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It depends on what you want from college. For me, I got almost nothing from the "getting in" but a ton from actually "being there" (in fact, I liked it so much
by glesica 13y ago
It depends on what you want from college. For me, I got almost nothing from the "getting in" but a ton from actually "being there" (in fact, I liked it so much I went back after a few years). One of the problems I see with the debate about college is that people have come to view college as a purely economic investment.
If you are totally self-interested and simply looking to make money, then sure, YMMV. But from a social standpoint, college has great value beyond the economic value it produces for individual students. For example, forcing large groups of young people to come together in a (at least somewhat) scholarly environment exposes them to new ideas and cultural norms and produces adults who are better able to handle diversity and change.
- gaius 13y agoBy "signal" I mean the social/professional status gained from mentioning that college on your CV. "Went to Harvard" and "dropped out of Harvard" mean nearly the same thing: Harvard. Signals are important, when someone needs to make a decision like "should we interview this person" because they have little else to go on.
- glesica 13y agoI understand the concept of a signal, my point is just that there is more to college than creating signals (or even "education", however you define it) for the individual students. There are social issues involved that, in my opinion, carry a much greater weight than most people seem to assign them when discussing higher education.