Haverford is a small liberal arts school eight miles from downtown Philadelphia. The school is known for creating intimate academic environments for students who are driven and inherently intellectual. One-third of the classes have less than 10 students, and the most popular majors include political science, economics, psychology, and the hard sciences. It is a highly-residential campus, but isn’t insular. While 98% of the 1,472 students live on campus, nearly half do at least one study abroad program. The Haverford acceptance rate is about 18%, and it is standardized test optional.
Students at Haverford have access to classes at Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore, so the options available to students are far broader than those standard to a school so small, and there is even a five-year program in engineering in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania. Students in the program graduate with a B.S. from Haverford and a masters from UPenn. One of the most unique things about Haverford, though, is the honor code. The honor code at Haverford isn’t just a document in the student handbook that gets referenced in disciplinary hearings — they take it really seriously, and offer students lots of freedom as long as they stick to it. Students can schedule their own exams, for example, and all students complete a mandatory senior thesis.
Students are welcome to submit ACT or SAT scores, but they are not expected to. The college has even said that they are excited about how going test-optional has influenced “who applies, who is admitted, and who enrolls,” opening the school to a more diverse student body.
Haverford has two supplemental questions, and they encourage students to seek support in writing their supplements, including asking for help from a friend, parent, or teacher, or even using generative AI to brainstorm your responses. What they want most, though, is to hear your voice and your ideas. They want to know you, not who you think they want you to be.
If you’re planning to apply to Haverford but aren’t sure where to start, send us an email. We have a proven track record of helping outstanding students get into their perfect fit.
Before you start in on the Haverford supplements, you’ll need to read the Haverford Honor Code a few times. We recommend printing it out and highlighting sections that stand out to you, as showing that you understand the Honor Code is crucial to gaining admittance.
Once you understand the Honor Code, it’s time to dive in.
Question 1: Tell us about a topic or issue that sparks your curiosity and gets you intellectually excited. How do you hope to engage with this topic or issue at Haverford? (Please limit your response to 150-200 words)
The key to this supplement is in the last sentence: “How do you hope to engage with this topic or issue at Haverford?” What they are saying here is that they want you to write about something that you could study or engage with academically in college — and they want specifics. Simply saying “I’ll take classes,” will not cut it.
So, start with what you think you may major in.
If you’re like most high schoolers and aren’t dead set on a major, that’s not a problem once you get to college, but we do advise applying with a particular major in mind. Colleges want to see focus, and nothing says unfocused like marking “undecided” as your prospective major.
Once you’ve picked a major to focus on, zoom in. What is something within that field that is especially exciting to you? It could be a particular time period, region, era, or idea. It could be as small as the behavior of a particular bacteria, or as large as a type of economic modeling.
Write this supplement from that zoomed-in perspective. Take the reader down a rabbit hole with you, showing — rather than telling — what sparks your curiosity. Then, give specifics on how you’ll dig even deeper at Haverford. Include at least two courses you’d like to take, and one professor you’d like to study under or a program you’d like to take part in that connects to their concept, cause, issue, or ‘thing.’
Close the supplement (which is short, so you’ll have to be quick) by circling back to the story you went down the rabbit hole on in the beginning.
Question 2: We have highlighted for you some of the values that shape the Haverford community. What are some of the values you seek in your next community? How do Haverford’s values, as demonstrated through our Honor Code, resonate with you? As you think about how to answer this question, you might draw from how you have been influenced by other communities you have been a part of, experiences you may have had within your communities, or opportunities you have had to shape or even change your communities. (Please limit your response to 150-200 words.)
Read this question a few times, because it’s nearly half of the maximum response length for this supplement. They have a lot to say but aren’t giving you a ton of space to respond in. As we’ve said already, Haverford takes their Honor Code very seriously, and they want you to, too. When they finish reading your response to this prompt, they need to feel confident that you not only read the Honor Code, but you also truly understand, appreciate, and buy into the Honor Code.
So go back to the Honor Code and pick one particular piece of it for inspiration. Given how concise your response needs to be, this will give you something to focus on as the ‘guiding light’ for your answer. Now, pair your focus with values you want to see in the college you go to. Using your focus and those values, identify a story from your life that could be used to concisely communicate how you’re already embodying these things (so your ability to continue them into college isn’t a big leap.
Your supplement should start with a very short version of the story you identified. To do this, we recommend writing everything you wish you had space to say first, and then editing backwards, shaving off words through deletion and condensing.
Then, use that story as a launchpad to share what you want in your next chapter — in this case, at Haverford. What do you see at Haverford that exemplifies what you’re looking for in a community, and how does that connect to the Honor Code?
While you don’t have a ton of space here at all, it’s more important to be specific and precise than it is to say as much as you can. Write about a specific community, for example, within Haverford that you are excited to be a part of. This may take some research, but spending fifteen minutes cruising through the Campus Life section of the Haverford website is worth it.
End this supplement with something you hope to contribute to Haverford within the context of the community you’d like to join or the Honor Code section you spotlighted. Afterall, Haverford wants students who don’t just see the school as a place they can learn from, but also a place they can give back to.
Haverford is an amazing small liberal arts school that empowers students to be independent thinkers engaged in agile academic inquiry. If you feel that describes you, consider going for a visit or attending an info session to learn more!
If you are applying to Haverford, send us an email. We’ve help students around the world get into their dream schools.