The Harvard Business School may be trying to forge a new path by admitting more students right out of college.

But it may be a lonely road: financial firms, other top business schools and even Harvard's own undergraduates do not appear ready to follow along.

The Business School's plan to restructure its flagship MBA program, which was released in November, includes a revision of admissions requirements to include more graduating college seniors. Under the current policy, virtually all applicants are required to have at least two years of work experience.

Nationally, diversity is definitely the justification for such new MBA plans, according to Bill K. Laidlaw, executive vice president of the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business.

MBA candidates tend to bring similar professional backgrounds with them to business school, Laidlaw says.

"The incoming classes have been very homogeneous, and after the program they have all gone to the same kind of industries," he says. "Schools are trying to get a richer mix of students in the classes who will fan out to more industries afterwards."

That desire for diversity may be frustrated, however, at Harvard and at any other business schools attempting to admit students directly from college.

Students going through financial firm recruiting at Harvard see no real reason to proceed directly to business school.

The traditional path is to work in the financial world for a few years and then return to school for an MBA, with tuition in many cases paid by a firm.

OCS Business Counselor Marc Cosentino says he thinks students are unlikely to buck that trend for the new program, especially with an improved economy making the work world more attractive.

"More students may apply but they may opt for deferral," he says. "This will allow an additional option, but I don't think it's going to make a big difference."

The future MBAs of Harvard, those students going through financial recruiting right how, seem to confirm Cosentino's assessment.

Most students interviewed say that while they would probably seek acceptance into business school right out of college if possible, they would defer enrollment in order to work for two or three years.

"It's a safety thing to know you're accepted," says Scott N. Henkin '94. "But to get a full education out of business school you really need to have a job first."

The best business education comes from a combination of schooling and working, the students say, and they do not want to confine themselves to the classroom end of the experience.