evaluation of argument essay for GRE

[Annalistasaxo89]

I am studying for the GRE,which I will be taking mid September, and have been having some trouble on my essays. Mainly in regards to organizing my ideas and creating coherent arguments (either I have to much background knowledge or not enough) within the time frame. If any one has the time to look over this essay and give me a critique and some feedback it would be greatly appreciated. 

 

 

Issue Topic: "Educational institutions have a responsibility to dissuade students from pursuing fields of study in which they are unlikely to succeed."

 

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.

 

 

        Any educational institution must bear the burden of both providing the resources for students to excel at their field of studies, but, also, more importantly, guide them toward that field of study where they will succeed, conversely dissuading them away from those they would be less likely to do so. Thus, above all they must examine the efficaciousness of those fields of study their students may choose to pursue. While there are those who of course could point out how this impinges upon the freedom of students, bringing the undue authority and judgment of academic authorities over a student’s educational development, the risks that can be incurred by not dissuading students away from less successful fields of study outweighs any talk of rights and freedoms. Additionally, the role of providing advice and guidance in regards to a field of study fall under the traditional relationship between student and teacher, central to the mission of any institution of education.

 

        Foremost, education today is a significant economic investment. Students regularly incur thousands upon thousands of dollars in debt, often without the prospect of future employment in an increasingly bleak economic environment. This is further compounded when a student is engaged upon a course of study that proves academically fruitless, frustrating, and ultimately futile. Those students who are not encouraged to pursue a major or concentration that allows them the possibility of academic success could find not only their future jeopardized, but their economic livelihood seriously compromise  and possible that of their family. With the proper guidance from their college or university, one which pushes them in the direction where they would most likely succeed, such an outcome could very well be averted.

 

        Still it may be argued that education should not couched in such utilitarian terms but rather eschew them in toto. Education, as John Henry Newman argued in his Idea of the University, should not be beholden to the dictates of practicality, but rather aim at the moral, intellectual, and cultural development of the student. While it cannot be denied that this remains a highly laudable goal, a needed perspective of dissent against certain aspects of modern education, and important to the holistic formation of an individual, ultimately it neglects the very serious economic realities facing today’s generation of students. Newman’s ideas were addressed only to a small section of society at his time, not the mass society of mass education of today. Thus, the economic security of those attending institutions of education in Newman’s ere were largely secure, rendering this argument idealistic and superfluous. Furthermore, a student's field of study, say of history in favor of his dream of pursuing a career as a physicist, or vice versa, will allow the aforementioned student an actual chance to development far more intellectually speaking then if he or she had not be persuaded away from a less fruitful field of study.

 

The very fact that institutions of education are invested with the authority of this task necessarily entails their duty to guided students, who in the very position of students should at least acknowledge. Just as in the classroom, a professor is responsible for assigning tasks and grading assignments, providing guidance to their students or advisees, on a larger scale the university or college holds the responsibility of guiding students to where they shall best succeed. Now of course one may retort that this is an infringement upon the rights or freedoms of students, their education is in their hands, paid for by their money, invested with their time and effort. All of this is no doubt correct; however, it neglects to notice very purpose of education, literary to lead out from, from the Latin educere (ex-duco), lies in both the acceptance of student to be taught and the teacher to teach and provide guidance. The specific field of study a student wishes to pursue falls under this relationship and thus is only a natural extension of the primary teacher-student relationship, constituting the foundation for all institutions of education.

 

The effects of such a policy mandating the responsibility of institutions to guide students towards fields of study more suited toward their inherent skills and abilities not only is supported in an economic context, but morally as well. No doing so would undermine the very authority, trust, and responsibility we have placed in our institutions of education both in the past and present.