The consequences for the disturbing trend of college cramming for mercenary reasons are vast. If we continue to discourage other educational and career paths in favor of brand name institutions, we will fill our colleges with students who are unwilling or unable to succeed in such an environment. It is a well-known fact that pressuring someone to do something against their will results in dissatisfaction and discontent. When forced to do something, a person’s motivation decreases and attitudes sour, creating an environment that is detrimental to a learning environment. Furthermore, by pushing students to conform to the orthodoxy of college attendance, schools close the doors on other great possibilities for the student. For students who aspire to be mechanics, firemen, or artists, the paths to their goals lie in other places, and there is no need for them to pursue a goal that they have not set for themselves.

A side effect of college cramming is the commercialization of education and the transformation of education into business. In recent years, college recruitment has skyrocketed in aggressiveness and pervasiveness. High school seniors and juniors are habitually flooded with college advertisements while college names and icons are branded on clothing and signs everywhere. But more reflective of colleges’ commercial nature is its shameless robbery of students and parents alike. With registration fees, rising tuition, and student housing costs, colleges are making little effort to hide their greed; and with the increasing demand for a college education, they certainly have the market cornered. If brand name education continues to be recognized and glorified by school and society alike, this issue of today will certainly be the nightmare of tomorrow.

If the trend of brand education continues, the commodification of education would certainly become a bigger issue in the future. During my junior year in high school, my teacher handed out a flyer that attempted to convince us students to go to good name schools. According to the flyer, going to college would ensure a bright and rosy future with more money than a high school graduate. After reading, I thought to myself, “Has education really become just a means to money?”. Education is and always has been a civic duty for citizens to remain free, but over time, it has become a commodity represented by SAT scores and diplomas to elevate status and income. By submitting to the labels of degrees and certificates, we are striving for the badges of knowledge while neglecting the search for true wisdom.