Harvard University vs. Princeton University

Harvard edges out Princeton as the tougher admit, taking about 3.6% of applicants last cycle against Princeton's 4.4%. Admitted scores sit a notch higher too: Harvard's middle-50% SAT runs 1510–1580 and ACT 34–36, while Princeton lands at 1490–1560 and 34–35. That gap stays narrow, and near-perfect grades get rejected at both, so for most applicants the day-to-day difference barely registers.

No, they split on this one. Harvard requires an SAT or ACT score from every applicant, while Princeton stays test-optional through the 2026–27 cycle, so you can apply without scores and hold your ground. Among enrolled students who did report, Harvard's middle 50% scored 1510–1580 on the SAT and Princeton's scored 1490–1560. With scores under those bands, Princeton lets you leave them off; Harvard still requires them.

For families with need, the two land in a near tie: both meet 100% of demonstrated need, and average packages sit close, roughly $74,387 at Harvard and $79,320 at Princeton. Princeton funds its aid entirely through grants with zero loans, and more of its first-years collect need-based aid, about 71% against Harvard's 56%. Published tuition and fees come to about $64,796 at Harvard and $68,454 at Princeton, though for aided families the grant behind the sticker matters far more than the sticker itself.

Princeton builds more of its degree mix around these fields. Engineering ranks second among Princeton's conferred degrees at about 18% and computer science third at 14%, and the school runs a dedicated Bachelor of Science in Engineering track beside the A.B. Harvard lists no engineering field in its top majors; computer science comes in fourth at about 11% of degrees, trailing the social sciences, biological sciences, and mathematics. An undergraduate aiming squarely at engineering or CS fits Princeton's structure better.

Both schools put the social sciences on top, then part ways. Harvard's next tier runs biological sciences (13%), mathematics and statistics (12%), and computer science (11%), a quantitative and science-leaning spread. At Princeton, engineering (18%) and computer science (14%) sit right behind the social sciences (20%), with public administration and the biological sciences trailing close. Harvard's catalog leans toward the sciences and math, Princeton's toward engineering and applied fields.

Harvard runs larger at the undergraduate level, with about 7,038 undergraduates against Princeton's 5,916. Classes stay small at both, with student-faculty ratios of 7:1 at Harvard and 8:1 at Princeton, and nearly every student lives on campus either way. By public-university standards neither counts as big, though Princeton keeps the more intimate undergraduate setting of the two.