Argument Essay: Should Students Have The Best School?

Deresiewicz explains the importance of thinking logically, and the important influence of living on campus and being surrounded by a good group of people on how students think. “College is not the only chance to learn to think. It is not the first; it is not the last; but it is the best” because college puts students in situations that force them to rethink their values and opinions (Deresiewicz 82). At the end of the day, the education students earn will last them a lifetime. So don’t they want the best education? Isn’t that why they are working their whole lives to get into the best schools? The problem is all of these things are true, but these best schools create a flock of students who cannot think for themselves and what they want, and …show more content…
These problems start long before students attend an elite school. Students start preparing themselves to survive the vigorous application process, from SAT scores to clubs and leadership opportunities. Parents have a big role in the whole process, as they expect their children to be the best. They will send children to private schools, if they have the money, some even end up “refusing to allow their children to go on a field trip, because they couldn’t afford to lose a day of academics” (Deresiewicz 49). The lack of attending a field trip does not allow the student to be well rounded as they continue to study for a test and not life. These excellent students become so busy with getting into college that they forget to enjoy life and learn from their experiences. Every activity they join someone else has mathematically calculated that looks good on a resume. These elite students have an average of six to seven extracurricular activities just to have them on their resume, not because they enjoy them but because they have to. This resume building lifestyle causes children to forget how to think, instead they are on autopilot trying to navigate through the application