“Life is long enough to explore it [life], do not worry about what is going to come next, or you will miss it” (Campbell). Some people believe that this statement holds much truth about what happens after high school, while others have confidence in their decision that college is the route to go. In the essay, “College is a Waste of Time and Money,” Caroline Bird conveys the notion that perhaps parents and students should reconsider the idea of college. She attempts to execute this idea by using several rhetorical strategies such as empirical and anecdotal evidence. However, this approach is flawed, and throughout her essay, she lacks the support of empirical and anecdotal evidence that is essential. Bird begins by using empirical evidence to persuade the reader that college is not for each person. Her first sentence starts out as a statistics declaring that, “A great majority of our nine million college students […] it [college] has become the thing to do or because it is a pleasant place to be” (117). This exert is taken from Bird`s book, The Case Against College, in 1975. Bird is connecting with the generation at hand and the concerns that bother not only the student, but the parent too. Bird wrote this essay 40 years ago, and because of that, it is first off problematic to acknowledge her points as even valid in the world today. Though, this may not alarm the reader, she then goes on to tell when pressed for an opinion, “professors and administrators […]
Throughout the essay, Charles Murray stresses the idea that college is the wonderland of finding oneself and to find the career that one would want to follow for the rest of their lives. “College is seen as the open sesame to a good job and a desirable way for adolescents to transition to adulthood. Neither reason is as persuasive as it first appears.” Murray, C (2008) Practically spoken, this is not normally the case. College is a fair amount of work, much more work than one would normally acquire through any course of a high school or secondary school setting. In no way saying that the average student cannot meet the requirement and achieve success over the amounted work, it would also be ridiculous to expect every graduate to pursue going into higher education with the expansion of work that will be given.
In the essay “Are Too Many People Going to College,” writer Charles Murray explains that not everyone is in need of going to college for three main reasons: a liberal education should be gained in elementary and middle school, many people already have knowledge and skills necessary for a technical career, and many students are in college to “buy an admission ticket-the B.A.” (246) and ensure employers consider their resume. Murray does not argue anything against college itself but more against society and especially the education system. Murray also accuses guidance counselors and parents of “automatically encouraging young people to go to college straight out of high school being thoughtless about the best interests of young people” (249).
Deciding whether to go to college or not is a crucial step in life. We see the advantages of going to college everywhere, through family, friends, school, and media. Written by Liz Addison in 2007, the reading “Two Years Are Better than Four,” is a response to Rick Perlstein’s opinion piece “What’s the Matter with College?” Addison opposes Perlstein’s claim that college does not matter anymore; Addison responds by assuming that Perlstein has probably never stepped into a community college. Addison's theory of whether college still matters is extremely useful because it sheds light on the difficult problem of whether college is the best option for those pursuing higher education.
More people than ever before are attending college due to the endless opportunities that it provides. Louis Menand, a college professor and the author of “Live and Learn: Why We Have College,” explains the meaning of college through three theories that have been developed. Theory 1 supports the idea of the sorting-out process that separates the highly intelligent from the less intelligent. Menand’s second theory explains that college provides opportunities for developmental growth, personal growth, and teaches individuals about the world around us. These are valuable lessons that will not be learned anywhere else. Theory three supports the idea of people attending college to specialize in a specific vocation. I
In “College Is a Waste of Time and Money,” written by Caroline Bird illustrates that college is not for everyone. There are many reasons that Bird lists so that readers and colleges can understand that tuition is never going to decrease. Bird uses diction, tone, sentence structures, locos, ethos, and pathos to prove that college students attend college hoping to get a better job and people who decide not to go to college do not want to waste their time and money.
Andrew Delbanco’s essay “A college Education: What is its purpose?” gives three reasons why college still matters. Delbanco teaches at Columbia University, where he’s the director of American studies and has written several books on the meaning and benefits of college. Delbanco, begins his essay by discussing what college means to each individual student. He states, “For many more students, college means the anxious pursuit of marketable skills in overcrowded, under resourced institutions. For still others, it means traveling by night to a fluorescent office building or to a “virtual classroom” that only exists in cyberspace.” (1) Delbano successfully uses pathos to appeal to his audience’s emotions, his personal experience and anecdotal combine to persuade his readers to consider or realize the importance of receiving a college education, however his essay contains minor flaws that can counteract his claims.
Marty Nemko, in the article, “We Send Too Many Students To College,” acknowledges that colleges have become obscenely expensive and that it is possible to be successful without going to college. Arguing that too many students are sent to college without realizing that it is not imperative, Nemko targets parents in his claims that colleges focus on educating in the cheapest way possible and most importantly, that the advantage of past college graduates in the job market is declining. One of his main reasons is that even though the average college graduate makes more money, hundreds of thousands of students in the bottom half of their high school class do not succeed in higher education. Nemko’s article is the most persuasive article on whether college education still has value as he argues that college is not beneficial to everyone through demonstrations of hyperbole, and figurative language.
In her article “College Is a Waste of Time and Money”, Caroline Bird attempts to pursued her readers that colleges are overflowing with students who don’t belong there. Her article first appeared in Psychology Today (May 1975). Since this material is outdated, I find it hard to believe that most of the responses by students and parents quoted in the article still hold true. The author has set out to pursue the readers that college is a bad and unnecessary choice for today’s youth. Yet the author holds a bachelors and a masters degree from two different universities. I would think that if she thought college was really a bad choice and a waste of time and money, she would not have gone back to get her masters degree.
In the debate about whether college is worth attending, many argue that college is worth it but others argue that college is not worth it. Those who argue that college is worth it contend to say that college graduates make more money, college allows students to explore career options, and not going to college will cost people more money in the future but on the other hand, those who argue that college is not worth it contend to say that college graduates are employed in jobs that do not require degrees, students who do not graduate waste their own money and the governments money, and student debt can cause another financial crisis for students who are already struggling with financial aid. While it is true that college does cause many problems already, college is worth attending and worth all the problems at the end of the road.
It is a well known fact but there are many people including counselors, parents, teachers, and friends who resist saying it out loud for fear it will sound like discouragement and negativity: college is definitely not for everyone. The pressure on high schools students, especially those that excel, to attend a college or university is enormous. And in the case of a bright, industrious and motivated high school student, attending a college or university is an obvious career choice. For those students, it's only a matter of what university to attend, whether one's SAT score is high enough, and the availability of the money. Then there are the millions of high school students who are not really personally motivated but are being pressured by their counselors, teachers and parents should they attend college if they really don't care? This paper examines those issues.
The main strength of Bird’s argument lies in the fact Bird provides statistics on the number of students who have been interviewed on whether or not they enjoy and like college education. Bird argues that statistics have shown that more than 20% of college students do not like college education. Bird, therefore, bases her claims on these statistics. The second strength of Bird’s argument lies in the fact that Bird claims that college education may not have as high financial returns as many people think; Bird is right in her claim that financially, in the modern world, in some instances investing in college may be the dampest form of investment. Despite these strengths, however, Bird committed two logical fallacies in support of her
In “College in America,” Caroline Bird expresses her opinion on education focused around the year 1975. Bird disagrees with the the idea of high school graduates being forced to attend college since she believes that the chances of being successful without a degree are just as high as someone with a degree. She points out that sometimes college is a waste of time and money. The money a college graduate earns is not much different compared to the money a high school graduate makes due to college expenses, loans and interest rates. Moreover, Bird dislikes how in today 's society, a degree defines a person. Many people idealise that college will help them obtain a successful future. Bird counteracts this education ideal by providing an
College is seen as a requirement for a stable life. From an early age, we are taught that college is an essential step in life. Yet is college all that it is pumped up to be? Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill along with Charles Murray gives us a good look into the benefits and drawbacks of going to college and take us on a journey of understanding that college may be a hindrance for some rather than an intelligent move.
Caroline Bird was born in the year 1915 and usually writes about empowering women; however, in her article “the case against college” she points out that college is not for everyone. She interprets college as intense competition, always competing for the best grade and be best in class. She discusses how Society says that we have to go to college to be able to do great things, or the world will be a bunch of uneducated 18 year olds. She then states “disillusioned
Many people believe going to college is a waste of time and money. I believe that it is not a waste of time and of money, and that everyone should attend some type of higher education after high school. I personally have many reasons to attend schools such as in hopes to obtain a will, paying job after all my hard work at college is accomplished. For example, in the story Should Everyone Go to College Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill say on page 211, “research shows that 23 to 25 year olds with bachelor’s degrees make 12,000 more that high school graduates but by age 50 the gap has grown to 46,500. This just goes to show how important education can become.