Students to Be Polled On School Transitions

Selected undergraduates will soon receive questionnaires quizzing them about the difficulties encountered in the transition from school to college.

The survey will be made under the supervision of Samuel A. Stouffer, director of the Laboratory of Social Relations, and will try to determine the extent to which previous school preparation influences the work of a student at Harvard.

Although the poll is not officially sponsored by the University, it has received strong support from Dean Leighton and the Committee on Educational Policy, of which Stouffer is a member.

John P. Elder, associate professor of Classies and acting chairman of the Committee on Educational Policy, said yesterday that his group is "looking forward with great interest to what it expects will be important findings revealed by the study."

Ready in Six Weeks

Stouffer's report, which will be ready in about six weeks, will greatly extend the results of the "Andover Report," released recently by representatives from Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Andover, Exeter, and Lawrenceville. It will not be limited to students from the "big three" prep schools, and will cover a whole range of problems involved in academic adjustment.

The number of men who will be mailed the questionnaires has not yet been determined. Stouffer and his associates are also undecided as to whether Radcliffe will be included.

A strictly representative cross section of the College will be selected, with names chosen completely at random from the University directory.

Stouffer yesterday emphasized that the report will not mention any school or students by name, and that his group is asking this information only to permit classification of results.

The Student Council will meet on Monday to decide whether it will add its formal backing to the project.