I started reading that article earlier today and will finish at lunchtime. This paragraph struck me:

Quote
No one but me knows he fakes being well-read by thumbing through the first and last chapters of any book he hears about and obsessively devouring reviews in lieu of the real thing. He does this not because he’s incurious, but because there’s a bigger social reward for being able to talk about books than for actually reading them.

I was also saddened, but not surprised, by the industrial acronyms and metrics used by the admissions committee (e.g., you get points for having good PQs [personal qualities] or being a DevA [parents in the highest category of donors to the university]).

I was also a bit surprised that being able to memorize 30 lines of Pope's poetry made students at a "top university" "thoroughbreds." Err. My 9th grade Honors English class had to memorize Marc Antony's speech in Julius Caesar. Children in France memorize a new poem every week, starting in first grade.

Last edited by Val; 07/23/14 08:45 AM.