NEW COLUMBIA TESTS POPULAR

A majority of the students entering Columbia this fall elected the new psychological tests for admission rather than the former system of taking written examinations. The tests, devised by Professor E. L. Thorndyke, formerly in charge of the psychological and mental tests in the United States Army, are composed of a series of thirty sets.

Applicants for admission by the new method are required to file a statement giving full information about themselves and their courses of study. They also state what they are interested in as regards activities outside of school as well as during school hours. In addition the applicants are required to file health certificates which are the result of a medical examination. Provided that they can file a complete school record, showing that they have completed satisfactorily the full requirements for admission to college, and that they have graduated from an acceptable secondary school, and can show a letter of recommendation from the principal of that school, they may then be permitted to substitute the mental tests for the entrance examinations.

Tests Last Nearly Three Hours.

The tests as given yesterday at Columbia took two hours and fifty minutes, including a ten-minute period for practice with the new style of examination. An examiner, with a stop watch, presided over each group of forty or fifty. The test was divided into four parts. Each student was given at first two sharp pencils and a printed pamphlet of questions. The examiner took his stand and at a set time said "Go." Each question, or puzzle, or test--and there were hundreds of them given each person--had to be finished by the second hand and the candidate had to proceed to the next.

The first two tests were concerned with the powers of perception and observation. A man was told to pick out the smallest square in a bevy of squares, to mark words with similar meanings in a jumbled collection, to unravel sentences. One test required the student to pick the proper answer to a question out of four possible ones given. For example:

"Why are prunes a good food?" was asked. And he had to determine, within a fraction of a second, whether it was because prunes grow in California, are wholesome and economical, are served is boarding houses, or because they make an attractive dish.

"If a man is hungry, but hasn't any money, should he plant a garden, steal a pie, work for a meal, or get a permanent job?" "Is Italy shaped like a banana, boot, broom, or sausage?" were other queries put.

The third and fourth divisions of the test required more cultural preparation. Excerpts of philosophy, science and history were printed in the pamphlets and the students asked a series of questions about each.