【09年2月-3月GRE作文突击小组】flyanll 2月6日作文

flyanllUID: 2466347

ARGUMENT238 - The following appeared in a memorandum from the president of Mira Vista College to the college's board of trustees.

"At nearby Green Mountain College, which has more business courses and more job counselors than does Mira Vista College, 90 percent of last year's graduating seniors had job offers from prospective employers. But at Mira Vista College last year, only 70 percent of the seniors who informed the placement office that they would be seeking employment had found full-time jobs within three months after graduation, and only half of these graduates were employed in their major field of study. To help Mira Vista's graduates find employment, we must offer more courses in business and computer technology and hire additional job counselors to help students with their resum¨|s and interviewing skills."
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In this argument, the author recommends that to help Mira Vista (MV)'s graduates find employment the college must offer more courses in business and computer technology and hire additional job counselors to help students with their resumes and interviewing skills. To uphold this assertion, the author points out that last year Green Mountain College (GM)'s 90 percent graduating seniors had job offers because of more business courses and more job counselors. Close scrutiny of this fact, however, reveals the recommendation is little credible.

The threshold problem of this argument is that the author draws the conclusion depending on the assumption that graduating seniors really benefit from the GM's advantages that have more business courses and more job counselors. However, it is absolutely possible that GM's students are more interested in doing part-time job, which makes them much easier in seeking jobs.

Another point worth considering is that the author reaches the conclusion depending on the study which might be unrepresentative. However, without special indication the percentage of 90 and 70 cannot represent all the seniors. Consequently, the recommendation is little credible.

Before I come to my conclusion, it is necessary to point out another flaw appeared in this argument. The author fails to consider other possibilities which can also influence the percentage of graduating seniors' job offers. For example, it is entirely possible that GM is a more famous college than MV, which helps the graduates a lot in finding a job. Thus, without considering and ruling out other possibilities, the author cannot convince me.

To sum up, the author cannot convince me that offering more courses in business and computer technology and hiring additional job counselors can help MV's graduates find employment in the face of such limited evidence. To bolster it, the author must provide clear evidence--perhaps by way of a survey--that graduates in GM really benefit from more business courses and more job counselors. To better assess the conclusion, also useful would be any information about the education condition of MV.