After almost two weeks of waiting, a handful of seniors received on Monday the official endorsement of Harvard College in their pursuit of the coveted Rhodes and Marshall scholarships.

According to the Office of Career Services (OCS), 41 of the 95 students seeking an endorsement for the American Rhodes Scholarship received one. And out of a group of only seven, three students pursuing the Canadian Rhodes Scholarship will move to the next level of competition.

From a smaller pool of 60 applicants, 30 seniors will now pursue the Marshall Scholarship.

Paul A. Bohlmann, the fellowship director at the OCS, praised the seniors moving on to the next level but warned that the battle is far from over.

"The competition is stiff. Each person is going toe to toe with others who also have their schools behind them. No one can ever expect to win one of these scholarships," he said.

Before being reviewed on an intercollegiate level, applications for both scholarships must pass through two committees to receive an endorsement from the College.

According to Assistant Senior Tutor and Lowell House Fellowship Adviser Andrew C. Blume, the first committee is made up of fellowship advisers from each house. Based on standards set forth by the Marshall and Rhodes Scholarship committees, the advisers decide whether the applications deserve endorsement.

After this preliminary reading, the applications and the comments of the advisers are sent to a faculty committee chaired by Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68.

The faculty committee has the final say in the process and determines which applicants to endorse.

"The committee worked carefully and thoughtfully to understand each candidate, supported by the work of the House Fellowships advisers," Lewis wrote in an e-mail message.

"The group we endorsed is outstanding...and I have every hope that they will be successful in the subsequent stages of the selection process," Lewis added.

Over the past 30 years, approximately five Harvard students have won Rhodes scholarships each year.

While Harvard had eight Marshall scholars last year and eight the year before, Bohlmann said that Harvard usually averages only three or four.

According to Bohlmann, the Rhodes Scholarship was created in the will of Englishman Cecil Rhodes at the beginning of this century.

The Marshall Scholarship was first initiated in 1953 as an act of British Parliament. It began as a commemoration of the Marshall Plan, from which the scholarship takes its name.

The two programs use similar criteria when considering applicants. "The Rhodes scholarship looks at academic achievement first, and then leadership abilities, community service and vigor.

The Marshall scholarship looks at pretty much the same criteria, except instead of vigor they factor in individual creativity and flare," Bohlmann said.

Applicants in both competitions agreed that the hardest and most time-consuming activity was the written part of the application.

"It is tough to take the disparate elements of your life and try to make them into a cohesive whole," said Elizabeth W. Dunn '99, a Marshall applicant from Lowell House.

Matt S. Caywood '99 of Leverett House, who is pursuing the Rhodes, echoed Dunn's sentiments.

"I've never worked so hard on anything in my life. My roommate and I calculated that we had spent at least one minute for every word in the essay," he said.

Although the final decision for both of the scholarships will be made months from now, many seniors already have a good idea of the course of studies they would like to pursue overseas.

"I want to go to the University of Bristol in England, and study stereotype suppression," said Dunn. "I have read a lot on the subject by a professor at the university, and it would be a great opportunity to work with him."

While aspirations for study run high, for many the pursuit will require a lot more. work Quincy House resident Marc P. Diaz '99 said he would like to study private sector patronage of art museums in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

But for now, his focus is on the Rhodes application.

"I think most people will be looking to revise and edit their essays," Diaz said of the work left to do. "Right now, I am giving mine to every person I know in the hope I can make it as polished as possible.