College Preparedness Essay

Also, if one attends college, he or she will learn continuous, practical information for life. People who have participated in college and have graduated having accomplished more now than they had ever imagined probable for them. College also teaches people to strengthen their minds, enhance thinking skills as well as improve individual comprehension throughout life. Some say the only meager men are those, who lack intelligence. If one has the opportunity to improve his or her standard of living, and provide a better quality of life for his or her family as well, then why would he or she neglect to accept the opportunity offered? Great opportunities due to a great education arouse daily so one needs to be aware of the lifelong consequences disregarding the attendance in college provides.

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

It carries on to things that will happen later in life and even after retirement. College allows students to be creative when making decisions in stressful situations. College graduates seem to be more sound in their work and they focus more on “intellectual growth...not all college students [focus] on career preparation” (Is College Worth it?). It is said that students will “grow personally and intellectually”(Is College Worth it?) throughout college. Critical thinking is gained and students learn great resources for more learning and for making choices in life or work. Students who are able to rely on education in their life rather than being ready for their career on “day one” proves to be more effective (Roth).College education not only makes career possible, it helps students find what they love and gives them the ability to keep learning and growing(Roth). Textbook knowledge is just a little piece of college, there is so much more to be learned from the experience then what people think. Most believe it is just textbook learning , hours of work , and struggle to pay tuition and books.College is not easy and is a struggle for many , but for those who are willing to push through it are grateful as well as successful. Those who go and experience college will understand there so much more to it then textbook work and financial struggles. Graduates leave with knowledge that will help them

College is an important place that can lead us to a bright and successful future. College success is more than academics; for us it’s learning how to become an adult for the first time in our life. In college we will develop skills to have relationships with professors, counselors, and with our peers. The whole college experience enables us to truly succeed. Meeting new people, becoming acquainted to different ideas and cultures, and mostly, the enjoyment of the four plus years of being in school. A couple of years from now we will look back at college as either one of the best or worst times of our lives. The one thing that motivates people to go to college is “career

Caroline Bird writes the statement in her 1975 article “The Case Against College (Bird 15-18)” that not every high school graduate is ready to attend college. It is 2010 and this article is still valid today. Some of the college students I have been around were not mature enough for obedience school let alone college. A few of the points she makes in the article are: College has never worked its magic for everyone. Does it make you a better person? Are colleges responsible for your children? Are my children living in a country club? I will use some of my own experiences as an example of college life, as well as examples from my daughter’s college experience, along with my nephews as well. All to find the answer to the big question: Are

What Is College For? By Gary Gutting is an analytical article upon the importance of a higher education to the public, he begins by discussing the statistics of what college has deemed worthful to people after their education. It was evident that many found it to be useful later on in life and helped them mature and grow intellectually. Gutting also points out that although many people find themselves to be successful later on after college that not everybody had the same experience, many had to drop out for the fact that a higher education was considered to be too expensive, or dropout rates too high. It is evident that he deems college to be an investment for many people who were fortunate enough to attend, therefore, providing the habits of mind of engagement, persistence, and openness to display how they play key points to the qualifying traits of a college student.

A college education pushes an individual to their academic limits, resulting in intelligence that can be used in many different situations. One must be able to think and

Determining college readiness is an essential part in determining who will qualify as a good candidate for admission into a college or a university. The last thing that colleges want is for students to qualify for admission and drop out, this affects drop out rate and graduation rate. According Robin Chait and Andrea Venezia (2009),

Throughout a student’s journey of schooling, college is mentioned hundreds of times. Maybe even thousands. Once they reach high school the next four years are dedicated to preparing for college. Some will feel overwhelmed by this thought and others may not. While a lot of people have the option to go, many decide not to. In Charles Murray’s article, Are Too Many People Going to College he discusses a few reasons why people might not choose college. Although in my own opinion it is not always necessary to attend college, I do believe it will benefit many people. Freeman Hrabowski’s article Colleges Prepare People for Life makes a point about benefits of college which I agree with.

College is a great place for many to experience new things and to further education. However, college is not for everyone. According to the film Ivory Tower, college teaches people valuable skills such as networking with peers and extensive knowledge. College also provides students, upon graduation, with a degree and proper credentials. Based on a survey done by the Pew Research Center; the article “The Rising Cost of Not going to College,” states that “economic analysis consistently find that college graduates regardless of generation are doing better than those with less education,” this shows that there is a reasonable gap between a college degree and a high school diploma. On the other hand, it may not be worth the rising costs. Carolina Bird, author of “Where College Fails Us,” mentions in her article “in the current slowdown it has become evident that there were never, and probably never will be, enough jobs requiring higher education to go around,” (59-60) this shows some people's job outlook may not be aligned with their major. Jeffrey Selingo’s article “Is College Worth the Cost? Many Recent Graduates Don’t Think So,” says that “nearly half of college graduates in their 20s are underemployed, meaning the jobs they have do not require a bachelor’s degree,” this brings up the possibility of college not being beneficial to many. College can be needed because of higher salaries after graduation and providing people with the tools to succeed. On the contrary, going to

Teens are constantly told by their parents that college is “ABSOLUTELY” necessary to be successful in this world. Fun fact: It’s not. College isn’t necessary because it isn’t required to be successful, and as many students have the mindset that college is the road to success, education has changed over time and it’s not as helpful as it used to be. Many schools build their students up to be a great student for a great college. But, when they go to the college to follow the dream that someone has set in their mind, they drop out and look at themselves as failures. All for what? For the approval of those who’ve pushed them to work for a dream that is not their own.

College is a narrow box that limited our life experience and choice in future. Gerald Graff says in his articles, ‘Our schools are not seeing the academic potential of the topic outside of school.’ (Graff, 268) School doesn’t give us access to the topic that they think are not important which limit our knowledge. Charles Murray also says, ‘the culture push people who don’t have academic ability or motivation to attain their degree on they just fail.’ (Murray, 238) It limits our opportunity of experiencing things other than academic works. Life learning should be a collection of knowledge and experience, both are equally significant. Knowledge alone is no useful unless we make some connection between them. Therefore, life experience is necessary.

     It seems in the society we live in today, having a college degree is a necessity. Years ago it was the norm for people to just go right into a full time job after high school, if they even finished high school; they did this to support their families. In today’s society a person has a difficult time getting a decent job without a college degree. During an adults working life, bachelor degree graduates will earn about $2.1 million and a high school graduate can expect to earn an average of $1.2 million (Day and Newburger, 2002). This is quite a difference and it puts a college education in

If someone asked me where I am going to be in ten years, this would be my answer. I will have a great, high-paying job, and beautiful wife and family, and a nice sports car parked in front of my lovely house. When I look into the future, I see myself being successful and happy. Even though I always pictured myself this way, I never worried too much about how I would get there. I feel the Suffolk University can lay the groundwork for making these dreams into reality.

In addition to the social aspects, college teaches how to develop independent thinking. It also “exposes future citizens to material that enlightens and empowers them, whatever careers they end up choosing” (Menand, 3). However, most students today perceive college fundamentally as a party scene and various forms of entertainment instead of focusing on school work. They have forgotten about the academic freedom provided by receiving a proper college education.