McKinnon said that the Rhodes had been "the central object" of his week but that he was able to make little progress until the night before Friday's 10 a.m. deadline.

McKinnon said that "It was a really difficult essay to write," but was valuable in forcing the applicant to think about what they would most like to do upon graduation from college.

McKinnon recalled standing in Kinko's copying center when he first realized that there was no one on staff and that none of the center's twelve copiers were functioning. His immediate thought, he said, was, "I'm in hell." McKinnon decided to do his copying at Gnomon Copy instead, and managed to submit his application on time.

Applicants for both scholarships will be judged in a two-stage selection process. In the first stage, Houses will submit endorsements of certain individuals. The College's final nominees to the national Rhodes and Marshall selection committees will be made in a meeting with the director and assistant director of fellowships as well as members of the Faculty. The meetings are chaired by Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68.

David F. Elmer '98 found that planning ahead and not procrastinating can perhaps minimize-but not prevent-last-minute rushing.

While Elmer began filling in his Rhodes and Marshall Scholarship applications in June, he only remembered that a transcript was required for the applications the day before they were due.

"It was worse than midterms," Adam J. Levitin '98 said of the process. "I'm wiped out. It was a process of consistently refining and refining ideas and writing, trying to produce a polished product."

It was the third college all-nighter for Jeff Kuo '98. "I seem to always have my most productive moments in the wee hours," he said.