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> But I guess I still have that romantic notion of him getting a well-rounded education in many subjects that I couldn't help him with, making friends, and meet

by badpun 9y ago

> But I guess I still have that romantic notion of him getting a well-rounded education in many subjects that I couldn't help him with, making friends, and meeting interesting professors Interestingly, in my country (Poland) we never had such romantic concept. You always went to university to go deeply on one specific subject (which you chose when you applied to the uni) - the opposite of being well-rounded. Professors were never meant to be interesting. The one thing I see in common is the hope for making friends. I wonder if it's similar in other European countries.

maxxxxx 9y ago
In Germany higher education is also very focused on one subject.
- cafard 9y ago
  I can't speak to Poland, but at one time the German system saw to it that the students arrived at the university with a great deal more general grounding than one can count on in American schools.
  - bitL 9y ago
    That's what high schools are for (at least in theory).
jimhefferon 9y ago
I believe that part of the difference is that when the education systems gelled in the US there was in the air the perception that the US is this historically radical experiment in democracy and that it needed a citizenry that well-rounded enough to participate. I don't believe that there was as strong a sense for those things in other places. But it fit with the way that at least some people thought of the US, at the time.
mrguyorama 9y ago
As a recent graduate of an American college, I don't see it as giving me a "well rounded" education. Thanks to advanced courses in High School, I didn't even have to take a writing class. There were maybe 4 or 5 out of over 30 classes through my entire career that weren't directly related to my CS degree