Reply to What’s the educational difference between a highly-rated college and a good one?

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "What’s the educational difference between a highly-rated college and a good one?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]OP here. Thanks for all the great feedback! For my own benefit, I’ve tried to summarize the takeaways from the earlier posts:

Peers are the primary difference. They are academically well prepared, curious about life, and ambitious to do something. That translates to greater knowledge, better discussions, and higher expectations of each other. They may also come from affluent backgrounds, which helps facilitate everything else - education, experience, opportunities.

Professors are great, accessible, and hold high expectations for their students. Though “good” colleges may have great professors, they may be less accessible due to class size and be unable to hold students to the highest academic standards. The result is that the syllabus covers less material, less complex material, and the assignments are less complex and graded to lower expectations. All this impacts the quality of the learning, especially in a liberal arts program.

Access and exposure to outstanding opportunities is better. Essentially the most talented hang with the most talented. Thus, there is a virtuous cycle between professors, students, research opportunities, internships, and outside visitors.

All of this creates a synergy that gets amplified in a network effect. Though I excluded “network” benefits from my initial request, I understand more than ever how it is an important result of the student/professor/access synergy. Many who discuss this benefit simplify it too much - they make it about who you know, like someone’s mom or dad sits on a board, etc. But, more broadly, the “network effect” reflects being part of a system that connects and nourishes talent and ambition. Thus, when current students of talent and ambition meet prior generations of talent and ambition through access to jobs, internships, research opportunities, etc., gateways are opened that magnify the potential impact of the emerging student group.

Of course, there are students who will attend highly selective colleges, get an education, and not experience the full force of this synergistic effect. However, for those that do, it may have a profound influence on their lives. That said, one can attend a “good” university, work hard, and have a great experience too. If earnings are the sole measure of the difference between these two schooling options, some who attend highly selective colleges may be disappointed. If, on the other hand, personal growth and a network of interesting, talented, and accomplished colleagues is the measure, a highly selective college might be the appropriate option. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics