Back in the 19th century , when higher education was n’t yet the norm for the absolute majority of Americans , eventop - notch universitiesplaced newspaper publisher ads to attract applicants with promise like free tuition , prime room and board , and more .
According toThe New York Times , they also held entrance exams decently up to the very weekend before family started to insure that every potential high school grad had the chance to make a last - minute of arc , life - exchange decision to pursue a college degree .
If you ’re thinking back to your own harrowing , draw - out college admissions process and fantasize about Harvard University tap you to go there in the 1860s , break your air castle long enough to read the residual of this clause — because you might recall Harvard ’s entry examination from that era was more of a incubus than anything else .
In gain to subject like geometry and algebra that you might have known at some pointedness but have since forgotten , the 1869 trial run includes content that you very likely never get word at all .
Do you have enough background in ancient geographics , for deterrent example , to name the chief rivers of Ancient Gaul , or explicate who Jugurtha was ?
And even if you have a few eld of Latin under your belt , you might still find it hard to translate this prison term :
Compared to those sections , most of the arithmetical questions seem relatively accomplishable , but only if you may whip out your ready to hand pouch calculator — adevicethat was n’t popularized until the mid-20th century .
Hopefully , the succeeding faces of Harvard were at least allowed to use coast regulation to dissever 33,368,949.63 by 0.007253 , or find the cube root of 0.0093 to five decimal space .
While the syllabus has evolved enough in the last 150 years to make this test seem like quite a doozy to us , prospective students plainly come well . accord toIFLScience , Harvard brag in a paper ad that 185 out of 210 candidates passed the test .
find out out the full examination [ PDF ] to see just how many answers you be intimate ( or do n’t know ) , and regain out 11 other agency school was different in the 1800shere .
[ h / tIFLScience ]
