GRE Issue Task: The idea to tell students which subject their should study

Question
Educational institutions have a responsibility to dissuade students from pursuing fields of study in which they are unlikely to succeed

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.

Essay

Should schools advise students what curriculum they should choose?

Education is the most important skill set that can be taught to a child. Education helps in perceiving the world from a different point of view, and it gives the person a basic framework on which other skills can be built/build. Unfortunately, a large part of the world population is still illiterate and educational institutions play a major role in imparting education. An educational institution has all the right tools such as books, teachers and student bodies which play a key role in helping people succeed in their chosen fields of study. They provide students guidance and help them to tread the paths they have picked. But an educational institution should never tell students that they will not succeed in some particular field. In my opinion, an institution cannot decide the fields in which students are unlikely to succeed.

The question arises that who will judge the likelihood of students becoming successful in a particular field? Who will give authority to decide the future of a student to another human being? Are the teachers educated enough to take such decisions, and even if they are educated what do they know about the future? Can we rely on the judgment of a human being to decide the path a student should take? This is an illogical, an irrational and a morally corrupt idea. Influencing the dreams and shaping the future of a person is essential, but they should not be overwritten. Young minds are full of dreams, and passions and telling them that they cannot pursue their dreams because they are not capable enough is equivalent to robbing them of their dreams.

There is no particular age for a person to choose or change his field of study. Many people have successfully changed the course of their lives and became very successful in a different field of study, and many made this switch at not so young age. These people are known in the world because of their career shifts, and luckily there was no one to tell them that they should not pursue their dreams. Colonel Sanders started KFC chicken at the age of 62, before that he was serving the country as a lawyer and a gas station operator. It can be a myth, but many believe that dreams and desires will become true if enough hard work, perseverance, and dedication exist.

A lot of people succeed after many failures, like them, a student can succeed in any field he wants to study. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb after many failures and experiments. Robert Goddard was the inventor of liquid propellant rockets, and he also failed many times in his attempt to create a successful rocket. He once mentioned that every vision is a joke until a common man accomplishes it, and then it becomes commonplace. Thus all great leaders, inventors, writers, sportsman are born as a common human being, and it all starts with a dream. No one has the right to kill that dream or tell anyone that a dream cannot be realised.

Thus, the educational institutions should never interfere with the subjects students pick; rather they should try their best in helping students to succeed in their chosen field of study.

Shivam, I might be wrong here but I believe that your argument is flawed because it fails to consider a main component of college education that has been in effect ever since the concept of college education was implemented. All courses in college, be it a vocational school or a professional school have their students take exams. The exams are given in order to give the student an idea as to whether or not he will be successful in his chosen field. Therefore, academic institutions have, through unspoken law, been mandated to dissuade students from pursuing fields of study where they are unlikely to succeed.

In your essay, you ask ; The question arises that who will judge the likelihood of students becoming successful in a particular field? Who will give authority ...

The response to your question is obvious. Educational institutions hire teachers who are trained to spot students who will succeed in their field of study. This is done through the exam assessments and grading system. These are the tools by which college professors or vocational instructors indirectly dissuade the student from pursuing a field of study where they may not be successful. These are the reasons as to why your argument is flawed.

By the way, Col. Sanders has academic training from La Salle Extension University where he studied Law by correspondence. Unfortunately, his university was legally declared as not having the requisites to consider itself a real university. Therefore, this is not the strongest example to use in this essay. It opens your discussion to further question and creates obvious flaws in your arguments.

@Holt
Thanks Holt! I considered some universities in Indian education system that provide education solely on the basis of marks achieved in school. Well, now I can feel that most of the universities have an entrance examination. But I feel even GRE considers the college percentage, but since the curriculum followed is not similar they might need to normalize the scores. I think I need to look at the counter arguments also before I start writing my essay. Thank you so much for this feedback.

If possible could you also provide feedback on my control on the language?

Shivam, assuming that the student has the requisite grade to take the entrance exam for the field of study that he is interested in, he will end up being admitted to the university for that field of study. However, passing the entrance exam is not the most solid reference to analyze the potential of a student to succeed in the field of study. Remember, one can pass the entrance exam but fail to pass the requisite classes for his course of study. Therefore, he will not be considered as a student who can potentially succeed in his line of interest. The entrance exam could be passed by a student since that is normally just an IQ test. It is when the student is already enrolled in his major that the proper analysis for his potential to succeed can be made.

With reference to your Grammar and Usage, I don't think you have too much to worry about. I would score you anywhere between a 4 and 5 in that section specifically since there are still a number of problems with your thought development and presentation. However, those flaws are not enough to reduce the impact or comprehension of your discussion. You should improve in those sections over time.

just remember you need to fully understand the complexities of the issue and show, in you writing, that you understand them well by presenting it. Plus it would be a good essay if you consider both sides of the issue and present you views, one stronger than other which makes it seem that you fully grasp the gravity of the issue.