First-years deciding whether or not to accept the advanced status, generally turn to their fellow students who are serving as advanced standing counselors.

Shetty, a counselor, says he is available primarily to answer general questions about the program but can often answer department-specific questions as well.

"Because the largest departments all have representatives in the advanced standing counselors group, they all have people they can ask," he says. "But that still leaves a lot of concentrations unrepresented."

Shetty says counselors refer students to departmental offices when they are unable to answer questions specific to their fields of study.

"A big part of what we do is telling people what other people are available," he says.

Gelbart, the biology head tutor, says he encourages students considering advanced standing not to rush graduation.

"The three-year option ends up short-changing people if they're not careful," Gelbart says. "It limits them because you have to make compromises to get done."

But Gelbart says he has no problems with students "who want to do advanced standing and spend the fourth year to get a joint AB/AM degree."

Senior Lecturer on Physics Margaret E. Law, the Physics Department's Head Tutor, on the other hand, encourages students to take advantage of the advanced standing program because "for physics people, it makes a lot of sense just to take it."

"The only difference it makes is in their fourth year," she says. "They have a lot more options."

Despite the resources available to advise students thinking about early graduation, Foster says many students formulate their plans of study on their own and do not seek out advice. Consequently, she says she does not know most advanced standing students personally.

"It's not a real strong connection that they need to maintain," she says. "We're available if they want to maintain it."

The Work-load

In many fields, students who accept advanced standing are placed in sophomore tutorials in either their first or second semesters at Harvard.

Sanjeev K. Swami '98 was eligible for advanced standing but chose not to accept a because he felt he might not be ready for the chemistry department's tutorial.