Freshman Student Success

In her essay “The Value of a College Degree,” Kathrine Porter attempts to persuade the audience of the benefits of having a “higher education,” while on the other hand, the author of “The Case against College,” Linda Lee says from her experience college is not for everyone. Both Lee and Porter have great arguments, but Lee’s argument that college is not for everyone is slightly more compelling.

“Who Gets to Graduate’ by Paul Tough, publish May, 2015 in the New York Times discusses. The story of a young girl’s mindset on college. It begins with her starting in college and first failure on a test. It highlighted the doubts she had in her abilities. This opening introduces the article’s man discussion, which involves low income students who want to earn a four year degree but experience “troubles” along the way. It then discusses statistics that show dropout rates are highest with low-income students. The author included ability versus economics status.

College Success: Chapter 1 is a great recourse for every student whether they are experienced or not. Specifically, descriptions about the best possible choices made to get the most out of your experience are plentiful, and self-assessments are included to evaluate a starting point. If one were to follow the step-by-step advice given, such as overcoming obstacles and enriching your learning experience, it would be close to impossible not to have a great experience at college. The author wasn’t afraid to delve deep into the fact that college is difficult and requires a lot of commitment to follow through. The information given is easily suitable for a wide range of students, including anything from discovering resources many colleges offer,

In his essay, “Yes a College Education is Worth the Cost,” writer Rodney Smith discusses how students of this generation don’t care about receiving a great education for the future. Throughout his essay he explains how a college education is worth the cost. He stated that people between the ages of 18-34 say they would much rather get a job and make money than spend money to go back to school to obtain a higher degree. Smith’s family grew up in Oklahoma and they viewed education as an investment. Smith was influenced by his father’s upbringing and attended college and law school just like his father. By establishing and building his case about how education is worth the cost, uses a great deal of evidence, his argument is well organized, and he gains the audience’s attention. Background of the author

Bird’s second point is that, contrary to popular belief, college is not the best monetary investment a young person can make. Bird explains this by comparing the money that would be spent on education versus money that is put in a bank for interest. The outcome shows investing money that would otherwise be spent on a college education would earn over half a million dollars more than the earnings of a male college graduate compared to a non-graduate. Bird also states that even if a graduate makes more money in their job than a non-graduate, there is no evidence that the higher income is due to their college education. She attributes financial success to luck rather than a college education. In this argument she mainly puts forth logical reasons why college is not for everyone. She shows actual dollar amounts that logically prove an education is not necessarily the most profitable investment.

As the writing advances, the argument shifts to people capable of hands on jobs out of high school considering whether going to college should really be advocated as much as it is today. Along with this, he says that eventually attending vocational schools will become scarce due technology and the fact that many things accomplished at these schools can be done online. He also claims that income statistics of high end jobs today are skewed considering the fact that when you look at average incomes of a profession, many of us will end up in the lower percentiles. For many people, he says, the best option is to pursue a service or hands on job that doesn’t require a four year education. He ends the essay by claiming that “College isn’t all it’s cracked up to be” as well as depreciating the value of the normal B.A. that little college pursuers end up achieving. Murray writes: “the misalignment is in the optimistic direction, as adolescents aspire to be attorneys or physicians without understanding the educational hurdles they must surmount to achieve their goals”.

The author talks about college cost, and the effect it has on students and on how times it takes longer to graduate. This is an important topic because college cost has been a problem for many individuals for decades and it still is. College cost is something that shapes people's lives and it worries them because college cost is what determines if they're going to continue going to college. It’s something that people should take lightly because college is pretty expensive. According to the advocacy group complete college America, it cost 63,718 for one extra year to attend college. For students who take longer to finish school because of certain requisites, it becomes a toll because of the cost. According to Norton Field Guide to writing by Richard Bullock and Maureen Daly Goggin found a report on Los Angeles-bases campaigns for college opportunity, saying students who attend school 6 years instead of 4 years will lose 110,900 dollars in their lifetime. Many people in the work field and colleges expect students to attend school for four years. According to the NFGW, “nearly nine out of 10 freshmen think they will earn their bachelor degree within the traditional four years.” Yet In the NFGW quotes the U.S Department of Education and they report that “about 45 percent won’t have finished.”

In the article, “Colleges Prepare People for Life,” Freeman Hrabowski compares his beliefs to those from a New York Times illustration on how college does, or does not, prepare young adults for success in life. Based on the content of the article, it is likely that the writer is attempting to inform students and young adults about the benefits of receiving a college education. A main point he includes is that many jobs in today’s society require some form of a degree to even apply. To convince his audience, Hrabowski utilizes an argument and counteracts the argument with facts to support his claims. His strategies are extremely effective in conveying his message as he uses strong evidence and factual information in stating his beliefs.

When people see others drop out of college, they think to themselves, they are just lazy. They do not want to put the time or effort into their own education. While reading “Why Poor Students Struggle”, by Vicki Madden, I realized that it’s not the fact they are lazy, it is the fact that they can not afford it. Madden shows this effectively by using, egos, logos, and pathos to make the reader have a more clear view of the educational system’s failures.

In Linda Lees "The case against college", she argues that going to college may not always be the right move for every high school gradatuate. She explains that, "only 27 percent of Americans have a bachelors degree or higher". This does leave a staggering amount of room for people that have had success without degrees, such as bill gates or the average hard worker entrepreneur. She uses a personal anecdote from her own experience of why college isn’t for everyone. Lee explains that her son got into a pretty good school, and enrolled because all his friends were going and it should be fun, but he wasn’t ready, he elected to miss classes and was there for all play and no work, while Lee was paying one thousand dollars a week for her son’s education.

The decision to obtain a higher education beyond high school is no longer a question of if, but when. This is the question that author Caroline Bird discusses in her article, “College is a Waste of Time and Money,” written in 1975. This text strives to convince students, parents, and advisors that obtaining a degree might not be in the best interest for those involved. Circling around the idea that college is a requirement and no longer an act of free will. Bird starts the article off strongly by building her credibility through her own personal research and other credible sources as well as appealing to readers through logical reasoning using numerous statistics, but fails to convince readers and discredits her ultimate goal through a disconnect in her use of analogies.

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

Loyola University New Orleans calls on its students to develop the ability to learn across their lifetime — a critical component of success. As a Jesuit university, Loyola teaches a commitment to social justice, a desire to include the marginalized and an embrace of service. Ignatian pedagogy, with its emphasis on experience, critical thinking, effective communication and reflection is an active learning pedagogy. It is a tremendous asset, but its pragmatic value depends on how this approach is realized.

The college education has been a necessity rather than an option or privilege and people have made us believe that higher education is needed in order to succeed in life. Most high school seniors are pressured by their guidance counsellors and parents to go to college because it is "the right thing to do." Bird states that students go to college because " . . . Mother wanted them to go, or some other reason entirely irrelevant to the course of studies for which college is supposedly organized." (481). She believes that college is the waste of money where the parents pour a lot of it to the institution with the belief that they are securing their children’s future.

I will make sure to complete every assignment, and not question whether it is an assignment or not.