HLS Dean of Admissions Joyce Curll says a thesis is just one factor of many in admissions decisions.

"We look at the overall academic record," she said. "There are people for whom writing a thesis is not as important as for others."

Curll stressed that a thesis is "not a requirement. It's something we like to see, but we also like to see a whole bunch of other things."

Padilla says he remembers several Harvard alumni who dropped their theses after hearing about acceptances to law schools.

"You are accepted before you turn the thesis in. [Law schools] don't know how well you did. I have friends who have dropped their thesis after acceptance to law school," Padilla noted.

The senior thesis seems less of a priority in the hiring decisions of investment banks and consulting firms.

Steve Min '94, a senior analyst at Cambridge Strategic Management Group, a management consulting firm, says his company does not care if students write theses or not.

"We value the overall academic record more than whether or not they...are writing a thesis or are doing honors," Min says. "The biggest factor is if they have interesting, relevant summer experience and a strong academic record."

Min adds, "I'm a Harvard grad, and I didn't write a thesis."

Astrachan, who went through recruiting for both consulting and investment banking, said some consulting firms "seemed into the idea" of the thesis, but that investment banks "didn't give a damn."

Life Without Thesis

So if a thesis doesn't seem your style, what can you do instead to make the most of your Harvard experience?

"If I hadn't done this thesis, I could have taken more psych or language courses. As it is, I'm doing the absolute bare minimum this semester because of thesis and recruiting," Astrachan notes.

Narducci stresses that writing a thesis is "not for everyone."

"You have to make a decision if this is something you're really passionate about," he says.