Harvard University vs. Princeton University
Every Princeton senior turns in an original thesis before they can graduate, a months-long project with your name on it. That tells you a lot about the place. Princeton aims its whole machine at undergraduates: no sprawling professional schools poach the best faculty, and nearly everyone lives and eats inside the residential-college system from day one. Harvard plays a different game. You'd land in Cambridge, study inside a much bigger research university, and lean toward the social sciences along with the crowd. The scale cuts both ways. You get a city around you and resources most schools can only envy, but you fight a larger pack for a professor's attention. On testing they split: Princeton stays test-optional, Harvard wants the SAT or ACT. Aid runs deep at both, though Princeton pays your whole package in grants, so you walk out owing the school nothing. If a defended thesis with your name on the spine sounds like the point of college, Princeton makes it exactly that.
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Acceptance Rate
Total applicants, admitted students, and enrolled students for the most recent admission cycle.
Early Action
Harvard offers Restrictive (single-choice) Early Action — non-binding, but you may not apply early to other private colleges.
Standardized Tests
Harvard requires standardized test scores for all applicants.
SAT Accepted?
ACT Accepted?
Test Optional?
SAT Scores
ACT Scores
Admissions Factors
How Harvard weighs each part of your application.
Rigor of High School Record
Academic GPA
Standardized Test Scores
Application Essay
Recommendations
Extracurricular Activities
Character / Personal Qualities
Talent / Ability
First Generation
Level of Applicant's Interest
Class Rank
Volunteer Work
Work Experience
Geographical Residence
State Residency
Alumni Relation
Racial / Ethnic Status
Religious Affiliation
Cost of Attendance
Estimated full-time annual cost from Harvard's Common Data Set.
Private universities charge the same tuition regardless of state residency.
Financial Aid
Need-based aid statistics for full-time first-year students.
Major Distribution
Bachelor's degrees awarded in the past year by academic major.
Student Diversity
Racial and ethnic breakdown of enrolled undergraduate students.
Student-Faculty Ratio
The number of students for every one faculty member, indicating the average level of access students have to instructional staff.
Campus Life
On-campus housing and Greek life participation rates.
Enrollment by Gender
Since some students did not report gender, totals may not fully reflect the student body.
Acceptance Rate
Total applicants, admitted students, and enrolled students for the most recent admission cycle.
Early Action
Princeton offers Restrictive (single-choice) Early Action — non-binding, but you may not apply early to other private colleges.
Standardized Tests
Princeton is currently test-optional — you may apply without submitting scores.
SAT Accepted?
ACT Accepted?
Test Optional?
SAT Scores
ACT Scores
Admissions Factors
How Princeton weighs each part of your application.
Rigor of High School Record
Academic GPA
Standardized Test Scores
Application Essay
Recommendations
Extracurricular Activities
Character / Personal Qualities
Talent / Ability
First Generation
Level of Applicant's Interest
Class Rank
Volunteer Work
Work Experience
Geographical Residence
State Residency
Alumni Relation
Racial / Ethnic Status
Religious Affiliation
Cost of Attendance
Estimated full-time annual cost from Princeton's Common Data Set.
Private universities charge the same tuition regardless of state residency.
Financial Aid
Need-based aid statistics for full-time first-year students.
Major Distribution
Bachelor's degrees awarded in the past year by academic major.
Student Diversity
Racial and ethnic breakdown of enrolled undergraduate students.
Student-Faculty Ratio
The number of students for every one faculty member, indicating the average level of access students have to instructional staff.
Campus Life
On-campus housing and Greek life participation rates.
Enrollment by Gender
Since some students did not report gender, totals may not fully reflect the student body.
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Harvard vs. Princeton: frequently asked questions
Is it harder to get into Harvard or Princeton?＋
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.
Do Harvard and Princeton have the same testing requirements?＋
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.
Is Harvard or Princeton cheaper after financial aid?＋
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.
Is Harvard or Princeton better for computer science and engineering?＋
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.
What are the most popular majors at Harvard vs Princeton?＋
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.
Is Harvard or Princeton bigger?＋
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.
Source: Harvard University Common Data Set 2024-2025. Figures transcribed 2026-06-05. Esslo aggregates publicly reported data and is not affiliated with Harvard. Banner photo by Chris Rycroft, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).
Source: Princeton University Common Data Set 2025-2026. Figures transcribed 2026-06-06. Esslo aggregates publicly reported data and is not affiliated with Princeton. Banner photo by Ken Lund, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).