students send Harvard University an essay that they wrote for another school that they thought turned out particularly well; others connect to one of our suggested prompts to add to the common personal statement already prepared.

Harvard University itself encourages its prospective students to read over the prompts and respond to the one that most resonates with them.

If you want to apply for admission in Nigeria online in order to study in Harvard University, you may write on a topic of your choice, or you may choose from one of the following topics:

• Unusual circumstances in your life
• Travel, living, or working experiences in your own or other communities
• What you would want your future college roommate to know about you
• 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
• How you hope to use your college education
• A list of books you have read during the past twelve months
• 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. 
• 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? 
• 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? 
• 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 schoolmates. 

Conclusion

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