SAMPLING COURSES.

A custom honored by time alone is that of spending the first three weeks of the fall term in a delirious search for possible courses. Many men return to College with a vague idea of what courses they intend to take, and base their final choice on a round of visits made at a time when it is exceedingly difficult to judge the value of a course.

At the beginning of the year everything scholastic is in a state of disorganization. The time for selection is manifestly now, when the subject-matter and the scope of the various courses may be fairly observed and compared. Employed with foresight, attendance at sample lectures is an admirable way of deciding on one's curriculum. Used in the midst of the confusion of opening, however, it becomes misleading and defeats the possibility of accurate decision. By attending the lectures now, men still in doubt about their future courses will render a service to the Faculty by enabling the general machinery to be in running order sooner, and to themselves by obtaining a fair idea of a lecturer's methods at a time when they may be fairly judged.