A Great Education

U.S. is one of the richest and most powerful nations on earth. And, they still manage to not endure enough money on education.

Edited by Jay.

While the Public Primary/Secondary School system in the US is not that great, the same cannot be generalized for all of education, especially private school education. At the University level, US schools is strong in terms of the amount of research funding. While many graduate students are foreign, it is in the US that many of the most important research are being developed. Oxford University has about $4 Billion USD in endowment, which is one of the highest in Europe. However, this doesn't even rank in the top 10 among US universities. Harvard has reached $25 Billion USD in endowment this year.

The difference in approach between US and World education is that while the US values educated less as a whole, the top layer is well educated, and in many cases that is what it matters. What do you do with a lot of people who know everything?


Edited by Imperator Invictus

At least for me, the "absolutely crappy American pre-university institution" served me pretty well.

And to be fair, the Canadian pre-university institutions aren't that enviable either, as has been mentioned by both Decebal and I, and what's more we don't have the good graduate schools like our neighbor does.

I have a very complicated education background. I was educated at Oxford, Cambridge, the University of Chicago, and McGill University (Canada)

Originally posted by flyingzone Originally posted by Imperator Invictus But then again, the school systems in India and China are even more elitist-oriented, so why blame the US? I think it would be sad if we have to compare the education system of the United States to that of India and China ...

actually, i think that would be a fair comparison.

Places like India and China have been called the biggest grey matter reserves (actually, i heard that phrase specifically somewhere on this forum). However, as the point was brought up earlier, what are you going to do with a bunch of people who know everything?

I don't live in India, but have numerous relatives that do. Visiting them gives me a chance to see what kind of people work there. And i'll tell you, there are probably more overqualified people there than there are anywhere else.

Priorities are placed primarily on education; people are taught that if you stay in school and work hard, u'll make more money. So, people do everything they can to get more education, and due to overpopulation and the high supply of labor in the market, end up working a job that has nothing to do with the last 10+ years they spent in school but instead gives them money.

And before everyone goes on about how bad the education system in is in the US, you need to understand this. There is probably a greater ability to learn more here than most other places. It's just that the emphasis on learning is less, as in teachers don't push their students as hard. So, if you wish, you can get the best education in the world (even in public schools - to a certain extent. the public school i went to was rated top ten of all schools nationally, so i guess i can't speak for intercity schools and such), but you have to want to get it, something that (unfortunately) many American kids don't care for.

Yup, McGill is in Montreal. It's nicknamed "Canada's Havard." But in fact I think Havard should be called "America's McGill"

University of Ottawa is good. There are many French-English bilingual programmes there. But Ottawa as a city is MUCH less interesting than Montreal. I am sure, however, Decebal will disagree with me

Originally posted by AlokaParyetra actually, i think that would be a fair comparison. Places like India and China have been called the biggest grey matter reserves (actually, i heard that phrase specifically somewhere on this forum).

Actually, I know, and I agree. I was just trying to be tactful with our American forumer friends here ... For instance, I heard that high school kids in China learn math, physics, and chemistry that are taught in the last year in university in the United States ... I am pretty sure this can be testified by our Chinese forumer friends.

I totally agree with you, Montreal is the backbone of Canada, not to mention the most historic.

Originally posted by flyingzone Yup, McGill is in Montreal. It's nicknamed "Canada's Havard." But in fact I think Havard should be called "America's McGill" University of Ottawa is good. There are many French-English bilingual programmes there. But Ottawa as a city is MUCH less interesting than Montreal. I am sure, however, Decebal will disagree with me

No, I won't disagree with you. Montreal is much more interesting than Ottawa or any other Canadian city for that matter. I live in Ottawa for economic reasons and because my family's here, but if I had a free choice, I'd pick Montreal to live in (in fact I used to, a long time ago). 

Anyway, returning to the topic on hand. I think that the general perception of knowledge in the US and Canada is that you should only learn what will be of use to you to make money (what you will use in your career). Any other knowledge is trivial and even sometimes deemed "useless".