Entrance examination

“ If entrance examinations in joy were required at our representative colleges very few of the pupils who are prepared for college in the ordinary way would be admitted. What is more serious than this, the honour-pupils in the colleges themselves at commencement time—those who have submitted most fully to the college requirements—would take a lower stand in a final examination in joy, whether of sense or spirit, than any others in the class. ”

“ From many facts such as these... it is certain that the traditional entrance examinations, even when as fully safeguarded as in the case of those given by the College Entrance Examination Board, do not prevent incompetence from getting into college; do not prevent students of excellent promise from being discouraged or barred out altogether; do not measure fitness for college well enough to earn the respect of students or teachers ”

“ If the inspection is satisfactory, the school is accredited by a university for from one to three years, and upon the favourable report of its principal any of its students are admitted to the university by which it has been accredited without any entrance examination. In practice it is found that many students whom their teachers refuse to certify are able to pass the university entrance examination. ”

“ The entrance examination places the students in order of merit.
THE STUDIES.
All the details of the teaching are in the hands of a Council of Instruction, similar to that of the Polytechnic, and consisting of the General Commandant (President,) the Director of Studies, and three Military Professors, appointed yearly by rotation. Other professors and assistant professors, or officers of the staff of the school, may be called in to assist the Council, but (except in deciding the list at an examination) they have no votes. ”

“ The Hall of Examination is open to the public only once in three years, when students of high-school grade are examined for entrance to a university course, eighty-seven of the applicants being chosen. ”

“ Cuts, subs. (general) .—Flannel trousers; SHORTS (q.v.) .
Dab, subs. (Harrow) .—The entrance examination: held at the beginning of term.
To be a DAB = to be skilled at anything. Hence, the two entrance examinations, one at the end of term, and the other at the very beginning of the next, are the SKEW (q.v.) and the DAB respectively. The DAB offers no second chance; hence a bad candidate tries the “skew” first.
Dame, subs. (Eton) .—A mathematical or other master (except a classical) who keeps a boarding-house for boys in College. Also (obsolete) at Harrow. ”

“ Affiliated Students are such as, having passed the Entrance Examination, pursue their studies in an approved college or school, with the view of completing the higher studies in the University (Calendar, page 48) . For the purposes of the Examination for the above Exhibitions, all Students who will have been examined for Entrance by the University Examiner in one of the seminaries, colleges, or schools, connected with the University (vide Calendar, page 81) , between the 1st June, 1863, and the 10th October, 1865, will be eligible. ”

“ In the Police Department I found these examinations a serious handicap in the way of getting the best men promoted, and never in any office did I find that the written competitive promotion examination did any good. The reason for a written competitive entrance examination is that it is impossible for the head of the office, or the candidate's prospective immediate superior, himself to know the average candidate or to test his ability. But when once in office the best way to test any man's ability is by long experience in seeing him actually at work. ”

“ In all colleges candidates for entrance are required to be able to pass an examination in certain branches of study before they can be admitted. The students are generally examined, in most colleges, at the close of each term. ”

“ And provided further, That transfer shall not be made without examination, provided by the Commission, to a position for original entrance to which, in the judgment of the Commission, there is required by these rules an examination involving essential tests different from or higher than those involved in the examination required for original entrance to the position from which transfer is proposed; but a person employed in any grade shall not because of such employment be barred from the open competitive examination provided for original entrance to any other grade. ”

“ The instructor should go on building a superstructure on the foundation he has laid, and at the end of his course the aspirant for a diploma should be required to pass an examination on his entire college work. ”

“ To each female student who has satisfied the Examiners in a Tripos Examination, a Certificate shall be given by the University stating the conditions under which she was admitted to the examinations of the University, the Examinations in which she has satisfied the Examiner, and the Class and place in the Class, if indicated, to which she has attained, in each of such examinations. ”

“ If fitness for the vacant place is tested by competitive examination, the names of the three eligibles highest in grade on the proper register who have not been three times certified shall be certified ”

“ The board of examiners at the New York customs district may at any time, with the approval of the Civil Service Commission, order an examination for promotion, and at least five days before the examination is to take place shall cause a notice to be posted conspicuously in the office for which such examination is to be held, and shall state in said notice the class or classes to test fitness for promotion to which the examination is to be held and the time and place of examination. ”

“ At the end of the course an examination is held, in which the pupil must acquit himself honourably in the practical tests imposed upon him, if he wishes to obtain the coveted certificate, without which he can now hope for no promotion. ”

“ The preparation for this second, severer, and professional test that has just been described, is usually obtained in the division schools, of which an account will shortly follow, and to which any young man once accepted as a candidate, who has served his six months with the troops, and has passed his preliminary or ensign examination, may be admitted, even though a vacancy has not yet occurred, and he has not yet received his definitive promotion to the ensign’s grade. ”

“ It will be practicable to fill competitive positions of every description either through arbitrary reinstatement—or through original appointment to a lower grade, or to an excepted position without tests of any sort, or even by transfer from the great emergency force of the War Department, to be followed in any such case by a mere 'pass' examination. As general experience has proven, the 'pass' examinations, in the course of time, degenerate almost invariably into farce. ”

“ This is the principle followed abroad in examining candidates at public schools; and even in their examination on leaving school, which gives them the right to enter the University, they know that their success depends far more on the work which they have done during the years at school, than on the work done on the few days of their examination. There are outside examiners appointed by Government to check the work done at schools and during the examinations ”

“ Whenever any vacancy is to be filled, or new appointments to be made, the Visitors recommend that due notice of the same be given, and that the credentials of all applicants be referred to a competent board, and the applicants themselves whose credentials are satisfactory, be subjected to an open, competitive examination. ”

“ It is suggested to all candidates for admission to the Military Academy that, before leaving their places of residence for the place of examination, they should cause themselves to be thoroughly examined by a competent physician, and by a teacher or instructor in good standing. ”

“ In other instances, even where the high school board plan of examinations exists, principals' certificates are accepted in subjects for entrance to college, where the high schools have passed the inspection of the high-school board. ”

“ Young men who have been called for trainee instruction, upon reporting to the Acceptance Boards, shall be required to complete a questionnaire of a prescribed form, and to undergo a physical examination. ”

“ This board is to hold examinations for the lowest grade—the sixth—and to that grade alone appointments shall be made from the eligible list of those passing. The board shall, for each vacancy, certify the names of the five applicants who have passed the examination with the highest credit, such certification to be accompanied by a detailed report showing the qualifications of each person certified. ”

“ To secure a position upon the eligible list from which appointments may be made, a candidate, if without experience, should be required to complete the full four years’ course of the city high schools, or its equivalent, and in addition thereto pass the examination of the board of examiners, and complete at least a year’s course of professional training in a city normal training school under the direction of the superintendent. ”

“ There are also examinations for primary teachers. The tests for teachers are different for the two sexes.
In England there is no obligatory test for secondary teachers. The universities and the College of Preceptors conduct examinations for teaching diplomas. The Board of Education holds special examinations (Preliminary Certificate examination and Certificate examination, &c.) for primary teachers. ”

“ The grade of each competitor shall be expressed by the whole number nearest the general average attained by him, and the grade of each eligible shall be noted upon the register of eligibles in connection with his name. When two or more eligibles are of the same grade, preference in certification shall be determined by the order in which their application papers were filed.
6. Immediately after the general averages in an examination shall have been ascertained each competitor shall be notified that he has passed or has failed to pass. ”

“ Candidates who submit certificates on a date which does not allow the Academic Board sufficient time to investigate its value and notify them regarding the final action thereon prior to the day set for the examination, should proceed with the regular examination. ”

“ It is also absolutely necessary that the examinations should be competitive, and the appointments given to those who are most successful. A mere pass examination never, in the long run, does more than exclude absolute dunces. ”

“ Those who fail to go successfully through the examination have to pay for their instruction of course. The standard for the junior and senior examinations is not the same every year, but varies according to the general progress of the schools, and the discretion of the Directors. ”

“ THE SENATE-HOUSE EXAMINATION. The Questionists, as the undergraduates preparing for B.A. were called in the October term, were considered as a separate body; collected at a separate table in Hall, attending no lectures, but invited to attend a system of trial examinations conducted by one of the Tutors or Assistant-Tutors.
From the Acts, from the annual College examinations, and (I suppose) from enquiries in the separate Colleges, the Moderators acquired a general idea of the relative merits of the candidates for honours. Guided by this, the candidates were divided into six classes. ”

“ The scholars who are candidates for teachers may not pass from one grade to another without having proved their sufficiency in the general examination which shall be held at the end of every scholastic year.
Art. 12. When studies have been finished in the manner dictated by the schedule of the school, the scholars shall stand an examination in order to obtain the corresponding certificate, and for those exercises the fitting regulations shall be made. ”

“ There are three or four examinations each year; and the students who fail to obtain a certain high average of examination marks must leave the school, however exemplary their conduct or earnest their study. No leniency can be shown where the educational needs of the State are concerned, and these call for natural ability and a high standard of its proof. ”

“ No candidate fails, unless judged unfit to pass by at least two examiners. The certificates issued by the board are now accepted by nearly all colleges of the United States. Pupils who fail may have their examination papers sent to the college which they wish to enter, and, if their standing is satisfactory to that institution, they may be admitted. ”

“ Sometimes the candidate's examination qualifies one to practise a profession, and is open to all, in other cases, in the faculty of medicine for example, it gives no qualification, and is only open to candidates for the degree, but then there is another, a 'professional' examination, for those who do not aim at the ornamental title. ”

“ The duty of the Examiners was twofold, firstly to ascertain by inspecting the schedules given by his Masters that the candidate had completed the necessary residence and attended Lectures in the prescribed subjects, and secondly to examine him in the contents of his books. If he passed this Examination, he was admitted to determine.
Determination was a great day in the student's University life. It retained much of its primitive character of a student's festivity. ”

“ The fitness of the applicants shall be determined by examination, to be conducted by the person or persons holding the power of appointment or promotion, or by some person or board designated by the person holding such power of appointment, and the rating on such examination for fitness shall not exceed in any case 50 per cent. ”