> You learn to think, at least in certain ways, and you make the contacts needed to launch yourself into a life rich in all of society’s most cherished rewards. To consider that while some opportunities are being created, others are being cancelled and that while some abilities are being developed, others are being crippled is, within this context, not only outrageous, but inconceivable.

He's really overselling the "learning how to think" aspect here.

People select these schools with the pure intent of getting into a social network that gives them more resources than they would otherwise have.

Let's look at three facts here:

1) Access to the limited slots for students at these institutions is controlled by how "intelligent" you seem to be as measured by their entrance exams

2) To a large degree, you can feign "intelligence" as defined by these tests given a large amount of resources

3) Under most conditions, humans who have social networks for accessing resources will keep those social networks active over time and even generations of humans

These three things combined mean that there's a good chance that any "elite" institution will eventually rot from those who use it to climb or maintain their social rank.

Sure, there are some great programs at these institutions, but that's starting to be overshadowed by the damage caused by the above.

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WalterBright 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Um, my college education clearly rewired my brain. I learned how to study, and how to solve problems.

> To a large degree, you can feign "intelligence" as defined by these tests given a large amount of resources

That doesn't work for science & engineering.

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lenerdenator 3 hours ago | parent [-]

> Um, my college education clearly rewired my brain. I learned how to study, and how to solve problems.

It does do that, but you can do that at a state school for a significant discount over "elite" schools. Arguably, they'll even do it better, because you're not insulated from how the world works outside of those institutions.

> That doesn't work for science & engineering.

Ooooooh yes it does.

Hell, it even works in medicine.

	▲	WalterBright 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		You can get an excellent science and engineering class from some state schools, like UW. But, you have to be careful to select the right classes. For example, you'll want to avoid all the "weeder" class, and all classes with an "easy A" reputation.