Modern Use
The numerus clausus is currently used in countries and universities where the number of applicants greatly exceeds the number of available places for students. This is the case in many countries of continental Europe.
Students in much of Europe choose their field of specialization when they begin university study, unlike students in North America, who specialize later. Fields such as medicine, law, biology, dentistry, pharmacology, psychology and business administration are particularly popular and therefore harder to gain admittance to study.
In France, admission to the grandes écoles is obtained by competitive exams with a fixed, limited number of positions each year. Also, at the end of the first year of medical studies in universities, there is a competitive exam with a numerus clausus for determining which students are allowed to proceed to the second year; in later years of medical studies there is a competitive exam (concours de l'internat) for choosing medical specialties.
Read more about this topic: Numerus Clausus
Famous quotes containing the word modern:
“Not “Seeing is Believing” you ninny, but “Believing is Seeing.” For modern art has become completely literary: the paintings and other works exist only to illustrate the text.”
—Tom Wolfe (b. 1931)
“The reason for the sadness of this modern age and the men who live in it is that it looks for the truth in everything and finds it.”
—Edmond De Goncourt (1822–1896)