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"I think a huge part of it is that getting a “good” job out of college has never been more competitive and more important." That's an interesting point as oppo

"I think a huge part of it is that getting a “good” job out of college has never been more competitive and more important." That's an interesting point as opposed to the over-observed fragility of modern college students. There's probably something to be learned from the different school and employment bottlenecks in Japan.

twblalock 7y ago
As all of my Japanese friends have told me, students work extremely hard to get into a prestigious college and basically slack off after they get in. The education is not very important because large employers expect to train everyone they hire anyway. University education in Japan is almost entirely a signaling exercise, and passing the entry exams for prestigious universities is mainly proof that one is willing to work extremely hard to fulfill social expectations. Oh, and Japan also has a bit of a college affordability problem too. Overall the Japanese system is not something to emulate.
- golemiprague 7y ago
  That's no different to any other country, it is not like student in the Ivy league work so much harder than someone in other decent universities but the most important thing is the signalling.
- jammygit 7y ago
  The Korean practice is similar, according to some essay research I did a few years ago: work dangerously hard to get into a good school, then slack off. It harkens back to the old Chinese system of civil service examinations (copied somewhat in Korea at least), which were extremely intense and basically the gateway to your future prospects
  - lasagnaphil 7y ago
    Korean grad student here. That was actually true for Korean college students when things were prosperous, but since the recessions (one in 1997 and another one in 2008) things have gone worse. There was a time where if you entered the top universities you almost automatically had a decent job, but nowadays students know this isn’t the case anymore. Nowadays even the students in the top universities take pressure with maintaining their GPAs and English exam scores, so I think the situation is a bit different than Japan (although I still think US colleges have more intense workloads, from what I’ve heard...)
- imtringued 7y ago
  Did they burn out or did you mean they are lazy?

twblalock 7y ago

As all of my Japanese friends have told me, students work extremely hard to get into a prestigious college and basically slack off after they get in. The education is not very important because large employers expect to train everyone they hire anyway. University education in Japan is almost entirely a signaling exercise, and passing the entry exams for prestigious universities is mainly proof that one is willing to work extremely hard to fulfill social expectations. Oh, and Japan also has a bit of a college affordability problem too. Overall the Japanese system is not something to emulate.

golemiprague 7y ago
That's no different to any other country, it is not like student in the Ivy league work so much harder than someone in other decent universities but the most important thing is the signalling.
jammygit 7y ago
The Korean practice is similar, according to some essay research I did a few years ago: work dangerously hard to get into a good school, then slack off. It harkens back to the old Chinese system of civil service examinations (copied somewhat in Korea at least), which were extremely intense and basically the gateway to your future prospects
- lasagnaphil 7y ago
  Korean grad student here. That was actually true for Korean college students when things were prosperous, but since the recessions (one in 1997 and another one in 2008) things have gone worse. There was a time where if you entered the top universities you almost automatically had a decent job, but nowadays students know this isn’t the case anymore. Nowadays even the students in the top universities take pressure with maintaining their GPAs and English exam scores, so I think the situation is a bit different than Japan (although I still think US colleges have more intense workloads, from what I’ve heard...)
imtringued 7y ago
Did they burn out or did you mean they are lazy?