Most of the time people wake up and do there normal morning routine without thinking much about it. Why is it that we don’t question the things we do on a normal basis? Why do we do the things we do? Growing up we are told and taught things that are accepted by society. One of those things is that after high school, graduates are supposed to go to college. Ken Saxon speaks about this in his essay “What do you do with a B.A. in History?”. Ken argues that most students in college go because that is what society says they should do, without giving much thought to why they are going to college, and what they want out of that experience. Throughout the essay Saxon speaks about the purpose of a college education, how to look at college …show more content…
He introduces to the audience a concern he has about taking a pre-professional approach to college. One argument he has is how can anyone know what fields will be paying the best in the future with a market that is constantly revolving. One example he uses is the large amount of people that wanted to join Internet startups in the 90’s, which later ended up not being so good. That’s how markets work though. People and money follow what is trending creating these competitive markets that later lead to a decline causing people to move on to the next trend. Another example he uses is that a doctor spends a decade learning about things that could change once they complete their residency. This creates a cycle of uncertainty. Saxon explains that as a hiring manager of his business he didn’t look for people who had a specific degree. Instead he searched for people who had the ability to be leaders, people who were dedicated to their work and could communicate, and had the ability to create relationships with other people. He once thought that employers only pick people with certain college degrees that pertain to their company. However through his own experience he realized that isn’t the case. He shared his story about how he applied for a finance job to the worlds largest real estate development company and surprising got hired even though he was a European History major. Next Saxon asked
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).
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
What we get out of the college experience, we use in our day to day lives. Even the things we think aren’t important or useful end up becoming helpful. The material we learn in college is fundamental when it comes jobs and life in general. We are taught to make choices. We are taught how the real world works, and how to turn our education into our way of life. “…the really significant education in thinking that we’re supposed to get in a place like this isn’t really about the capacity to think, but rather about the choice of what to think about.” (Wallace 199).
Hrabowski uses facts and data to prove the benefits of college and to establish his position as an intellectual. As higher education becomes more mainstream, some people start to ponder if schooling is worth it at all given the tremendous costs and time requirements. Rather than spend money on a degree and go into debt, some students believe it would be wiser to skip college entirely. The belief in this is gaining traction, and Hrabowski notices it by mentioning how the echo is becoming “increasingly common” in the collegiate world (Hrabowski, 259). Hrabowski emphasizes this point to establish credibility that he is informed on the topic, and that he isn’t oblivious
Mike Rose uses his relatives’ experiences along with his own to show that college is not for everyone. This point of view is supported by Owen and Sawhill in ‘Should Everyone Go to College?”. “It is a mistake to unilaterally tell young Americans that going to college… is the best decision they can make.”
In the essay “College Value Goes Deeper Than the Degree” author Eric Hoover claims a college education is important to one 's well-being so they can get a job and be productive in other parts of life. Promoters of higher education have long emphasized how beneficial college’s value and its purpose. Many believe the notion that colleges teach students are life skills to apply anywhere, they also work hard to earn a degree and learn specific marketable skills which they can use to get a good job. Though obtaining a college education and a degree is helpful in countless of ways, it is not necessary to pursue a college degree in world where a college degree is seen different now, people without turn out fine, the growing average of debt that students who attend college have to pay off and people without a degree can obtain many jobs that do not require college degrees.
Colleges and Universities are windows of knowledge that many people try to break, in doing so, people are ready for the next stage of their life. But not many have the option to go the world where knowledge is everything, and end being a simple worker all his life. People would judge a person for not having a degree, bachelor and many more. But do they ever think that colleges or universities are really preparing you for any jobs, does a piece of paper worth a lot now a days. Freeman Hrabowski wrote an article responding to people that think educations is a waste of time, and it is called “College Prepare People for life” (Hrabowski). In the article he mentions many positive thing about going to college and what is the outcome of going to college. But I believe that, he hasn’t done a very good job to explain why college is a good place to go prepare yourself for the real world. I believe that college is very important for our life, but not many of us know if we are really learning something while being in college. I feel like colleges or universities has become a place where we go just to go or try to earn a degree in any field. Therefore, I believe that colleges doesn’t enhance our basic skills, doesn’t give us a certainty of us getting a good job, doesn’t give us the hardships of the real world and it isn’t a place where everyone gets treated it equally.
In this article, Murray argues that many people go to college when it is not actually necessary for them to do so. He begins by explaining that obtaining a liberal education, while it is important to cultural participation, is not a good reason for everyone to go to college. Instead, he says that this education should occur much earlier, beginning in elementary school. Murray also believes that the in depth analysis of information that occurs college is too difficult for most people to enjoy, and many simply aren't academically capable. Even for those who are able, he claims that four years of college is much more than most professions actually need. He states that many people believe that getting a degree is the key to getting a
Caroline Bird’s essay “College is a Waste of Time and Money” explains her beliefs on why, for some people, going to college is an ineffective and inefficient use of their time. She states that many students do not belong in college because they are there for the wrong reasons and they are not happy learning. She also gives evidence to suggest that going to college and getting a degree does not actually allows a person to make more money in their life time. Her final claim is that college does not prepare most students for the real world and the jobs they will have once they graduate.
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 fall 2016, some 20.5 million students are expected to attend American colleges and universities, constituting an increase of about 5.2 million since fall 2000” (National Center for Education Statistics). That number seems to be rising each and ever year, and it almost seems as students feel like they have to go to college directly after high school. Maybe it is because they feel that they have to fit in, even if college is not for them. Although some students attend college for academics, sports, and other reasons, some students attend college for no apparent reason; with that in mind, students should take into consideration the time and money that is put into going to college.
Although someone without a degree may have more natural intelligence and ability than their credentialed counterpart, a degree is now worth more than actual capability in the job market. Bankston writes that “the popular emphasis placed on higher education in a society in which higher education has become a broad expectation has heightened the importance of credentials as an asset for obtaining a job at the expense of other assets, such as demonstrated ability or experience in a field” (p. 337). A degree provides a form of merit that employers look for immediately because the degree marks the individual as someone who can supposedly meet deadlines, fulfill obligations, and think critically. Margolis (2007) remarks how “it was the common practice of my colleagues to immediately sift out the [resumes] that didn’t have a degree and just throw them away” (p. 42). Because many employers are searching through high volumes of resumes, they don’t have time to thoroughly look at every single one; they speed up the process by simply filtering out
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 today’s society, employers look for workers with college degrees because they know what college students are capable of doing. Employers now hold their employees to a different standard compared to the 1900s. Back then, employers did not mind the level of education a person had because being educated was not as common. However, now that society has progressed, more and more people have the same level of education: a high school diploma. Today, employers want to hire someone that