American Universities vs. Communist Poland Universities

It was interesting how many differences there are between the Universities in the United States and the Universities in Communist Poland. Working in the admissions office and Quinnipiac has given me a different perspective on school and getting into college. I get to see how people act towards getting into college and also how the admission counselors react to those applying for school. The first part of chapter four caught my attention right away. I can't believe that there is actually a system of how students can get into college based on what their parents did as careers. That means nothing about the student themselves. This bothers me because it isn't the parents who are going to the universities, it is the students. On the application that students have to fill out in order to come to Quinnipiac they have to disclose what their parents occupations are. I've never thought about that until now but I am just about positive that it has no major effect on the students acceptance. Young teens are the future of tomorrow and universities in Poland should be focusing on their abilities of those students and what they can offer to Universities. I do disagree with their system but I found it interesting that parents occupations such as lawyers and doctors were considered miserable and automtically turned down. One might think the students of those parents would be sought after.

Another difference that I noticed throughout all of chapter four is that communist Poland had a strong control over the universities. I feel bad for students who attend Universities in communist countries because they don't have the types of simple freedoms I have in the United States. I take advantage of going online and ordering my text books before class. If I don't have a book I need I simply go to the library. The Polish Universities struggled to get new text books and many of the libraries had been destroyed during the war. When I think about not being able to get a text book right away I automatically think of other options. I can use whatever means in order to get the information I need. In communist Poland they had to wait for those textbook and they could only learn what they textbooks taught which consisted of mostly, "ideological gibberish." If a part of Quinnipiac was destroyed I know that it wouldn't take administration more than a day to figure out what they had to do to get it fixed. Everything here is done so quickly and without hesitation. I definitely take it for granted how quickly and easily life happens at American universities.

It seems that education is not top priority in Communist countries. Any part of education is deciede from the communist themselves. They choose who goes to college, they choose what is taught at the universities, and they decide what the students do. Students in the United States have so much potential and are able to demonstrate what they are made of. The opportunities are endless for students here. It's frustrating to know that students in communist Poland have the potential of any American student but they are held back by the rulings of the communist party. I would never want to learn how to deal with the rulings of my University if I were unhappy with them. I am greatful for the way Universities are run in the United States