Does it Matter Where You Go to College?

Out of all 7 of the debate responses, the one that I found the most persuasive was "Graduate School Matters More" by David W. Brenemen. The reason that I found this one to be more persuasive compared to some of the other responses was because he makes the point that I personally think is the answer to this question, "Does it matter where you go to college?". Brenemen basically says that what school you go to in the begining can have different effects on different people because not everyone learns the same or thinks the same. What really matters is what you do in graduate school.

"An equally bright but more reticent student, one who is not sure about his or her future path, may get lost or overlooked in such a setting, and have a less than ideal experience...The quality of graduate or professional school will matter more in the long run to a student’s success in life than the ranking of the undergraduate college."

 These two points really made me agree with Brenemen because he points out how some students don't know exactly what they want to major in when they first get to college. Undergraduate school is good for the student to try new things and determine what they want to study when they arrive at graduate school. This is where things will matter for your future jobs.

The response that I found least persuasive was "Merit and Race" by Luis Fuentes-Rohwer. In his argument he states,

"Attendance at elite colleges and universities has a positive effect on the likelihood that a student will graduate; on future earnings; on the likelihood that a student will attend graduate school; and even to lower divorce rates and better health."

Maybe his statements might have persuaded me more if he would have at least included where he got this information and statistics from. First of all, the idea that going to Harvard, for example will help you stay healthy and not get a divorce compared to if you went to a less prestigious school  is absolutely ridiculous to me. I have cousins who have gone to UC schools and they aren't having heart attacks and getting sick all the time. I actually think that Rohwer's quote here just sounds really dumb. He couldn't even prove the information with statistics. For me if you give me information I'd like to have proof of where you got it from and this is the reason why I found this response the most non persuasive.