Our president? Don't let the other Canadians hear you say that!
Anyway, mostly I'm down with the "screw those assholes" school of thought regarding the Ivy League. But I genuinely liked both Harvard's and Stanford's grad programs beyond the simply Ivy League credential.
Malcolm Gladwell had a great article on the history of Ivy League admissions. I can't remember if it was in the New Yorker or the NYT Magazine, though I think it was the New Yorker. Anyway, the Ivy League schools, for the most part, have put a lot of effort into tweaking their admissions criteria and application evaluation process to admit more elite types, "well-rounded," etc. who are likely to be big donors as alumni, and at one time the efforts to exclude non-WASP elites (Jews especially) were quite transparent.
Anyway, their admissions process is still very far from anything approaching a simple evaluation of merit. I'd even say that trying to get in on merit alone is a fool's errand. If I were you, I'd take a "Moneyball" approach to grad school -- look for one where the quality of education exceeds the reputation, and watch your degree's value appreciate over time. It might even help if the school's basketball team makes the final four. See: Mason, George.
I'm looking to become a junior high/high school English teacher. So basically all I need is certification and a degree. I hear Dowling (one of the local LI schools) is handing them out to anyone who pays tuition. But I'd like to go somewhere "good" -- by which I mean has a program I like and a name that will open some doors. Normally I wouldn't worry about something like name recognition, but having spoken to a lot of LI teachers lately, it seems a good name really does help getting you jobs at schools that aren't complete crap.
5 comments:
Screw Harvard.
I'm sorry to hear that. Too bad you're not smart and hard-working enough to get into an ivy league school, like say, our president.
Our president? Don't let the other Canadians hear you say that!
Anyway, mostly I'm down with the "screw those assholes" school of thought regarding the Ivy League. But I genuinely liked both Harvard's and Stanford's grad programs beyond the simply Ivy League credential.
Malcolm Gladwell had a great article on the history of Ivy League admissions. I can't remember if it was in the New Yorker or the NYT Magazine, though I think it was the New Yorker. Anyway, the Ivy League schools, for the most part, have put a lot of effort into tweaking their admissions criteria and application evaluation process to admit more elite types, "well-rounded," etc. who are likely to be big donors as alumni, and at one time the efforts to exclude non-WASP elites (Jews especially) were quite transparent.
Anyway, their admissions process is still very far from anything approaching a simple evaluation of merit. I'd even say that trying to get in on merit alone is a fool's errand. If I were you, I'd take a "Moneyball" approach to grad school -- look for one where the quality of education exceeds the reputation, and watch your degree's value appreciate over time. It might even help if the school's basketball team makes the final four. See: Mason, George.
Anyway, good luck!
I'm looking to become a junior high/high school English teacher. So basically all I need is certification and a degree. I hear Dowling (one of the local LI schools) is handing them out to anyone who pays tuition. But I'd like to go somewhere "good" -- by which I mean has a program I like and a name that will open some doors. Normally I wouldn't worry about something like name recognition, but having spoken to a lot of LI teachers lately, it seems a good name really does help getting you jobs at schools that aren't complete crap.
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