Wellesley students also brag about their advising system--which includes academic, residential, career, and even psychological counseling. When students are admitted to the college they choose an academic adviser, who is a faculty member. Each advisor has no more than three first-year students, according to Craig N. Murphy, chair of Wellesly's political science department.

In addition to individual advisers, each class of about 580 students works with a first-year dean. The class is assigned another dean for its remaining three years.

Once students declare a major during the second semester of their sophomore year, they are assigned a departmental adviser.

Murphy says each of the department's 15 faculty members work with about 10 government majors. The advisors help student choose what courses to take, find internships, and eventually offer career planning advice.

With proctors or graduate students to turn to first, Harvard students can avoid speaking to faculty members for a long time, undergraduates say.

At Wellesley, there are no TFs--all classes are taught by professors. Harvard reports that none of its classes are taught by TFs, but many students spend the majority of their time in sections led by graduate students.

In addition to departmental tutoring, Wellesley has a Learning and Teaching Center that holds weekly office hours for each subject. Undergraduates volunteer their time there to help others with their work.

According to Kristen E. Looney, a Wellesley junior, many students take advantage of this opportunity--and everybody at least knows that it is available. Looney, who transferred from Emory University, another large research university, found herself closer to these resources at Wellesley than at Emory.