Andrew Delbanco's Making It In America

“The government censoring and blocking everything against the ruling communist party,” (How Strict Are China’s Censorship Laws?) is the reason behind why the people haven’t been informed of how things function in the outside world. This has helped the government until this point in history because the citizens just listen to the authorities and have no access to the outside flow of information. “Words like democracy and revolt are blocked from the internet,”(How Strict Are China’s Censorship Laws?) and the news agencies in China are only “ allowed to release only state-approved news”(How Strict Are China’s Censorship Laws?).

Colleges propagandize their ads, websites, emails and letters to get students to attend their college, Mark Edmundson asserts “Universities need to attract the best students in order to survive in an ever more competitive market”(43); however, when students attend, their expectations are not like the media shows. Colleges are prioritizing more of their time and money to attract students, rather colleges should prioritize their time and money towards bettering the students education. An earnest student would pay less attention to how the university looks like, instead an earnest student would look into which universities offered the best programs and classes. For students, college has become a place where they can kickback and chill in, preferably it should be a place for students to experience and find new discoveries. Although it is important to have a college that provides a warm atmosphere, it is also equally as important to provide a college that offers variety of classes and programs which students can choose

We have been taught and brainwashed by society to care about others and not for ourselves for instance look at the Chinese Immigrants. They were the only ethnic group in the history of the united states to be specifically denied entrance into the country. When allowed entrance into the united states they were denied civil liberties . They were prohibited by law to testify in court, to own property, vote, work and they were denied to marry outside of their race. Chinese immigrants prevailed and overcome this oppression

Caroline Bird’s argument against postsecondary education is incorrect, specifically her beliefs that students are exposed to too many options and graduates only desire jobs that save people. First, Caroline Bird shares her belief that “a college experience that piles option on option …merely adds to the contemporary nightmare.” Although too many options are sometimes overwhelming, limiting choices would also create undue pressure for students. For instance, as a student, I am exposed to several options: what classes I should take, what major I should major in, what professors I should take, etc. This allows me control over my education, so I can avoid being pressured into a class or a major that is not right for me. As a matter of fact, author Virginia N. Gordon found statistical evidence that about 75 percent of students change their major at least once before graduation (Freedman).

Caroline Bird discusses, in “College is a waste of Time and Money,” her opinion on the recurring failure of education in universities. Bird alleges that college is not for everyone, but society forces high school graduates to go to college. College is believed to be the ticket to a successful career, however it some cases it is a waste of time because some classes are worthless. Those who actually decide to go to college, do so because it is a safe haven and it is payed for by parents. It is at the end a waste of time and money, according to Caroline Bird.

The school systems aim to please these new age college students because they essentially pay the bills. Consumption maybe on the rise but college students are more than the shrewd remarks Edmondson argues in his piece. Although his experience as a professor leads him to the assumption that all college students are the same, he has not encountered the whole population. Edmondson’s challenges are learning how to complete with the twenty first century ethos. He has to learn how to adapt to the changing society.

By saying ` With students feeling increased pressure to succeed and little obligation to turn in their peers, honor codes have fallen out of step with values of the modern college student. Today, earning an “A” is a greater motivator than being deemed “honorable.” the author is generalizing students with not clear datas, most of her arguments about students and honor codes nowadays are based upon her opinions and not based on a clear datas Morton starts her speech by welcoming the new students. She also tells them about how passionate she is about her job, and how she prepared herself to talk about honor codes. The author tell her audience that she has a college student. She explains to them on how she tried to talk about honor codes with her and how her daughter rejected the topic every time.

In today society, people are easily looked by their college degree level and they can be judged by their degree. But not everybody can afford to go to college in order to get a degree. People have different reasons of not going to college but most of the reasons are because of the tuition. Tuition are too high and they can not afford it. If the free college situation does not make a great effect on the economy, I believe that college should be free because free college can encourage more students to go to college, earn a degree and can decide on their future without the worry of paying debt and contributing to create a better society with their knowledges.

Loans allow receiving a college education seem like a smoother process considering that such a hefty amount to pay is divided so that it can be paid for in moderation. Despite the fact that it’s split into many payments, it’s still a large quantity all in all so unless indebted students aim for high income jobs, there would many years of difficulty to come after college. For this reason, undergraduates make it their goal to go after jobs which would prevent them from being constantly pressured to pay off debt. Thus, student debt is both a crisis and a reason to encourage persistence towards greater ambitions (Hillman, 41). It is a tremendous thing when a student seeks to be financially comfortable or even rich in the future but not when it is for the wrong reasons.

People go to college to get a good paying job, have job security, and get a degree. Well at least that’s what it should be about. That’s what Charles Murray believes in his essay “Are Too Many People Going to College.” Murray counters the argument of Sanford Ungar who believes colleges should have a more liberal approach towards its classes and have students actually learn a broad range of real life skills instead of just going into a career just because it pays well. In Ungar’s essay he explains the misperception that Americans have on obtaining a liberal-arts degree and how they believe it doesn’t translate well to the real world. Despite Ungar’s points Murray’s essay touched on many valid points such as a liberal education should be learned

I agree with this article. For-profit colleges help people in their education in a lot of different ways. However, many people earn a degree to get a job. If the debt that they procure while doing so is more money than that which the degree can help pay off, that degree will have lost its meaning. Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus support this argument in their article “Are Colleges Worth the Price of Admission?” when they criticize colleges for not focusing on the right priorities to aid undergraduate learning.

The problem is the lawsuits that are holding the NCAA back from doing so and they also make arguments of paying college athletes pointless. Most people agree that if college athletes did get paid it wouldn’t be a total shock but it is just not that easy. These kids should just go through college like the alumni did and it will all payoff when they get their first major job paycheck. The point of college is to get you ready for the real world and if college athletes get paid while in college it totally defeats the purpose of college. Previous alumni didn’t get paid to play sports at their college so what makes the new athletes special.