So you say you'd like to be member of a Harvard alumni club?

You don't even have to have graduated yet. Some Harvard alumni clubs say they accept undergraduates as members.

"We encourage younger members to join because they are an even closer link to the University," says Andrew H. Marks '73, president of the Harvard Club of Washington, D.C. "They bring their vitality and energy to the club, and ultimately they provide our leadership."

"We are aggressively seeking members now," he adds.

Despite bargain memberships that clubs offer students and recent graduates, presidents of many of the nation's 100 Harvard alumni clubs say they have had difficulties recruiting younger members.

Only slightly more than 20 percent of club members have graduated within 10 years, says Carrie McDougall, the senior assistant director for clubs of the Harvard Alumni Association.

McDougall, who oversees the clubs for the association, says Harvard's enrollments are comparable with clubs from other schools, but that she would like to see those numbers increase.

"Our number of recent graduate [members] is as good if not better than other groups' [numbers]," McDougall says.

"That's not to say that's great," she adds. "We want to get more people involved."

McDougall says Harvard had about 160 alumni clubs world-wide, 100 around the nation. Out of the 250,000 alumni around the world, Harvard clubs have a total membership of about 38,000. The New York club contributes 10,300 members, the Boston club 7,400.

The clubs have been frequent fundraising sources for University administrators during the ongoing $2.1 billion capital campaign.

At the Harvard Club of New York, 75 percent of the members are over 32, according to an article in Tuesday's New York Times. About 80 percent of the Harvard Club of Boston members are 30 and over, says Eric W. Gillberg, the club's general man ager.

The distribution is similarly disproportionate in smaller clubs.

Only about a third of the 80 members of the Harvard Club of Quincy--which also includes the Milton, Weymouth, and Braintree areas--is under 40, according to President Barryl. Ambroseno '82.

Ambroseno says the membership is so old that every year, three or four of Quincy's members pass away.

The club has attempted to attract a younger membership by sponsoring get-togethers to which recent graduates are admitted free.