"[Getting rid of the GRE] wouldn't be in my view appropriate," he said at the time.

"You need multiple measures in students' portfolios," he said.

Murphy said he was more willing to change his position after the May 26 meeting with students, than after he received their April 25 letter of demands.

"I think the nice thing about this meeting in May was the face-to-face discussions with students who really care about the place," Murphy said.

Smith said yesterday's meeting was what he had expected, and he was pleased with what he viewed as "an important step."

"Essentially, [Murphy] outlined what is possible right now," Smith said, adding that it was gratifying to see the results of student-administrator discussions being implemented.

GSE students have been pushing for rapid changes because a large percentage of the student body is master's students who graduate in one year.

Throughout the process, students have said they want to see that they have madeprogress before they leave.

"What we did was create a list of promises ofthings we're going to do," Murphy said.

"Even after [the master's students] are gone,we're committed to doing these things," he said.

Smith, who will be at Harvard for one moresemester, said his next step is watching Murphyand the rest of the administration's actions.

"I will see how [the promises] are carried outand if they're carried out," he said. "It's sodependent on the students that are here, I have noexpectations.