Winning fellowships is somewhat like growing fruit. Both require the right material and the right physical conditions to grow. The best environments often prove to be the most fruitful, enhnacing the qualities of the product. And the results vary from year to year.

This year, Harvard produced a bumper crop of fellowships. Although Harvard always does well by most schools' standards, many students and fellowship officials are saying this year was truly special. The College garnered a record number of Rhodes--10 American and one Canadian--and about one-third of all Marshalls--five. Members of the Class of '88 also snagged numerous Fulbrights and a Luce in the national competitions. And Harvard sources say that the aplicants for the University's own fellowships were also particulalry strong this year.

So unusual was this year's crop that several rooming groups had two fellowship winners under the same roof. Kris W. Kobach '88 and his roommate Alexander E. Dreier '88 captured a Marshall and Rhodes respectively. And they are not alone. Gary D. Rowe '88, winner of the Henry--a scholarship reserved for Harvard and Yale students--and his roommate Robert W. Cook '88, who won the Knox--another Harvard-only scholarship--will both be going to England next year.

"It's unbelievable. The chances of it occurring are infinitestimally small," says Kobach of his and Dreier's achievement. He says some colleges would consider themselves lucky if they won two such scholarships in total, let alone two in one suite. To top things off, Dreier and Kobach will both be going to Oxford next year, and they will both be studying in the same masters program.

Kobach and Dreier joke that they are not surprised they both won, although they add that they thought Dreier would win the Marshall and Kobach the Rhodes. They say they supported each other throughout the process and even read each other's essays. But Dreier says their relationship did get a little tense after he found out in December that he had won the Rhodes; the Marshalls were not announced until a month later.

Many students and administrators credit this year's unusual success to the dynamism of a new fellowships director at the Office of Career Services (OCS). They add that better candidates may be applying to fellowship programs because the AIDS epidemic and the stock market crash have made other destinations--such as medical school and investment banking--less attractive.

"It may be that people are increasingly less willing to go into the real world," says Assistant Dean of the College John R. Marquand, who sits on fellowship selection committees.

And Harvard's early--and widely publicized--successes in the Rhodes and Marshall competitions may have inspired other seniors to apply for Fullbrights and other awards with late deadlines, OCS officials say.

Harvard candidates may also have had better applications. OCS Fellowships director Kristine Forsgard, who took up her post last July, helped Harvard applicants for the national fellowships package themselves particlarly well, Marquand says.

"There's no doubt about it that the fellowships advising system at Harvard is just wonderful," says Jonathan L. Feng '88, who was one of five Harvard students to garner a Marshall. Many fellowship winners praise OCS and fellowships tutors in the houses for helping them with their applications and leading them through mock interviews.

The large haul of Rhodes and Marshall winners this year may be due in part ot recent changes in Harvard's internal fellowships procedures.

Forsgard instituted several new programs to make students more aware of the fellowships that were available and bring them in contact with people who had won them in the past.

The College also changed its application deadlines in order to give strong candidates more time to work on their essays.

Under the Rhodes and Marshall procedures, students apply first to their house fellowship committee and then to a College-wide committee. If the all-Harvard committee approves a student's application, he or she receives a letter of endorsement signed by Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57. While students may try for the Rhodes--but not the Marshall--without Harvard's sanction, an endorsement letter strengthens their application.

Harvard this year moved the house deadline for applications forward three weeks, giving students who win Harvard endorsements more time to work with College officials on revising their aplications. OCS also made a concerted effort to see that students were immediatley informed of competition results, Forsgard says, adding "We've made some minor changes to improve on efficiency." efficiency."