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Caroline Bird College In America Essay

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We as a society are manipulated by the idea that a college education will fix all of our problems and allow us to pursue a successful life. In the essay “College In America” by Caroline Bird mentions that a college education is not the best choice for all high school graduates because it leads to the assumption that a college education is the only possible way to establish one’s identity in society. Although college is the staple after graduating high school not all sustain the qualities it takes to succeed in the intellectual work given and some career fields do not have a connecting relationship to a college education reminding us that even though these claims are based in the 1970s it is still relevant in today’s society. There are many alternatives to expanding your education to pursue a career that you are passion about after high school, but many parents are forcing their children to attend college. For example, in the essay “White-Collar Blues” Benedict Jones recalls “I was once startled to hear that one of my university students wanted to be a chef— an …show more content…

Furthermore, schools main clubs/programs are college based, like the AVID Program. Which stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination, is a college readiness program designed to help students develop the skills they need to be successful in college, but not everyone in high school plans on attending college. Occupational programs that gives students a certificate of completion and can be used to get a financially stable job are very rare in high school, yet the AVID Program is nationwide. Society will always base success as a benefit from completing a college education, so when alternatives like occupational programs rise to the surface the education system tries to cover it up with college readiness

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People go to college to get a good paying job, have job security, and get a degree. Well at least that’s what it should be about. That’s what Charles Murray believes in his essay “Are Too Many People Going to College.” Murray counters the argument of Sanford Ungar who believes colleges should have a more liberal approach towards its classes and have students actually learn a broad range of real life skills instead of just going into a career just because it pays well. In Ungar’s essay he explains the misperception that Americans have on obtaining a liberal-arts degree and how they believe it doesn’t translate well to the real world.

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The article's main theme of the importance of education and how it shouldn't be taken for granted is well argued because the author includes the difference between college and blue-collar life, describes his own life experiences, and describes how safe and stable college life can be when compared to blue-collar

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“College in America” Caroline Bird thinks that a college education may not be the best choice for all high school students because college education does not bring about social equality, it does not benefit them financially, and it is not guaranteed that college will lead them to an elite profession. First of all, high school students are expected to bring about social equality through four rigorous years in college. However, college is an expensive way to categorize the highs and lows in society. It is pressuring to younger students to pursue a higher education that only a few could achieve, and is also difficult for them to established an identity in society. Second, a college education does not benefit the youth financially because it is

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Recently, many have begun to attack and degrade higher education in the United States. In the book How College Works, authors Daniel Chambliss and Christopher Takacs claim, “As state support has eroded, and as more students attend college in an increasingly desperate attempt to find viable jobs, the price to students of attending an institution of higher education has gone up, especially at more selective institutions” (172). So is college even worth it? Caroline Bird’s excerpt from her book Case Against College “Where College Fails Us” is an adequately written article that agrees with those who question whether college is a good investment. Bird argues that although some students would benefit from college and succeed, many fall short, wasting

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The Greek Philosopher Aristotle identified “The years between puberty and age twenty-one as the formative time for mind and character.” It was customary for young Greek men to attend a series of lectures that resembled our notion of a college “course”(Delbanco 36). Aristotle is a believer of education and the power it has on the development of the young mind. Likewise, he believes college is a place to establish one’s character. Caroline Bird’s essay, “Where College Fails Us,” definitely does not correlate with the opinion of Aristotle.

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As a college student who is currently spending thousands of dollars to further my education and achieve a career goal, it was, at first, disheartening to read Caroline Bird ’s essay “College is a Waste of Time and Money”. However, after thoroughly examining her points, I now see that her essay is illogical. In her piece “College is a Waste of Time and Money”, Caroline Bird argues against the idea that “college is the best place for all high-school graduates” (1); in other words, college isn’t for everyone. Throughout her writing, Bird supplies her readers with evidence that explains how, for some individuals, college is a waste of not only time and money, but of intellectual effort, as well.

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Parents, teachers, mentors, bosses, etc. They always encourage you to “make a better life for yourself.” College doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to be happy in life, nobody is guaranteed a career. Why are we making kids choose what they want to do for the rest of their life at such a young and impressionable age? As a student, you can change careers but often people invest so much time and money on something they will probably want to stick with it.

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Matthew Hanson CO 150-003 Nora Gordon 22 September, 2014 Originally published in the Oxford American in August 2011 is the essay “Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?” and republished in Ethics in Higher Education; written by Mark Edmundson, a tenured Professor of English at the University of Virginia. In Edmundson’s essay he explores more than the thought that college is more than the beginning of a new life and a career in the end. Edmundson asserts his idea that students think going to college is just for academics and good grades that will land them a high paying job after graduation.

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In “Are Too Many People Going to College?” Charles Murray offers his opinion on the number of students that pursue a B.A. He believes that two year or four year colleges are not needed for a majority of students who could instead pursue other life paths. He discusses the ability for the general knowledge needed to be learned in primary and secondary school, and for a lessened need for a “brick-and-mortar” institution the problems with the current secondary and higher educational issues including the lessened need to acquire a B.A. All members of society need certain skills in order to be productive members of society. They need to know general facts about the country they live in, general history, and general geography.

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College Isn’t for Everyone "By telling all young people that they should go to college no matter what, we are actually doing some of them a disservice" (Owen). This quote from “Brookings Paper: Is College a Good Investment” goes into detail about how college isn’t for everyone. By educators, parents, and authority figures telling graduating high school seniors that college is necessary, they are limiting the potential of that student’s true skills. College isn’t right for everyone and not everyone wants to go to college.

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“Is College the best option why or why not discusses the controversial issue of whether college is important or not. On one hand, while some argue that college is very important. Stephanie Owens and Isabel Sawhill writers of article “Should Everyone Go to College” asserts that we may be doing a disservice by telling all young people that college is the best option. Owens feels that college may be of service to some people, but not the best option for everyone.

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“American Dream has taken a decidedly more materialistic turn in recent years, higher education has consistently been ideologically linked to its fulfillment, whether in its capacity to serve as a catalyst for economic success and social mobility, in its ability to convey the values upon which our society rests, or in its preservation of democratic vitality through an educated citizenry.” College education is seen as very important by many, they feel as if their life depends on it as well as one of the only ways for you to succeed in a job or life in general. Views on college have changed

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For these reasons, college is not as beneficial as it is played out to

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Throughout high school, students are pressured to continue their academic career by attending a four year college as soon as senior year is over. College might not be the answer for most students, there are many disadvantages to

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Over the years, society has progressed and changed in several ways. Many ideas have evolved for the better, however some for the worse. One instance of a change for the worse is the evaluation of the expectations around higher education. The way America has come to treat a college education is harmful for its youth. Between employers’ lack of care for the discipline of degree achieved (just that those applying have one,) the steep price tag, and the absence of a genuine pursuit of knowledge, the flaws in the college education system are obvious.

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