<p>40 years ago, Ivy League universities used to be exactly that. But, as we're all aware, the world has become so filled with perfect resumes and blue-blood connections that ivy league has become more of a status symbol than a sign of broad intellectual interest. Higher forms of education, such as medicine and ph.d. programs, tend to be more meritorious, but the focuses of the programs are demanding and narrow, requiring by that point that a student has confined their interests to a specific area.</p>
<p>I pose a question: has the intense competition for the status of top university education robbed America of a gathering ground for intellectually curious people? If university can no longer provide the intellectually passionate with that opportunity to meet those like themselves, then are there other gathering places out there? What do you think?</p>
<p>“If university can no longer provide the intellectually passionate with that opportunity to meet those like themselves, then are there other gathering places out there? What do you think?”</p>
<p>You’re there right now. It’s called the Internet. It’s available for everyone, regardless of class, and it’s free at your local library.</p>
<p>I think there are plenty of people who are intellectually curious in this country. They don’t need to all be in the Ivy leagues.</p>
<p>Besides, G W got into Yale. He got in because his dad was famous and he played a lot of football. His scores indicate that he was an idiot. I would say legacy played a role 40 years ago just as it does today, if not more so.</p>
<p>Are you not familiar with college clubs?
If a bunch of “intellectually curious” students want to form the “Super League of Intellectually Curious Students,” then that’s where they gather.</p>
<p>lolno. Ivy League Universities have always been a status symbol filled with blue-blood connections. It’s only recently that they’ve really gone for those perfect resumes. It’s silly to think that any university is a sign of broad intellectual interest (well, maybe a couple are - not necessarily in the Ivy League).</p>
<p>I don’t think so. I think that wherever you go, you’ll find a fair amount intellectually curious people - Ivy or not. Sure, many of the students may be applying as a “status symbol,” or to make money later in life, but I think that at any of the top 50 LACs or universities - and probably at plenty of the lower ones - you’ll be able to find smart, motivated people who like learning for the sake of it. </p>
<p>No offense, but it’s a tiny bit arrogant to assume that the only intellectually curious students would go to the very top colleges.</p>
<p>40 years ago, Ivy League universities used to be exactly that. But, as we’re all aware, the world has become so filled with perfect resumes and blue-blood connections that ivy league has become more of a status symbol than a sign of broad intellectual interest. </p>
<p>Also Reed, Chicago, Oberlin. These are other gathering places for such students.
A Reed college cheer:
Hegel, Kant, Marx, Spinoza
Come on Reed, hit 'em in the nosa.</p>
<p>Edit: and probably Carleton, for the poster above me. Those three jumped first to mind.</p>
<p>@OP:
Define “intellectually passionate,” please… Do you mean “obsessed with topics commonly associated with academia”? It’s kind of naive to pretend like one can be passionate about being an intellectual. I imagine a more correct way to describe the people you’re looking for would be ones who are passionate about being arrogant, or ones who are motivated to compete academically.</p>
<p>Interesting thoughts. It would seem most of you agree that top universities never really were universal gathering grounds for the intellectually open, and that if such a place exists today, it can probably be found online. Seeing the intellectual value of Facebook, I would have to disagree. I think back in the '90s many people envisioned the world’s greatest thinkers meeting online to solve the world’s problems, but that idea went the way of the tech bubble. The big problem is that online communication is slow, specific, and impolite and it’s so difficult to tell whether someone online actually knows anything about what they’re talking about. This forum is a perfect example.</p>
<p>However, I’d like to point out Lirazel, that the article you cited, which I enjoyed btw, completely proved my original point! 40 years ago, anyone who worked hard and wanted to go to an ivy league school could do so. The system was less competitive. That made the schools gathering places for those interested in intellectual ideas, such as the film and visual art of the early 20th century, or French society preceding the revolution. </p>
<p>That intellectual curiosity is largely gone now. The schools accept those students who are very bright and hard working and whose lives are the best structured, they cannot simply accept anyone who is interested in attending. But no system of admissions will ensure that only intellectually open students will attend. The problem is that there are so many smart people out there. You get a group of 10,000 applicants with perfect 2400 SATs, and accept 1000 of them, and I can guarantee that the number of intellectually curious people within that group will not be much higher than the general population. Ironically, the best system of admissions will ever be better than the one that allows any student who wishes to go to the school to go.</p>
<p>For an added twist, I am proud to say that I actually just graduated from a very highly ranked university. But I would warn you not to get your hopes up about the quality of the students you will meet, and definitely not about the quality of student clubs. There are no clubs for diverse intellectual interests. There are a thousand clubs for various forms of binge drinking. Have fun, like I did. But I was one of only a few students in my graduating class who ever read the news or took any real interest in art for art’s sake. The sad truth is that the world of the curious mind is a lonely one, and I have yet to find a reliable group of those like myself.</p>
<p>I’m headed to New York after this, and I’ll see what I can find. Hopefully, for our nation’s sake, there will be something there.</p>
<p>“I used to think movies were a good form of entertainment for kids, but then I heard about Pornography.”</p>
<p>“I used to think books were a good way of conveying information so that all the world could be intellectually free. After reading Twilight, I would have to disagree.”</p>
<p>“A lot of people think speeches are a great way of communicating one’s thoughts and feelings to a wider group. Those people should be educated about Hitler and Mussolini.”</p>
<p>“A lot of people think speeches are a great way of communicating one’s thoughts and feelings to a wider group. Those people should be educated about Hitler and Mussolini.”</p>
<p>Hitler and Mussolini were extremely charismatic… or was that the idea of the quote…?</p>
<p>You’re not looking for “intellectually passionate” people; there are plenty of students at all of the top universities who are very much passionate about their learning. That’s not what you want. You want the kind of people who watch movies in order to dissect the social messages hidden within it. You want the kind of people who know all the arcane rules of etiquette ever codified. And even though I don’t think you realize it, you want the kind of people who stare down their noses at the poor, uncultured common folk.</p>
<p>Well guess what? Those people are much rarer now. We still have an upper class, yes, but they’re less interested in sitting in an armchair drinking scotch and analyzing historic literature. Why is this a horrible thing?</p>
<p>The only problem is that Ivy League schools now reserve about 20% of spots in their classes for blacks and Hispanics who wouldn’t be able to get in on their own.</p>
<p>Princeton has 14% blacks and hispanics. I find it rather unlikely that only negative 6 percent of the black or hispanic students who got in would have done so on their own merits.</p>
<p>I’ll let it go but I don’t think that’s what the example is supposed to be contradicting according to your first post. I think idea was communicating their thoughts and feelings to a wide audience effectively. I’d give them that ;)</p>