I actually don’t think it is. Part of getting into a “great college” is having other really intelligent people around you. I think that kind of environment fosters intellectual development. Having a lot of other smart people around you can be challenging and inspiring. Obviously this does depend on the individual. I’m also completely ignoring the effect of building connections/networking which is nothing to sneeze at.
I’m sad to say that I’ve done that. I’d like to think I’ve been fairly restrained, but I’m sure to many my minor fussing would seem excessive.
True. Unfortunately, it seems like you want it to be one way, but it’s the other way.
Couple of points:
Anyone taking Calc 101 at Yale is probably one of the poorer math students at Yale. All the good ones did it in high school and crushed it.
As Sklanskyish as it sounds I’d still take the average Yale admit AP calculus score over the average community college student’s score on that test. I don’t think it would be close. And it is not because of the material being taught much differently. It’s just that the smarter kids are the ones that go to Yale. And the reason they do is the selective pressures that start with the “fussing about…elementary school” stage. Yes, it is unfortunate that is the way the system is, but that’s is the one my kids live in. Not playing the game even a little can still lead to a great outcome, but it’s higher risk, imo.
You can already do this for most any subject. So, I’d say there has already been some disruption. Maybe we’ll get to total disruption eventually (or at least a lot closer to it). I doubt it, but maybe there is a chance.
I agree and a similar factor is having direct access to top-tier scholars and professors. Obviously great scholars are not always great teachers, but for the small percentage of students who actually care about scholarship and perhaps have aspirations to become scholars themselves, being exposed to people at the absolute top of their fields, Nobel winners, etc can be life-changing.
For the majority of students this probably doesn’t matter all that much. I’m not even saying an Ivy League education is “worth it” - it probably isn’t even for many who can get admitted. But the factors on the plus side of the ledger are significant.
I think that if we put a smart kid in a class of smart, motivated people that is a better learning environment (most of the time) than a class of average or below average students. Even if you are teaching the same stuff and even if you set aside all the networking/signaling benefits.
My parents paid for my college and didn’t pressure me to do anything and now I play poker for a living, I kinda wish they would have smacked some sense into me
Eh I was happy with it, but now that I’m mid 30’s it’s just kinda depressing. Of course I’m downswinging super hard at the moment.
But I’ve traveled to like 70 countries, and only work 7-8 months out of the year, so I’m not gonna complain too much. But I am looking for a way out and I still have no clue what that is
the cost of education in soviet schools wasn’t nothing. it was the best available education and nominally free, but parents had to obey the system to get even that much. but beyond that, the opportunity costs of being in an underserved school vs a place that has more teachers per kid and let’s say no child hunger are immense. doubly so if one school has some half-decent anti-bullying programs vs another school that has none at all.
For the rich people in New York, this isn’t a complicated question. The answer is simply that the good school is the one you pay a lot for to get into the good university you pay a lot for to get the good job that gets you the good lifestyle. The whole process is divorced from the quality of the education. Its about buying your way into status.
It’s about access to status, that’s certainly right. That it costs what it costs is a failure of “the system/the lawd our gawd.” Hate the game not the player I guess.