FRESHMEN IN ECONOMICS A

Because of the inherent difficulty of the subject, students are not ordinarily allowed to take Economics A before their Sophomore year. The desirability of opening the course to Freshmen has at various times received attention within the department and this year a tentative start was made.

For the man who comes to college with a definite interest in Economics, the delay of a year is wasteful. For the student who has no such definite interest but who contemplates choosing Economics as a field of concentration, the postponement of the study to the Sophomore year is still more unfortunate. The average Freshman, wholly unfamiliar with the subject and its teaching, is inevitably acting in the dark when he elect Economics as his field, as evidenced by the large number of men who transfer to or from the field in their Sophomore or Junior year.

Recognizing the waste of time involved in the delay of a year and the difficulty of choosing a field of concentration, the department this year admitted, as an experiment, some twenty selected men to Economics A. The records of these men so far and the experience of others who have taken the course indicate that its difficulty in many instances has been unduly exaggerated. It is true that the emphasis is on thinking rather than on memory, but there are many Freshmen who could master the subject without difficulty and who would benefit thereby.

There are two possible methods of acquainting students with the subject of Economics before their Sophomore year. One is to admit a greater number of qualified men to the course at the beginning of their college career; the other made possible by the fact that the course is conducted entirely in sections, is to start some of these sections at mid-years and admit Freshmen then. Either of these solutions would eliminate a great deal of uncertainty and lost time.