I'm sure experiences vary but I did all my general ed stuff at a very good community college with excellent teachers and a class size of about 20-30 people max per teacher. Many teachers were professionals with other jobs who taught as well, so it was an excellent educational experience, for the kind of things most people take in their first two years at any university.
Then I transferred to a well-recognized research-centric university, and I have to say, those first-year undergrads had it rough in huge classes with grad students doing most of the teaching. On the other hand, this 'second tier' school had upper-level math and science classes and I got to work in actual research labs with tons of cutting-edge equipment. There were some questionable researchers for sure (borderline frauds), but the majority were top-notch and dedicated to doing good science.
When looking around for a grad school I actually went to one of the 'top elite schools' to check it out - the labs were absolute crap at the one I went to, and the overall snooty attitude was even worse (I don't think they even like grad students at those places, they're more for undergrads). I turned down that offer, and never regretted it.
China's technological boom isn't being fueled by British-style elite schools for the posh to rub elbows at. They're more along the lines of MIT and Caltech from what I understand:
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2140178/new-...
America is going the way of Britain in the late 19th century and early 20th with its class divide, and the elite schools are a good example of why that's a bad idea. We need more MITs and Caltechs, not more Harvards and Yales.
Then I transferred to a well-recognized research-centric university, and I have to say, those first-year undergrads had it rough in huge classes with grad students doing most of the teaching. On the other hand, this 'second tier' school had upper-level math and science classes and I got to work in actual research labs with tons of cutting-edge equipment. There were some questionable researchers for sure (borderline frauds), but the majority were top-notch and dedicated to doing good science.
When looking around for a grad school I actually went to one of the 'top elite schools' to check it out - the labs were absolute crap at the one I went to, and the overall snooty attitude was even worse (I don't think they even like grad students at those places, they're more for undergrads). I turned down that offer, and never regretted it.
China's technological boom isn't being fueled by British-style elite schools for the posh to rub elbows at. They're more along the lines of MIT and Caltech from what I understand:
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2140178/new-...
America is going the way of Britain in the late 19th century and early 20th with its class divide, and the elite schools are a good example of why that's a bad idea. We need more MITs and Caltechs, not more Harvards and Yales.