By Chloe Baker, Senior Opinions Editor
Alex Karp wants you to believe that everything you learn about the world in college is “intellectually incorrect.” As the CEO of Palantir, a software company that builds data integration and analysis tools for governments and enterprises, he’s putting his money where his mouth is and inviting high school graduates to apply for the Meritocracy Fellowship, which promises to let fellows skip what the company calls “the debt” and “the indoctrination” of higher education. In their rush to dismiss college as inefficient and outdated, Palantir reveals something troubling. They fundamentally misunderstand what a college education is for.
On paper, the fellowship sounds fairly appealing: four months of intensive technical training, a stipend and the ability to learn from world-class leaders in technology. And along with that comes exposure to real-world projects at a major tech company and the chance at a full-time job all without inheriting the student debt. Out of 500 applicants, only 22 were selected for this highly competitive opportunity. The problem? Palantir’s entire pitch rests on one assumption — that education should be efficient, that the goal is to gain job skills as quickly as possible and get on with your career. What they miss is that college isn’t supposed to be efficient. Because what looks efficient on paper lacks an essential component of what it means to grow up.
I’m not afraid to admit that I’m terrified to finish college. Not because I’m unprepared for the job market or for graduate school, or because I feel like I wasted three years of my life, but because I know how rare and special this experience is. My Tiktok algorithm seems to know I’m graduating this year, and as such it has been filling my feed with videos of users talking about how depressing graduating is and how deeply they miss college. While this semester has been particularly draining and frustrating, these Tiktok videos remind me not to take this stage of life for granted, because pretty soon it will come to an end.
But before there was the end, there was the beginning, and when I first began my journey at Yeshiva University not so long ago, I too struggled with the belief that college was pointless. After a fulfilling gap year where I finally got out of the traditional American classroom and educational environment and saw a bit more of the world I can’t say I was thrilled to begin my undergraduate studies. It felt more like I was here because my parents really wanted me to be. I would get through the next three years, graduate and then move on to something more “worth my time.” However, in the last three years, my mindset has fundamentally shifted, and while I will immensely treasure the degree I will receive in May, G-d willing, the things I will gain from college extend far beyond my diploma and the accomplishments on my LinkedIn profile.
The sense of self-discovery and independence I thought I gained during my gap year is nothing compared to what I have experienced and learned in college. I’ve had the opportunity to take courses in subjects I never thought I would have any interest in — like art history, public health and computer science — that have fundamentally changed the way I look at things and grapple with ideas.
College is a place to explore yourself and the forces that shape the world around you. No, sitting in a classroom for hours each day is not “efficient,” but it is gradually life-changing and will impact your sense of self tremendously. On top of taking fascinating courses, you also have the ability to move freely and, most importantly, to change. I came into college thinking I would major in English. A semester and a half in, I decided to switch to political science. In college, you learn that life’s plans shift, and sometimes what you thought you wanted isn’t ideal anymore. But this is the best and most valuable part — you are in an environment where you can, and should, be changing things. Whether it’s your major, your morning routine or the way you think about something, college is a place where personal change takes place, and this enables you to grow into the person you are meant to become.
In addition to intellectual growth, my personal independence and level of self-sufficiency has dramatically increased in college. I’ve hosted Shabbat meals in my apartment, gone grocery shopping and made an appointment with a random dentist I found in NYC. I’ve built resilience for when things don’t go my way. These aren’t experiences or skills I can add to my resume or LinkedIn profile, but they are invaluable life skills that I learned because of my time in college.
What has impacted me the most about my courses and other college experiences is being exposed to people and ideas completely outside of my existing worldview. With the rise of polarization and identity politics, it has become increasingly easier to remain stuck in our own echo chambers, only hearing views and ideas that align with our own perspectives. This is dangerous and stunts growth. Palantir’s Meritocracy fellowship promises to free young people from the echo chamber of campus ideology, but the irony is striking. What could be more of an echo chamber than spending four months in a single company, learning a single set of technical skills, surrounded by people who all already think college is a waste of time?
Palantir’s pitch fundamentally rests on their narrow view of efficiency. Why spend four years in college (or in most YU’s student’s case, three) when you can master job skills in four months? This assumes efficiency should be the measure of college’s value, but it shouldn’t be. College was never designed to be efficient. It is about the journey of self-discovery and improvement. The “wasted time” of a random elective that changes your perspective on something, the major you switch after one year, the club event you attend on a whim but end up meeting a new best friend at, these events are not a bug in the system. They’re the whole point.
College is designed as a time to take classes that have nothing to do with your major. To spend hours debating ideas that probably won’t help you get a job. To change your mind about who you are, what you want and what you stand for.
Alex Karp wants high school graduates to believe that everything they’d come to learn in college would be wrong and a waste of time. He wants them to skip this stage of life that he, and many in Silicon Valley, find unnecessary. But he isn’t just asking them to skip out on a traditional four-year period, what he’s really encouraging them to skip is much deeper. He’s asking them to skip the experience that thousands of recent grads are mourning the end of on social media, the one I’m dreading losing.
There’s something troubling about a vision of education that only sees value in immediate economic output. If we train a generation to optimize for efficiency at only 18 years old, to skip the exploration, questioning and growth, we don’t just lose out on personal gain and enrichment; we lose the kinds of citizens a thriving democracy needs. People who engage with unfamiliar ideas, who think critically and who understand that not everything worth doing has a clear return on investment.
Palantir is selling efficiency, but some things are supposed to be inefficient. Growing up is one of them.
Photo Credit: Unsplash