I Ask Myself
Viele junge Amerikaner träumen von einem Studium an der Universität Harvard. Welche Erwartungen stecken dahinter?
Amy Argetsinger on Harvard University
When I was 15 and a sophomore in high school, a teacher pulled me aside. He had seen my scores on the national test for college-bound students and wanted me to know that my future was bright. I could go to any college I wanted. So he said I should aim for Harvard, of course.
Two years later, I applied to Harvard, the private Boston-area university that is the oldest in the nation. But Harvard did not admit me. Sure, my grades were impressive, but Harvard had a choice of students who were far more talented. As I happily made plans to go to a public, state-funded university that would cost us far less, another teacher called my parents to say I should do everything possible to convince Harvard to accept me from the waiting list. That’s how obsessed Americans are with Harvard.
European friends — many of whom simply attended the college closest to home — are baffled by the US system of higher education with its complex pecking order of prestige, the competitive process for admissions, and the campuses that resemble vacation resorts. Americans define themselves by the place where they studied for four post-adolescent years. It’s a question that comes up early in conversation, and many of them root for the old school’s sports teams all their lives, and return for reunions.
Many are convinced that attending Harvard (or a few other elite schools, such as Yale, Princeton, and Stanford) sets its graduates up for lifetime success, whether it’s because of the superior education they receive or the snob appeal of the name. That’s why so many apply to Harvard, and so few are admitted. It’s also why so many people find the process unfair. In recent years, Harvard has had to defend itself against charges of racial bias and in lawsuits brought by people who claim that the university discriminates against white or Asian-american students by giving an advantage to other minorities.
Harvard maintains that it does consider race in attempting to build a freshman class, but that this is just one of many considerations. What its critics overlook is that students of many different kinds get a much greater edge. These include talented athletes and the children of very rich people, who, the school hopes, will one day come through with large charitable donations. These advantaged students are, of course, typically white.
What bothers me about the criticism, though, is the exaltation of Harvard that underlies it, since it suggests to impressionable young people that not getting into Harvard is a grand injustice with lifetime consequences. In fact, there are hundreds of other colleges that are just as worthy, if not as famous. Trust me on this: I didn’t end up going to Harvard. And it all turned out just fine.