And many students in the selectiveconcentrations say the application procedure wasfar from ruthless.
Getting into his department was not difficult,says History and Science concentrator Peter D.Pinch '94.
"I think that as a selective process, all itdoes is self-select. It's not that competitive,"he says. "I can't imagine History and Scienceturning anyone away."
"I really don't remember what I said [on theform]. It seemed to me to be almost a formality,"says Social Studies concentrator Hansen.
But the question for some is not the relativedifficulty of the process or how many areadmitted.
It is the simple existence of a barrier betweena student in a liberal University and his or herchosen field of knowledge.
Says Hansen, "Once you get into Harvard, youearn the right to make your own rules and play bythem.