Perhaps one of the reasons that students at “elite” schools like Boston University fare no better in their job searches is that they assume that because BU costs $42,000 a year, it is automatically elevated above “mediocre” local and state schools (“Study: Elite schools losing name value,” April 20, p.1). In fact, there are many drawbacks included in BU’s price tag, including larger class sizes, less personal attention, a weaker sense of community on campus and overwhelmed professors who are all too ready to hand their students’ problems off to their TAs. Moreover, the fact that a student is capable of paying BU’s hefty price tag does not mean he or she is a superior student. In the workforce, people are judged by their talent, accomplishments and hard work, all qualities which are unrelated to the size of their tuition bills.
Stephanie Baldwin CAS ’07
Kristen S. Lowe CAS ’06
