Purpose of College [reprinted from LSAC sample prompt]

The principal aim of an undergraduate liberal arts education has traditionally been to cultivate a student’s understanding of a broad range of important areas of knowledge, from the fine arts to the sciences, philosophy, language, economics—these things have been seen as crucial to understanding, and participating in, the larger world beyond the classroom. Some, however, believe that this kind of education has failed to provide students with the practical skills necessary to succeed in an increasingly competitive and career-focused society, suggesting we need to reconsider what university programs should look like. Such proposals are often framed as a pragmatic response to trends in the economy and predictions about the skills, knowledge, and training that will best serve students’ career readiness. Given this proposed shift in emphasis toward skills-based education, it’s worth considering what the overall goal of an undergraduate education should be.

KEY QUESTION: To what extent do colleges and universities serve their students’ best interests when they emphasize career preparation? [reprinted from LSAC sample prompt]

 

Perspective 1 – an excerpt from a career advice blog [reprinted from LSAC sample prompt]:

“Recruiting talent for a variety of organizations across industries, I’ve witnessed how the demands of today’s job market make the cultivation of practical skills and specialized training more important than ever. If a student’s time at university is an investment that ought to prepare them for the future, then surely career readiness must factor highly into what such institutions aim to provide. Schools that recognize this and adapt will produce graduates who are better equipped to explore a wide array of career paths, and who can adapt to changing job roles within ever-evolving industries. That’s the way for today’s student to make a meaningful contribution to society—by being well-equipped to grow and change within an economic reality that is itself always growing and changing.”

 

Perspective 4 – an excerpt from a journal on higher education [reprinted from LSAC sample prompt]:

“The traditional structure of higher education needs a transformative overhaul. The modern university has its origins in medieval schools, which stressed rote memorization and obedience to the centralized authority of teachers, reflecting the broader civic and political context of those schools. But in today’s world, we don’t accept such a rigid, top-down system in our civic and political life. We expect citizens to be agents in the evolution of their communities.

Likewise, there’s no reason to accept it in our educational lives. Instead, we ought to honor the agency of students in orchestrating their own educational experience. Some colleges have begun to change in the right direction, emphasizing dialogue over monologue and problem-solving over sheer information retention. This new form of relationship between student and university is critical, where teachers collaborate with students to discover new truths together, where student learning is based on their own guided learning experiences, and where curricula are created around topics that engage students’ intrinsic motivation to learn. This moves us closer to creating the flourishing, diverse society we need.”

 

RESPONSE TO “NEW” WRITING SAMPLE PROMPT (EXAMPLE)

I believe that colleges and universities should resist the efforts to transform a college education into one that focuses on career preparation. Colleges should continue to focus on the traditional goal of providing students with a broad range of knowledge that helps them understand and participate in the larger world beyond the classroom.

I take this position for several reasons. First, my own college experience – which provided that type of broad range of knowledge – had an invaluable effect on my own life. In particular, courses that I took outside my Psychology major – especially including the Shakespeare, Film Studies and Calculus courses I took – were the college classes I considered to be the most valuable and influential ones in my education and life in general. These courses, as well as my overall college education, gave me the tools to analyze problems thoughtfully and in depth in a wide variety of contexts. Exposure to a wide variety of subjects also gave me a sense that the world, and knowledge in general, existed well beyond the narrow confines of my particular major.

In reaching this conclusion, I am in wholehearted agreement with Perspective #4: education should not involve simple rote memorization, and should instead focus on developing problem-solving skills. In addition, as also stated in Perspective #4, classroom curricula should be created around topics that engage students. Allowing students to choose from college courses that are not solely focused on the narrow topic of developing trade skills will also engage college students and help them develop these problem-solving skills.

Once again, I am reminded of my own college experience. Selecting from the wide range of liberal arts, theater/drama, and mathematics courses offered by my University helped me develop invaluable problem-solving skills. These courses also motivated me to want to learn, the value of which cannot be overstated.

Second, college is the one time in a person’s life providing an opportunity for in-depth exposure to a wide variety of knowledge and information about the world at large, and to do so in courses taught by experts in their respective fields.

In reaching this conclusion, I am mindful of contrary arguments like the one presented in Perspective #1: i.e., that schools should help students develop specific skills to help enable them to walk right into a particular career path.

While I understand Perspective #1, I do not agree with it. Once again, I draw on my own experiences in taking this position. The information I needed to know for every job that I have ever had was learned on-the-job, taught by an employer who was an expert in the specific skills necessary for that job. I do not believe college is an effective vehicle to teach those skills. Even if colleges were to teach certain so-called “practical” skills, college professors will never be as effective in teaching them as an individual employer would be. Focusing a general college education on specific, career-based skills is a waste of an indispensable and unique opportunity to transform college-age students into citizens of the world.

Third, overwhelming evidence shows that when we are exposed to people from different cultures and lifestyles, we become more accepting, understanding and empathetic of others. While these personality characteristics and attributes may be somewhat amorphous and intangible, they certainly are relevant to the health and well-being of individuals and society at large. Using college as an opportunity to immerse students into a wide variety of different subjects, topics, ideas and perspectives undoubtedly will help them develop these priceless personality attributes.

In conclusion, I feel that students and society in general would be well-served by continuing to have our colleges and universities focus on offering a broad range of knowledge in a wide variety of different fields and disciplines. By doing so we enable college students to learn a series of indispensable skills, expose them to the vastness of the world around them, and turn them into a more thoughtful and cosmopolitan member of society. College offers a unique environment to focus and develop these broad range of attributes. We should take advantage of that opportunity, and not waste it by converting our colleges into trade-schools that narrowly focus on developing skill sets that easily can be taught, and will be taught more effectively, by the future employers of these students.

GENERAL NOTES:

  • You do not need to write this much – this sample shows you a variety of different ideas that could be used in a response.
  • Perfection and brilliance are not necessary. It is more important to avoid doing something bad than to do something exceptionally good. Avoid spelling errors, grammar errors, misuse of words, incoherent sentences/statements, etc.
  • Be sure to “check the boxes”: take a position, address the key question directly, use examples, address one or more “perspectives,” write a coherent response that flows, and (if possible) address and respond to a counterargument(s).

NOTES SPECIFIC TO THE WRITING SAMPLE RESPONSE ABOVE:

  • The position taken in response to the “key question” was clearly stated at the beginning.
  • Personal experiences were used to help bolster the argument.
  • Specific examples were used (e.g., Shakespeare, Film Studies, Calculus).
  • The focus of the response was on answering the actual “key question” posed.
  • Two perspectives were used to help make the argument, one agreed with (Perspective #4) and one disagreed with (Perspective #1). You should address one or two perspectives in your response.
  • Contrary arguments (in Perspective #1) were addressed in making the argument.
  • The conclusion reiterated the position taken and BRIEFLY summarized the reasons for it. NOTE: it would be perfectly acceptable to simply restate your position in the Conclusion (i.e., to use only the first sentence of the last paragraph).