In a tie with Princeton, Harvard once again tops the list of seniors awarded a prestigious Marshall Scholarship to study at any British university.

Five of the 40 recipients of the scholarship were Harvard seniors, according to a statement released by the British consulate general in Boston yesterday.

The announcement comes after last weekend's news that Harvard once again had the most Rhodes Scholarship recipients of any U.S. university.

Harvard seniors Lawrence G. Benn, Amy N. Finkelstein, Theodore W. Hong, Jesse L. Tseng and Deborah J. Wexler all were granted the scholarship, which will enable them to study a subject of their choice.

The Harvard students, who were selected from a field of 800 applicants, have chosen to study at Oxford, Heriot-Watt and Edinburgh Universities.

According to the consulate's statement, the scholarship was "established in 1953 as a gesture of thanks to the American people for aid received after World War II under the Marshall plan."

The scholarship is given not only for intellectual excellence and, academic achievement but also for leadership qualities. Winners are "likely to become leaders in their fields and make a contribution to society," the statement said.

Chosen students must have a grade point average of 3.7 or above on a four-point scale.

The deliberation process generally takes six weeks. The regional selection committees consider a general application, a personal essay, a proposed outline of academic study and three personal references--one from the candidate's school and two others.

Students must have an interview after they are selected by the regional committees for recommendation.

"The interview was not as stressful as everyone had told me it would be," said Benn, who is an English concentrator and plans to study the subject further at Oxford. "I had read the Economist and the Spectator to prepare for the interview but they didn't ask me anything about them. It was just 30 minutes of pointed questions aimed at my specific topic."

The scholars generally agreed that it is a surprise and a relief that the wait is over.

"I am very relieved that the suspense is over," said Benn, a Kirkland House resident.

Benn added that he was too curious to wait for the official phone call on December 2 and called before Thanksgiving for the results.

Hong, a North House resident, said he was too nervous to even answer the phone when the selection committee called.

"When they informed me of their decision, they told me by leaving a message on my answering machine," said Hong, who is concentrating in chemistry and physics and plans to study optoelectronics at Heriot-Watt University. "When I saw the blinking red light I knew what it was in reference to and I couldn't make myself take the message until later that night."