There are few schools that have a 100 percent acceptance rate into Harvard. But there is at least one that can make such a claim--The Mountain School in Boonville, California.

Boasting a mere four students, The Mountain School is not a school at all, but a ranch. There are no teachers, no classrooms, and no tests. And all the pupils happen to be brothers.

Students who met the two alumni of this school during Freshman Week probably hadn't heard of their hometown, but they might have read about them on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.

J. Drew Colfax '90 and brother Grant Colfax '87 never attended elementary or secondary school. Instead, they grew up on the Shining Moon Ranch, raised goats, did chores and studied on their own. Because the Colfax parents found the local schools unsatisfactory, they registered their ranch as a private school.

Grant, Drew and their two younger brothers have lived for 14 years in a house built by the family. For the first two years, it lacked running water, and for nine years, a phone. Until Grant's freshman year here, when Drew hooked up a solar panel, the Colfaxes did not have electricity.

"Our study routine was pretty dependent on the weather," freshman Drew says. The Brothers say that their parents never really assigned them work. They never had deadlines or specific topics they had to study.

"We basically studied on our own from the age of 12 on. We helped each other a lot," Grant says. The family received textbooks by asking for sample copies from publishing houses. "Grant was really the guinea pig," Drew says. "He would tell me which books were good."

"It was never questioned that we would come to college," Grant says. Harvard was the first choice for both brothers. Grant came to Harvard because he "wanted to come East and go to a large school."

One of Grant's freshman year roommates, Paul Felix '87, says that Grant had no problems adjusting. "Nothing took him by surprise. He was eager to dive in and liked the urban surroundings," Felix says. He adds that Grant was not too curious about what went on in high school, and he did not seem to think he missed out on anything.

Freshman Drew says he feels the same way. "I knew everyone at the local high school. Sometimes, I would wonder what it would be like to waste six hours a day there."

Many of their classmates comment that the Colfax brothers seem, if anything, to be better prepared for college. "Grant's study habits are better than all of ours," says Perry S. Hewitt '87. "I think he got discipline from not being told what to do."

Pennypacker roommate Edward P. Kohn '90 says that his mother had read an article about Drew before he even came to Harvard. "I thought the guy would be a social reject. I was prepared for the worst," Kohn says, adding Drew quickly proved him wrong.

Drew says he likes the college atmosphere, adding, "the social life distracts from one's studies. It's quite nice."

More Than a 'Goat-Boy'

Cabot House resident Grant describes his life at Harvard as going through three stages. "When I first got here, a lot of people knew who I was, but that didn't bother me at all," Grant says. "Then I went through a period where I was tired of being perceived as a `goat-boy.' Now I feel like I've established my own identity away from typecasting."