Busy School Applicants To Take Aptitude Test

All Business School applicants will take an admissions aptitude test given by the College Board, beginning this year.

According to Dean of Admissions Lewis B. Ward, the exam will be designed to test "administrative aptitude for business." The Educational Testing Service in Princeton, N.J., is already developing the exam, which also includes vocabulary and English sections.

"We've been working on this for a number of years," Ward said last night, "and our studies have shown us that there is a relation between the ability a student shows on an aptitude test and how well he does at the Business School. This won't be the only requirement, but it will count," he added.

Other Schools to Use Tests

Other business schools are also expected to use the test, as part of admissions procedure.

The test, which will be given in February and May of 1954, will become one of the School's qualifications for admission. The School will still depend heavily on interviews, undergraduate marks, and extra-curricular activities.

In exceptional circumstances, the Business School previously had asked students who had insufficient college backgrounds to take an aptitude test.

Details concerning time and place of the tests for next spring will be mailed to all applicants.

Last year over 2,000 men applied to the School, with 550 accepted. Approximately 65 to 100 Harvard graduates are accepted each year, while up to 330 have applied for admission.

The Business School thus joins the College and other Harvard graduate schools in using an aptitude test. Both the Law School and Medical School also require such exams.