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Comment by sjsivak | Hacker News Reader

I think it is awesome that Cal Tech is so singularly focused on academics, it shows serious devotion.

However, I think most people would agree that academics are not the only thing that matters for success, either personally or professionally.

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Why can't school be mostly focused on academics? It's hard to excel without focus.

It depends on what you are looking for. Many socially awkward "nerds" learn how to socialize outside of just academics when they are in college. If there are few outlets besides just academics, it's hard to become "well rounded" socially. I can tell you I'd rather hire a socially adept but slightly less intelligent person rather than the brilliant but incapable outside of his field person. Unless of course I am hiring a nuclear physicist, etc etc.

The biggest benefit of going to a public high school in the DC area was being forced to interact with kids from almost every background you could imagine. This includes ethnicity, income bracket, intelligence, and social ability. True diversity is an education in our own human race, specifically the common bonds that unite all of us. Being able to see a wide range of perspectives and experience completely different cultural norms on a daily basis can go a long way to testing your own assumptions about the world.

This is oft-said, but I'd like to see some concrete evidence of this. I'm not being skeptical to be skeptical, I'd really be interested if there were any proof that this helps people. I have heard some evidence to the contrary, that white kids that grow up in heavily integrated areas are actually MORE racist than those who grow up in primarily white areas.

The biggest benefit of going to a public high school in the DC area was being forced to interact with kids from almost every background you could imagine.

But isn't it a bit odd you had to go to college to do that?

Wouldn't it be better if you had grown up in a neighborhood that would let you do that?

OK, you didn't and you're glad college provided you that opportunity, but isn't it a bit sad how much $ they charge for what is at its core human interaction?

It can be, and there is nothing wrong with that. But if you focus only on academics you foster students that are only good at one thing. I might be cynical, but getting good grades in a class does not mean you are good at the subject material or can apply it anywhere beyond the classroom.

How many people make 6 figures for studying for and taking standardized tests every day?

Test prep is a big industry.

Academics at Caltech means research. You don't get grades on independent discovery, you get peer-review :)

(It's Caltech, btw, not Cal Tech.) Of course academics are not the only thing. Caltech looked hard for people that were smart, motivated, and passionate about their interests. You wouldn't get admitted without all three.

Keep in mind that Caltech is a very small school, smaller than a lot of high schools. They chose to focus on doing one thing very well, and they succeeded at it. For some types of people, very much including myself, it was a perfect fit for my personality and what I wanted to get out of college. If you're not one of those people, there are plenty of other excellent choices.

  >> However, I think most people would agree that academics are not the only thing that matters for success, 
  >> either personally or professionally.

I would agree. I graduated from Caltech in engineering, and on the whole I would say that my class has been fairly successful in whatever they did. However, if you look at people that are the best known in their field, most of them combine being very strong technically (but not in my observation the best in their field) with tremendous drive and a talent for self-promotion.

I fully agree but I've always found the notion that universities can/should teach things other then academics a bit silly.

And strangely while many universities aim to do just that, I don't know of any who take it seriously enough to teach formal classes in self discovery or making friends and influencing people.

Which you absolutely could seriously do. But no one does. I think this shows that those "other" things are not something universities truly aim to teach, but want to make use of in creating an environment which justifies the very high cost of education.

I don't know of any who take it seriously enough to teach formal classes in self discovery or making friends and influencing people.

Here ya go:

http://www.uq.edu.au/study/course.html?course_code=CRMD7001 http://www.eastern.edu/academic/cas/depts/missions_and_anthr... - MIS260

http://las.alfred.edu/psychology/ - "Life skills Students in Alfred University's psychology program learn about human behavior, develop self-discovery skills, and learn to think critically about themselves and others."

Self discovery is often an important part of a Psychology or Counseling major and "influencing people" aka Negotiation is taught at business and law schools across the country. I even took a corporate course in it 3 years ago.

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