College is not for Everyone Introduction It is a well known fact but there are many people including counselors, parents, teachers, and friends who resist saying it out loud for fear it will sound like discouragement and negativity: college is definitely not for everyone. The pressure on high schools students, especially those that excel, to attend a college or university is enormous. And in the case of a bright, industrious and motivated high school student, attending a college or university is an obvious career choice. For those students, it's only a matter of what university to attend, whether one's SAT score is high enough, and the availability of the money. Then there are the millions of high school students who are not really personally motivated but are being pressured by their counselors, teachers and parents should they attend college if they really don't care? This paper examines those issues. Thesis: When parents shove an unmotivated teenager into a community college just because it is socially prestigious to say one's children are "…going to college" those parents are doing a huge disservice to that person. It's akin to shoving a dog's mussel into a pan of water when he's not thirsty. The Literature Professor James E. Rosenbaum (with the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University) takes the position in his book that counselors are not doing the most professional thing when they urge poor-performing students to attend community colleges.
In Charles Murray’s essay “Are Too Many People Going to College” he tries to change the reader’s view of college. He claims that there are too many people attending college for the wrong reasons. According to Murray, "consider that more than 90 percent of high-school students report that their guidance counselors encouraged them to go to college." (251). Since this has become the social norm people are attending college regardless of their skills, interest, or financial situation.
In a May 2003 persuasive article published by USA Today titled “College isn’t for Everyone”, the author W.J. Reeves states “about 15 million people in America are enrolled in college.” This is a staggering amount considering the fact that many people are in college for all the wrong reasons. About half of the Americans enrolled in college are there because they feel they owe it to their families. Only a small number of Americans in college actually feel it is necessary for successful lives. In this article, Reeves recollects on his experiences as a college English professor at an institution in New York. He speaks of how he believes that many students truly do not want to be in college. You can tell this by his stories of tardiness,
Parents believe their kids are too young and immature to make a decision by them selves, therefore they pressure their kids into attending college believing it is the best thing for them. The author does not agree with these actions and thinks that students should decide for themselves whether or not they want to continue their education. If students feel that college is not for them, they should not stay there just because somebody expects them to. Furthermore, she states that if everyone got a higher education everybody would be on the same intellectual level, and there would be no difference in people.
In high school, students have the tendency to think that community college is something that is bad. In “Confessions Of A Girl Who Was ‘Too Smart For Community College’,” Chelsea Fagan talks about how in school, she had a hard time in school with her grades and how her school showed off kids that went to college on a bulletin board. She tried everything to avoid going to a community college. Only for the reason that there was a “stigma” on how community colleges are mostly frowned upon or even laughed at (Fagan). Being rejected from many colleges she then convinced herself that she was too smart to go to a community college. Later on she reluctantly went to community college expecting it to be terrible. She quickly realized that community college was a great place to be. Later on, this gave her opening to go to other places. She closes off with her stating how community college is a great place financially and also a great place to mature. In “Confessions Of A Girl Who Was ‘Too Smart For Community College,’” Chelsea Fagan’s simple structure and casual tone make it easy for a reader to understand her main point, and I agree with her concerns on the reproach of community college, but she never really explained why community college was great other than her thoughts on it being cheaper making her argument a little weak.
Today many high school students are trying see if college education would good idea for future jobs or careers. Teachers and parents alike think about college being a good investments in for their children or students future. They believe that college is helping people to grow mentally and socially. Furthermore, they believe that getting a college degree is good for students that are trying to start higher paying careers, which will turn into a higher sum of money. On the other hand, there are many naysayers arguing that college is not the only option for education. But there are other options such as self-education, online schooling and vocational schooling. They consider college in being too expensive and requiring to take out loans making
The evolution of time is the cause of the various changes in the universe; it keeps on producing new concepts to challenge and a better understanding of the importance of education in everyone’s life. Despite all of the struggling college students might face, yet college education is always a smart decision and the right investment towards the future. Earning a bachelor 's degree is an extremely valuable step which prepares the person for a long journey of a wide variety of job opportunities, high payment, better economy, and a brighter future.
Is College for Everyone. A College degree is the key to live a successful life, but the underlying question that has people contemplating, is college for everyone? “Is College Worth it...”, written by David Leonhardt, argues with statistics the college is in fact a smart financial investment. Furthermore, Leonhardt also explains how a four-year degree is more valuable than a highschool degree and how noticable the pay gaps are between a college degree and a highschool degree.
Whether or not everyone should go to college has been a strongly debated topic as of late. There are those who believe college is necessary in order to survive in America, in terms of jobs, future living, and general life knowledge. Then, there are others who believe that college is merely an extracurricular for those who want to expand their opportunities or further explore their own lives. Despite the countless varying arguments either for or against the belief that everyone should go to college, there still exists a constant struggle for those deciding whether or not to pursue higher education. Two very strong arguments of this debate are “Is College For Everyone?” , by Pharinet, which argues against the belief that all Americans should
Nowadays, seniors students in high school are qualified to graduate and peregrinate to college to get a degree for their future jobs. There is an author, Pharinet, who verbally expresses that, “That there are too many students enrolled in school who simply don’t belong there” (680). Pharinet says that in her article, “Is College for Everyone?” She argues that college is not for everyone and that students should think deeply afore enrolling. She claims that students who are not academically ready and financially stable are the most mundane in college. Pharinet commences her credibility (ethos), logically (logos), and emotionally (pathos) with broad facts and statistics, a real-life situation, and word of mouth on why college is not for everyone.
To many people, college is necessary when it deals with furthering one’s career - wanting to make the most out of it. With this students are required to pay for an education whether it 's out of pocket, scholarships, or other financial assistance. In Sandy Baum’s article “Myth: College is Unaffordable for All but the Rich,” she mentions the average price of college tuition for different types of colleges. She begins with the type of colleges, from community college to instate, public to nonprofit, and private colleges. Baum speaks about the “sticker” price - as in the price that is advertised on how much the school 's full tuition will cost. She then goes on to say that majority of people don 't even pay the sticker price because of scholarships and other financial assistance - loans, grants, etc. While it 's true that there are more scholarships than ever, college is nowhere near affordable to all because not every student - future or current - can get a loan to pay for his or her education, not all scholarships are easily attainable, and the price of college only rises causing financial burdens.
Is college for everyone? In the debate of whether high school graduates should or should not attend college, many scholars argue the rate of return on investment is worth the extreme cost of enrolling into a university. Others claim college is not fit for everyone. Gerald Graff, a professor at the University of Chicago of English and education, suggests that when we think of the people who attend college, we think of people who are intellectually stimulated in academics. However he claims that people we consider street smart are just as intellectual just not in what we would consider as “academics”. Graff would encourage high school graduates who would not consider themselves as top-of-the-class students, or street-smart kids, because they would not necessarily need to enroll into college. Though I have already enrolled in college, which is why I am commenting on
In "College Isn 't for Everyone," W.J. Reeves argues that colleges have become too easy to enter and students show a lack of drive to succeed once enrolled in college. Reeves believes colleges should raise expectations when accepting students into their schools, and the students admitted continue to demonstrate responsibility during the years spent at school. He points out colleges have lowered the bar when it comes to admissions due to the fact that a college cannot exist without a funding source. Reeves argues against unwilling matriculations by drawing your attention to the fact those students are not ready for college. Reeves is specific on the areas where students are slacking most in. He cites another professor 's experience with a student where the student informed the professor of a very elaborate excuse as to why they had not come to class. He
Each year, millions of students face the hardest question of their lives, college or not. Unfortunately, due to the cost of overall cost, many students and their families struggle with this decision. In the United States, college tuition and fees have raised considerable over the last decade and show no sign of stopping. Taking out loans larger than most will every pay for a car, students are accumulating sizeable amounts of debt. Predicated that in coming years companies will demand higher qualified workers is placing a lot of pressure on students; leaving them without many options. With limited aid available, countless are wondering if it is enough to make college worth the debt. Finding a way to insure
In the New York Times article “I Owe It All to Community College: Tom Hanks on His Two Years at Chabot College” published January 2015, the author Tom Hanks talks about his experience in Community College. The article being published in the New York Times was directed at an older group of people. Hanks begins the article effectively persuading the reader that Community College changes the lives of the students who attend. Hanks addressed his experience at a two-year junior college in Hayward, California with positive critique. Hanks’ succeeds with his claims of community college being a alternative to students in search of a afforable higher education, through his use of ethos, pathos, and logos.
The college education has been a necessity rather than an option or privilege and people have made us believe that higher education is needed in order to succeed in life. Most high school seniors are pressured by their guidance counsellors and parents to go to college because it is "the right thing to do." Bird states that students go to college because " . . . Mother wanted them to go, or some other reason entirely irrelevant to the course of studies for which college is supposedly organized." (481). She believes that college is the waste of money where the parents pour a lot of it to the institution with the belief that they are securing their children’s future.