The American Scholar - The Disadvantages of an Elite Education - By William Deresiewicz

I just finished this great essay by a professor at Yale who realizes that he has nothing to say to his plumber; he has no way to make small talk with a lower-middle class guy. Deresiewicz goes on to discuss the three disadvantages of students who graduate from elite universities:

1) You don't know how to talk to people who are not "smart" in the analytical sense (like you are)
2) You get a false sense of self-worth through the way the school bends over backwards for you
3) You lose the ability to accept less than prestigious lives - elite universities do not produce many elementary teachers, artists or poets
4) You don't get a chance to truly explore the intellectual life because you are too busy trying to jump through hoops

It reminded me of Rick Perlstein's essay "What's the matter with College" which I responded to rather viciously. But this essay is either coming at the issue from a different angle (less aggressive, more humble and introspective) or I've just changed my mind over the past year. Maybe a little bit of both.

Even though I've changed career paths from medicine to business (Applied to the Harvard 2+2 program last week), I still agree with the essay's ideas.

One of my friend might make a great teacher, but even his parents told him: "If you wanted to be a teacher, you could have gone to San Jose State. If you go to Stanford, you'll have to do more". So he's applying to law school.

I'm lucky that I've learned a lot about failure through sports - specifically gymnastics. When only one person/team can win, you learn that often, you are not good enough. You learn how to fail and smile and keep trying. There is no equivalent in most other collegiate endeavors.

I daydream about traveling the world, but wonder what my parents and classmates would think. I'm eager to make an impact on the world, but also wish I could spend a whole summer just reading books and playing video games. But how stupid would that be?

Anyway check out the essay and tell me what YOU think. The Disadvantages of an Elite Education

I’ve always been a firm believer in the separation of Church and state. Even as a young child, I intuitively understood then necessity of keeping religion out of public discourse, even though my parents were evangelical fundamentalists.

I’m a believer in the firm separation of church and state because I’ve had the necessity modeled to me in both my parents family. You see, a couple years before I was born quiet a few of my aunts and uncles converted – to different religions and branches of Christianity.

My parents converted to a Protestant Fundamentalist sect, another couple of uncle’s became a Jehovah’s Witnesses, other became just plain Protestant, a whole branch of my Mom’s family became Mormon, along with one of my Dad’s brothers, while other aunt became a practicing Pagan. On my father’s side his parents were nominally Mexican Catholic while my mother’s mother and stepfather were agnostics.

Fired up with the zeal of their new found beliefs family members began immediately trying to save each other and those who took the live and let live approach. Protestant’s fought with each other and with the Catholics (some declared Catholics weren’t really Christians), then ganged up on the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons (whom they considered to be a different religion). Family gatherings became small religious wars in which each participant was determined to prove the others’ religions false. Individuals (such as my parents) began insisting on prayers over meals, which raised the question – whose prayer would be said. Relationships became strained.

Independently, each set of grandparents arrived at the only set of rules which would keep the peace – there would be no discussion of religion at family gatherings, at all. Those who did so would be asked to stop or to leave.

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Alyssa Rapp is the Founder and CEO of Bottlenotes, an online wine retail business that helps individuals discover and learn about wine. Alyssa started the company while at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she headed the school's 500-person wine club. In this interview, Alyssa gives key insights on starting and running a hybrid online retail business, talks about her personal and entrepreneurial story for Bottlenotes, and gives leads to the most amazing wine regions in the world. Her goal for Bottlenotes, she says, is to create the "Pandora of wine".

Alyssa earned a B.A. in Political Science and the History of Art from Yale University in 2000 and an M.B.A. from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business in 2005. In between her first and second years in business school, she spearheaded the sales and marketing efforts at RO Imports, an importer of boutique New Zealand wines in New York.

Thanks to Julio, iinnovate emeritus, and Roger for contributing to this interview.

- Min Liu of iinnovate