In a gutsy article in US News and World Report, Alex Heffner describes his disillusionment with his "overrated" Harvard education. He writes:
I am as frustrated here as I had been in 2004, when I sought to escape from the standardized scholastic culture of a top-ranked public school on Long Island. Its statewide recognition for achievement bore no meaning for me in classrooms where my fellow middle-schoolers mocked me for my interest in discussing material and its relevance in current events. Around that time, I learned about an age-old boarding school—and the collaborative nature of its student body. I remember being impressed by the student-teacher ratio—small classes, sometimes just four or five people—and by learning so much about and from each other. I often feel obliged to tell people, even if they don't ask, that it was Andover (not Harvard) that taught to me to think and write critically.
Glad to see that Heffner's still alive and well.
