New York Times has an article that discusses the insanity that revolves around elitist higher education pushes. I feel that I'm somewhat of an academic elitist, at least in desire (not in brains). I tout Chicago's theology program and Duke's Divinity school and the like. Yet I forget to remember the little guy - the no name school.
My parents wanted the best for me, but they were very reasonable. Actually I think they were just glad that I made it to college. Had I been able to get into Berkley or UCLA, they would have been happy, but at no time did I ever think that they were less proud of me. Thanks to them.
I know that my situation is not the same for many folk. The drive to take 5 AP classes your senior year, extra tutoring at 7 years old and taking SAT prep exams in 7th grade all are wearing on folks. Enough is enough.
I by no means want to discredit the reputation that this top schools have. I do think that the best education comes from the best schools, when it fits the student. But there are smaller schools that provide a great education and plenty of opportunities as well.
The article mentioned above mentions accomodationist consumption with colleges. It discusses the drive for "brand-name" education, rather than education:
The drive to improve, to do things better and bigger, is inherently American. Yet there comes a time when there's less room for improvement, and we must find artificial goals — a wider TV screen, a bigger S.U.V. — to produce an illusion of progress. This seems to be the case with college. It used to be that getting an education was the goal; now, it is getting a brand-name education. This is a shift from content to form, from the thing itself to the way it is packaged.
Are we beginning to accommodate our education consumption to accommodate a lifestyle of more and better. Are we racking up the stress and debt to accommodate dreams and spending habits that may in fact cause us to die prematurely.
Certainly choosing a college is not as trivial as buying a car. And choosing a good school and working hard to get there is admirable. One should never discredit somebody for having a drive. But I had friends who couldn't go to a college that was not at least Berkley or UCLA status and even then, those were their bottom rung schools. In effect their parents are pushing upon them the need to buy a new, bigger car to fit all the crap that they bought earlier.
We don't need bigger cars, and we don't need expensive brand name education. We do need work trucks, and mini vans at times. We do need a school that will challenge us and give us a solid education. We do not need to spend our lives forgetting to live so that we can get the bigger and better.
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