College Compare and contrast

In this analysis the articles “Why go to college at all?” and “I don’t want my children to do to college” will be compared and contrasted. In the first article Dale J. Stephens, the interviewee, states that socializing and developing a network of friends and contacts is limited in the college environment. He establishes that the students are there for the same reason, to study.  Stacia L. Brown on the second article establishes that college is much more than a place to study ,“It means whether they realize it or not, that their concept of college is driven by human interaction.” She also says that the internet access in the classroom is a secondary resource for the personal interactions are more valuable for the students. On the contrary, Mr. Stephens says that “As for values of making connections in college to nurture a professional network, people are increasingly using social media resources like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to make connections.”

As for Browns article, she quotes Mark Steinberg, the owner of facebook , to point out that in his believes college graduates develop no essential skills for the work force. Mr. Stephens in the other article agrees with these statements and adds, “You learn how to follow directions, meet deadlines and memorize. When you go out into the real world, there is no structure like that. A job doesn’t give you a syllabus.” With these ideas presented both articles agree that college is not preparing successfully students for the real job world. Both also believe that internships are the best ways to learn about the workforce environment. You learn while you are at it.

Brown quotes Schmidt by saying that he believes college is more about learning to become independent rather than learning education. This is an expansion of the real learning opportunities college provides. As for Mr. Stephens, he believes not going to college allowed him to explore the world around him and travel to immerse himself in other cultures. This leaded him to self discovery rather than what people think college is for.