Veerender’s Weblog

As you all know, United States is one of the leading countries that receives applicants from around the world for college education. A college education in the United States is definetely advantageous in that your degree is valid everywhere in the world. You dont have to go through a 3 hr test that determines whether or not you need to go through your 4 years of college again. Another advantage is that students have a wide range of options for a major. There are some majors you see in the United States colleges that you cannot find anywhere else in the world..This is convenient for students that want to go into a field that they are passionate about but cannot find it in their countries.

 But, something that disappoints me about the millions of students trying to apply to universities in the United States is the level of education compared to other countries. I am from India, I have friends that have studied in parts of Europe, Africa and even Australia. All of them find the education in the US a lot easier and feel that they are being taught something that they have already learnt. Yes, the education in the US a lot more interactive than just memorizing 100 chemical formulas in the chemistry text book. But, as students go forward in their education, they are lagging behind compared to the rest of the world. US universities and colleges are on the top of the charts in the world-Harvard, Stanford, Princeton-but, is the education really worth the money? Seems like the top SAT scores come from international students and the top GRE scores come from international students..Then, what are the international students really attracted by the US education?? Is it the variety of choices; is it the place that United States has in the world?

Another very disappointing concept in the university admissions is the statement: “We do not discriminate against race, color, age, gender and disability” but they do!!! Every year there seems to be two people that have the exact same application, same family experiences, same GPA,SAT scores and activities, but they are from different ethnicities. The student who is a minority always seems to get into a college when both of them deserve it just as much. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? As a melting pot, US has always tried to welcome more ethnicities into its culture and as a part of doing that, they seem to be forgetting what their culture was based on. As a part of a non-white ethnicity, I know what it is to be a part of the society and work hard for certain things that others get easily. Inspite of that, I do not believe it is fair to favor certain people based on their disadvantages, turning them into advantages. When applying to colleges, I have heard some people say–”I am white, I am never going to get in.” That might not be always true, but it is true that there is something happening behind closed doors of universities that gives certain people an advantage or a disadvantage based on race or ethnicity.

All factors taken into consideration, it is somewhat evident that some people come to the US for education in order to make more money, some people come to experience a different lifestyle and culture, some people come to take the education with them and apply it somewhere that it is needed, some people come to grow, they come to grow from a wild teenager to a responsible adult. Some people just come for the sake of it.

As the US education expands and brings in more people, it turns out to be a dead end for some of them and a new beginning for others.

~Snow

May 11th, 08-11:45