Under the distribution system, each group of freshmen can say which Houses it wants to enter and which ones it wants to avoid. The House Masters then get lists of the groups applying to their Houses, and the Masters tell Watson which students they want most.
The Masters' Voice
"The Masters tell us which students they especially want; which ones they will be happy to take; which ones they will accept; and which ones they do not wan," Watson said. "They can also ask for other students--ones who have not applies to that House."
After Watson gets the students' and Masters' preferences, he and his assistants compile a massive list rating the student groups on several different factors. From information gathered from proctors, senior advisors, athletic coaches, and others, Watson prepares an IBM chart showing each student's:
* Secondary school background;
* rank group at midyear;
* predicted rank list;
* scholastic aptitude test scores;
* father's colllege;
* field of concentration;
*extracurricular activities and athletic performance at Harvard;
* the advisors' and proctors' evaluation of "what kind of person this young man is," on a scale ranging from 1 ("outstanding") to 5 ("having troubles").
Homogeneity
From that list, the students with various qualities are divided among the Houses. To maintain relative homogeneity among the groups going to different Houses, Watson assigns each House a quota of students with each listed attribute.
For instance, one of the house this spring took in 142 freshmen. Sixteen were from local prep schools; 11 were from Andover and Exeter; 36 were from other private schools; and 79 were from public high schools. Other Houses had about the same proportions, Watson said.
Because of the attempts to distribute freshmen equally, Watson said, he cannot allow a dissatisfied group of students in one house to switch with a group in another House.
Careful
"For instance, a high proportion of blacks wanted to go to Mather House this year. But we just can't put them all into one House. We have to be careful on all these factors to get a balance," Watson said