Applying to Haverford
Online Application
We encourage you to apply online. The application is available now, and it's quicker and easier than completing a paper application. Online submission of our supplement through www.commonapp.org will be available soon.
Online Common Application & Supplement (required)
Paper Application
If you’d like to use a paper application, you are certainly welcome to do so. Students on our mailing list will automatically receive our viewbook (which includes application instructions and our required supplement to the Common Application) in mid-September of their senior year. Printable versions of our application and supplement are below:
- Application Instructions and Common Application (required)
- Common Application Secondary School Report form (required)
- Common Application Midyear Report form (required as soon as midyear grades are available)
- Common Application Final Report form (required as soon as final senior year grades are available)
- Common Application Teacher Recommendation form (two recommendations from teachers of core academic subjects are required)
- Haverford's supplement to the Common Application (required), including arts or athletic supplements (optional). Please send arts supplements to the Admissions Office and athletic supplements to the Athletics Office.
- Financial Aid instructions/deadlines
Regular Decision
You should postmark your application by January 15, and you’ll receive our decision in early April. If you’re admitted, you’ll need to reply to our offer by May 1. If you wish to remain on another school’s waitlist after May 1, let us know, and we’ll extend your deadline.
Early Decision
This is a good option only for those who have decided early in the college search process that Haverford is their clear first choice. As an Early Decision applicant, you agree not to be an ED candidate at any other college. You also agree, if admitted, to withdraw your Regular Decision applications from other colleges and to enroll at Haverford.
Early Decision applications should be postmarked by November 15, and we mail our application decisions by December 15. ED applicants are either admitted, deferred for reconsideration with the Regular Decision pool, or denied admission.
Deferred Admission
If admitted through the Regular Decision process, you may request to defer enrollment for one year provided you make that request by May 1. However, you may not enroll as a full-time student at any other college.
Early Admission
If you want to enroll at Haverford after completing your junior year of high school, you may apply to do so through the Regular Decision process (Early Decision application is not allowed). You must include a letter with your application detailing your reasons for choosing this option. You are also required to have an interview with one of our Admission staff.
Interviews
If you live within 150 miles of the Haverford campus (including New York City, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.), we strongly recommend that you have an on-campus interview. Interviews are generally available beginning in the spring of your junior year through January 5 of your senior year. Please call (610) 896-1350 to schedule in advance; the earlier you call, the more likely a convenient interview slot will be available. As a high school senior, you may also schedule an overnight visit during certain periods of the school year; again, the earlier you contact us, the more likely a host will be available.
If you don’t live within 150 miles of campus, we still recommend that you interview on campus if you are able to visit. Otherwise, you can request an interview with an alumnus or alumna near your home. Students in New England should email Donna Murphy; students in all other locations should email Adrienne Selinger. In your email, please be sure to include your full name, date of birth, home address and phone number, the name of your high school, and the name of the nearest large city to which you would be able to travel for the interview.
Whether or not you have an interview, you may do any of the following without making a prior appointment:
- Join an hour-long campus tour given by a student tour guide.
- Attend an hour-long information session given by an Admission officer.
- Have lunch in the student dining center.
- Visit a class.
- Explore on your own schedule. Our campus is open, and you can pick up a map and self-guided tour brochure at the Admissions Office.
Standardized Testing Requirements
Haverford requires that you submit the results of the new three-part SAT I exam or the ACT with the optional writing test and two SAT II exams. We will no longer accept the results of the previously administered writing test as one of your two SAT IIs. Please be sure to take the exams at least one month prior to the application deadlines. You may register online at:
- SAT I and SAT II - Haverford Code #2289, http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/reg.html
- ACT - Haverford Code #3590, http://www.actstudent.org/regist/index.html
International Students
Currently, about 10 percent of our students are international — one half of them non-U.S. citizens and the other half a combination of U.S. dual citizens, U.S. permanent residents, and U.S. citizens living or raised abroad. Our Admission Committee is familiar with worldwide education systems; regardless of your citizenship or geographic location, you should follow the same application process required of any other student. You are required to submit the same standardized tests (SAT I / ACT and SAT II) as all other applicants.
If English is not your first language, we recommend that you take either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB) exam
- TOEFL - Haverford Code #2289 www.toefl.org/toeflsup/supp-howreg.html
- MELAB - No Codes Used, www.lsa.umich.edu/eli/testing/melab/register
IB, AP, International Exams, and College Courses
If you’ve taken International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, international exams (such as A-levels), or college courses during secondary school, we view this as significant evidence of your academic accomplishment and preparation. If you have taken classes at a college or university, please have a transcript sent directly from the school to our office.
Transfer, Visiting, and Special Applicants
If you plan to apply to Haverford as a Transfer student (offered for fall entry only), a full-time Visiting student for a semester or an entire year, or take an occasional class or two as a Special student, you must use a different application for admission.
Please print, complete, and mail the appropriate application:
- Transfer Student Application (full-time, degree-seeking, fall only)
- Guest Student Application (full-time, non-degree-seeking, fall or spring)
- Special Student Application (part-time, non-degree-seeking, fall or spring)
- Re-Admitted Student Application (for former students who wish to return)
- Exchange Student Application (for students specifically told to use this application by the Office of the Dean of Students)