<p>Makes me very glad I am not attending our local state school...</p>
<p>This article doesn't even remotely surprise me. The people surrounding me tell me the meaning of college in three beats: addictions (coffee at least), sex, alcohol. I would not be so bothered by this if it were simply my teenage peers, but it includes a good deal of my older coworkers and the upperclassmen in college I know. I feel like the only kid who doesn't think that's all there is in life. Perhaps there is more, but until I prove it, I am simply out of beat with the rest. Ok, this rant is over. ^_^</p>
<p>You can't blame it on the U of A just because the students are too stupid to motivate themselves and do the work. If they can't do it then, how are they going to do it in the real world? I still want to go to the U of A. The freedom large public universities offer is priceless.</p>
<p>I heard at Ivies 6-8% are admitted with below 1100 SAT scores. And since grade inflation is so rampant, and its impossible to fail, a fair amount of ivy graduates are really stupid and lazy. </p>
<p>This should worry most investment banks and consulting firms in their hiring processes. And thank goodness, it already does! You really never know what you are going to get with these ivies, its a mixed bag, they might be an arrogant genius, or an arrogant idiot. Either way, you gotta do your homework.</p>
<p>The article illustrates some of the factors leading to me becoming a fan of LAC's, particularly those LAC's with a serious academic culture. Yes, you can get out what you put into it at large state schools--and, actually, both TheMom and I did fairly well from such a background--but you have to swim against several tides. </p>
<p>And U/A isn't that bad as these things go, though for non-California schools if I had to pick I'd pick U/Washington and then probably U/Oregon first.</p>
<p>MrB.
Check out the thread on State Honors Colleges. You will see that it is possible to get a great education at public schools.
Kids can and do goof off at public and private schools. There may not be as much of a safety net at the large publics, but there are plenty of people who drop out of private schools too.
It's important for parents (and others) to continue to be there to support kids. It's clear that the schools (public and private) can't do it all.</p>
<p>To all of you who are shocked at these kids - </p>
<p>You should walk through your kids' dorms at times other than Family Weekend. The problems aren't confined to large state schools (although the sheer number of kids probably makes them more obvious at those schools). I've seen more wasted kids wandering the hallways of a top liberal arts school on a Saturday night than I want to count. </p>
<p>If you look at the stats it takes to get into these schools then it doesn't take much analysis to conclude that not every kid is applying him/herself to the max - otherwise there'd be nothing but 4.0 students graduating.</p>
<p>As for whether this went on years ago - my memory isn't that selective. I had more than one friend who was asked to examine other educational options because the lightbulb didn't go on in time. It might be a little worse today because we've decided to make alcohol a forbidden fruit and therefore more delicious to a lot of 18-20 year olds.</p>
<p>I have been to the U of O several times, my uncle lives in Eugene. Their housing and campus are awful. Princeton Review and US News both rank it horribly for academics as well.</p>
<p>The UO campus is not near awful. The dorms are standard issue but many of the newer buildings are very nice--Law, Business, Rec Center, Library etc. The Honors College is very good and there are a number of very good depts from journalism to education.</p>
<p>I'm looking at academics only and too my eye--and I admit that I didn't spend a lot of time looking at them because they did not apply to D and vice versa, I was actually looking at implications for Pac-10 football recruiting--U/O and U/A are fairly similar. I admit that I prefer the U/O location because I'm not a desert rat but the sense that I get is that U/A is at least trying harder with their Honors programs, etc. Couldn't speak to facilities one way or the other though good dorms are like a cherry on the Selection Cake.</p>
<p>Some thoughts: I believe that an interested and motivated student can learn at any school. I also believe that the purpose of education and the desire to learn is often established before the students ever apply to college. I don't know how well that article applies to all state universities but I could probably find students like that at most schools including my alma mata Cornell. Smaller schools may offer an advantage because it is harder to fall between the cracks. The honors college programs are a big plus for some institutions and their students.</p>
<p>westsidee, I remember fraternity friends who took certain classes because their house owned a set of notes and test questions that could help them get through without attending class. So you are right that state schools are not the only place that can have students wasting their time.</p>