I am currently student in Australia and in one year we are going to have one term abroad. I always wanted to study at a university like Harvard, but my grades in high school were never really good. Now after 1,5 terms of studying I have a GPA of 3,5 - 3,6 depending on some already written exams.
I have read a lot about the Harvard visiting undergraduate students programm, and I would enjoy to be part of it.
I searched a lot about GPA scores and numbers of students for each year and also the percentage of people who get accepted for 1 term.
Has anyone experince or some informations for me? Is it difficult to get into that programm (guess easier than full programm)?
Yes, I read all of those sites and I already started to prepare a lot of the listed things, but the information provided on those sites is reall generall.
They say, I need good grades, but I guess everyone who applies as VUS has really good grades. I often saw informations how many people applied for example MBA and how many places they got, but I could not find any specific information how many VUS places they have, what the average grades are and how many % are accepted because I guess there are a lot more people who would apply for Harvard, but not for a VUS programm because
There are a lot of universitys which do not have a term abroad included and most people want to finish their bachelor degree very fast.
There is no financial aid for VUS and there is no housing for VUS. So, I guess the first question is: can you or your family afford to spend $25,000 US dollars for you to attend one semester at Harvard? Can your family afford to pay an additional $12,000 for an apartment in Cambridge, MA for you to live and eat?
If the answer is yes, then I would call Harvard Admissions and speak directly to an Admission Officer about your concerns and see what they say.
RE: “there is no housing for VUS.” Wrong. On the web links you provide, Harvard states that, at least for this year, VUS students will have access to Harvard housing at the Inn (right across from Harvard Yard), which normally is used for undergrad overflow housing.
As the applicant will be applying for the 2016-2017 academic year, or possibly 2017-2018 academic year, Harvard does not anticipate housing to be available.
@compmom I believe it is because only Harvard has an exchange program that is open to students from any universities. Most other universities have exchange program with select universities.
I might be wrong. @gibby might know more about this.
@Desiree2: Many colleges have visiting scholars programs that are open to domestic and international undergraduate students. For example, Columbia University has one: https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/visiting-students. Just google “Undergraduate Visiting Scholar programs international students” and you’ll find many other institutions offering similar exchanges to Harvard’s.
Harvard is not the only one, no. And you can go to most universities through continuing ed or as a non-matriculated student. Harvard will not have housing for you and you will not be part of a house or community. 98 percent of Harvard undergrads live on campus. Does your school in Australia have exchange programs set up where you would have more of a community abroad?
