In May, he was busy in Tienanmen Square, taking the lead role in a series of pro-democracy demonstrations that rocked China to its core.

But the month of August saw Wuer Kaixi absorbed in a remarkably different activity: taking Harvard's placement exam in the Quantitative Reasoning Requirement.

Currently one of the Chinese government's most wanted fugitives for his role in last spring's demonstrations, Wuer Kaixi will be taking classes along with Harvard students this fall as a visiting undergraduate.

However, acquaintences of the 20-year-old dissident say that study will not be the only thing on his mind. Since fleeing China last June in the wake of the government crackdown on protesters, Wuer Kaixi has pledged to carry on the fight for democracy from abroad.

"He believes that his life is no longer his personal treasury," says Harvard graduate student Ding Xueliang, who met with Wuer Kaixi this summer in Paris, "It belongs to those who were killed, to those who are still fighting for democracy."

Admissions officials said they did not know whether the dissident leader planned to apply for admission as a regular undergraduate. They said he plans to take courses in English, mathematics, Chinese and the social sciences.