University Choice 2

I recieved a fascinating response to the blog I wrote about the TV series Bones and how to choose a university (it's last but one in the blogroll).  I thought Kathy's response was so interesting, I've posted it here rather than in the comments section.

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Kathy Phillips  wrote:

I read your comments about the “Bones” bit where Cam’s got problems with her foster daughter about school choices.  I’ve spent a good bit of time in England, especially in my late-teens (London, Somerset), and I’m pretty familiar with your educational system.   Your definitions of “student” and “academic hot-shot” have no parallel in this country, and particularly not for a student in a Washington D.C. area school system.  At 18, our kids graduate high school and are not nearly at a level that compares to your university-bound hot-shots.  Out SATs are generic exams that colleges use for admission criteria, but they bear absolutely no relation to your A-Levels and O-Levels.  Achievement here is a relative thing.  Grades here are a relative thing.

Not to put too fine a point on it, American kids, unless coming out of the premier prep schools on the level of Phillips Andover or Choate, are largely immature, and even the better students have merely achieved success when measured against a less than elevated standard.  I could go into details that would make your eyes glaze over (no classics, history limited to American history or “world civ” – a general overview that makes no effort to distinguish between cultures and norms, English literature studies limited to the very most basic texts).  The simple fact is:  American education is available to everyone through the age of 18 – or the 12^th grade – and the numbers that have to be reached insure that the standards are lowered to meet a mean of ability.

In any event, Michelle’s comments were very familiar to many of us.  At least in theory.  I’ve known some pretty sharp kids choose schools based on weather, sports, appearance of campus, and nearby cities.  And I wouldn’t have said no to any of these criteria.  My extremely bright goddaughter (whom I help to raise) chose to go to Duke University, a premier school in North Carolina.  She just liked it, liked the feel of the campus and – yes – the weather.  She had no idea what she would major in so she wasn’t looking for any particular school or academic.   Frankly, we don’t expect our very brightest kids to achieve very much in school – unless they go to Harvard, Yale, Wellesley, Princeton and the like after attending a premier preparatory school – and to find their feet in graduate school.  Kate is now in medical school after the kind of search for a place to study along the lines that you describe in your blog.  She knew then what she wanted and went after it.  But even a very smart and mature 18 year-old kid here isn’t going to apply the same criteria to their choice as one of yours would.

Good luck to Lucy.  I hope she gets to do what she wants to do.  But I’d give her advice I’ve gleaned from my nephew’s education:  he went to Princeton University, one of our premier institutions, intent on becoming a mathematician.  Princeton is known for its math and physics departments.  After a year, he was disillusioned and floundered around a bit – he didn’t like the department or the professors.  He found his footing.  He graduated from Princeton summa cum laude with a degree in Chinese Language, Literature and Linguistics and is now a Ph.D. candidate in Chinese Poetry and Linguistics from Harvard University.