Newly Admitted Special Students and Visiting Fellows

We warmly welcome you to the select group of non-degree seeking scholars admitted to Harvard University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Should you accept our offer of admission, your fellow students and researchers will be some of the brightest and most creative of your generation, arriving from every continent and from more than 100 nations to form an exciting, congenial academic community where new perspectives are continually embraced. Membership in such a distinguished cohort is an enduring pleasure. We believe you can make no better choice for your studies than Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS).

Once admitted to the Special Students or Visiting Fellows program, you must officially respond to confirm whether you will accept the invitation to conduct study at Harvard during the academic term(s) for which you have been admitted. Students and Fellows who applied to and were approved to continue their studies at GSAS must also officially respond to their offer of admission to confirm whether they will continue their studies.

Steps to Respond to Offer of Admission

Deadline
Fall Term: June 22, 2013 
Spring Term: December 1, 2013

  1. Go to the online application page.
  2. Login using the username and password you created when you filled out your application. (If you forgot your username of password click the link "Forgot your User Name or Password?")
  3. Click the link "Your application decision is now available online," which will display your decision letter.
  4. In the body of that letter, click the link
    "http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/nondegreereplyform."
  5. Fill out the reply form and click "Proceed to submission."

Harvard University Identification (HUID) Number

Students and Fellows accepting an offer of admission will be sent by email their individual HUID within three weeks of submitting their acceptance. You will use this number to begin accessing Harvard's virtual resources and to setup a Harvard email address. You will receive a Harvard University ID Card upon arrival at Harvard.

Prior to Registration

After confirming that you will accept the offer of admission, there are additional required actions that you must take prior to arrival, registration and enrollment at Harvard University. 

  • Provide Immunization Records to Harvard University Health Services (HUHS)
    Click "Immunization Forms" in the upper left.
    Deadline to submit forms:
    Fall term: July 1, 2013
    Spring term: December 15, 2013
    According to Massachusetts State Law, students enrolling full-time in Massachusetts colleges and universities are required to provide proof of their immunization history and must have received the required vaccinations noted on the HUHS website. 

Students and Fellows continuing their studies are not required to submit these forms again unless requested by the HUHS Office of Medical Records.

Special Students enrolling half-time or less (in two courses or fewer) are required to provide, at least, proof of immunization against Meningococcal disease or submit a Waiver for Students form provided on the HUHS website.

  • Pay Your Termbill (HUID Required)
    Deadline to submit payment:
    Fall term: August 2, 2013
    Spring term: January 5, 2014
    The Student Receivables Office must recognize payment of your termbill before you will be permitted to complete required online registration.
    Special Students pay tuition on a per course basis (read more about Special Student costs, tuition and fees). Visiting Fellows pay tuition on a per academic term basis (read more about Visiting Fellows costs, tuition and fees). Please refer to our website and your letter of admission for specific details and amounts.

    Students may contact the Student Receivables Office to setup a plan to pay in monthly installments. 
  • Harvard University Student Health Plan (HUSHP)
     Massachusetts law requires that any full-time student enrolled in an institution of higher learning in Massachusetts participate in a qualifying student health insurance program or in a health plan of comparable coverage. Every Special Student and Visiting Fellow is automatically enrolled in the Harvard University Student Health Plan (HUSHP), which the University offers through the insurance provider Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Massachusetts at a fee. An additional, smaller fee allows complete access to Harvard University Health Services.
Waiving HUSHP/HUHS Coverage
Students enrolled in a comparable health insurance plan may be eligible to waive the Student Health Insurance Plan. Students enrolled half-time or less may be eligible to waive both health fees. See HUHS website for waiver deadlines. (Information can be reviewed any time, but HUID is required to submit waiver request.)

Registration & Course Enrollment

  • Online Registration (HUID Required)
    When to register:
    Fall term: August 23-28, 2013
    Spring term: January 22-27, 2014
    All Students and Fellows are required to complete registration online. (Special Students will complete additional steps to enroll in courses; Visiting Fellows will not). To register visit my.harvard.edu, click on Campus Resources, then Register Online. GSAS Registration & Enrollment instructions are available on the Registrar's website.
  • Course Enrollment (Special Students Only) (HUID Required)
    After registering, Special Students will create and print out a Study Card for the term (the Card that you will submit to officially enroll in courses). The Study Card features the course name and catalog number of each course for which you intend to enroll. The course instructor's signature must appear on the Study Card for any course that requires the instructor's permission for enrollment. Students may only submit one Study Card. Adjustments to course enrollment after Study Card submission are made via the add/drop process. Registration is not complete until the Study Card is submitted on Study Card Day and any required petitions for cross-registration have been approved.
    Study Card Day:
    Fall term: September 10, 2013
    Spring term: January 31, 2014

         GSAS Registration & Enrollment instructions are available on the Registrar's website.

International Students and Fellows

GSAS sponsors and issues visa documents for admitted Special Students and Visiting Fellows who are non–U.S. Citizens. To learn about this process, please follow the links below.

Important Information for Students and Fellows

Welcoming Events

We invite you to attend a formal welcome from GSAS to all Newly Admitted Students and other events to open the fall term in addition to the Fall Reception for Special Students and Visiting Fellows. Students and Fellows arriving for the spring academic term are invited to attend the Spring Reception for Special Students and Visiting Fellows.

Get To Know GSAS

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