Federal Court of Appeals Judge Wade H. McCree Jr., a former Harvard overseer, was nominated for solicitor general yesterday by President Carter.

The post of solicitor general is the third highest position in the Justice Department, after attorney general and deputy attorney general.

The Senate Judiciary Committee must approve McCree's nomination before he is officially appointed.

The solicitor general reviews all Federal Court cases and decides which will be tried before the Supreme Court.

It was rumored last month that McCree was under consideration for deputy attorney general. "I was asked to indicate a preference" between that office and the office of solicitor general, McCree said yesterday. McCree said he indicated a preference for the post of solicitor general because "the deputy's office is number two, but solicitor general is a professional office," he said.

The deputy attorney helps the attorney general administer the Justice Department, while the solicitor general works in a less bureaucratic capacity, McCree said.

The nomination "really wasn't a surprise," McCree said. "The surprise came when it was suggested I might be nominated," he added.

McCree plans to resign his present position if his nomination is approved.

McCree was the first and only person Carter considered for the post, a secretary in the attorney general's office said yesterday.

McCree served on the Harvard Board of Overseers from 1969 to 1975. In 1976 he headed the Afro-American Studies Department review committee, which recommended several changes in the structure of the department.

McCree is also a member of the Law School Visiting Committee and chairman of the Visiting Committee on Germanic Languages and Literature.