This chapter discusses the value of college. Selingo mentions that since there are many different ways in which college is valued it is hard to figure out a way to fairly rank schools (page 139). I think the fact that the “one size fits all” mentality isn’t relative nowadays justifies the incapability to rank all the universities in the nation. The top school for one person may not be the top school for another. So saying that Harvard is the top school may not hold true for all individuals.
Selingo asks the question, “Does the student make the institution or the institution make the student?” (page 136) This is critical when someone is deciding which college to attend. If the latter part of the question is true than the school is a major part in molding the student into the person they will become. Each person will evaluate a school differently according to their priorities. Alternatively, I think that if the former were true then that means it wouldn’t matter which school is good for the individual; it only matters what the individual does while in a college. The student would be able to mold the school into a place they can use to grow and learn.
One thing that Selingo suggests students and parents should have as a priority is the average salary for each major after graduation. This is putting a monetary value on the college degree. Some people may choose school A over school B because of the higher average salary of the graduates. Without that information the student might choose school B thinking it is a better “fit.” It is also interesting that students still choose the major that they are interested in even if it is one that would not get them a high paying job (page 130). I wonder if it would be better to major in something that is higher paying rather than the desired major that may be difficult to land a job with. Would graduates be better off in a job that may not interest them than unemployed with a degree they enjoyed acquiring?
Something that I am a little confused about is what Selingo says employers seem to want. I get the feeling that he mentions employers want more of a well rounded employee and will tend to hire graduates that have experience in a few subjects, showing that they are able to adapt or think critically. However, I also understood that starting schooling with a more specific focus, even for a shorter amount of time like with Carey in Northern Virginia Community College (pages 124-125), is better for getting employed after college. These two ideas seem contradictory to me. Employers want well-rounded workers, yet are hiring those with an education in more specific fields?
In the last couple of pages in this chapter, he mentions a standardized test that is encouraged for public colleges to give to see how much students have learned from their freshman year to their senior year (pages 140-141). Selingo mentions that it is the most controversial solution to ranking colleges. It is already implemented in more than a thousand schools. I don’t like this idea of standardized testing because I dont see how it is possible to compare the results from one school to the next. Although there may be similar majors in the schools, they definitely do not teach the same things or in the same style. Often times within the same school courses of a particular subject aren’t even taught in one way. The test may be formulated in a way that is more similar to one school’s style of teaching than another. But who said that is the right way?
Yes, graduation rates and salary numbers can be used to rank schools but that cannot and is not the only factor that plays in the role of colleges. It still comes down to a matter of opinion and priorities.
