...People Going to College” Charles Murray’s essay proposes that American colleges are being flooded with individuals who are either unprepared for higher education or who are simply forced into attending college and can’t succeed because of the lack of certain innate abilities. Murray’s essay goes on to take issue with the idea that the pursuit of a traditional college education is somehow strategically creating a separation of the American class system. While Murray makes many salient points with regards to America’s obsession with college education as a standard into a class of the intellectual elite, the essay fails to take into consideration the various motivators that can lead to student success, despite where that student might be on Murray’s ability ladder (Murray Paragraph 13). This essay seeks to analyze Murray’s claims about why the pursuit of a traditional, four-year college education can do more harm than good when it comes to defining success for the individual learner. Rhetorical Analysis The main thesis of Murray’s essay is that the unrealistic pursuit of a college degree, propagates to children at an early age and does more harm than good. Murray claims that many students do not have the ability needed to enjoy and complete a four-year college education (PARAGRAPH 13). Murray further supports his thesis with his reasoning that more people are going to college because they are indoctrinated, regardless of their skilled ability, to pursue college as a natural progression...
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...would want to go one more year very few would say yes. I would, not because I like school, not because I enjoy spending six hours cooped up inside, but because I could use one more year to just be sure I am completely prepared for college. Along with this I feel that because we are required to take tenth grade graduation test and most of our tenth grade year is spent preparing for this test. Highschool students today are highly prepared for the world, but that one extra year in high school could possibly be spent taking time on preparatory courses in college type setting. Students get thrown into the college setting which is a major shock to them due to the major differences. Maybe doing this our freshmen's first quarter wouldn't be as much of a change. Because we have to take the graduation test in tenth grade we don't learn anything that year. We need another year due to that, so we should go one more year to make sure we are ready. Scoring Explanation This essay demonstrates inconsistent skill in responding to the task. The writer takes a position but displays no recognition of a counter-argument to that position. Development of ideas is thin with general statements to explain the first idea (Students get thrown into the college setting which is a major shock to them due to the major differences) and very little explanation of the second idea (Because we have to take the graduation test in tenth grade we don't learn anything that year). There is some indication...
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...Writing conclusions The conclusion is the final paragraph in an essay. It has three purposes. 1. It signals the end of the essay. To do so, begin your conclusion with a clear signal, such as To sum up, In conclusion, To conclude. 2. It reminds your reader of your main points, which you can do in one of two ways: You can . • summarize your main ideas. • rewrite your thesis statement in other words. 3. It leaves your reader with your final thoughts on the topic. This is your opportunity to give a strong, effective message that your reader will remember. How to write a strong conclusion Thesis: The cost of higher education is increasing and financial support for students is decreasing. 1. Make a prediction In summary, the costs of attending college have been rising while, at the same time, sources of financial aid for students have been disappearing. If this trend continues, fewer and fewer families will be able to send their children through four years of college. This will seriously affect the future of many young people’s lives. 2. Suggest results or consequences To sum up, the costs of attending college are up and financial aid for students is down. Fewer and fewer future members of the workforce are able to educate themselves beyond high school. As a result, the nation will waste the intelligence, imagination, and energy of a large segment of the present college-age generation. 3. Suggest a solution, make a recommendation, or call for action ...
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...October 2014 Higher Education. A Split Decision Universities extend back centuries and have played a huge role in expanding the minds of its attendants. Universities like Oxford or Cambridge were established near to as early as the 1100s, but they were not sanctioned until deemed by a Pope or King soon after. While this great honor of recognition brought a good rep with it, it also came with a price to the masters and their apprentices. Although the system today is quite modernized and is commonly available to all, scholars of the highest degree were the only participants, save it be the masters, of such study in the early days of college. This is also due to the fact that the general population was illiterate. Time passed on and shortly thereafter, universities were beginning to spread like wildfire throughout the nations and the ability to attend such institutions passed down to those who were wealthy or intelligent enough to be accepted. Masters with their students were the leaders of such centers, and they were free to delve into any subject they wished until the desire to become recognized grew. Recognition esteemed them to be great but at such a cost that they studied theology more intently than the liberal arts in order for them to catch the Pope’s eye. Fortunate for education, it progressed far passed theology to explore into the depths of science, reasoning, and technology which came much later in time. Fast forward a few centuries and a higher education became a more...
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...Higher Learning The argument about higher learning has been a long standing controversy. Some people in America question if the core curriculum taught in college prepares college students for the real world. They wonder if the main courses such as English or Science really help students develop the communicating and critical thinking skills needed to get a good job in today’s society. Another argument is the belief that only certain people should go to college, while others believe that everybody should go to college. Two prime examples of these opinions are the opinions of Sanford Ungar and Charles Murray. Ungar believes that everyone should go to college and receive some form of liberal arts degree, while Charles Murray believes that only students in to 90 percentile should go to college. Both men agree that a liberal arts degree is a great thing, but their opinions on when it should be taught and who it should be taught too are very different. While Murray’s points are somewhat accurate I believe that Ungar’s ideas are more persuasive because he recommends that everybody gets a liberal arts degree helping increase the amount of people with the critical thinking and communication skills businesses are looking for. Sanford Ungar wrote the essay 7 Major Misperceptions About the Liberal Arts. In this essay Ungar describes the benefits of getting a liberal arts degree. In misperception 2, Ungar states how even though people believe the notion of “who wants to hire someone...
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...In the essay “Your So Called Education” by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa the ideas of education quality and the lack of it not being held to the highest standard are evident throughout the essay. These two authors have written many different works about problems in education today. Richard Arum is a professor of sociology at New York University, and he is also the Director of Education Research. Arum received his doctorate in sociology from the University of California at Berkley. Finally he led Research Partnership for New York schools, giving them solutions to improve the public school system. Josipa Roska is the associate professor and director at the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. She also is the professor of sociology at the University of Virgin. Both of these authors have high degrees in higher education, and have qualified backgrounds. Their goal in this essay is to target teachers and professionals. The main points of this essay are to give these professionals tool to make education at a higher standard. Although the use of logos is clear there is an underlining essence of pathos, and a lack of pathos. The article starts with talking about how special graduation is, and how important receiving a college degree really can be. Nevertheless it also says that the difficulty of schooling has significantly decreased in recent years. School is more about fun now then about work. Surveys have shown that “Almost 9 out of 10 reported overall...
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...First-generation college students are defined as students who are from a family where no parent or guardian has earned a baccalaureate degree, a common definition used in most studies (Soria & Steepleton 2012; Choy 2001). Roughly, one third or 32% of undergraduate students are first-generation college students (National Postsecondary Student Aid Study [NPSAS] 2012). It is important we understand the needs of first-generation college students as the number of students entering college increases (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2009) and colleges push to increase retention and graduation rates (U.S. Department of Education, 2009). This essay will argue that retention rates of first-generation college students are much lower compared...
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...College isn't for everyone - Education USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), May, 2003 by W.J. Reeves APPROXIMATELY 15,000,000 Americans are enrolled in college, although about half of them probably shouldn't be! During the junior year of high school, students and, to a greater extent, their parents start to fret about getting the teenager into a college. Most of these students are unable to be admitted to first-rate schools like Williams College or the Ivy League institutions, but they and their parents believe that a college education, from any school, is necessary to succeed in the 21st century. However, Edward E. Gordon reports in an article entitled "Creating Tomorrow's Work Force" (The Futurist, August, 2000) that 70% of the workers in the coming decades will not need a four-year college degree, but, rather, an associate degree from a community college or some type of technical certificate. Thus, moms and dads, who foot the bill, delude themselves that going to any four-year college will make their sons and daughters literate, analytical, culturally aware, technologically advanced, and therefore employable. In America today, there exists a goal that the majority of the nation's youth should go to college and that access should be the byword for higher education. On the surface, this sounds like a great idea; in reality, it is not. Access in its most-extreme form--open admissions--was instituted at The City University of New York during the turmoil...
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... Are too many people going to college? This question has been contemplated over for years. The increased cost of college throughout the years has caused the question to become even more relevant. Charles Murray, an author from the American Enterprise Institute, wrote the essay entitled “Are Too Many People Going to College?” Murray’s essay sought ought to explain that universities are being filled with students who are either not prepared for higher education or who are compelled into attending college and are unable to succeed because the lack of inherent abilities. While Murray makes many pertinent points about America’s infatuation with the B.A as a standard into a class of intellectual elite the essay does not take into consideration the individual influences that may lead to a student’s success. This essay will analyze and critique Murray’s view of why the pursuit of a B.A can lead to more harm than good. Murray’s main argument throughout his essay is that the perceived reward of a college degree disseminates to those seeking higher education and inevitably does more harm than good. He argues that many students do not have the ability to enjoy and finish a four year degree. This leads the student to being stigmatized and in debt due to his or her failure. Murray further establishes his argument by saying that more people continue to go to college because they are programmed into believing, regardless of their abilities, to pursue college as an essential development into...
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...Personal Responsibility Personal responsibility means to take responsibility for what you want to do in your life through the decisions you make. This essay will reflect what personal responsibility means, and the relationship between personal responsibility and college success, identification of two areas of improvement as a college level student based on personal, professional, and academic circumstances, specific strategies discovered through research to improve within these areas, and a preliminary plan to practice personal responsibility in my education. Personal responsibilities are the decisions I make on daily basis. Whether they are as simple as getting out of bed in the morning or to exercise or not these are very important decision I choose to make. I have two very important responsibilities that I must take care of each day, my two children. I have a little boy who is six years of age and a little girl who is two and both very active children that I need to be alert and able to keep up with throughout all of their sports and activities. Kyle, my son asks me why I am always on my computer and I said I am going to school to improve our future and hopefully I am showing him that it is never too late to continue our education and I am always telling him no matter how old you are we can continue to learn. I want to set a good example for my children through these responsibilities as discussed so far. Therefore, I must wake up in the morning and care for them. Also...
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...Professor Munro English 102-1EC September 1, 2015 Is A College Education Worth The Money? Whether or not a college education is worth the money is a controversial topic. Some people believe that a college education gives them a sense of accomplishment, more job opportunities, and the opportunity for a better paying job. While others challenge this position, claiming that even with a college education they are not guaranteed a good paying job, will be stuck with debt, and in reality people do not need a college education in order to be successful. It seems clear that a college education is a worthwhile investment because depending on someone’s career path it can give them many opportunities and open up a lot more doors in their future. A college education will help others get a better paying job. In an essay posted in USA Today states “the average weekly income for those who have jobs” as follows: “people with a high school degree makes $444, which is less than a person with an associate degree that makes $767. A person with a bachelor’s degree makes $1,038, which is less than a person that has a doctoral degree that makes $1,550.” (Smith) It is a chain that can go on. The less educated a person is the less they will get paid. Before I came to college, I worked for a private practice doctor for about four years. When I started I was getting paid $8.00 an hour, and when I left four years later I was making $9.00. A college education will open more doors for me and give me more opportunities...
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...and U.S.A’s Education Policy Student’s Name Institution Affiliation Introduction Education policy refers to the guidelines and principles that the government put in place as laws in order to govern the activities around education systems in their country (Dewey, 2012). These policies are meant to be implemented in all the stages of education that is from early childhood education, kindergarten through to 12th grade, university and college education, graduate, adult education and job training. The areas that the government focuses on while formulating and implementing education policy include school choice, class size, school size, teacher education, school privatization, teacher pay and certification, curricular content, teaching methods, school infrastructure and education requirements (Dewey, 2012). It also encompasses the values and missions that schools aim to uphold and achieve respectively. A country’s academic success is greatly determined by the kind of education policies that have been formulated and implemented by its government (Ravitch, 2012). Hence this is a very vital factor for citizens to consider when they are obligated to vote in a new government. They tend to look at the most beneficial and favorable education policies that are going to be for the good of the country. Politicians also prioritize this factor when they are campaigning for office. This essay aims at comparing two countries’ education policies that...
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...Just write about why you are applying to TFA. Why do you want to spend two years teaching low-income students in urban or rural communities? What life experiences have led you to apply? Teach for America Essay help request Sorry for the long post! Okay, so I have rough drafts of both my essays for teach for America done! I have to revise them like tonight because the application is due Friday. But if you have a moment, look them over and let my know what you think. Ideas on how to trim them down to five hundred words would be very helpful. the first is a letter of intent, the second an essay about my greatest accomplishment in the past four years. ESSAY #1 I hope to join Teach for America for what seems like a simple reason: I want to teach. Specifically, I want to teach middle school social studies or history. What thrills me about teaching is the constant challenge of finding better ways to motivate students and make learning relevant to their lives. I want to teach middle school because it is a challenging age. Middle school students are trying to figure out their roles in the world and are facing many pressures from peers, society, and their parents to conform in different ways. I want to be a supportive mentor for children at that difficult point in their lives. I want middle school to be a pleasant experience instead of the bad memory it is for many people. This is much the same thing that motivates me to teach history: I hated history classes when I was in middle...
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...In the essay “We Send Too Many Students to College” author Marty Nemko examines the contradictions between the statistics colleges boast, and the real-life situations that their graduates endure. Nemko’s intended audience are the parents of prospective college students, and he examines the different types of future high school graduates. He suggests a more analytical approach for budding young adults to utilize when making decisions regarding their imminent future rather than rushing headlong into deciding on a major and college. Nemko then offers a feasible list of alternatives to pursuing college. The author primarily utilizes a logical standpoint to support his position with statistics, quotes, and examples, and appeals emotionally through...
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...Scholar Program for African Americans: The Ron Brown Scholar Program provides scholarship awards to African-American high school seniors who are excelling in their academics, exhibiting exceptional leadership potential, and actively serving in community service activities. For more details, visit www.ronbrown.org #2 - Gates Millennium Scholars Program For Minority Students: The Gates Millennium Scholars Program (also known as the Bill Gates Scholarship) awards scholarships each year to African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American or Hispanic American students who plan to enroll full-time in a two-year or four-year college or university program. For more details, visit www.gmsp.org Copyright © 2016 All Rights Reserved. This ebook is the personal copy of Corketa Martin (CorkeLou@aol.com) #3 - Tom Joyner Foundation "Full Ride" Scholarship: The Tom Joyner Foundation "Full Ride" Scholarship awards a full scholarship to one student to attend a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). The scholarship is open to graduating high school seniors with high academic records. For more details, visit www.tomjoynerfoundation.org #4 – Microsoft STEM Scholarship Program: Microsoft Scholarship Program is for students who are pursuing studies in Computer Science and related STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). Most of the scholarships will be awarded to female students, underrepresented minority students (AfricanAmerican, Hispanic or Native...
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