As a Junior in high school, I am starting to hear, talk, and think about college quite often. In class we were talking about what it means for something to be nice, which reminded me of a similarly general word, good. Joe Nocera from the New York Times says that "the single-minded goal of too many high school students...is to get into a "good" school." I hear people use the word "good" while talking about college all the time, and I wonder what people mean by it as oppose to what it really should mean. Recently, the U.S. News and World Report came out with their yearly ranking of colleges, and not surprisingly, on the top of the chart were schools including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Columbia. The title of the list as seen to the right, uses the word best, but what makes one school better than another? Why do so many people rush to see it if it's really just a list made by magazine editors who are simply trying to sell as many copies as they can? Nocera states that "U.S. News cares a lot about how much money a school raises and how much it spends...it cares about how selective the admissions process is." In my opinion, school rankings should not be based on these factors, but more on the satisfaction of the students that attend each specific school.People pay so much attention to these lists even though it shouldn't be about going to a school that is harder to get into, but instead about going to a school that a person genuinely thinks they will enjoy and have a good experience at. Especially at a school as competitive as New Trier, people should not be so obsessed with going to a school just because it's number one on a bunch of lists. What's "good" for some people, could be completely wrong for others. A "good" school should not be defined as one that is on the top of college ranking lists and is extremely hard to get into. Instead, I think it should be defined as a place that someone believes is right for them specifically. What do you think "good" means in this context? Why is there so much pressure for students to get into a school that is considered "good" because it is on top of many charts?
To read Joe Nocera's article click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/29/opinion/nocera-the-silly-list-everyone-cares-about.html
I really liked how Lily connected the word "nice" to the word "good" because I feel they have very similar connotations. Just as "nice", by the majority, is usually referred to something wealthy, I believe, "good" is refereed to someone/something that is also wealthy. I feel people describe a "good" college by how hard it is to get into that college, and how good are their resources (A.K.A. how much money the school has). Students are constantly being pressured into getting into a "good" college because most people would think that he or she is going to receive a good education at that college, and that is all they need. However, another big part of college is figuring out who you are. Being able to find a college that suits your needs is a way of determining who you are. Therefore, just going to college because it is considered "good" can only get you so far, but finding a college that really fits ones personality will provide much more of an education, than a "good" college ever will.
ReplyDeleteAs Lily and Alex both said, it is interesting how the word "good" is used by so many people. When people say something is "good", it is very broad and vague. Like Lily asked, what really is good? So many people work very hard to get to "good" schools and when some get to these "good" schools, they discover it was not the right choice for them. I believe that when the US news determines the Top College List, I believe that they are referring to the most difficult and highest achieving academics. As Alex says, a "good" college on US News' Top College List might not be the best school for you. Another school that might not be on the top "good" colleges in the US may be the best school for you. This topic of word connotations, like "good", also relates to what we talked about in class earlier last week about "nice" neighborhoods. When calling something "nice" or "good", how are you really describing it? What is meant when you say a college is a "good" college or that a neighborhood is a "nice" neighborhood?
ReplyDeleteThis post raised a really interesting point! There are numerous books dedicated to ranking colleges on a various topics. I don't think these rankings are a definitive list, but they are a starting point in the application process. However, I'd be interested to know what exactly the World Report was ranking the colleges on. Just because a college is rated #1, it doesn't mean it would be a good fit for you. I feel like the kids from New Trier tend to focus on a schools reputation (what some might call "a good school"), and not on what they are specifically looking for in their education. One students top 10 college list may be completely different from any magazine's and even from their best friend's list.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree Lily. I actually read this article a few days ago and was thinking the same thing. It is amazing how schools have to spend more money to get higher rankings from US News. For all of these rankings, they all claim to have the best methodologies. However, like you said, a school is best for a person in a unique way. The rankings are so flawed that lets say for example a school like Harvard could spend half as much to recruit the same talent, they would be lowered in the rankings. College is a time to explore one's goals, learn, and have fun. A magazine or website should not dictate a person's future choice.
ReplyDeleteHi Lily,
ReplyDeleteGreat fodder for this crowd of often anxious people pressured to perform for what is billed to be the ultimate goal in life. Your post could perhaps focus more on that group who almost seem to "wear" a certain college as an article of fashionable clothing, as Anna mentions, OR ou could do more to critically analyze what goes in to these rankings and WHY. For instance, why doesn't New Trier make the top 100 high schools in these magazine rankings? It's a long but interesting story...