<p>great article that my friend found: The</a> Disadvantages of an Elite Education: an article by William Deresiewicz about how universities should exist to make minds, not careers | The American Scholar</p>
<p>very interesting article</p>
<p>Perhaps a bit over the top, but very interesting nonetheless.</p>
<p>I’ve seen this article before, and it still seems pretty odd to me.</p>
<p>Not all people with “elite” educations come from “elite” backgrounds. The anecdote at the beginning of this article reveals nothing but the fact that the author is a sheltered member of a high socioeconomic class.</p>
<p>I’m going to Yale. My whole life, I’ve gone to Catholic schools that are dirt poor. My dad is a construction worker. The idea that my “elite” education is going to change who I am so drastically that I forget my upbringing is frankly preposterous.</p>
<p>Where I come from Catholic or any type of private schools are viewed as “elite.” Why pay for school when there is public schools that you already pay taxes to support? Or am I missing something about Catholic schools?</p>
<p>People on this board aren’t going to like this much…</p>
<p>How dare you question the value and prestige of the Ivy League! ;)</p>
<p>Uh, the educational quality of my Catholic school is fairly on par with the quality of the surrounding schools–though the public schools tend to have better honors programs (we have 7 AP classes and the public school down the street has double that). In order to keep tuition at a reasonable level, teachers’ salaries are complete crap–which means that our teachers are either extremely devoted (there are a few), or couldn’t hold down a job at a public school.</p>
<p>Our student body isn’t exactly “elite” either–most of them are headed off to community college (historically, they tend not to transfer to 4-year schools later on). The really elite kids go for non-religious private schools; we’re mostly just second- or third-generation Irish and Italian families.</p>
<p>I agree with his point about forgiving academics vs. do or die, but that has more to do with individual institution policy than elite status.</p>
<p>Well, I found this an interesting article (though I am not anywhere near the typical ccer =P).</p>
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<p>Because a construction worker wants to his son to have the best education possible, in a encouraging, proper, safe environment. He’s willing to spend a huge proportion of his income so that his son can have everything he might not have had. He loves his son, and believes that investing in his future is a worthwhile investment because he perceives a great deal of promise in him. Capice?</p>
<p>Oh, man, I’m getting d</p>
<p>Oddly, where I come from, Catholic schools aren’t considered to be anything like the idea most of us have in mind of “private” schools. We tend to think of Catholic schools as, well, Catholic schools, and of schools like Choate, Salisbury, Miss Porter’s, and the rest as private schools. A Catholic school education is by no means “elite” here, or even unusual in any way.</p>
<p>And that article is old news, but I still love it. :)</p>
<p>Many resist the influence of any of the abstractions he conjures up. There are decided benefits to going to an academically strong college. Your peers are, overall, more accomplished and more intelligent at an elite school than at a state school. This is an environment for the regular sharing and challenging of ideas on a level that is rare at a public school. </p>
<p>The sheer elite status attracts more accomplished teachers. The general benefits of this are obvious.</p>
<p>Certainly, there are negatives to the elite schools. But they are lesser than the benefits in most cases.</p>
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<p>Yes. Similarly, not everyone at a state university comes from a “middle class” background. It’s just that a large percentage does. He does not argue that people such as you will forget their upbringing, but rather students who grew up in rich families will lose their ability to connect with, for lack of a better word, “non-elite” people</p>
<p>Personally, I think the article raises a valid point. What’s the point of an elite education if you have to shutter and shackle your dreams and your identity to achieve it?</p>
<p>Very good article!</p>
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Er, what? I would strongly disagree with this. I certainly have no trouble speaking with people who aren’t like me, nor do many of my fellow graduates. I’m not impressed with an article that attempts to generalize from an anecdote, especially when I can think of numerous counterexamples.</p>
<p>That said, I certainly had a few professors who were socially awkward. :p</p>
<p>I’ve read this article several times, and I agree with some of the points he’s saying and not others. I think that education should prepare minds AND careers. What is the point of a college-educated workforce that can’t perform a skill they’ve ostensibly been trained to do? I want a civil engineer to know how to build bridges; I don’t care if he can’t hold a conversation with me about the engineering basics, that’s what his company’s PR person is trained to do. I want the guy in IT to know how to help me fix my computer; I really hope he can talk to me about the problem, but I’d rather hand it over to someone who knows how to fix it.</p>
<p>“your peers are…more accomplished and more intelligent at an elite school than at a state school”</p>
<p>Not necessarily.</p>
<p>“This is an environment for the regular sharing and challenging of ideas on a level that is rare at a public school.”</p>
<p>Are you kidding me? Many public schools are top schools in the fields of research and scholarship, which is the definition of 'sharing and challenging ideas." Wisconsin-Madison, UCLA, Berkeley, Texas-Austin, Georgia, Virginia, Michigan, Minnesota come to mind. Public schools is not imcompatible with or mutually exclusive with excellence.</p>
<p>The level of ego in this topic is astounding.</p>
<p>I am turning down several of your so called “elite” schools to go to a public one.</p>
<p>Give me a break…</p>
<p>Juillet,</p>
<p>I do not question the scholarly merits of any of the schools you listed. My point is more about the student body.</p>
<p>Deep and frequent intellectual conversation among students both inside and outside the classroom is likely more common at an elite university than at a state university.</p>
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<p>I would agree if elite schools are meritocracies, but I am not sure they are. If one really wants intellectual conversation, just make friends with students in disciplines such as math, physics, and engineering. You will find them in larger quantity in large state schools than you will find them in small elite colleges.</p>
<p>I always thought the real reason for attending an elite college is to rub shoulders with the rich and the famous, to acquire their mannerisms, to befriend them, and hopefully to work for them or to marry them someday.</p>
<p>“I always thought the real reason for attending an elite college is to rub shoulders with the rich and the famous, to acquire their mannerisms, to befriend them, and hopefully to work for them or to marry them someday.”</p>
<p>I strongly disagree with the idea that this is the majority driving force. I want to go somewhere where the students are thoughtful and driven. I have no doubt that all state universities have students who have these qualities. But I am confident that they are more common at an Ivy league school than at my local state school. </p>
<p>I think and learn better when those around me share my drive.</p>