Getting into a well-known university is one of the many factors that contribute to one's success. There is this societal notion that attending a globally-respected university equals having an impressive résumé—and society believes impressive résumé attracts top-notch job offers. Because of this notion, graduating high school students all over the world are burning their lamps at night to be in the best universities of the world. If I go out to meet a graduating high school student tonight and ask him what his dream university is, Harvard would most likely be his answer.
When I was still a young lad, older students around me always looked up to Harvard, like it was some sort of divine paradise. Everywhere I looked—at the movies, television stations and newspapers, they always paid respect to that big H. Even my parents adored Harvard. Their reverence for that school drove me to think that Harvard solely dictates one’s fate. I had this childish belief that going to Harvard is a matter of life and death. If you’re a student in that school, your success is already guaranteed; if you are not, say goodbye to your dreams. As I grew up, realization came to my senses that everything about Harvard was a product of overhype after all.
Though I eventually realized that there is so much more to life than being at Harvard, I understood why thousands of students dream to go to this university. It has committed to providing high-quality education since 1636. It has produced a long list of notable alumni (current U.S. president Barack Obama, movie actress Natalie Portman, and NBA player Jeremy Lin to name a few). Its admissions are one of the most competitive in the world. It has consistently ranked high in internationally published university rankings. With these reasons, one can easily assert that Harvard is indeed the best university in the world. Or is it?
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| Harvard University (from britannica.com) |
Vij’s, a Vancouver restaurant that is known for its unparalleled Indiancuisine, is Canada’s best restaurant of 2011 according to an annual survey byVacay.ca. The survey was answered by fifteen judges that include the country’s leading food critics, food bloggers, and culinary enthusiasts. Although these industry experts loved this Indian restaurant, many customers who dined here, surprisingly, were dissatisfied and upset.
Evan T. R. Rosenman, a Harvardstudent, wrote about his and his friends’ struggles in Harvard. In his The Harvard Crimson article entitled “The Upside of Hating Harvard”, he tells his unsuccessful attempt in finding real happiness due to Harvard’s unaccommodating atmosphere. "Happiness only at parties, or in the twenty minutes after you turn in a problem set, or when you get to meet Mark Zuckerberg, is not real happiness. A happy life is one that is enjoyed in the living of it--one that we take pleasure not because it is an 'exceptional' life, but because we actually wake up every morning with a sense of hope and anticipation", he writes. He claims that Harvard students are prodigies at pretending to be happy, even if they wholeheartedly know that they are not. "We are well aware of Harvard's miniscule acceptance rate, and the fact that students all over the world would gladly take our spots. To admit unhappiness, then, would seem wildly selfish and ungrateful. So we convince ourselves that the problem isn't with out day-to-day lives--it's with how we are looking at them. We tell ourselves we love Harvard. We lie."
Isn't it astonishing to know that Harvard, the world's "best" university, is not well-loved by some of its students? Of course, "not well-loved" is quite a bold statement, but people can't love something that does not make them happy, can they? Evan further explains, "For me, the problem of Harvard has boiled down to a desire for a lot more friendship, love, and sincerity. Though I fit many of the Harvard stereotypes--sardonic, competitive, ambitious--it took me years to admit that I struggled with Harvard's unsupportive environment. Problem sets took precedent over friendships. Leadership positions superseded relationships." Even though he agrees that competition ignites motivation for some students, he still admits that this kind of environment is not for him. "It wasn't the ideal place for me to get my undergraduate education.", he bravely confesses.
Isn't it astonishing to know that Harvard, the world's "best" university, is not well-loved by some of its students? Of course, "not well-loved" is quite a bold statement, but people can't love something that does not make them happy, can they? Evan further explains, "For me, the problem of Harvard has boiled down to a desire for a lot more friendship, love, and sincerity. Though I fit many of the Harvard stereotypes--sardonic, competitive, ambitious--it took me years to admit that I struggled with Harvard's unsupportive environment. Problem sets took precedent over friendships. Leadership positions superseded relationships." Even though he agrees that competition ignites motivation for some students, he still admits that this kind of environment is not for him. "It wasn't the ideal place for me to get my undergraduate education.", he bravely confesses.
“We knew going into it that [Vij’s] was highly reviewed and that we would be waiting regardless of the night. So to be fair, I did have high expectations”, writes Turboca, a restaurant reviewer from California. She had two main problems with this restaurant: the long waiting line and the taste of the food. “On a Monday night, we waited for close to an hour”, she says.“Others have commented that the food is very spicy. The problem for me was not the heat level- but the lack of balance in the dishes. The flavor and spice came through only in the oil. For example, in the spot prawns you miss completely the freshness and light [sweetness] that you want from shrimp. Instead you get shrimp covered in intense spiced oil. That was the case for every dish we got.” She finishes off her review by sending out an advice to people who are planning to dine at Vij’s, “Don't overspend and overwait to eat at this 'in' restaurant”.
Another reviewer on dinehere.ca, Murdoman, writes, “We ordered some crab bites and samosas to start, followed by beef ribs, lamb popsicles and yam curry. I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed we were in everything. The portions were adequate in size at best for the prices charged but lacking flavor. The lamb pops were nice but very uninspired as far as taste. I had read other reviews on this place raving about it and I cannot figure out why. Vij's is the biggest rip off in greater Vancouver.”
If Vij’s is the best restaurant in Vancouver, why can’t it live up to the standards of some of its customers—customers who need not be food experts to be disappointed? It is simply because not everyone has the same taste buds.The taste buds of the judges who answered the survey are completely different from those that posted negative reviews on the restaurant; they have their own biases, perhaps, due to their different norms.
The best way of knowing the greatness of the restaurant is to find it yourself, and not chiefly rely on somebody’s opinions, or people’s words of mouth. Had Turboca and Murdoman not gone to Vij’s chiefly because of the positive reviews they read, they would have chosen a restaurant that better fits their taste buds. Consequently, they would have had a better dining experience.
In the same token, Evan’s story should serve as a lesson for us not to be easily enticed by a university’s reputation. In spite of the pressure that most of us, senior high school students, are facing, we must allot time and effort to find the university that is right for us. University rankings are created to know which universities are the best at different aspects of providing education. University rankings are based on various factors. The QS WorldUniversity Rankings, for example, are accumulated using six different indicators: academic reputation (40%), employer reputation (10%),faculty-student ratio (20%), citations per faculty (20%), international facultyratio (5%), and international student ratio (5%). If you are someone who desiresto study at a school that would allow you to dive into a sea of academic research, then the QS World UniversityRankings can be a guide for you. On the contrary, if you care more about the diversity of the students and faculty of a school, then you should not pay close attention to this list since it gives the least importance to international faculty and international student ratios. Unfortunately, most people look at these rankings without scrutinizing the methodology. They just focus on the universities that arehigh on the list, the ones that they believe are most reputable. They often forget that a school’s reputation is not an automatic reflection of the quality of education that a school provides. Judging a school by its reputation is no different than judging a book by its cover.
Universities are essential bridges to our dreams. They are not just providers of education, but also of opportunities, friendships, and meaningful experiences. Societal notion and school’s reputation can’t hand pick the right bridge for us, but our personality, needs, and ambitions can.
