Journal D.A. Zollinger's Journal: Going to School 1
Last evening there was a discussion about how a high school kid would ever be able to afford to go to his first choice in schools (MIT) as his parents weren't willing to help foot the bill for his education. He felt that going to another CS school where he would not be able to express himself fully in his creative CS talents would compromise his future.
Being someone who went to a not-well-known school, I do not feel as if my future has been compromised by not going to a well-known school. If you want to go to a well-known CS school, there are plenty. Comments in the article mentioned UC Berkley, and Purdue has been mentioned plenty of time on Slashdot. However, to provide counterpoint, I must mention that in the Ph.D. program I am currently enrolled in, one of my fellow Ph.D. students has both his BS and MS in CS from MIT. Do I think differently about him because of his background? Hell yes! For just about everyone in the industry MIT is known as the gold standard in CS - the school and program that most other schools strive to emulate! So yes, if you walk into a new job sporting a degree from MIT, your street credibility in computer science will have already been proven.
However, it is not just the end results from going to school at MIT that is so special. I have talked with my MIT friend at length about his education in Boston. The theme that always seems to run through our conversations is about environment. The environment of Boston as an open environment. The environment of MIT as a learning environment. The facts that you are surround by so many others to think like you, act like you, have similar senses of humor as you, and who have had similar backgrounds as you. Top if off with professors who "get" you, laboratories designed around freedom of expression, and access at all hours day or night. This is not a corporate, 9 to 5 environment - this is a learning environment designed to accommodate the student.
Not being able to pay for MIT is a shame. It is not the end of the world, but it is bothersome. For me it is especially bothersome considering that many schools assume the parents are going to assist for the first few years of education, and most financial aid programs are based on that assumption. If your parents can afford to send you to school, you will be denied financial aid, whether or not your parents do help pay or not. Irregardless of the fact that once you turn 18 your parents can change the locks on the house dump your crap on the front lawn, and never have a thing to do with you ever again.
I have many opinions on how our educational system is messed up, but this is not the time to go into detail on my opinions. Sufficed to say that this event (not attempting to be the best you can be because of worry concerning cost of education) is another example in how our educational system is screwed up, and needs to be fixed.
Here's something else to add to your list of... (Score:1)
1) If you're poor, you get lavish opportunities that others don't get, except the very rich. My folks were middle class, so I had no chance of attending such a school, even if I had the grades and brains (which I didn't -- either). Why should a kid be stuck with only a state school because their parents work hard to keep the fami