The Disadvantages of an Elite Education: How Top Universities Fail to Develop Minds, Not Just Careers
By
William Deresiewicz
A five-star bake. Worth schmearing, sharing, saving.
Summary
The essay critiques elite American universities (particularly Ivy League institutions) for producing graduates who are intellectually narrow, socially disconnected, and ill-equipped to engage with people from different backgrounds. The author argues that the admissions process selects for a narrow type of achievement-oriented student, and the university experience reinforces a sense of entitlement and meritocratic hubris rather than fostering genuine learning, curiosity, and civic responsibility. The piece contends that elite education has become more about career credentialing than about developing minds capable of critical thinking and meaningful engagement with society.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledSo alien was his experience to me, so unguessable his values, so mysterious his very language, that I couldn't succeed in engaging him in a few minutes of small talk before he got to work.
Our best universities have forgotten that the reason they exist is to make minds, not careers.
The meritocratic class has mastered the old trick of consolidating wealth and power, but it has forgotten the accompanying obligations of noblesse oblige.
Elite institutions are not in the business of producing thinkers, but of producing successful people.
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