Wesleyan Supplement - practical value of a liberal arts education -

Wesleyan President Michael Roth believes a liberal arts education is a pragmatic choice in these times. In what way do you see a liberal arts education having practical value?

(250 words or less)

Nowadays, people around the world are connected with each other through the Internet, and we need to cooperate with people from different backgrounds. In this global society, we can't help dealing with cultural/social complexity, diversity, and changes. I believe a liberal arts and sciences education is the most practical choice to be successful in this rapidly changing society.

Some of the skills that a liberal arts and sciences education fosters are critical, analytical, and creative thinking skills, teamwork, the ability to communicate effectively, and ethical decision-making skills. They are essential for us to survive in our uncertain and changing society because you need to think and make decisions in order to find and solve problems. The mastery of a wide range of intellectual and cultural experiences will nurture multiple approaches to their solutions.

For example, if I was promoted to a manager from an engineer, some practices in psychology (not to mention math and science) may play a significant role. I think a liberal arts and sciences education is especially suitable for leaders in the future because it fosters well-rounded characters.

A liberal arts and sciences education also provides a foundation for learning in every professional field. In order to learn something, you have to be able to think critically and communicate effectively.

This is how I see a liberal arts and sciences education having practical value.

(227 words)

Thank you for reading my essay! Please comment and/or fix my errors.

Shuto, I believe that if you avoid the reference to the defitinion of a practical education and instead, concentrate on offering a clear example as to how it can be of benefit to you in the future, then you will be able to offer a response to the essay that shows the true practical value of a liberal arts education. Most of your discussion terms of that aspect of discussion was left under developed, with only a few lines referring to what you believe the benefits of such practices could be.

Rather than limiting yourself in your response, revise the essay to show an example of a successful implementation of a liberal arts education. This can be something fictional ( you made it up) or something that was applied in real life (an internet search can help with this). The important thing is that you are able to deliver the practical value of the liberal arts education in such a manner that shows a thorough understanding of the prompt and its requirements.

As of now, your essay concentrates too much on the theoretical instead of practical application of liberal arts and that, in my opinion, affected the impact of the essay. It weakened the essay because you decided to define liberal arts instead of proving that you understand why it is the better way of receiving an education through practical application in a real life scenario. The real life scenario that you presented needs to be developed further in order to actually be of use in this essay.

Thank you guys for your suggestions. I revised my essay based on your advice, so I would appreciate if you could check it again.

Wesleyan President Michael Roth believes a liberal arts education is a pragmatic choice in these times. In what way do you see a liberal arts education having practical value?

(250 words or less)

My uncle is a software engineer, who earned his computer science degree ...
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Do you think I shouldn't list Because's or is it effective as my tone?

Shuto, using "Because" to start each reason that you present makes the essay repetitive and makes you sound like you are complaining instead of offering a valid reason for why Jennifer was promoted instead of your uncle. My advice, is that you should change all of the "because" sentences to a more conversational tone. That way you manage to present a more professional take as to the reasons for her promotion.

Remember that in this kind of essay, the tone of your writing represents your tone of voice. Therefore, if you want to be taken seriously as an adult and responsible student, use a more academic and professional tone while writing. The rest of the essay that you wrote does tie in very well with the prompt requirements so I don't feel a need to change the content. However, there will be a need to revise the grammar of your essay after you edit the reasons why Jeniffer proved to be a better manager than your uncle.