Nov. Grades Of Freshmen Remain Same

November grades for Harvard freshmen are "exactly the same as last year," according to the freshman dean's office, but officials differ in interpreting this fact.

Approximately 165 students in the class of 1108 received "unsatisfactory" marks, either two D's or one E'. This is 15 per cent of the class, the same as last year. This percentage has been fairly constant over the last three years. Mrs. Mildred W. Powell, executive secondary of the freshman dean's office, said yesterday that she "hates and fears" this unchanging statistic, because it doesn't seem to make any sense.

The courses, the Faculty, the students are constantly changing; the SAT's and MAT'S keep improving," she said. "But the damned percentage stays the same every year!".

The median verbal SAT score for the class of '66 is 679; it has grown unevenly since the class of '61, which had a median of 640.

Whitla Disagree

Dean K. Whitla, director of the office of tests, and associate director of admissions, disagreed strongly, however, with the contention that the aptitude of incoming classes is really improving. "If there were really a marked difference in the ability of the classes," he said, "the November marks are a good indicator and would show it." The Faculty has a good memory and grades quite consistently, he stated.

He therefore explained the improving scores on College Boards as an index of greater achievement and more hard mark in high school. "The SAT is very each like the chemistry achievement test, with the difference that it measures 12 years of work instead of one."

Perhaps another explanation for the other College Board scores is that the total number of test-takers is increasing rapidly, particularly those of average ability, Whitla added.

Although the marks have been available at the Freshman Dean's Office in University Hall since Nov. 20, so far only two-thirds of the class have picked their grades.