Mrs.Pratt and the admissions committee feel that statistics here would be "meaningless" considering the college's emphasis on a girl's background, record, recommendations and some "intuitive" feeling they might hold about a girl's chance for academic success.

Despite the non-mathematical criteria, however, a recent article in Harper's Magazine by Martin Mayer, which referred consistently to the Scholastic Aptitude Test of the College Entrance Examination Board, revealed one statistic that seems to give the 'Cliffes an academic edge over their Harvard colleagues: Radcliffe is the second most "selective" college in the country. The only college outranking it is not Harvard, but Caltech.

The problem is not so easy to solve as the statistics imply. "What we're really bickering about is a few intelligence points which don't really make much difference," Thomas F. Pettigrew, Assistant Professor of Social Psychology, points out. Almost all students at the two colleges are on the same high plane of scholastic ability, and each sex seems to have a particular arete in some field.

Scientific Proof Cited

Scientific proof, according to Pettigrew, has demonstrated that girls tend to be more proficient in verbal skills, whereas boy's abilities tend toward quantitative aptitudes. This "genuine difference" results from "reinforcement." From earliest childhood, girls are "reinforced" in clear writing and expression; boys, on the other hand, are often directed toward more quantitative problems. This difference also helps to explain the girls' complaints that boys' interest are "profane"; boys tend to go into fields like math, chemistry, or psychology instead of more culturally oriented subjects like Fine Arts or Literature. "In the long run, however, this all works out for the best," Pettigrew concluded. "The girls can bring their more exotic interests into their Westport home, and supply their money-earning husbands with a cultural basis they might otherwise lack."

Speculation about the 'Cliffies' better grades has run the gamut from libidinal explanations to pure intellectual superiority. However, the most reasonable explanation is found in "conscientiousness." Admittedly generalizations are dangerous, but Radcliffe students actually tend to do more work, to do greater amounts of reading, and to concentrate more upon marks. In the long run, girls come out ahead, Edward P.Morris, head tutor of the Department of Romance Languages, says. This superiority, however, is not due to innate ability, but rather to "instilled habits." "Fewer girls than boys get E's. Their average minimum level of conscientiousness is probably higher than the boys'," I. Bernard Cohen, associate professor of the History of Science, points out. "Whenever I've heard of someone spending a preposterous amount of time on some project like a paper, it has generally been a girl. For instance I read in the Confidential Guide that one girl said she worked for 52 hours on one of her Nat.Sci.3 papers."

Females More Conscientious

In the long run, Harvard men hurt themselves by not doing the reading. Girls are always "miles ahead in competence and conscientiousness," Morris states. This fact shows up on examinations. Morris explains that he always grades blue books anonymously, folding back the covers so he cannot see who wrote the exam. Yet he can almost invariably tell whether the writer is a girl or a boy. One factor is writing ability, which tends to favor the girls. Another is the fact that, due to difference in study habits, boys' examinations tend to be "uneven." A Harvard student often "hits" one essay question, for which he had completed the reading and devoted thought, better than a Cliffie. But often he will completely "miss" two other answers. In contrast to this, girls, who usually do all the reading uniformly well, answer all questions with relatively equal competence. In the long run, this tendency works out in favor of the girls. "Education based on knowledge rather than capricious luck based on ignorance always wins out in the end, 'Morris says.

Girls Handwriting Advantage

Girls enjoy one deeply-rooted psychological advantage on examinations. Graders unconsciously tend to give higher marks to blue-books inscribe in the true Palmer method. Girls' cursive skills-a neat flowing style of writing rather than a hasty blot of cramped scribbling-provide a margin that cannot be overlooked. "It's true that it's easier to read exams written by girls," on grader notes, "just because their handwriting is far better than boys.' I suppose they might gain half a grade of more by this method."

Mark-consciousness, however, is the price of conscientiousness. Girls have "an almost neurotic feeling about grades, "Morris says. Generally they worry about degrees of Honors, reading, and other matters which the oft-more blase Harvard student regards as supercillious. "Selective" reading, some men argue, may demonstrate a greater degree of maturity than simply plowing through an entire reading list.

Morris also suggests that this compulsive "conscientiousness" among Radcliffe students also causes a dearth of "imagination" among female students. Evidence from different fields seems to indicate just the opposite, however. Pettigrew notes that girls in his course, Soc. Rel. 134, which concerns modern social problems such as integration, are more willing to take an "adventurous stand" than their Harvard colleagues. This might well be true, he says, because girls will never have to take the responsibility for their radical opinions after college. Nevertheless, the girls' approach toward the course, "irresponsible" or not, does lead to top grades. Each year, of the top 10 grades, only one or two go to Harvard students.

As one history grader commented on the problem, girls seem to have a greater "vitality" in approaching subject matter. "A girl is much more likely to come up to a grader and say, I don't like any of these suggested essay topics. But what I am interested in is....' She is much more likely to take a special interest in some one problem or element of a course, and want to follow through by herself. In contrast to this, a boy will read the list of paper topics, pick out an appropriate one, then deal with it matter-of-factly as best as he can." In short, a girl's dedication to doing all the reading religiously in a course does not necessarily restrict her to a dry, unimaginative, conservative way of treating an academic subject.

Professional Plans Noted

Another reason why some Radcliffe girls may devote more time to their courses stems from future professional plans. Cliffies who go into graduate work continue in Arts and Sciences, rather than entering professional schools as boys tend to do. This helps explain the male-female mark disparity in Social Relations, for example, since the girls are interested in the field as a whole rather than as a stepping-stone before future professional training.