It came after administration officials accused Harvard and other colleges of promoting so-called “woke” ideology while failing to sufficiently protect Jewish students during pro-Palestinian protests, filing legal complaints and demanding exorbitant payouts. Beaton said, on average, about four New Zealanders were likely to be attending Harvard for their undergrad studies each year and more for their postgraduate studies. He said students should be taking NZQA scholarship exams and should be taking the American qualifications, SAT or ACT, as early as possible. “But now, almost all the Ivy League schools, including Harvard, require it again.”Beaton said students also needed to focus on their internal grades, not just exams, with externals usually the most important when applying to New Zealand universities. Students should not be put off applying for Harvard, despite the sweeping changes to admissions.

Source: New Zealand Herald February 24, 2026 04:17 UTC