Comments on: The Ivy League Doesn’t Teach Everything

By: Leah

Leah — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 02:38:00 +0000

Obviously, none of you are math majors. Learn the truth values of your implications, people! Correlation doesn’t necessarily imply causation. And unless you’ve written the Theorem of Ivy League Colleges, then take note that because they are sheltered, it does not imply that you are not.

(And just to lay it on the line, I attend a public university…)

By: Soph

Soph — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:49:33 +0000

I tend to find that the real lack is often in social skills, even more so than in mundane practical matters. I mean, they can probably get along well enough with each other, but interacting with “real” people, whose priorities may be completely foreign to theirs (ok, well at this point I may as well admit that a more appropriate term is “ours”) is sometimes a culture shock. I saw this manifest itself in the strangest ways when I got my first job, senior year of high school. Real people don’t measure their value by an SAT score, or grades, or by the number of honor societies they are in. Sad as it is, this perspective is a bit of a shock to an ivy-leaguer. It can be somewhat unexpected to find that people who didn’t go to college (or a good college) are not degenerates, and are not all doomed to despair. I am perfectly comfortable making this generalization about ivy-leaguers because it truly does take the devotion of an entire childhood, or at least adolescence, to get into one of these schools and there is inevitable compromise in the social skill department. Now if anybody says “smart kids can be cool and party,” or something as asinine as that…I might lose some faith in humanity.

By: Quakergirl

Quakergirl — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:53:34 +0000

Wow, some hostile commenters… I’ve learned that any time you even mention “Ivy League,” people jump all over you for being elitist and condescending. It doesn’t matter who you are or what topic you’re discussing. I actually go out of my way to avoid mentioning my alma mater most of the time!

By: laura

laura — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:05:34 +0000

http://www.theamericanscholar.org/su08/elite-deresiewicz.html

By: amanda

amanda — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:12:03 +0000

I don’t think that this article was meant to be condescending but I can see why someone might think that certain lines were a bit much. Saying that they were all too busy playing sports or studying in high school could be taken as saying the rest of us didn’t.

College isn’t really there to teach you how to deal with the real world. You either have family that helps you figure it out or you figure it out for yourself. I’ve been paying all of my own bills since I can remember, doing my own laundry, balancing my own checkbooks, etc…as have most of my friends. It has nothing to do with where you go to college.

By: Lauren, University of Michigan

Lauren, University of Michigan — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:16:12 +0000

Oy, some people are such haters. She is merely explaining her frustration with her Ivy League school that she definitely pays out of the ass for and ends up unprepared for the real world. But, I can tell you… I too was totally unprepared for hte real world. It was a GIANT slap in the face whenI graduated but you learn REALLY quickly. Mostly by trial and lots of error.

By: kristen

kristen — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:14:06 +0000

i think it also has to do with the fact that ivy leaguers are not prepared socially. spending all that time with their noses in books takes away from time spend socializing elsewhere…

exiting college, how does one who never had much social interaction survive in the work place or in a bar or any other social scene? poor kids

By: J - NYU

J - NYU — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:39:26 +0000

The article doesn’t sound condescending to me. It just sounds like Ivy Leaguers are just as unprepared for REAL life as the rest of us.

The only difference is that they get better sweatshirts.

By: KB

KB — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:33:53 +0000

What’s the point of this article? To defend Ivy League schools? In your attempt to make yourself and your peers look “real” you actually alienate yourselves MORE. What, you’re trying to get us to feel sorry for you because you DON’T have tons of money at your disposal AND you can’t pick out the right type of screw or cut of meat?

NEWS FLASH neither can most college students who don’t go to Ivies. And don’t you DARE make it sound like the rest of us didn’t spend lots of time studying or playing sports.

Your article is extremely condescending. If you’re going for learning “life skills” then remember that people don’t like it when you point out that your school is better and then try to make them feel bad for you.

By: Jess

Jess — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:32:39 +0000

Agreed, but most of this stuff could and should be taught in high school. The only thing I learned in high school was how to get ready for college schoolwork. There was a lot of room for learning absolutely anything else.