Radcliffe College's announcement that it plans to merge with Harvard made waves among former undergraduates last week--but among incoming students, it caused barely a ripple.

Most prospective students and parents interviewed this weekend said they do not understand Radcliffe's relationship with Harvard or the role Radcliffe has played in students' lives.

"It was very ambiguous," said high school senior Emily Ludmir. "I didn't get it--I thought it was all meshed together...It was just longer names on the envelope."

Saturday's Presidents' Welcome in the Science Center did little to clear up that confusion. Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson discussed Tuesday's merger but offered the overflow crowd few specifics about the institute Radcliffe will become--mainly because many details, including the future of undergraduate programs, have not yet been determined.

Wilson said that women need not be concerned about the merger: "In terms of opportunity, there's no less--indeed there's a multiplying of opportunity."

Wilson said prospective students should choose Harvard because they will have a voice in shaping the new Radcliffe.

Despite the shortage of details, many pre-frosh and parents expressed hope that the status of female undergraduates at Harvard would now be crystal clear.

When his daughter Heather, a prospective student, originally realized that women are currently affiliated with Radcliffe, Kenneth S. Crossner said she was "really disturbed," grumbling to her parents, "You mean I won't get a Harvard diploma?"

"She came here because of Harvard," Crossner said.