798 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 



(o) The subjects studied by him and the ground 

 covered. 



(b) The amount of time devoted to each. 



(c) The quality of his work in each subject. 

 To be approved, this statement must show 



(a) That the candidate's secondary school 

 course has extended over four years. 



(6) That his course has been concerned chiefly 

 with languages, science, mathematics and 

 history, no one of which has been omitted. 



(o) That two of the studies of his school pro- 

 gram have been pursued beyond their 

 elementary stages, i. e., to the stage re- 

 quired by the present advanced examina- 

 tions of Harvard College or the equiva- 

 lent examinations of the College Entrance 

 Examination Board. 



THE EXAMINATIONS 



If the ofi&cial detailed statement presented by the 

 candidate shows that he has satisfactorily 

 completed an approved secondary school 

 course, he may present himself for examina- 

 tions in four subjects as follows: 

 (a) English. 



(6) Latin, or, for candidates for the degree of 

 S.B., French or German. 



(c) Mathematics, or physics, or chemistry. 



(d) Any subject (not already selected under 



(6) or (o)) Irom the following list: 

 Greek History Physics 



French Mathematics Chemistry 



German 

 These four examinations must be taken at one 

 time, either in June or in September. 



In announcing this plan, the committee on ad- 

 mission wish to point out that it difEers in essen- 

 tial principles from the old plan now in use, and 

 that therefore comparisons between the new re- 

 quirements and the old will be misleading if any 

 attempt is made to express the new requirements 

 in the terms of the old. Under this new plan the 

 college does not intend to prescribe in detaO the 

 school course of the boy who wishes to enter, either 

 directly by naming and defining subjects, or indi- 

 rectly by an elaborate system of rating the studies 

 of a school course in points or units. On the con- 

 trary, the college accepts the judgment of a school 

 as to a candidate's program, subject only to the 

 general limitations stated above. It is not neces- 

 sary, therefore, for a school to fit a candidate 's 

 course to detailed definitions of subjects. A good 

 student who has had a rationally planned course 

 in a good school should have no difficulty in 



proving his fitness for admission, even though his 

 decision to come to Harvard be made late in his 

 last school year. Under the new plan every school 

 maintaining the kind of course indicated will be 

 free to work out its own system of education in 

 its own way. The college, on its part, undertakes 

 only to test the intellectual efficiency of the boy 

 at the time of his graduation from school. For 

 this reason the examinations can not be divided. 



A second important difference between the new 

 requirements and the old is the emphasis put in 

 the college examinations upon quality of work. 

 The new plan contemplates examinations different 

 from those now used with respect both to their 

 character and the method in which they will be 

 administered. It is hoped to secure a type of 

 examination which shall be adapted to various 

 methods of teaching, and which shall contain ques- 

 tions sufficient in number and character to permit 

 each student to reveal the full amount and quality 

 of his attainment. In administering examinations 

 under this plan, the committee will always con- 

 sider examinations in connection with school rec- 

 ords, and will endeavor to see not whether a can- 

 didate has done a certain prescribed amount of 

 work in a certain way, but whether the general 

 quality of the candidate's scholarship is satisfac- 

 tory. If a candidate is admitted, he will be ad- 

 mitted without conditions; if he is refused admis- 

 sion, no credit will be given for examinations in 

 the separate subjects in which he may show pro- 

 ficiency, and the refusal will mean that his school 

 record and his college tests do not show that he 

 has the scholarship which makes his admission to 

 Harvard College desirable. 



The admission of a candidate under this plan, 

 therefore, depends upon good scholarship as shown 

 in two ways — in his school work and in his college 

 tests. He can not secure admission by scoring 

 points or by working up examinations one or two 

 at a time. He must have done good work in his 

 school aecordiug to the testimony of his teachers; 

 and he must meet successfully college tests at the 

 time when he is ready to enter. 



In introducing this plan, which departs consid- 

 erably from schemes of admission now in general 

 use, the college is already aware of various grave 

 difficulties. It will doubtless be difficult to 

 prepare a type of examination paper sufficiently 

 flexible to fit various methods of instruction in 

 various parts of the country, and to enable all 

 candidates to exhibit the full amount and quality 

 of their attainments. To accomplish this end, the 

 committee on admission are authorized to advise 



