In Louis Menand's, "What College Is For", he explores three different theories that explain his prospective on higher education. Theory 1 explains how the bachelor's degree is losing its meaning. Theory 2 is how competitiveness is warping …show more content…
Valencia was my first choice because of the cost of attendance, the majors that are available, class size, and transfer options. I didn't pick this school because I thought it was going to be easy but, because it would allow me to smoothly transfer into a state university. I chose UCF to attend after Valencia because of their school of psychology's reputation. So, UCF's ranking was a deciding factor for me when I was choosing a school to transfer to.
"Students and their parents are overvaluing a commodity for which there are cheap and plentiful substitutes" (Menand 18). To me, this means that people think the higher cost of attending the better the education but in actuality you can get the same level of education at a school the will cost significantly less. Based on the competition between schools, the cost us attendance will increase …show more content…
"The admissions frenzy is in part a matter of raw numbers. Most highly selective colleges accept a third or fewer of their applicants and the Ivies take fewer than 15 percent. Harvard accepted only 7 percent this year"(Bowie 15). This shows how high school students have to be near perfect to even be considered for these big colleges. Even the most prestigious schools can even stop students from applying because of how competitive it is. "Andrew considered his life. "Sometimes I think to myself. We are missing out on so much of our childhood. Is that really how I want to live my life?" If he didn't have so many activities and so much homework, life might be different. "Maybe I could go out and play that neighborhood football game. When was the last time I played a video games? ... Free time is such an abstract word now." This quote shows how the stress of applying to a competitive school can affect someone. Andrew doesn't even when the last time he had a moment to just relax and just be a normal student. Ever since the beginning of his senior year, he's been swept up in essays, SAT's, grades, and college