how do international students apply for Harvard?

Answered

Hi @Amishka1! International students basically apply to Harvard the same way domestic students do (with the exceptions that they won't fill out the FAFSA if applying for financial aid, they may choose to take an English language proficiency exam like the TOEFL or IELTS, and they may need to have certain application materials translated into English).

If you're planning to take the SAT or the ACT, you should probably shoot to take them during your Junior spring. That way, if you're unsatisfied with your scores, you can always study some more and re-take them during the summer or senior fall. Harvard is currently test optional, and it's entirely possible that it will remain that way for at least the next several years. Thus, you don't technically need to submit either the SAT or ACT. However, submitting a solid score on one of them (you definitely don't need to take and submit both), will greatly improve your chances of admissions.

International students can definitely use the Common App (and Coalition and UCA as well!).

For more information on international admissions at Harvard, check out this link: https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/apply/international-applicants.

A "major" is your primary field of study, while a "minor" is a secondary field in which you also take a certain number of courses. At Harvard, these are actually called "concentrations" and "secondary fields" (or "secondaries"), but they are functionally the same. You could, for instance, concentrate in political science and do a secondary in history, while also completing your various general education requirements.

One of the nice things about wanting to attend law school is that just about any undergraduate major can work! Many future lawyers do choose to major in social science fields like Government, Social Studies, Linguistics, and Psychology. Humanities majors with large reading and writing components (English, History, Philosophy, Comparative Literature, etc.) definitely make sense as well, as you will likely need serious reading and writing skills in your future career. Many quantitative majors like Economics, Math, Statistics, and even Physics are also great options, since lawyers will need sharp logical skills.