Although the Harvard-Yale football game packs thousands of students and alumni into Harvard Stadium, only a few seats have been filled so far.

Tickets for the 115th game on Nov. 21 went on sale yesterday morning at the Harvard University Ticket Office in the Murr Center across the river, but only 25 students bought tickets following a single, small advertisement in Tuesday's Crimson.

Although the ticket office opens at 10 a.m., no tickets were sold until after 11:30 a.m.

"The people who were selling us the tickets were really excited," said Michelle A. Petrovic '99, who bought the first ticket after noticing the "little box" in The Crimson.

Petrovic said she felt honored to be the first person to buy a ticket to the game.

"This is my senior year, and attending the Harvard-Yale game is one of the most traditional and fun things to participate in as a senior," she said.

The process of selling tickets to Harvard sports events has changed greatly since last year. In the past, students received a packet of coupons at registration and filled out a form to redeem these tickets at the ticket office; the tickets were later distributed to students through House secretaries.

This year, however, students can purchase a ticket either at the Harvard University Ticket Office, now located in the Murr Center at 65 N. Harvard St., or over the telephone. Each student ticket purchase requires a Harvard ID number.

The direct-purchase procedure was made possible in part by a new computer system that can print each ticket as it is purchased.

"We have the entire stadium on the computer," said Steve R. Staples, the assistant athletic director who is in charge of marketing. Students who order the tickets by phone can have the tickets mailed to them.

"We want to make it as easy for everyone as possible," he said, "and we thought this would be the easiest."

The ticket office is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number of the ticket office is 495-2211.

Ticket sales are starting much earlier this year. In previous years, sales did not begin until two or three weeks before the game, Staples said.

Yesterday morning was the first day of general student sales. About 100 tickets

had been sold on Sept. 15 during the Athletic Department's "Welcome Freshmen Night."

Ticket Office officials say they plan to advertise further, possibly through fliers in student mailboxes. Staples said he expects more students to buy tickets "once they realize that the game is rapidly approaching."

The tickets will remain on sale until they are sold out, although Staples added that the game has not sold out since 1986.

"We'll find a place to fit everybody in who wants to go," Staples said, "but you've got to order early if you want to sit by your class."

The Ticket Office has designated a large block of seats for each class, with first-years near the goal line and seniors closest to mid-field.

About 8,000 of the 31,000 available seats have been offered to Yale University, but Yale alumni, not students, will use the vast majority of these, Staples said.

"Last year, 2,600 Harvard students went down to Yale," he said. "There'll probably be the same number coming up from New Haven [this year]."

The price of tickets remains unchanged from last year at $12 for students and $25 for guests