The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-03-06
Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.

We have before us the catalogues for the
current academical year of Harvard Yale.
and Cornell Universities. OF tho Johns Hop
kins University tho Wesleyan University,
and the University Of Michigan. Of Column
bia College. the College Of New Jersey ut
Princeton. Dartmouth College. and Union
College at Schenectady. Tho list by no
means includes oil the collegiate institu-
lions of historical distinction In the North
ern Stutes-Dowdoin, for instance. the alma
mater Of HAWTHORNE and LoNGFELLOw, Is
missing-but 1t is sufficiently exhaustive for
our purpose. which is to indicate the guam
tity OF attainments Mt present represented
by an American degree OF Bachelor OF Arts.
We observe that the requirements for grad
uation as well as for admission differ con-
siderably, and in reviewing them we shall
proceed from the more exacting colleges to
those which confer diplomas upon easier
terms. For the moment we must contlnc
ourselves to Harvard. Yale, and Princeton.
and we Shall leave out OF view the addition
al qualifications for honors. in contempla-
ton OF which these colleges have provided
special courses of study.
We have found it extremely difficult to
deduco from the intricate schemes OF study
offered Mt Harvard College the minimum
amount OF requirements requisite for an
A. Is. degree. 1t is well known that Greek
ts no longer required for admission to Har-
ward. but, for the purpose OF comparison
with other institutions. wo shall concern
ourselves exclusively with those under
graduates who offer Greek and intend to
pursue what is usually called classical
course. but without any intention of taking
honors. We assume that such students
have satisfied the requirements for nd
mission by passing examinations in all
the specified elementary studies. and in
those two so-called advanced studies, which
involve little more than elementary
acquaintance with the Greek and Latin Ian
guages. This means that n candidate for
admission must DO able TO translate mt sight
not only simple Greek and Latin, but
also average passages from HOMER, CICERO.
and VIRGIL. and answer questions on tho
usual forms and ordinary construction of
tho Greek and Latin languages and on
prOsody 1t Is not Indispensable that can
didate for an A. b. degree at Harvard should.
either before or after his admission to the
freshman class. show himself able to trans
late English into Latin or Greek prose.
Returning to tho elementary studies pre-
scribed for admission. wo find that these
include the translation ut sight OF " simple"
German prose and ordinary" French
prose, rudimentary knowledge OF the his
tory OF Greece and Rome or OF the history
OF the United States and England. an ac-
quaintance with the rudiments OF astron-
omy or physics. and a knowledge OF algebra
through quadratic equations. and of plane
geometry. mastery OF arithmetic Is
taken for granted.
This Is what We assume that Harvard
undergraduate starts with. who intends to
follow classical course. In his freshman
year the only prescribed studies will be
rhetoric and English composition and ele-
mentary chemistry. He must also. how
ever. take four elective studies amounting
to four full courses. The Greek course
open to freshmen who presented advanced