<p>I agree with some of the other posters here that there is nothing inherently 'wrong' with the concept of TA's.</p>
<p>If there is something that could be said to be 'wrong', it's in the way that universities market themselves to potential students and their parents. For example, all major research universities will boast of the eminence of their faculty, including how many Nobel Prizes they've won, how many National Academy membes they have, the prominence of their research, etc. Hence, to the unwitting, the schools make it seem, in their marketing, that undergrads will have constant intimate contact with highly respected professors. The truth, which many of us know, is far different, and that much of the undergraduate student interaction will be with TA's, not professors. But this fact is rarely discussed in the university's marketing brochures. It's somewhat shady and tricky advertising. </p>
<p>Now obviously, for the people who know the truth, the advertising and marketing don't matter. But there are a lot of people out there who just don't know. For example, I've encountered lots of students who are the first in their family to ever go to college. They don't know what the truth is. Hence, the marketing deceives them.</p>