Attending an Ivy League institution is said to be a major component of "The American Dream". As citizens of a highly competitive capitalist nation, Americans tend to look for everything that is above the status quo. The constant tendency of striving above the standard has been seen in higher education now more than ever. Many Americans have the belief engraved in their minds that a prestigious education will have significantly better job prospects for a national prospective. Interestingly, Ivy Leaguers are somehow miseducated, because they grow too majestic about where they obtained their education. As a result, Ivy League graduates often feel that they are superior in intellect and capabilities, and too important to communicate with the public and those who did not have the same opportunities in society. The lack of diversity throughout the Ivy Leagues is another aspect of imperfection in the Ivy League system; who ever gets in is usually carefully chosen based on demographics and ethnicity. In the long run, however, many people argue that a person's academic experience, performance and ability to relate to others matters are far more important than the seal on their diploma; the institution they attended does not define them as a person nor as a professional. Indeed, with the aid of current literacy critic and former Yale University English professor, William Deresiewiez’s article “The Disadvantages of an Elite Education,” in this essay I will attempt to problematize the claim that an education from an Ivy League college is superior to non-Ivy League education. Deresiewiez‘s work is helpful, as he offers a worthwhile critique of “elite education,” and, also, was once himself a former Ivy Leaguer. Moreover, I will also attempt to complicate the claim that Ivy League students are superior in intellect, behavior, and capabilities can be complicated and problematized.
Ivy League institutions are the most prestigious and powerful institutions in the world. The Ivy League consists of a group of universities located in the northeastern part of the United States. The union between these universities was originally formed in 1954 for the purpose of merging an intercollegiate sporting conference between all eight institutions. All eight Ivy League universities had been very well known and admired before the Ivy League was formed, but they were held on a higher pedestal after the Ivy union was formed. Despite their Athletic excellence, none of the Ivies are allowed to administer any athletic scholarships. The term Ivy League most commonly refers to the academic success, competitive selection process and prestigious reputation of these schools, as they are consistently ranked along the best in the world. It is also known that the higher education admissions process is highly competitive and selective and for students attempting to be admitted into Ivy League institutions; the admissions process only gets more tedious and selective. Yet, the financial burden that will be thrown upon the families of applicants is far greater than applying to those institutions, especially for students applying to prestigious universities such as Ivy Leagues with tuitions exceeding $50,000 per year.
However, according to Higher Education Administration expert, Pauline V. Tonsil, every penny is worth it, because at the end of the game, there is always something to be gained. In her article titled “Higher education: A study of the affects of tuition discounting on price and enrollment in the Ivy League schools,” Tonsil discusses that a very low number of students actually end up paying the fixed amount cost for these prestigious institutions. These institutions promise to meet the full financial needs of their accepted applicants, calculated to acceptable formulas. Also, Ivy League students have the opportunity to develop connections and social relations, which then leaves them at an advantage in networking with those who are positioned higher in society (Tonsil 4). Now, with an impeccable reputation and a following that mimics fantasies of sports, academics, and networking, the eight schools are windows of opportunity for thousands of elite students as well as their families.
Brittney W. Walker, OverWeekly Magazine staff writer, works to uphold this belief that Ivy Leaguers are greeted with more opportunities than non-Ivy Leaguers. Indeed, Walker describes how Ivy Leaguers tend to “share some of the benefits of going to an Ivy League: Recognition from peers and employers, advancement in any career, intellectual development, the network and alumni connections” (Walker 2). In other words, the scope of opportunities for Ivy Leaguers is much higher than those of a student from a non-Ivy League institution; moreover, Ivy League graduates’ prestige is a major boost in both society and the work force. Walker speaks of Ivy League education as if it was some kind of majestic privilege, her voice accented a tone of admiration and miraculous glorification: “When you hear Yale, Cornell, or Harvard, you say, ‘Now that’s a good school,’ or ‘That’s my ticket to the world.’ Whatever the case, these schools along with five other colleges have had a tremendous impact in the lives of thousands of students” (1). She also incorporates the personal experiences of various individuals who graduated from Ivy Leagues throughout the article; all of these stories seemed to have ended up with an ending that garnered more glory and prestige for these elite institutions. Walker ends up telling the story of a woman who could not land a job in her field before she decided to attend Columbia University:
“Remember how she couldn’t land employment in her field post undergrad? Well, after Columbia, she got a job as a production/administrative assistant for a public television station in Virginia. She currently runs her own marketing and hospitality-training firm in Valencia, Calif. With all the money spent, and friendships changed, Jackson does not look back” (Walker 2).
Results of such magnitudes are the motivations of people who seek an elite education: success, prosperity, and wealth. The descriptions of real life experiences of this nature throughout the article end up increasing the expectations and admirations for elite schools.
A person is often looking to stand out in the crowd and of course, and when it comes to competing with another individual over anything, having the prominent title of an Ivy League university in one's resume or application could very well be believed to be an automatic win. The idea of placing and comparing an Ivy Leaguer with a student that attended a standard private or public institution, when striving or competing for a position, seems to be the spark for the controversial part of this discussion. One could often say that such juxtaposition is simply fruitless and the “winner” is obvious; that the Ivy Leaguer would end up getting the job position over the student who attended a non-Ivy League institution. Indeed, according to Tonsil, the more prestigious the college, the greater the success of the student will be (Tonsil 18). Most commonly, in an Ivy League institution, one may certainly be more likely to make social connections that might be more difficult to encounter at a non-Ivy league institution. The prestige is also the main attraction for these elite institutions. The truth is that Ivy Leagues are known to have all types of influence upon American culture, even its federal government. Today's most recognized and influential politicians are Ivy Leaguers. Political figures such as former president George W. Bush, current president Barack Obama, and countless other political figures are former Ivy League graduates. This perpetuates the ideal that perhaps attending an elite institution is necessary to reach success or "The American Dream". In the end, one may begin to wonder if it is worth putting out all that money into this "privileged" type of higher education. To begin with, the price tag for an education was not as high as it is today; the higher the prestige upheld by an institution, the greater the cost. Many dig more into that idea, neglecting the purpose of what they may value most about their education and passions.
In contrast to Tonsil’s apparent positive claims and arguments regarding elite education, in his article “The of an Elite Education” American Scholar writer William Deresiewicz argues that, despite the academics and repute of Ivy League institutions, American society often hold Ivy Leagues on a high pedestal for shaky reasons. According to Deresiewicz, “My education taught me to believe that people who didn’t go to an Ivy League or equivalent school weren’t worth talking to…” (2). Students who attend Ivy League schools often forget themselves and get wrapped up in all their Ivy League glory or the fact that they actually attend one of the world’s most famous eight schools. This is not their fault alone, for Ivy League institutions train their students from their immediate arrival to view non-Ivy Leaguers as inferior and to live up to their school’s name to the fullest. During this stage of the game, students begin to be misled from the real purpose for which they may be pursuing their higher education.
Throughout the article, Deresiewicz writes about the fact that there are several disadvantages to an elite education: “ As two dozen years at Yale and Columbia have shown me, elite colleges relentlessly encourage their students to flatter themselves for being there, and for what being there can do for them” (1). Deresiewicz establishes how with all of their glory and prestige, Ivy League universities fail to teach their students to be down to earth people who can relate to people who may not be as well educated as themselves or who attended less “gifted” institutions, with less socioeconomic prosperity and so on (Deresiewicz 1). While the elite institutions that Deresiewicz attended value aspects such as economic and social success, a certain elite culture, connections or networking, he values something far more different than that, something he was not able to grasp during his time in Yale or Columbia, because it was value that did not matter to them or seemed necessary for life after graduation. The message that Deresiewicz is attempting to establish is that higher education should not be all about connections, getting a job, or the name of one’s school. It should be about finding one’s self, being prepared to relate to those who are not as socially or economically fortunate as you, getting those big questions about life answered and addressing the values that are most important to one’s character. These are the features that many Ivy Leaguers continue to slowly over look, leading to grade success and achievements, but little experience and no vision (Deresiewicz 9).
Deresiewicz stresses that he had dedicated fourteen year of his life to higher education and holds a bunch of Ivy League degrees, yet he cannot think of a way to communicate with the “ordinary” plumber making repairs to his damaged kitchen pipes. He seems to be very unsatisfied and believes that he has been miseducated. Throughout the article he seems to express a tone of disappointment, sarcasm, and disgust for the time and effort he spent attempting to get “the best of the best” and ending up with some degree of ignorance and stupidity. He mentions the fact that he is not the only Ivy Leaguer experiencing such situations; his friends can relate as well. On a distinct side of the spectrum, the rationales for higher education seem to be interpreted differently based on a person’s values or definition of the word. In his article “The Pedagogy of Debt” Jeffrey Williams states that back in the day, students where given a “grounding in humanistic knowledge” (J. Williams 10). In other words, the view of higher education was an entitlement, to the current neo-liberal notion of privilege, from social goals to individual good. But this notion was driven by passion, not by the thirst to be recognized based on a school’s name or to help oneself instead as the nation and community as a whole, with the knowledge one got out of their higher education. Deresiewicz states that he has come across people that did not attend an Ivy League University, but are far more intelligent than many Ivy Leaguers. There are plenty of students who are smarter than those who go to Ivy League schools, but they just do not have the same opportunity’s attending their “good old ordinary” schools. This only evokes the intriguing question: is it worth the money, time and effort? Many people believe that the key difference between Ivy League students is the fact that they may be better rounded around certain subjected, or harder workers, compared to non Ivy Leaguers, but this does not necessarily mean that they are innately intelligent.
In the end, according to Payscale, the salaries of the graduates of Ivy League and non-Ivy League schools are very similar, some may not be more than five thousand dollars apart. The average starting salary for a Clarkson University graduate is approximately $57,900 per year while the average starting salary for a Cornell university graduate is about $55,800. As Deresiewicz stated; “places like Yale are simply not set to help students ask the big questions” (7). In other words, Ivy League schools lack something; they don’t necessarily teach students the questions about life that need to be answered. Moreover, according to Deresiewiez’s experience, places like Yale do not prepare their students to critically engage with questions of daily life, especially the daily life of a person positioned in a lower socioeconomic rank. Ivy Leaguers lack passion, because they are solely focused on ranking and receiving high marks. Instead, they lead students into thinking about the next assignment; “Being intellectual means, first of all, being passionate about ideas-and not just for the duration of a semester, for the sake of pleasing the teacher, or for getting a good grade” (6). This nation’s outlook on higher education seems to have shifted to a completely different direction and ideology. Before, the meaning of higher education was about the passion and enjoyment for knowledge and a better future. Kids no longer think out side the box of something bigger than the next assignment. It seems as if life has become about what others expect of them, most especially what others expect from Ivy Leaguers.
It would be ludicrous to say employers aren't influenced by where a candidate went to school. Before, people thought of higher education as an investment that pays off over a lifetime, in both monetary and non-monetary ways, but today that notion has changed in a way that people have come to believe that its only about money and socioeconomics. The same passion that was put into continuing one’s education after high school is no longer as abundant as it once was. People have been too caught up in ranking and bringing others down to push themselves up. This is basically the source of many of the problems based on equality today in the United States. Boundaries between socioeconomic statuses have been set too high, blocking the disadvantaged’s access or to “The American Dream.” If both Ivy League and non-Ivy League instructions provide the same type of education, why is that fact often overlooked or clouded with fantasies of high paying occupations, and alumni connections? Has American society taken such a drastic turn and forgotten how hard it is to define the real purpose and value of higher education?
Ivy League institutions are the most prestigious and powerful institutions in the world. The Ivy League consists of a group of universities located in the northeastern part of the United States. The union between these universities was originally formed in 1954 for the purpose of merging an intercollegiate sporting conference between all eight institutions. All eight Ivy League universities had been very well known and admired before the Ivy League was formed, but they were held on a higher pedestal after the Ivy union was formed. Despite their Athletic excellence, none of the Ivies are allowed to administer any athletic scholarships. The term Ivy League most commonly refers to the academic success, competitive selection process and prestigious reputation of these schools, as they are consistently ranked along the best in the world. It is also known that the higher education admissions process is highly competitive and selective and for students attempting to be admitted into Ivy League institutions; the admissions process only gets more tedious and selective. Yet, the financial burden that will be thrown upon the families of applicants is far greater than applying to those institutions, especially for students applying to prestigious universities such as Ivy Leagues with tuitions exceeding $50,000 per year.
However, according to Higher Education Administration expert, Pauline V. Tonsil, every penny is worth it, because at the end of the game, there is always something to be gained. In her article titled “Higher education: A study of the affects of tuition discounting on price and enrollment in the Ivy League schools,” Tonsil discusses that a very low number of students actually end up paying the fixed amount cost for these prestigious institutions. These institutions promise to meet the full financial needs of their accepted applicants, calculated to acceptable formulas. Also, Ivy League students have the opportunity to develop connections and social relations, which then leaves them at an advantage in networking with those who are positioned higher in society (Tonsil 4). Now, with an impeccable reputation and a following that mimics fantasies of sports, academics, and networking, the eight schools are windows of opportunity for thousands of elite students as well as their families.
Brittney W. Walker, OverWeekly Magazine staff writer, works to uphold this belief that Ivy Leaguers are greeted with more opportunities than non-Ivy Leaguers. Indeed, Walker describes how Ivy Leaguers tend to “share some of the benefits of going to an Ivy League: Recognition from peers and employers, advancement in any career, intellectual development, the network and alumni connections” (Walker 2). In other words, the scope of opportunities for Ivy Leaguers is much higher than those of a student from a non-Ivy League institution; moreover, Ivy League graduates’ prestige is a major boost in both society and the work force. Walker speaks of Ivy League education as if it was some kind of majestic privilege, her voice accented a tone of admiration and miraculous glorification: “When you hear Yale, Cornell, or Harvard, you say, ‘Now that’s a good school,’ or ‘That’s my ticket to the world.’ Whatever the case, these schools along with five other colleges have had a tremendous impact in the lives of thousands of students” (1). She also incorporates the personal experiences of various individuals who graduated from Ivy Leagues throughout the article; all of these stories seemed to have ended up with an ending that garnered more glory and prestige for these elite institutions. Walker ends up telling the story of a woman who could not land a job in her field before she decided to attend Columbia University:
“Remember how she couldn’t land employment in her field post undergrad? Well, after Columbia, she got a job as a production/administrative assistant for a public television station in Virginia. She currently runs her own marketing and hospitality-training firm in Valencia, Calif. With all the money spent, and friendships changed, Jackson does not look back” (Walker 2).
Results of such magnitudes are the motivations of people who seek an elite education: success, prosperity, and wealth. The descriptions of real life experiences of this nature throughout the article end up increasing the expectations and admirations for elite schools.
A person is often looking to stand out in the crowd and of course, and when it comes to competing with another individual over anything, having the prominent title of an Ivy League university in one's resume or application could very well be believed to be an automatic win. The idea of placing and comparing an Ivy Leaguer with a student that attended a standard private or public institution, when striving or competing for a position, seems to be the spark for the controversial part of this discussion. One could often say that such juxtaposition is simply fruitless and the “winner” is obvious; that the Ivy Leaguer would end up getting the job position over the student who attended a non-Ivy League institution. Indeed, according to Tonsil, the more prestigious the college, the greater the success of the student will be (Tonsil 18). Most commonly, in an Ivy League institution, one may certainly be more likely to make social connections that might be more difficult to encounter at a non-Ivy league institution. The prestige is also the main attraction for these elite institutions. The truth is that Ivy Leagues are known to have all types of influence upon American culture, even its federal government. Today's most recognized and influential politicians are Ivy Leaguers. Political figures such as former president George W. Bush, current president Barack Obama, and countless other political figures are former Ivy League graduates. This perpetuates the ideal that perhaps attending an elite institution is necessary to reach success or "The American Dream". In the end, one may begin to wonder if it is worth putting out all that money into this "privileged" type of higher education. To begin with, the price tag for an education was not as high as it is today; the higher the prestige upheld by an institution, the greater the cost. Many dig more into that idea, neglecting the purpose of what they may value most about their education and passions.
In contrast to Tonsil’s apparent positive claims and arguments regarding elite education, in his article “The of an Elite Education” American Scholar writer William Deresiewicz argues that, despite the academics and repute of Ivy League institutions, American society often hold Ivy Leagues on a high pedestal for shaky reasons. According to Deresiewicz, “My education taught me to believe that people who didn’t go to an Ivy League or equivalent school weren’t worth talking to…” (2). Students who attend Ivy League schools often forget themselves and get wrapped up in all their Ivy League glory or the fact that they actually attend one of the world’s most famous eight schools. This is not their fault alone, for Ivy League institutions train their students from their immediate arrival to view non-Ivy Leaguers as inferior and to live up to their school’s name to the fullest. During this stage of the game, students begin to be misled from the real purpose for which they may be pursuing their higher education.
Throughout the article, Deresiewicz writes about the fact that there are several disadvantages to an elite education: “ As two dozen years at Yale and Columbia have shown me, elite colleges relentlessly encourage their students to flatter themselves for being there, and for what being there can do for them” (1). Deresiewicz establishes how with all of their glory and prestige, Ivy League universities fail to teach their students to be down to earth people who can relate to people who may not be as well educated as themselves or who attended less “gifted” institutions, with less socioeconomic prosperity and so on (Deresiewicz 1). While the elite institutions that Deresiewicz attended value aspects such as economic and social success, a certain elite culture, connections or networking, he values something far more different than that, something he was not able to grasp during his time in Yale or Columbia, because it was value that did not matter to them or seemed necessary for life after graduation. The message that Deresiewicz is attempting to establish is that higher education should not be all about connections, getting a job, or the name of one’s school. It should be about finding one’s self, being prepared to relate to those who are not as socially or economically fortunate as you, getting those big questions about life answered and addressing the values that are most important to one’s character. These are the features that many Ivy Leaguers continue to slowly over look, leading to grade success and achievements, but little experience and no vision (Deresiewicz 9).
Deresiewicz stresses that he had dedicated fourteen year of his life to higher education and holds a bunch of Ivy League degrees, yet he cannot think of a way to communicate with the “ordinary” plumber making repairs to his damaged kitchen pipes. He seems to be very unsatisfied and believes that he has been miseducated. Throughout the article he seems to express a tone of disappointment, sarcasm, and disgust for the time and effort he spent attempting to get “the best of the best” and ending up with some degree of ignorance and stupidity. He mentions the fact that he is not the only Ivy Leaguer experiencing such situations; his friends can relate as well. On a distinct side of the spectrum, the rationales for higher education seem to be interpreted differently based on a person’s values or definition of the word. In his article “The Pedagogy of Debt” Jeffrey Williams states that back in the day, students where given a “grounding in humanistic knowledge” (J. Williams 10). In other words, the view of higher education was an entitlement, to the current neo-liberal notion of privilege, from social goals to individual good. But this notion was driven by passion, not by the thirst to be recognized based on a school’s name or to help oneself instead as the nation and community as a whole, with the knowledge one got out of their higher education. Deresiewicz states that he has come across people that did not attend an Ivy League University, but are far more intelligent than many Ivy Leaguers. There are plenty of students who are smarter than those who go to Ivy League schools, but they just do not have the same opportunity’s attending their “good old ordinary” schools. This only evokes the intriguing question: is it worth the money, time and effort? Many people believe that the key difference between Ivy League students is the fact that they may be better rounded around certain subjected, or harder workers, compared to non Ivy Leaguers, but this does not necessarily mean that they are innately intelligent.
In the end, according to Payscale, the salaries of the graduates of Ivy League and non-Ivy League schools are very similar, some may not be more than five thousand dollars apart. The average starting salary for a Clarkson University graduate is approximately $57,900 per year while the average starting salary for a Cornell university graduate is about $55,800. As Deresiewicz stated; “places like Yale are simply not set to help students ask the big questions” (7). In other words, Ivy League schools lack something; they don’t necessarily teach students the questions about life that need to be answered. Moreover, according to Deresiewiez’s experience, places like Yale do not prepare their students to critically engage with questions of daily life, especially the daily life of a person positioned in a lower socioeconomic rank. Ivy Leaguers lack passion, because they are solely focused on ranking and receiving high marks. Instead, they lead students into thinking about the next assignment; “Being intellectual means, first of all, being passionate about ideas-and not just for the duration of a semester, for the sake of pleasing the teacher, or for getting a good grade” (6). This nation’s outlook on higher education seems to have shifted to a completely different direction and ideology. Before, the meaning of higher education was about the passion and enjoyment for knowledge and a better future. Kids no longer think out side the box of something bigger than the next assignment. It seems as if life has become about what others expect of them, most especially what others expect from Ivy Leaguers.
It would be ludicrous to say employers aren't influenced by where a candidate went to school. Before, people thought of higher education as an investment that pays off over a lifetime, in both monetary and non-monetary ways, but today that notion has changed in a way that people have come to believe that its only about money and socioeconomics. The same passion that was put into continuing one’s education after high school is no longer as abundant as it once was. People have been too caught up in ranking and bringing others down to push themselves up. This is basically the source of many of the problems based on equality today in the United States. Boundaries between socioeconomic statuses have been set too high, blocking the disadvantaged’s access or to “The American Dream.” If both Ivy League and non-Ivy League instructions provide the same type of education, why is that fact often overlooked or clouded with fantasies of high paying occupations, and alumni connections? Has American society taken such a drastic turn and forgotten how hard it is to define the real purpose and value of higher education?
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