CHAPTER VI.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION.

As we have seen in the first chapter of this history, it was necessary from the earliest times for students who sought admission to the college to pass an examination. This continued for two centuries to be mostly oral, and was "neither searching nor extensive." Later, as the practice of speaking Latin fell into desuetude, the amount of Latin and Greek required to be read was greatly increased, and the examinations became more thorough and rigorous. Mathematics was first made a requisite for admission in 1803, and then only so much as related to the rudiments of arithmetic. Geography was added in 1807. In 1816 an examination was required in the whole of arithmetic, and to this was added in 1819 a trifling amount of algebra. Cæsar was first required for admission in 1836-37. From that year until the year 1866-67, there were only very slight changes in the requisitions for admission to Harvard College. Harvard adopted admission examinations in English in 1874. Since that time these examinations have been adopted by all the New England colleges but one, and by many in other parts of the country. Examinations in French and German were adopted in 1875, and in 1877 these languages were put among the advanced subjects, on an equal footing with Latin, Greek, and mathematics. That the examinations were rigorously conducted during the 7 years preceding 18771 is shown by the fact, that out of 1,847 candidates for admission, 255 or nearly 14 per cent. were rejected. A new plan was introduced in 1886-87. But the entrance examination is only the first of a series of ordeals by which the undergraduate is tested before he is permitted to go forth as an alumnus of the college. During the 4 years preceding 1878, 28 seniors failed to obtain a degree, and 6 juniors, 16 sophomores, and 51 freshmen were relegated to the class below, while 681 other students were conditioned and required to pass a second examination in one or more studies. This is a higher per cent. of failures and conditions than is found in more recent years, but the requirements are so rigorously adhered to that the percentage is still large.

For a history of the entrance examinations during the 40 years preceding 1877, see President Eliot's report for the latter year.

In 1880 to obtain admission to the college the candidate had prescribed for him "a minimum requisition in every study and a maximum requisition in two selected by him from four principal studies." In all he was required to pass a satisfactory examination in eleven subjects.

In the Popular Science Monthly for December, 1886, Prof. Josiah Parsons Cooke thus deals with the question of the new requirements for admission to the college, which were first published in that year, and were to go into effect at the entrance examinations of 1887.

The scheme, he says, was originally prepared by a large committee of the college faculty, and was discussed in all its details for more than 3 years, first by the faculty and afterward by the corporation and the board of overseers, and then adopted by all the governing boards of the college.

While the new plan permits and even encourages the old line of linguistic studies, it opens other avenues of admission, and among these one which demands and invites a thorough preparation in mathematics and physical science, with only that minimum of linguistic training which is universally regarded as an essential requisite of liberal culture. The examinations embrace two classes of studies, elementary and advanced. The elementary studies are not supposed to be equivalent to one another, and they do not all have the same weight in the examinations. Greek, Latin, and mathematics have, as heretofore, much greater weight than any of the others.

In the new scheme students are admitted to Harvard College as candidates for the bachelor of arts degree (in accordance with the first of their examinations), who can write correctly a short English composition, and thus show that they are acquainted with a few prescribed classical English works; who can read at sight simple Latin, German, and French prose; who have a general knowledge of the history of the United States and of England; who have mastered the elementary mathematics, including analytical geometry, and the rudiments of mechanics; and lastly, who have had a certain amount of laboratory practice in physical science, including both physics and chemistry.

Of the several alternatives which the new scheme offers the one above described is the one that will probably be chosen by most students who are seeking a scientific rather than a literary education. But this general plan of preparatory studies may be varied in details to meet different circumstances; thus an advanced course in Latin or French may be offered in place of the German, but this substitution is not generally advisable, for the study of German, if deferred, must be taken up in college, the ability to read ordinary German as well as French prose being an essential qualification for the A. B. degree. In 1888 81 students took the advanced examination in German and 43 that in French, and as Harvard draws her students from at least 250 institutions, the fact that so many men take the examinations is an indication of the extent of the higher study of the modern languages among the preparatory schools.

The advanced studies are supposed to be equivalent in regard to time spent upon them at school, and will have the same weight in the examinations. Each of the advanced studies is taught in college in an elect

ive course (or two half-courses) occupying 3 hours a week for a year, and the standard required at the entrance examinations is the same as in the corresponding college courses.

A candidate may therefore satisfy the requirements for admission by presenting himself for examination

(a) On all the elementary studies, and on at least two of the advanced studies.

(b) On all the elementary studies with the exception of either German or French, and on at least three of the advanced studies.

(c) On all the elementary studies with the exception of either Greek or Latin, and on at least four advanced studies.

(d) On all the elementary studies with the exception of either Greek or Latin, and of either French or German, and on at least five advanced studies. A candidate may be admitted in spite of deficiencies in some of these studies, but no candidate so admitted will be recommended for the degree until he has made good such deficiencies to the satisfaction of the faculty.

This broadening of the requisites for admission is the last step in a series of changes by which at Harvard College scientific culture has been placed on the same footing as literary culture, and recognized as an equally fitting preparation for the degrees in arts. It has been clearly seen by those who have advocated these changes that the study of natural science could not compete with the study of literature as a means of culture unless the discipline were equally severe, and unless legitimate scientific methods were strictly followed. We can not reach a standard that will command general respect until we can secure real science training in the preparatory schools. What we require is that the eye should be trained to observe, the hand to experiment, and the judgment to reason. Hence it is that in the new scheme of requirements for admission to Harvard College the requisition in chemistry has been stated thus:

A course of at least sixty experiments in general chemistry, actually performed at school by the pupil.

The candidate is required to pass both a written and laboratory examination.

The written examination will be directed to testing the candidate's knowledge of experiments and experimenting, as well as his knowledge of the principles and results of the respective sciences. The laboratory examination will be directed to testing his skill in experimenting. At the hour of the written examination the candidate will be required to hand in the original notebook in which he recorded the steps and results of the experiments which he performed at school, and this notebook must bear the indorsement of his teacher certifying that the notes are a true record of the pupil's work.

The requisition in physics is stated in similar language.

Except to those who have unusual mathematical and scientific talent the new scheme of preliminary studies is a decidedly more difficult way of entering college than by the old classical curriculum. It has, how