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Harvard DS

Program Overview​

A data science program where you can take courses at both Harvard and MIT, getting two campus cards. Pretty sweet.

Admission Threshold & Data Points​

Admission is highly competitive, with an acceptance rate of around 8%. Each year there are 1,300+ applicants, with roughly 70 admitted. Previously admitted students have very strong backgrounds. Domestic (Chinese) applicants are basically from Tsinghua, Peking, Fudan, SJTU, or other top 985 universities. US undergrads mainly come from CS, statistics, and math powerhouses like UCB, UCLA, UIUC, UMich, and UPenn.

Applicants generally have GPAs of 3.9+. Most come from CS and statistics backgrounds, with a small number from computational biology.

  1. OSU Math+CS undergrad, GPA 3.96, multiple TA experiences, two years of RA experience
  2. Top 10 liberal arts college CS+Economics undergrad, GPA 4.0, one year TA experience, Meta University intern + Morgan Stanley intern
  3. XJTLU (Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University) undergrad, GPA 3.89, Berkeley exchange, two years of RA experience, no internships
  4. UNCC Economics undergrad, Math minor, GPA 4.0, IBM + Lenovo intern
  5. UT undergrad, Economics major, GPA 3.95, multiple local internships in Canada
  6. Vanderbilt University Math+CS undergrad, GPA 3.9, Meta DS intern, multiple RA experiences

Job Outcomes​

Many go to hedge funds, mainly as traders. Tech placements are primarily at Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft.

  1. NYU Economics undergrad, Intuitive intern, landed at an AI unicorn
  2. XJTLU undergrad, landed at American Express

PhD Transfer​

Few CS-focused young professors, and some professors have limited interest in supervising PhDs. If you want to apply for a PhD, you need to proactively reach out to advisors.