As the parent of a high school senior about to go off to college and having to make a smart choice as to where to go, I found this book incredibly timely. It sends a message I thought I knew yet need to hear again and again: that for some reason we value the brand name of a university, the "elite factor," much higher than it should be valued if we rationally looked at all the factors important in school choice.
Frank Bruni is so talented in getting this message across. He presents us with dozens of resumes of well-known people we admire who went to what he calls the "unsung" alma maters. Howard Schultz, Chris Christie, Condoleeza Rice, and Christiane Amanpour get a mention, among many many more. He shows, again and again, how countless success stories are forged by such things as hard work, a winding instead of a straight path, often one littered with obstacles and setbacks, and by an intense focus and passion that comes from within.
Bruni also takes apart the U.S. News and World Report college ranking that has risen to bible status yet is a very faulty predictor of university excellence at best, putting way too much weight on selectivity and admission counselors' opinions and giving rise to myriad ways universities can game the system to improve their rank. He reveals some fascinating studies linking later success not only with average SAT scores at schools attended but at schools one was rejected from, which sort of turns selectivity on its head, if you think about it.
He also points out the dangers of exerting all this pressure on our kids from the seventh grade onwards, all geared to setting them on the path to greatness as defined by which college they get into. "My fear is that these kids are always going to be evaluating their self-worth in terms of whether they hit the next rung society has placed in front of them at exactly the time that society has placed it." Let alone the fact that we might create "contrived mannequins" who assemble their record and even their life in a way they think pleases an admissions office at an elite school rather than pursuing their interests and passions.
There is one caveat: If by reading this book you're looking for absolute proof that an elite school isn't necessary for your success, especially if you define success by one day running a Fortune 500 company, you won't find it. In fact, the numbers presented show rather the opposite. Yes, not the majority of top CEOs come from Ivy League schools, but a large enough number do, so as to overrepresent these schools substantially when compared to the total number of alumni produced. This book isn't about numbers, it's about how we value education: by the label that society places on it, or by what learning we ultimately get out of it?
Bruni's book is really just an extensive collection of essays on the topic of college admissions, a bit in the style of Malcolm Gladwell (though not as suspenseful). But they are nonetheless excellent essays full of information and thought-provoking tenets, and they are woven together seamlessly by Bruni's talented hand. If you're not in the college admissions game, you might skip this book. But if you are, you should not proceed without it.
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Eva Melusine Thieme
As a student (or parent) in the college admissions game, you should not proceed without this book
2015年4月21日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済みAmazonで購入
Marisa Mendel
Wonderful words of wisdom
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carol
Music to a parents' ears.
2015年4月10日にフランスでレビュー済みAmazonで購入
C. Grieco
A MUST READ FOR COLLGE and UNIVERSITY PLANNING
2015年7月2日にカナダでレビュー済みAmazonで購入
Avid Reader
A must read for parents who have kids going to college!!
2015年4月20日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済みAmazonで購入
