The best and brightest take a detour

Parents Forum
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<p>Scanned the posts- ouch. </p>

<p>That “Best and Brightest” Washington Post article title is inaccurate. The students’ stats quoted do not put them in that category amongst college students. The phenomenon is that many 4 year college eligible students are starting at 2 year colleges instead of going to the college they can get into- for financial resaons. This improves the caliber of students at those schools. I still would prefer the peer group at the better colleges. The HS students who take courses at these concurrently are getting the material unavailable in HS but not the peer group they would have for discussions. The truly best and brightest, including that portion which is truly gifted (there never will be an acceptable word to describe a real attribute) are much better off at the four year school of the highest caliber they can afford. The second tier students settle for the community colleges when they probably shouldn’t settle. Those 3rd, 4th et al tiers likely will get as much out of their CC as they would out of a higher tier school. </p>

<p>A CC means different things in different states- here in Wis the Madison Area Technical College is changing its name to reflect its now nature of being more like the Calif style post HS 2 year colleges- ie academic not job training as has been the Wis area tech schools’ traditional roles.</p>

<p>I may sound harsh, but there are realities. Not all college students have equal abilities. Some students shortchange themselves. A school may satisfy one’s needs but one will never know how much one could have stretched their mental muscles at a tougher school. I know the Honors Programs are a lifesaver for so many at public flagships, but they also miss out on the peer group being there in every facet of college life at a top private school (although this is presuming the private school student body is more exceptional than it really is- or ALL of their students would be heading directly to grad schools).</p>

<p>I wish the media would realize that there is a more elite intellectual/educational level than that they have attained. Akin to HS teachers realizing some of their students are way beyond their abilities even though they, the teachers, are well above the population average.</p>

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<p>I don’t think the increase in the number of better-qualified students going to CCs is entirely explained by finances. It is in part explained by the creation of honors tracks in CCs. </p>

<p>Most teachers at any level would rather teach better students. So, faculty usually support the creation of honors programs at state U and now the creation of honors tracks in CCs. </p>

<p>I have very mixed feelings about this. What about the kids in the regular CC track? Do they benefit from this change? Is it meaningless? Or does it make life worse for them? Do the more experienced faculty opt to teach the honors sections while the inexperienced teach the rest? Do honors sections get special privileges in libraries, labs, etc. --making limited facilities even less available to the other students? I’ve seen that happen at state Us with honors sections. Honors kids get better dorms and other special privileges. </p>

<p>I don’t know what happens to the other students when these special honors tracks are created in CCs. Anyone have experience?</p>

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<p>I had a look at honors classes at the CC that our son took dual-enrollment classes in and they were all humanities - no math, science, computer science, etc. I was a bit underwhelmed with the small list of courses that they provided.</p>