Harvard Admits Class of 2030 on Ivy Day, Withholds Admissions Data for Second Year

Harvard College admitted its final round of students to the Class of 2030 on Thursday, completing the admissions cycle on Ivy Day without publicly disclosing any statistics about the incoming class.

The College has now declined to publish acceptance rates, applicant totals, or demographic data for two consecutive admissions cycles. Under a policy adopted ahead of the Class of 2029, the information will not be made available until it is submitted to the Department of Education in October — months after freshmen arrive on campus.

An FAS spokesperson declined to comment on the admissions decisions.

Thursday’s admits round out a class that took shape over several months: first through Harvard’s inaugural QuestBridge cycle, which matched a small group of high-achieving, low-income students with the College on full scholarships in early December, then through restrictive early action later that month.

Though Harvard has faced intensifying political and legal scrutiny in recent months — including a Department of Justice lawsuit over admissions records and new Department of Education investigations — newly admitted students across the country reacted with familiar excitement as they opened their decisions.

Dayana Rengel, a high school senior from Mesquite, Texas, said she “couldn’t believe it” when she saw her acceptance — especially after being rejected from three other Ivy League schools earlier that day.

“In that moment, I really just felt so much appreciation for whoever it was that gave me that opportunity — for seeing something in me that maybe other people didn’t,” Rengel said.

Rengel said she is the first student at her high school to be accepted to Harvard. She had not planned to apply until a friend — a current Harvard student — urged her to submit an application just before the deadline.

“He’s like, ‘you just have to apply. You never know what could happen,’” she said.

Huan Le, a student from Worcester, Mass., said he had been waiting anxiously for the decision all day. At tennis practice that afternoon, he said, the anticipation was overwhelming.

“I was missing almost every forehand, almost every backhand, because I was thinking about it so much,” Le said.

Le — who had been deferred after applying early action — said he was “absolutely shocked” when he saw the acceptance.

“I started jumping up and down,” he said.

Chloe J. Ryan, from Dayton, Ohio, said her sister took her to Dairy Queen before the decisions came out to help take her mind off the wait. When they returned home around 6:30 p.m., Ryan went to the trampoline in her backyard.

“I kind of just went out there to jump around, and then I laid down, I looked at the sky,” she said. “I thought I was going to get rejected, and I was like, whatever happens, it’s fine.”

Brianna K. Mun, another admitted student, said she applied to roughly two dozen schools but that Harvard was her first choice. She said she has already accepted the offer.

This admissions cycle marks the second year of required standardized testing after the College reinstated SAT and ACT requirements in April 2024, reversing pandemic-era test-optional policies. The return to mandatory testing contributed to an 11 percent decline in applications for the Class of 2029, and Harvard has not disclosed application numbers for the current cycle.

Several newly admitted students said the testing requirement did not discourage them from applying, though some acknowledged it added pressure to the process.

Rengel said she was initially discouraged by some of her SAT scores, but her alumni interviewer reassured her about Harvard’s holistic review process.

“He just let me know that Harvard is so holistic in the applications process, and that I should just apply, because they might see something in me,” she said. “And they did.”

Crystal Huang, who is dual-enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison while in high school, described opening her admissions decision as “ripping off a bandage.” After learning she had been accepted, she immediately messaged her friends.

Huang said she plans to attend Visitas, the College’s admitted students weekend, to get a feel for campus life. Inspired by Elle Woods from the 2001 film “Legally Blonde,” she said she hopes to attend Harvard Law School in the future.

“I’m definitely looking forward to Visitas, because I think it’s gonna give me a better vibe of what it’s actually like to be a student there,” Huang said.

For Rengel, the acceptance carried weight beyond her own ambitions.

“I really just had this huge feeling of whoever let me in here, I’m going to prove them right,” she said. “And I’m going to do right by them and by this college.”

—Staff writer Celine Muir can be reached at [email protected] or Signal at celinem.33. Follow her on X @celinemuir1.

—Staff writer Alexa M. Schmitt can be reached at [email protected] or Signal at alexaschmitt.15. Follow her on X ​​@alexa_m15_s.