Scratching at the Gate

One hand rises high in the group of high school students gathered around a long Union table. Another follows. Then, tentatively, a third and a fourth. Sheepish grins all around. A few confessions. "Well, if I get in..."

By many, the summer school experience is considered a sort of farm-team for the first-year class--or at least, a sampler of the Harvard experience, like the tiny promotional cereal boxes and soaps that occasionally turn up in the mail. The mini-Harvard of the summer is a play-ground version of the real thing, which high school students can explore, consider and accept--or reject.

And while some of them are reluctant to admit it, few doubt that a high proportion of summer school students comes here aching to spend four more years in the Yard's classrooms. Elizabeth C. Hewitt, director of the secondary school program at the summer school, estimates that "more than half" of the high school students who arrive here hope to stay.

Sheetal N. Patel and Margaret D. Ledyard thing Hewitt underestimates. "Three-quarters," they agree. Two tanned students, grabbing their empty trays and heading for the trash cans, aim even higher. "Ninety percent," says one. His friend nods her head in agreement. "A hell of a lot."

I've always thought about going to Harvard," declares John H. Lim of Baltimore, Maryland.

And what better time than now to think about it? Senior year of high school is the time of college fever, when SATs, GPAs and APs turn into breakfast-table acronyms, casually sprinkled into every conversation.

Before high school students even set foot on campus, Hewitt says, the calls start to flow in from concerned parents who want to know if Harvard summer school will translate into an overstuffed envelope next spring.

For the benefit of secondary school students' primary concerns, Hewitt says, the summer school runs a college informational program called "College Choices," Harvard hosts a college fair, inviting 27 area colleges.(Harvard itself is not included.) A proctor panel features current Harvard students who discuss "Problems they faced when they were 16." The Dean of Admissions of Bates College addresses the application process. Hewitt herself offers reasons not to go to Harvard-sports, class size, climate.

And in an annual lecture, Senior Admissions Officer Dwight D. Miller addresses the big question--how do you get in--and the smaller, auxiliary questions that shed some light on the closed-door admissions process.

Miller says summer school students ask "very direct, forthright,...conventional questions...they're asking for a variety of examples of what makes somebody interesting."

He hears queries about legacies, about test scores, about well-roundness. He hears queries about whether Harvard summer school actually helps.

"That's one of the first questions off the floor." Miller admits. The answer? Probably not. "It certainly doesn't hurt." Miller says. "but it doesn't change things in any real way."

The percentage of summer school students who gets into Harvard, Miller says, is about the same as Harvard's national acceptance rate. And that, Hewitt says, is fortunate. "We're very pleased," she explains. "We do not like to think that you can buy an edge."

Miller's presentation is meant to destroy myths about the College and to allay fears of rigid formulas and Staggering odds.

Lim recalls that Miller's seminar this year sent swarms to Science Center B. "Pretty much the auditorium was filled up," he says.

And this year's turnout, about 300 students, was somewhat low, Miller says. He often packs the entire room, drawing closer to 500 eager prospects.

Questions about admissions, and about Harvard in general, spill out of the designated lectures and into summer school entryways. Questions like "are the courses really this easy--to which we usually reply, no," says summer school proctor Jeffrey R. Kling '92.

Kling has a friend who works in the Admissions office. She once came to visit him and sat on the steps outside of his Thayer Hall entry. Some of Kling's proctees got wind of her vocation.

"They were so excited," he remembers. They made a joke of their Harvard aspirations, he says, but their sarcasm only loosely masked a genuine desire.

Later in the summer, Kling's friend was hospitalized. His proctees found out about her illness after she had been released. "She was where?" Kling recalls them saying when they learned she had been sick. "You mean we could have sent her flowers?"

The immediacy of college--students live, breathe, eat and sleep it when they're here--encourages Harvard stantly sniff out the competition. Warning: this can be painful, or at least anxiety-inducing.

"I really realize what I'm competing against to get in here, " says Patel, who hails from Georgia. "Everyone's really intelligent."

"My standardized test scores discourage me from applying to places like Harvard," says Sunik Divakaruni of Baltimore, Maryland. He says he's asked the bona-fide Harvard students he's encountered about their scores--"what range it's in, what they got."

Usually, he gets stonewalled. "I think it's a personal thing." he explains.

SAT curiosity is so common that many proctors don't find it remarkable at all. "Occasionally you have a student ask about your board scores," Mark W. Jacobstein '92 says casually.

"The SAT hysteria was rampant for about the first two weeks of school or so," Kling recalls.

But Jacobstein says that when he proctored last year, the students were far more open about their ambitions. "I had some students who continued to call post-summer," he says.

Some proctees are, indeed, mellow about the prospects, says Milan G. Chheda '93. But a few are intense. "They're so serious about it, it's kind of hard to laugh at it," he says. "It's scary."

Students have asked Kling if he has applications--"no, I don't," is his emphatic response. He refers them to the admissions office. Copies of Harvard's latest application and viewbook--same required essays, same publicity photos, different cover--recently arrived at Byerly Hall. They probably won't last long.

"They've been disappearing like hotcakes as soon as they arrived," says Caitlin J. Anderson' 95, who works at the admissions office.

But beyond the gloss of the prepackaged booklet, the genuine article sometimes doesn't look so appealing. Proctor James G. Millard '94 says some of his proctees have clearly articulated their ambivalence towards Harvard. "They have no interest in coming here," MilB>Nations Appear Close on Trade Agreement

WASHINGTON--As negotiators rushed to complete a North American Free Trade Agreement, it appeared yesterday that differences over automobiles were among the last technical obstacles to creation of the world's largest trade zone.

Trade ministers for the United States, Mexico and Canada met yesterday in a Washington hotel for the fifth straight day, hoping to conclude the nearly 14 months of talks.

"We are hopeful for tomorrow," Yves Gagnon, a Canadian spokesperson, said yesterday. But, he added: "Anything can happen. There is no sure end to @p thing." NATION

L.A. Police Officers Surrender to Feds

LOS ANGELES--Four police officer acquitted of most state charges in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King surrendered to face federal civil rights charges yesterday.

A defense lawyer predicted King would take center stage in the next trial.

The videotape of police beating King after a traffic stop on March 3,1991 prompted national debate on police brutality, helped force the Los Angeles police chief from office and spurred reform in the police department.

But a jury in suburban Simi Valley acquitted the officers of assault and left one count against one officer unresolved, sparking three days of deadly rioting.

A federal grand jury indictment unsealed Wednesday charges the officers with violating King's civil rights under color of law.

The officers, Laurence Powell, Theodore Briseno, Timothy Wind and Stacey Koon, made a Brief court appearance yesterday and were released on $5000 unsecured bail.