"What hurt me was that I am a gov major," says Glenn M. Bianchi '94, a Quincy House resident. "They told me not to worry about research and lab experience, and that med schools were looking for more well rounded people."

"But when push comes to shove, they pick the science majors," he says.

Bianchi is just one of many students still awaiting the results of the medical school application process. Like a lot of his fellow pre-meds, he is as yet unsure whether any medical school will accept him.

"My anxiety is down; I'm not running to my mailbox any more," Bianchi says. "It's not a situation I want to be in, but it's a reality I might have to face--especially in this kind of year."

Seats in the nation's top medical school classes are going fast--so fast, in fact, that many students are finding themselves at risk of not gaining admission anywhere.

At Harvard College, the number of students wishing to enter the world of medicine has steadily increased since 1989, when 123 undergraduates applied to medical schools across the country. In 1990, 130 applied, and by 1992, that figure had risen to 176--a 43 percent jump in just three years.

Correspondingly, the percentages of Harvard students gaining admission to at last one school is dropping--from over 96 percent in the Class of '89 to 89 percent in the Class of '93.

Though these percentages are well above he national averages, they point to a trend that is worrisome to both pre-meds and their tutors. Nationwide, the numbers are far more alarming. In 1988, 26,721 students applied for admission to medical schools. Just four years later, in 1992, there were 37,410 applicants, the highest number since 1977.

Then, last year, medical schools received arecord 42,808 applications--breaking the previousall-time high set in 1974.

1993's total marked a 60 percent increase inapplicants over a period of five years. In thesame period, the number of acceptances hasincreased by a paltry two percent.

Sources at the Association of American MedicalColleges (AAMC) have confirmed reports that 1994will be another record year.

"As of March 2, we've tallied 44,213applications--and we're not even done," says PattyShea, assistant director of the Division ofCommunications and Public Relations at the AAMC.

The director of admissions at Harvard MedicalSchool, Dr. Gerald S. Foster, says that he hasseen a pronounced increase in the number ofapplications received.

According to Foster, in 1988 just under 2,400people applied for admission to HMS. Foster saysthat this year approximately 3,500 people haveapplied--a 45 percent increase in just six years.

Other Ivy-League schools have also seentheir pre-med populations burgeon. "We've gonethrough some tremendous increases in the past fewyears," says Kathryn B. Yatrakis, associate deanof Columbia College.

"There is a perception among students thesedays that [medicine] is a profession people willbe stable in," Yatrakis says.