Skip to content
Log inSign up

THE IVY LEAGUE. CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

Harvard University

Harvard College sits in Cambridge, across the Charles River from Boston, with about 7,100 undergraduates and a residential House system that keeps the college small inside a large research university. Its ski team races NCAA Division I on the EISA carnival circuit, and the alpine venue EISA lists for Harvard is Burke Mountain in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, so training means travel. Aid is entirely need-based, which is the Ivy League rule.

Cambridge, MA

SaveWhere do I fitVisit official site
  • NCAA · Division I institution
  • NCAA skiing
  • EISA
  • Men & women
HarvardCrimson · Ski team

Photo: Marco Almbauer, via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

SaveVisit official site
NCAA divisionEISA · NCAA skiing
D1
UndergraduatesHarvard College
7,103
AdmittedClass of 2029
4.2%
Cost of attendance (low estimate)2026-27
$95,134
EISA alpine venueEast Burke, VT
Burke Mtn.
Student-faculty ratioHarvard College
7:1
Roster athletes2026-27
10
NCAA power rankscore 49.36
#15

Why Harvard?

Why racerslook at Harvard

The trade is clear: a top research university and a city at the door, in exchange for a long drive to snow.

  • Widener Library's columned facade and front steps in Harvard Yard

    Aid that covers tuition up to $200,000

    Families earning under $100,000 pay nothing, and aid covers at least full tuition for incomes up to $200,000; 100% of demonstrated need is met and admission is need-blind.(college.harvard.edu)

  • Weld Boathouse on the Charles River in Cambridge, seen from the water side

    Twelve Houses, one Yard

    First-years live in dorms around Harvard Yard and eat in Annenberg Hall; on Housing Day in spring they are placed into one of 12 upper-level Houses of 350 to 500 students.(college.harvard.edu)

  • Snow-covered Burke Mountain in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom

    NCAA starts from a small program

    In 2026 Duncan Armstrong and Luke Kearing qualified for the NCAA Championships from the men's alpine team, with Armstrong taking second in giant slalom at the NCAA Regional Championships.(gocrimson.com)

  • Harvard Square in Cambridge on a winter day, with the subway kiosk and surrounding shops

    Cambridge and Boston

    Harvard Square and the city are part of daily life; the college describes its setting as Cambridge, Massachusetts, adjacent to Boston.(college.harvard.edu)

About the school

The honest version.

What the school is, what it is known for, and what a family should weigh before committing.

Harvard is a private research university founded in 1636, with about 7,100 undergraduates in Harvard College and a 7:1 student-faculty ratio. The campus sits in Cambridge, across the Charles River from Boston, so daily life is urban: Harvard Square, the T, and a dense city at the door. Academics are strong in nearly every field, and the residential House system keeps the college feeling smaller than the university around it. Admission is need-blind and aid is entirely need-based; families under $100,000 pay nothing, and aid covers at least full tuition up to $200,000. For a ski racer this is an NCAA Division I program on the EISA carnival circuit, and it is the outlier in this group because there is no hill nearby. EISA lists Burke Mountain in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom as Harvard's alpine home, roughly three hours from Cambridge, and the Harvard Carnival runs on Burke's training hill. Expect long van rides and a program that has historically finished mid-pack in the East, though it sent two alpine men to the 2026 NCAA Championships.

Know before you commit

  • Extremely selective: about 4.2% of applicants were admitted to the Class of 2029, and the SAT or ACT is required again.(college.harvard.edu)
  • No athletic scholarships: the Ivy League awards aid only on financial need, so a coach cannot offer money.(ivyleague.com)
  • No home hill near campus: EISA lists Burke Mountain in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom as the alpine venue, and no drive time from Cambridge is published, so on-snow training means long travel.(eisaskiing.org)
  • Institutional turbulence: Harvard has been in litigation with the federal government since 2025 over a $2.2 billion grant freeze and faces an endowment-tax increase of about $300 million a year from fiscal 2027, which has led to salary freezes, hiring moratoriums and layoffs.(harvardmagazine.com)
  • Mid-pack results: in 2025-26 the combined team finished between 7th and 10th of 14 at every EISA carnival.(gocrimson.com)

Feel the campus

From first tracks to final exams.

Credited archive photographs of the campus, the town and the hill; not current team photography.

5 of 5 photos shown

Ski team experience

Crimson skiingon the EISA circuit

Harvard fields alpine and nordic teams that race NCAA Division I on the EISA carnival circuit against Vermont, Dartmouth, Middlebury and the rest of the East. EISA lists Burke Mountain in Vermont as the alpine venue and the Weston Ski Track in Massachusetts for nordic. In 2025-26 the combined team finished between 7th and 10th of 14 at each carnival and sent three skiers to the NCAA Championships.

View official roster
Team athletes
10
Men / women
5 / 5
International athletes
4
NCAA qualifiers, 2026
3
Conference
EISA
Alpine disciplines
SL + GS

Where Zali fits today

Not a selection or admission prediction.

  • SLScorer
    47.39 · 3rd of 6

    Scoring line 77.07.

  • GSScorer
    56.37 · 3rd of 6

    Scoring line 91.98.

  • SGNo comparison
    — · —

    Scoring line 246.86.

  • DHNo comparison
    — · —

Clear · Back to Zali's profile

Academics

What you can study.

Harvard College runs on two semesters with a short January wintersession between them, and offers about 50 concentrations with a 7:1 student-faculty ratio and a median class size of 10. The carnival season lands in the spring semester, so racers should ask how course selection and exam timing work around January and February travel.

  • 7,103
    Undergraduates
  • 7:1
    Student-faculty ratio
  • 98%
    Graduation rate

7 featured fields · full catalog

  • Computer ScienceQuantitative
    One of about 50 concentrations offered in Harvard College.
  • EconomicsSocial science
    A standard concentration listed in the Harvard College catalog.
  • Applied MathematicsQuantitative
    Listed as Applied Math among the college's concentrations.
  • GovernmentSocial science
    Harvard's political science concentration.
  • Environmental Science and Public PolicyEnvironment
    An interdisciplinary environmental concentration alongside Environmental Science and Engineering.
  • Mechanical EngineeringEngineering
    One of several engineering concentrations, with Electrical and Biomedical Engineering.
  • Human Evolutionary BiologyScience
    A life-science concentration alongside Molecular and Cellular Biology and Integrative Biology.
Explore majors

Source: college.harvard.edu

Admissions

Your path here.

Testing
required(college.harvard.edu)
Application deadline
January 1 (regular decision); November 1 (restrictive early action)(college.harvard.edu)
  1. Submit the Common Application with Harvard's five short-answer questions (150 words each)
  2. Have your counselor send the secondary school report, transcript and recommendation, plus two teacher evaluations from different subjects
  3. Submit SAT or ACT scores (self-reported scores are accepted until admission)
  4. Send the midyear school report in February and the final report by July 1 if admitted
Admissions details

Acceptance rate

How selective it is.

4.2%Class of 2029 (2,003 admitted of 47,893)
  • Admitted
  • Not admitted

Harvard admitted about 4.2% of applicants to the Class of 2029 and requires the SAT or ACT. Coaches can support a candidate, but the Ivy League awards no athletic scholarships and no coach can guarantee admission.

Source: college.harvard.edu

Cost & financial aid

What a year costs.

2026-27 published figures.

Published costs
Tuition$62,226
Fees$6,216
Housing$14,250
Food$8,942
Billed costs subtotal$91,634
Total cost of attendance (billed and unbilled, low estimate)$95,134
Total cost of attendance (billed and unbilled, high estimate)$100,134

Unbilled estimates add $2,500 personal, $1,000 books and $0 to $5,000 travel; health insurance is another $4,954 if not waived. Admission is need-blind, aid meets 100% of demonstrated need and is need-based only; families under $100,000 pay nothing and families up to $200,000 get at least full tuition. No athletic or merit scholarships exist in the Ivy League.(college.harvard.edu)

Financial aid information

Location

Campus, hill, airport.

Harvard Yard, Cambridge

The college is in Cambridge, Massachusetts, adjacent to Boston, with first-year dorms around the Yard.

Open in Maps · source

Harvard Square in Cambridge on a winter day, with the subway kiosk and surrounding shops
Harvard Square, Cambridge, in February 2022

Student life

Beyond the hill.

  • The House system

    After a first year in the Yard, students are placed into one of 12 Houses of 350 to 500 people that the college calls one of its best known traditions.(college.harvard.edu)

  • 500+ student organizations

    The college lists more than 500 student organizations and says nearly 80 percent of students take part in athletics at some level.(college.harvard.edu)

  • Aid by need only

    Ivy League aid is based solely on financial need; coaches may request an aid estimate for a prospect, but only the Financial Aid Office can set a package.(ivyleague.com)

Athlete voices

Real stories.

No attributed athlete quotes are published for this program yet. Ask a current racer:

  • How many on-snow days did you actually get in December and January, and how far did you drive for them?
  • What does a carnival weekend look like from Thursday to Sunday when you are also carrying a full course load?
  • Did you get a financial aid estimate before you applied, and did it match the final package?

Alumni & outcomes

What came next.

Graduation rate(college.harvard.edu)
98%
Winter Olympics for nordic alumnus Rémi Drolet '24 (2022, 2026)(gocrimson.com)
2
Families that pay nothing(college.harvard.edu)
25%

Related programs

You might also look at.

Sources, rights and updates

Where this comes from.

Every figure carries its reporting period and a link. Rosters and points come from official rosters and FIS or USCSA results. Photographs are Wikimedia Commons archive images under open licences, credited on each image.

23 source pages across 6 sites

Your future in skiing starts here

Ready to learn more about Harvard?

SaveWhere do I fitVisit official site