Summary Of Where You Go Is Not Who You Ll Be

People attend college or university for several reasons, including exploring hundreds of career opportunities, pursuing their passions, learning critical thinking skills, and achieving their maximum potential. According to Dr. Richard Vedder’s, “For Many, College Isn’t Worth It”, attending college or university is not worth the time, effort, or money – Dr. Richard Vedder wants to solely focus resources on private universities and institutions. Vedder describes how many graduates with Bachelor’s degrees do not even obtain jobs in their specific field and how they will never start a career in their area of academic study. In his article, Richard Vedder describes how there should be more stringent standards placed on college undergraduates; he believes that public universities are not necessary and only private, more elite universities should remain operational. I personally believe that obtaining a college degree from an accredited university is worth the risk and the money, not only for one’s self but for society as a whole. Instead of shutting down undergraduate universities, we should consider raising collegiate admission standards throughout the nation.

From a young age, accomplishment is associated first with monetary gain and then with going to a good college. While my peers and I are currently fixated on the latter, Outliers has shown us there is no need to be. With Nobel prize winners coming from anywhere from MIT to Holy Cross and Stanford to Rollins (Gladwell, 81-82), success is not determined by the higher learning institution one chooses to go to, although it certainly does not hurt to attend a prestigious one. As I look to the application process I am deterred by many things that should send me towards success. Being a Caucasian, upper-middle class citizen, I am perhaps the most replaceable student in the world with thousands just like me, hoping for the same chance I look forward too. However, I feel it is what I have done in the summers that will set me apart. Karl Alexander realized that privileged students tend to ‘outlearn’ underprivileged children over the summer, something I am beginning to see more clearly. This past summer, I was fortunate enough to be part of the 6-percent accepted to the Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes for Business and Entrepreneurship. It took only a few days to realize that I was the only true ‘white kid’. With the majority coming from Asian descent, the only other kid at the camp who may have been Caucasian came from a Panamanian family. As I noticed this, I realized

On December 2, 2016, in the opinion editorial, “How to Get In,” Susan Estrich, best-selling author and liberal columnist for the Creators, argues that hard work, not college acceptances, determine people’s future successes, challenging the notion that people’s opportunities and potentials are defined by the colleges they enter. Refuting the misconception that “getting into the right college is a meal ticket for life,” Estrich argues that GPA’s and LSAT’s may decide the difference between rejection and acceptance, but ultimately, tenacious hard work throughout life counts “for more than anything else,” before concluding that the “secret to a good application” is honesty and that, although she understands admissions can be partisan and erroneous through personal experience, in the end, she “did just fine”- an echoing sentiment to all prospective college applicants. Estrich

When people hear the word “college”, many panic inside at the thought. But, when I hear the word “college” I think about Illinois State University. In early July, I attended an Open House at ISU for my very first official college visit. As I stepped onto campus, I couldn’t but help to feel like it was my future home. Many aspects of the tour made me draw nearer to choosing this college after finishing my High School career. Illinois State University seems to fit my personality very well, has an amazing program for what I want to study, and is an outstanding campus for my academic strengths and weaknesses.

How many can remember middle school through high school years being full of the constant reminder to think about one’s future after graduation? For the most part, this would involve attending a good college to further one’s education. Caroline Bird wrote her essay “College is a Waste of Time and Money” because she has seen throughout her many lectures at various college campuses that there is a great number of college students that given another acceptable option would not be there. She emphasizes that they are only there because it is either the social norm, required by some parents, or the believed thought that it is the only way to become successful. Bird effectively informs and to some extent persuades the reader by using logos, with the help of ethos and pathos, that college is not intended for everyone but there are many who attend anyways because of these reasons.

It should be common sense that those who work hard in school and achieve academically should be rewarded with the opportunity to attend better universities in our field of study. When Caldwell seeks advice from her friends on Facebook, the issue of attending the University of Wisconsin or Rutgers University is controversial. Although some argue that her son should attend Wisconsin “debt be damned”, others contend that the debt is not worth it and he should settle for Rutgers and transfer later if he desires. My view is that debts should be avoided when possible, but people should not be punished for their achievements in the education system. The harsh costs of further education limit the abilities of many middle class people, such as home ownership, job opportunities, and financial independence. Achievement and success should not be limited by being born into a family that provides a decent standard of living. The middle class is being left behind in the wake of budget cuts and higher tuition because many people earn too much to be considered for need based aid and are also incapable of affording skyrocketing tuition, room and board, and many of the other required expenses of higher education without sacrifice and looming loans. The insights of Deborah Caldwell into the costs of college are disappointing because it is just the story of one family that is facing the expense of a necessary part in a child’s education. The decision to accept financial burden to attend a prestigious program or for financial stability and a mediocre experience is a difficult one that society has forced man to make. The values of a community are reflected in their policies, and many across the country have realized the harm of slashing college aid programs. It is important

“What Colleges Want in an Applicant (Everything)” is an informative article in The New York Times targeted at applicants, parents, and those who work in admissions at universities

In Daniel Golden’s The Price of Admission: How America 's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges--and Who Gets Left outside the Gates, he makes the argument of how Ivy League schools are being unfair to the academically advanced students who don’t fall into a special social category the universities are rejecting to make room for mediocre students with high status or pleasing characteristics. He explains how Ivy League schools are accepting the rich, the legacies, the famous, the athletically strong, the faculty children, or the minorities over excelling students with no special prestige.

At some point in time, someone has dreamt about going to an Ivy League university to further their education. To some it’s really just a dream but to others it’s a reality. Have you ever wondered what about an Ivy League university attracts us? Is it really the best decision? Everyone looks at the positives but never the negatives. William Deresiewicz really gave me an insight about the life of going to an Ivy league university and I learnt a lot of surprising things from his article.

In “Colleges Prepare People for Life”, Freeman Hrabowski writes about the benefits of going to college and the things that are, and should be, available for potential college students. Hrabowski says that more opportunities come to those with a college degree, rather than those with a high school diploma (690). His argument is effective because of his strong ethos, while it is ineffective because of his weaker logos and pathos. Hrabowski has been the president of the University of Maryland for the past 23 years.

Stacey Dale, an economist at Princeton University, states “the difference between the students who went to super-selective colleges and those with similar SAT scores that were rejected from those institutions and went to less selective colleges is ‘indistinguishable from zero’ (Source A).” The data reported here represents the individual student as responsible for their career success rather than where they attend college. Two of Harvard’s most famous alumni, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, dropped out to move into their full-time technology operations. While not every student will become as rich and powerful as Gates and Zuckerberg, this shows the person, not the school, make the career. The lack of need for top students to receive an Ivy League education highlights the fact that the institution must reform itself in order to attract top students. This lack of a need also hurts the Ivy League “brand”. The Ivy League presents itself as a set of institution that best prepares students for the high level jobs. In part this remains true, as the average Ivy League graduate earns about forty thousand dollars more per year than the average college graduate (Source H). That number gets overblown, however, as community colleges and other trade schools with lesser-paying jobs deflate the average earnings of the entire group. In fact, the Ivy League is beginning to fall behind in the executive-level jobs held by alumni, with the number of executives at Fortune 100 companies with Ivy League undergraduate dropping from 14% to 10% from 1980 to 2001 (Source I). The fall of the influence of Ivy League coincides with the massive rise in tuition over those decades. As the cost of attendance increased, talented students took their smarts elsewhere to receive their education. This hurts the Ivy League as

Today, our society thrives on the wealth and support of the upper-class aristocrats to guide our dollar sign endeavors in the right direction. They are proof, in the flesh, that college offers a life above average, a life that is comfortable and well-lived. College offers experience for the long run, a chance at higher paying jobs, and a chance to make a positive contribution to the our endlessly evolving world. Nonetheless, it is the decision every high school student faces at the end of their four-year run; is it worth the hassle or is it an unnecessary element in their daily lives.

Mr. Deresiewicz provides his experience with his students to show what his observation of the average Ivy League attendee is to be. That conclusion is that they are neither passionate, or curious about the ideas and concepts they are taught. We can trust his opinion on this because of his reference to the years he has been in the system. He then comes to the conclusion that a superb education does not have to be attained by attending an Ivy League school, “I’ve come to see that what we really need is to create one where you don’t have to go to the Ivy League, or any private college, to get a first-rate education” (209). With the previous knowledge of his time spent in the elite school surrounding, Deresiewicz effectively convinces the audience that an Ivy League education is not necessarily the best there is to offer. William gives the readers an insightful and reliable background that allowed the readers to gain his trust and be dramatically persuaded by his observations and opinions.

For the past half a century education has been heralded as the key to success. Parents across the country preach to their children that, providing they acquire a college education and degree, the world is their oyster. The documentary “Ivory Tower”, directed by Andrew Rossi, calls that whole notion into question. The biographical film opens at the University of Harvard, the nations oldest institution of higher learning, on move-in day. Hundreds of new students and their parents flood the campus grounds of one of America’s most prestigious universities. From there, in order to provide a complete overview of the complete college experience, several other types of colleges are shown; such as community, 2-year, and vocational schools. Each is examined in turn to determine both the positive and negative aspects.

Today colleges are growing more and more necessary for attaining a solid path towards a successful career, yet the rapidly increasing cost of tuition is driving students away from their dream of attending college, due to the preposterous amount of money that is now being demanded by colleges across the nation and world as a whole. It is sad to see students being turned away from a successful future due to the money-hungry nature of the universities that dot the globe. More and more impossible it is becoming to have a “rags-to-riches” scenario that used to highlight the American Dream, as if a student doesn’t have the riches to afford a higher education and the tuition that is drug upon its coattails, then our society is doomed to be clothed in rags forever, unless major changes are brought about to restructure and end the indefatigable growth of tuition rates across the board.