An interesting article on higher education appeared at the Washington Post a few days ago. Titled "Our dangerous obsession with Harvard, Stanford and other elite universities," the piece describes how parents and students today should not use admission acceptance rates as a determining factor for application to college. Believing that a university's acceptance rate correlates with its quality, or its appropriateness for individual students, is a flawed perspective.
For too long, the article states, our academic culture has prized elite institutions and future employers have used such schools as signals of employee potential. But schools are more than just names on fancy buildings, and job candidates are more than what calligraphic words appear on a diploma.
Great schools are everywhere. From large public universities to small private institutions, from quality community colleges to accessible technical/trade schools, a good education is out there if you are willing to look for it. The Ivy League types may sound like a dream, as you envision bragging to a future boss those short, but glamorous, words: Yale or Duke or Penn. But research continues to show that names like that don't always mean what we hope them to. It has been shown that there is not much more learning that occurs there than elsewhere. And actually, grade inflation is worse at those prestigious schools than anywhere--meaning the entire purpose of "education" at such places should be called in to question.
But I will take this notion of college selection a step further. College is what you make of it. You can obtain an equally useful and productive experience at nearly any college you choose. But the responsibility for that education relies on you. Sitting in a 500-seat lecture hall at Harvard doesn't automatically make you smarter. But you can become smarter by joining your professor for lunch each week in a small college cafeteria. Spending six figures per year at an elite school won't make you smarter. Spending a few thousand at your local public university can because you will then have more time and resources to invest in other learning opportunities instead of paying off massive debts. Getting an inflated A at a fancy school says nothing about what you've really learned. Starting an academic club or study group at a lesser-known school is a better way to maximize your learning and know that you've truly gained knowledge and skills from your efforts. You are in charge of you. If you want to become smart, become smart. A name on a building won't do that for you.
As we near the end of another school year, and high schools prepare to graduate a new class, I hope you young people out there understand that the name of the school doesn't mean much. The access, the prestige, the connections may be there for some. But you are more than that. You are you. And you are so much more than what is written on a piece of paper. You are the accumulation of a vast variety of experiences, relationships, skills, and knowledge. And those can be attained anywhere.
If you picked your future spouse based on the prominence of their last name, how many other dating partners they have turned down, or how much dowry you received, you would be called shallow and stuck in an elitist and outdated mindset. You pick your spouse because they are the best person for you and your unique qualities, and because you believe you can have a fun and productive life together in which you make one another stronger. College is not much different.
You will want people in your future to value you as an individual, not as some quasi-representative of a distant entity they have only constructed in their own minds. You have a lot to offer, and schools of all types out there have a lot to offer you. It's up to you to decide what is the best fit for your learning goals. And then it's up to you to decide how you will achieve them once you are there.
For too long, the article states, our academic culture has prized elite institutions and future employers have used such schools as signals of employee potential. But schools are more than just names on fancy buildings, and job candidates are more than what calligraphic words appear on a diploma.
Great schools are everywhere. From large public universities to small private institutions, from quality community colleges to accessible technical/trade schools, a good education is out there if you are willing to look for it. The Ivy League types may sound like a dream, as you envision bragging to a future boss those short, but glamorous, words: Yale or Duke or Penn. But research continues to show that names like that don't always mean what we hope them to. It has been shown that there is not much more learning that occurs there than elsewhere. And actually, grade inflation is worse at those prestigious schools than anywhere--meaning the entire purpose of "education" at such places should be called in to question.
But I will take this notion of college selection a step further. College is what you make of it. You can obtain an equally useful and productive experience at nearly any college you choose. But the responsibility for that education relies on you. Sitting in a 500-seat lecture hall at Harvard doesn't automatically make you smarter. But you can become smarter by joining your professor for lunch each week in a small college cafeteria. Spending six figures per year at an elite school won't make you smarter. Spending a few thousand at your local public university can because you will then have more time and resources to invest in other learning opportunities instead of paying off massive debts. Getting an inflated A at a fancy school says nothing about what you've really learned. Starting an academic club or study group at a lesser-known school is a better way to maximize your learning and know that you've truly gained knowledge and skills from your efforts. You are in charge of you. If you want to become smart, become smart. A name on a building won't do that for you.
As we near the end of another school year, and high schools prepare to graduate a new class, I hope you young people out there understand that the name of the school doesn't mean much. The access, the prestige, the connections may be there for some. But you are more than that. You are you. And you are so much more than what is written on a piece of paper. You are the accumulation of a vast variety of experiences, relationships, skills, and knowledge. And those can be attained anywhere.
If you picked your future spouse based on the prominence of their last name, how many other dating partners they have turned down, or how much dowry you received, you would be called shallow and stuck in an elitist and outdated mindset. You pick your spouse because they are the best person for you and your unique qualities, and because you believe you can have a fun and productive life together in which you make one another stronger. College is not much different.
You will want people in your future to value you as an individual, not as some quasi-representative of a distant entity they have only constructed in their own minds. You have a lot to offer, and schools of all types out there have a lot to offer you. It's up to you to decide what is the best fit for your learning goals. And then it's up to you to decide how you will achieve them once you are there.