"The whole process is very competitive," says Chan, an East Asian Studies and anthropology concentrator. "You see [other applicants] with their resumes, in their spanking suits--they can all talk the talk and walk the walk."

Sarah J. Siska '98 also began her search for a job in September, securing a coveted place in an organic chemistry research lab. But Siska says other professors may still have positions available, and she advises setting up an appointment with an instructor to discuss summer options.

Claudia Y. Sanchez '97, like other seniors interviewed, says she is too busy focusing on finding a permanent job to stress about a summer-only position--but she has advice for younger students.

Sanchez, a government concentrator, recommends other students try a summer at or near Harvard "at least once or twice."

"It was nice to be around school in a different environment," she says.

Where to Look

Tucked away on the shelves of the OCS Reading Room are several directories, a logical place to start the search for a summer position.

Check out the 608-page National Directory of Internships, geared toward college students and organized conveniently by type of internship. The Directory lists jobs with rolling and late deadlines.

Or check out Jobs in Paradise, a book that lists positions at resorts and other vacation areas.

Peterson's Summer Jobs for Students, which mainly lists camps, motels and theme parks, contains several unique possibilities. For those who want a preview of the listings or are too lazy to go down to OCS and read the book, here are a few:

Two hundred counselors will earn up to $1,800 per season at a camp run for 2,900 inner-city students by the Fresh Air Fund in Fishkill, N.Y., 65 miles north of New York City. The application deadline for the camp, which can be reached at (800) 367-0003, is June 1.

Interested in theater? Eighty percent of the 85 employees hired by Cape Cod's College Light Opera Co. are college students. The residential summer-stock musical theater pays between $500 and $2,500 for the season for a variety of positions and can be reached at (216) 774-8485. Deadline is March 15.

Have you ever felt compelled to leave the crowded, industrial Northeast Corridor and head for a place where the buffalo roam? Try the Best Western Bucks T-4 Lodge in Big Sky, Mont., at (406) 995-4111, where 20 percent of summer employees are college students. You can earn a whopping $6 an hour by staffing the front desk. Yet the cost of living is cheap; you can get room and board for $45 a week, and have time for plenty of pleasure reading.

More Advice

Although she didn't stay at a Best Western, Joanna H. Case '99, a New Yorker, headed west last summer, working as a waitress at a "touristy diner" in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and recommends the trip to others.

"It was nice to go to a different area and get a different perspective," Case says. "At Harvard, I get very caught up in the career-oriented mindset."