Summary Of Excellent Sheep By William Deresiewicz

In an interview by Fortune magazine, William Deresiewicz, author of Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and The Way to a Meaningful Life, said, “Students who attend an elite school make the same amount of money as those who could have gone to an elite school but chose not to, because what matters is the kid, not the school.” The promise of an elite education is the path to “success” and wealth, and elite schools are often praised for their superior graduates and exceptional professors. But then, if Deresiewicz is correct and what matters is the individual, what are the elite universities doing for a student who is likely going thousands of dollars into debt to attend? Ivy league universities and other top tier schools are

He was especially interested in the idea of “the self” which he divided into three separate categories: the true self, the false self, and the ideal self. The true self is untainted by the expectations of other people, while the false self is molded by the demands of others. The ideal self is who one aspires to be and the characteristics of the person they wish they were. Self-actualization occurs when an individual’s ideal self and true self are aligned and being acted upon and projected to others. However, often this true self is suppressed in order to convey a different image to others. A clinical psychologist by the name of Tian Dayton describes the false self as a maladaptive reaction to a dysfunctional situation (Dayton 1.) He explains that it generally an unconscious coping mechanism to deal with stress and pain, one which an individual with the false self would not even recognize as

William Deresiewicz details the incredibly rigorous admissions process in his book Excellent Sheep and the insane requirements for entry into an ivy league school (Deresiewicz 39). Students are expected to take upwards of eight AP courses and participate in dozens of extracurricular activities. They are not even considered unless they have exceptional SAT scores, GPAs, class ranks, essays, letters of recommendation, personal qualities, and resumes. Even meeting those benchmarks does not guarantee acceptance, however, as these schools are also searching for national awards and unique skills. Every student has to be well-rounded and excel in every pursuit. This means that in order to get into these top schools, one cannot focus on just one area or pursue a specific passion; one must do it all… and more. This has led to an evolution in academics where students compete to be better, smarter, and more involved than the next student which has yet to reach a ceiling, but continues to grow and transform students more and more into their false selves. Allan Bloom, a philosopher, wrote in his book, The Closing of the American Mind, “Every educational system wants to produce a certain kind of human being kind of human being.” The kinds of people that elite education and honors programs are producing are ones who have been taught to value themselves