I think this was posted once before but I thought I'd repost for those who never saw it before. How many of us could even come close to pasing? http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/education/harvardexam.pdf
If I sat down long enough with the Arithmetic section, I could probably answer most of them, but I would not even be able to write down anything in the Latin, Greek, Geography and History section. It does look harder than what most of us today could do, but to be fair to our generation, I'm sure that not very many of those bright Harvard students from 1899 would do well on the GRE Verbal and Subject exams. These tests are in many ways a product of their times, that is, what are valued socially and politically at the moment they are administered.
I did pretty well on the math portion. But on the first five pages, I could not answer a single thing. Very interesting though; thanks for the exercise!
It is certainly interesting how things have changed over time, as mentioned above. Latin/Greek are regarded as a novelty by most people in the masses, and only necessary in certain majors (of which may not get you a job after graduation). The first section reads more like a random trivia quiz than knowledge of anything particularly useful. Whereas the mathematics section is far beyond what most high school graduates (and many college graduates) could complete today. Recent trends in entrance examinations, such as SAT or GRE, do a better job of testing a more important factor in potential students: their ability to learn, rather than their pre-existing knowledge of random trivia.
I have to disagree: Arithmetic part of the exam is easy, but now there is no such emphasis on manual calculation methods and algorithms in school curriculum as in 19th century. Algebra part is comparable to current high school algebra. Logarithms and trigonometry part is not hard, but it asks for proofs in two questions. Today, proofs are rarely asked in similar exams. Geometry: 7 of 8 questions are proofs, but it is all comparable to current high school algebra. Main difference is in the style of examination, manual calculations and proofs are not deemed so important today. But I believe that current Harvard applicants should pass the math parts of this exam with a few days to prepare for manual calculations and proofs. Another interesting fact: there is no English composition, only Latin and Greek.
To me, this looks like a fake. No way was this typed /printed in 1899. This uses a modern font and italics!
