<p>I’m only a prospective student and thus cannot comment on debate at hand, but I must say, IgorSmerdyakov, your posts highly invigorate my soul with the undiluted speech of a man transcendent.</p>
<p>ahaha, Igor, we must drink together sometime. good times will be had. :)</p>
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<p>yeah, metaphy6 got in, so</p>
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<p>Uh, are you an economist? We’re talking about reality, not axiomatic set theory; I’m on the eve of finishing my UG at a top college and I never met a single person who I think really existed at any of the intersections you’ve just described. </p>
<p>There’s a distinct student-as-consumer phenomenon that definitely erodes the rigor of institutions like UC. Essentially profit is maximized by appealing to the basest instincts in humanity, because the vast majority of students lack the introspection and maturity necessary to identify and resist these instincts; the current academic mentality exploits the unholy trinity: a drive to social prestige, the hedonistic tendency, and the promise of economic power. It seems like most colleges tout their superabundance of engaging and “unique” extra-curriculars as commensurate with the consumer experience most applicants are looking for. I find that activities and disciplines not directly related to vocational potentialities are increasingly considered worthless and a waste of time. (Actually the humanities courses in colleges are becoming largely a waste of time not because the humanities are inferior to the sciences – in fact, the humanities are enormously important to any culturally healthy society – but because after generations of neglect the standards of scholarship in the humanities have dropped precipitously. I had initially planned to double-major in Physics and Philosophy, but changed this to Physics and Mathematics because I quickly realized what a waste of time the philosophy classes in our department, reputedly one of the best in the nation, actually were, and how much more effectively I could cover that material independently.)</p>
<p>In such a sensually over-stimulating and one-dimensional environment, any higher considerations are systematically smothered. Count the number of Biochemical Engineering majors who find what they do intrinsically rewarding and spiritually elevating, and then get back to me.</p>
<p>And for the record, the set of really intellectual students is contained by and is vastly smaller than the set of high “achievers,” so inferring anything about the intellectual character of a college from its statistical profile is hugely erroneous. These statistics are completely arbitrary and have no meaningful relation to real erudition or any other aspect of reality; their emphasis is merely a systematic imperative to waste ungodly vast quantities of time in statistically grooming oneself. Someone who correctly adheres to those expectations (and almost anyone can) will almost always emerge as a pathetic, mouth-breathing show animal – the trend is away from indicators of aptitude and towards indicators of effort (e.g. the statistical correlation of SAT scores to IQ scores is vanishing), which is I think a perfectly reasonable and humane philosophy for designing the system, if that effort is meaningfully directed, which it’s not – the tests are useful only in their quantitative results, and their content pertains to nothing useful or important; in fact I think their content is probably designed to require the use of an officially-sanctioned study guide in its acquisition, thus driving the profits of the test-taking industry. Not only are the painfully abstruse standardized tests necessitating hundreds’ of dollars and hours’ and hours’ worth of useless preparation, but also the quality of high school curricula across the nation is rapidly deteriorating. It’s only going to get worse as the Patriotic Amurikans fiscally eviscerate public education.</p>
<p>In the annals of higher education today, over-specialization is the norm and erudition is sorely lacking. Anyone who claims otherwise is either blind or has some vested interest in defending a long dead, calcified academic culture. Anyone who thinks this is good is stupid at best, and irresponsible at worst.</p>
<p>Also for the record, IgorSmerdyakov’s prose is truly heroic</p>
<p><em>sigh</em> I love reading the UChi forum.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. I will be applying to UChicago as my match. I have 1980 SAT and a 3.6 GPA, and I’m pretty positive about my admission. I really want to get in a Top 10 school, otherwise I might as well attend Ball State University.</p>
<p>They count only your critical and math…</p>