The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-12-12
THE COST OF SENDING A GIRL.
 TO COLLEGE.


 A consideration which will cause se- rious thought is the cost of the under taking, and where means are limited, this point has great weight. The cost must not, however, be gauged by what a boy spends in college; the comparison is as unfair in this particular as in other relative expenses. Each college prospectus states exactly the legiti- mate fees; to this must be added a sum sufficient for the purchase of books, and for the requirements of so- cial life as represented In the clubs and students organizations; beyond this the matter of expense resolves itself into parental liberality in pocket mo- ney. So far as dress is concerned no one need borrow trouble. The woman's college inculcates spirit of democ- racy; character and brains count for more than sumptuous raiment the one girl may wear purple and fine linen, and the next one linsey woolsey, and yet both will stand on the same foot ing so far as externals are concerned. Last of all in weighing tn arguments in favor of college those features in which books play no part will be, per haps, the last grains needed to turn the scale. And what are these fea- lures? The advantages of wide asso- ciation; the lifelong friendships which have here their beginning; the health ful friction of minds against minds; the lessons of self-control and self-re- lance; the finding ones proper level, Ia Axfc NF al J,,y T tioatday, tennis. golf, wheeling, and feminine athletics generally.
 The conclusion once reached that a girl is to go to college, two things fol- low in order-choice of college, and the manner of preparation for entrance. In the matter of choice of college there is very little advice to be given. The wo- mans college has not yet reached the charm of tradition; girl hardly yet chooses a particular institution be- cause 1t was her mothers alma mater and athletics are not sufficiently de- veloped to exercise positive influence Unless there is decided predilection for co-education, such as Cornell and Ann Arbor offer, Vassar, Wellesley, and Smith present equal facilities; Bryn Mawr is patterned more after the uni versity idea Barnard and Radcliffe appear, perhaps, as appendages to mems colleges, and though their ad- vantages are excellent, they lack as yet the full charm of student life. Be- sides these colleges there are numerous smaller institutions offering good courses of study leading to a degree. Preparation for college should be be- gun at an early age. and can be most satisfactorily accomplished at good secondary school This does not mean that such training can be obtained mo- where else; the high-schools in many states do excellent work in this re- spect But the peculiar advantage of the secondary school lies in the fact that the whole course of study is plan ned with one object in view, and that the pupil breathes the college atmos- phere from the very outset. A fur ther advantage, and one which, to it's credit, the secondary school uses spar ingly, is the privilege of sending it's pupils to college on certificate. To enter college without the ordeal of ex- animation is not an unmixed blessing dlly HiuiO tlidil lliS Shohilhtbtioh itoViL is an unmitigated evil; but the privi- 1ege just mentioned has helped many a nervous, self f-distrustful girl, who once inside the college doors has never again needed even so slight a prop as that implied in entrance on certifi- cate''
 One final point-college is not exclu- sively for those born with the tradi- tional gold spoon; the candidate who needs a helping hand will find it out stretched in many directions. There are students aid associations which lend money to struggling sisters, there