John Quincy Adams returned to the newly independent United States of America in 1786 after having spent fully six years with his father in Europe. His father's insistence that he attend Harvard brought him back. After some refresher work in Greek he took the admission exam for Harvard.
"Adams was asked to construe three stanzas from Horace and a passage from the Iliad, then quizzed on the works of Locke, on Euclid, and on geography" and "p Hresident Willard asked him to translate several English sentences into Latin." Geography, geometry, political science, and Greek . . . maybe we should try a little more of that. I don't think many would muster the necessary skills to get by that entrance exam these days. However, it does beg the question what skills should a student have to advance study at college? We might all agree on crossing out the Greek and even the political science. It may have been included due to the founding struggles of politically putting the new nation together. Well, on second thought, given the recent strains on our political structures, maybe Locke should be included. Given the struggles that more have with writing in English perhaps some foreign language study would help with that as well.
He was admitted, tuition free in recognition of his father national service, but admonished not to wear a hat when crossing the Harvard yard except in inclement weather. Adams graduated second in his class and delivered an English oration on "the necessity of public faith to the well-being of a community," something that many today could benefit from listening to.
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