Cadets hooahing in raucous agreement, in what amounted to a collective high-five between current and future Army leaders. The faculty briefings weren’t much different, as we were informed that West Point is the “best liberal arts school in the country” ad nauseam, according to a methodologically dubious 2009 Forbes college rankings report.
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These cadets all report the same thing: their intellectual curiosity was stifled at USMA in myriad ways. Even while the Dean brags that “we’re better than Harvard, better than Princeton,” most cadets learn to “beat the Dean,” or do just enough to get by academically, with a wink and a nod.
I went to one of the schools that trades off with a few others the top slot as "Top Liberal Arts College", and I felt much the same. It was a wonderful school, with bright students and talented professors, but I too felt that it stifled intellectual curiosity in myriad ways and that the "wink and nod" were the real values instilled. Eventually I left, disappointed with it and with myself.
Did anyone manage to find a place where this was not the case?