Originally posted by Tiff Yeh. The Disadvantages of an Elite Education.
Kind of strange though; I feel like time spent in grad school has helped me overcome some of the issues described here. I hope all you Ricers read it and let me know what you think.
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"I feel like time spent in grad school has helped me overcome some of the issues described here."
I actually feel the same on this. Obviously I don't know about your experience specifically, but for me, it's probably in part because most of my fellow grad students are not the super-over-achieving book-smart type, and many went to schools that I've never heard of and would certainly never be able to point out on a map. And with each flash of brilliance that I witness from my peers, I have to remind myself to view it as motivation to surpass my book-smart tendencies and try to develop the propensity for real intellectualism, rather than cause for giving up what often seems like a futile fight. Well, at least I hope I hang in there. I don't want to give his "elite college alumni give up too easily" argument more weight :P
Augh, he brings up so many different points in that article that I'm starting to forget what some of them were exactly. I kind of wonder if characteristics of grad school itself help to dispel the illusion of elite = entitled. I mean, grad school is pretty elite by definition, but being a grad student is a pretty bottom-of-the-barrel experience. Super low pay, super low power, lots of inadequacy/failure, and no guarantee of the exact opposite of all those conditions once(if) we get our degrees. No Wall Street tycoons here, that's for sure.
Well if nothing else, grad school's definitely more about asking questions and less about regurgitating answers *shrug.*
thanks for the thought, jennifer. I share some of your experiences (bottom of the barrel, yes...), but most of that comment stemmed from the fact that my grad school is UT, which is almost the antithesis of Rice.
(The more I think about it though, the more I can see in my peers what you see in yours - a lot of my grad school friends don't fit the Rice mold at all.)
That questioning part about grad school is definitely true, though. I'm a fan - it's taught me doubt, humility and discipline in ways I never experienced in CCF.
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