The Disadvantages of an Elite Education

I just read a great essay by William Deresiewicz, an associate professor of English at Yale. His message is clear: ivy-league education is flawed.

Here is the killer sentence:

It’s no coincidence that our current president [Bush], the apotheosis of entitled mediocrity, went to Yale.

Via Sébastien Paquet.

See also my posts It may not matter all that much where you go to college and The 2 myths getting students into ivy-league schools.

Disclosure. I am a University of Toronto graduate. The closest thing Canada has to an Elite education, I would guess.

Published by

Daniel Lemire

A computer science professor at the Université du Québec (TELUQ).

4 thoughts on “The Disadvantages of an Elite Education”

  1. The essay itself is a bit longer than I have time for at the moment to read, but the quote is interesting:

    … our current president … went to Yale.

    I’m still looking for the disadvantage of going to Yale…

    Reply

  3. Oh, please. There’s certainly some valid starting points of criticism in there, but then he goes off the deep end. I’m no elite-school apologist, but by the end, I found the essay extreme to the point of, dare I say it, ridiculousness.

    For a more reasoned and balanced criticism of the current state of the Ivies, I’d recommend my esteemed colleague’s book, Excellence Without a Soul by Harry Lewis.

    Reply

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