“The Disadvantages of an Elite Education”. Fascinating article about how an Ivy League education isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Now, Notre Dame isn’t officially an Ivy, but it definitely aspires to be… and there’s a lot in there that really rang true for me. (Especially since I spent three years in the ND Honors Program, which emphasized what elite intellectuals we chosen 40 were.) The homogeneity of the student body. The emphasis on “career” degrees like pre-med, business, and law. The sense of entitlement and the “old boy” network that goes along with it. And here’s the bit that – shamefully – applied to me the most:
“How can I be a schoolteacher – wouldn’t that be a waste of my expensive education? Wouldn’t I be squandering the opportunities my parents worked so hard to provide? What will my friends think? How will I face my classmates at our 20th reunion, when they’re all rich lawyers or important people in New York? And the question that lies behind all these: Isn’t it beneath me? So a whole universe of possibility closes, and you miss your true calling.”
It definitely applies. I won’t lie; when I started back in IT four months ago I definitely thought about sending in an update to the alumni magazine. Working in the knitting shop… Well, I wasn’t embarrassed to tell you guys or my real-life friends about it, but somehow I worried whether the other alumni would be snickering. Isn’t that stupid? I still struggle with feeling like my college education was a bit of a waste (especially when I pay my student loan). If I’d stayed in the US, there’s no doubt that it would have opened a lot of doors for me. Overseas, though, most people don’t seem to care where your degree came from.
Rose Red
July 23, 2008 — 11:05 am
To give a gross generalisation, Australians don’t really care much about where your degree came from and to some extent, can be a bit anti-elitist about those sorts of things. But it’s especially true for o/s degrees, partly because many people don’t know much about the “good” colleges/universities – I’d say most Australians know Harvard & Yale, Oxford & Cambridge, but as for anywhere else, well, it doesn’t mean much really.
For me, what matters more is what you do with your life (as opposed to just your work).
eileen
July 23, 2008 — 1:40 pm
I was totally judging you for working in a knitting shop, I just didn’t want to say anything.
(kidding, obvs.)
I’ve thought about the same topic…I mean, I turned down a full ride at UMass to pay through the teeth at ND, and it probably wouldn’t have made a difference either way, in terms of my career path. I don’t regret it, though. I know it sounds cheesy, but I made a lot of great friends there (awww…), and I feel like it did contribute a lot to my character. Not in a spiritual type of way, more that moving out on my own, away from home, gave me a fresh start and greatly increased my independence and self-confidence. And I don’t know if the overall experience would have been quite as positive anywhere else. It helps to just look at things in your own personal context, not in terms of societal expectations and whatnot.
p.s. email me your phone number in Cali…we’ll chat!
Nora
July 23, 2008 — 2:02 pm
Well, we all know that the value of a person is measured by their SAT score. . . Heh.
I was just thinking about this the other day when I was having coffee with another student who graduated from ND in 2005. We’re both hardcore about public interest law, and how “deviant” our chosen lives of poverty end up being. . . Or something. I’m not making any sense because the bar is in less than a week.
Becca
July 23, 2008 — 8:51 pm
Interesting! I’ve got friends who sat the SATs – a few who are going to Ivy Leauge – and its definetly a totally different perspective and idea of what an education means. I think the idea of rankings and elitism is becoming more important in Australia, depending on what degree you do. Having chatted to people in the fields I want to go into (both in Australia and overseas) they certinally pay attention to where you have/where you want to study at because it is a good general indication of what standard of education you’ve got. It seems to be a generalization thing, it makes it easier to judge it.
Interesting post anyway… something to think about 🙂
Kris
July 24, 2008 — 6:49 am
Eileen – I totally know what you mean. I could’ve gone to Purdue or IU for free, and sometimes I wonder if it was money well spent. My education would’ve been just as good, really. The only justification I can give is that I wouldn’t be the person I am today otherwise. If I hadn’t gone to London, I wouldn’t have gone back there afterwards, I wouldn’t have met the Snook, and my whole life would’ve been different. You just can’t regret that stuff.
Jason Young
July 24, 2008 — 3:00 pm
I did sort of the opposite, I guess. I turned down paying out the butt at Rose-Hulman or Northwestern to attend Ball State on scholarship. I don’t regret my decision, as the field I’ve chosen cares little about the degree and more with the experience, knowledge, and ability to learn on task.