Always struggling with this essay. Can't score higher than a 4. What am I doing wrong? Please let me know.

Prompt:A nation should require all of its students to study the same national curriculum until they enter college.

My Essay:

College provides students with an abundant amount of freedom and opportunities for decision making - from picking classes to extracurriculars and more, the choices are vast and endless. One of the most critical choices a student makes when entering university is their major or field of study. Some students enter college with a clear understanding of what they want to focus on, whereas other have a more cursory approach, leading to them switching their major several times. It is often debated whether a nation should require all of its students to study the same curriculum until they enter college. Personally, I agree with this approach and find it advantegous based on several reasons.

Firstly, to have a society with informed and relatively knowledgable citizens, it is imperative that all citizens have, at the very least, a rudimentary knowledge base on key foundational subjects. Without all citizens being required to take select courses that provides them with baseline understanding of key topics, such as history, math, literature, society would be based on the decisions of the uninformed and would not properly progress or run smoothly. Take, for example, the high school graduation rates between a more urban areas, such as Manhattan, NY, and a more rural areas, such as Forsyth, GA. Manhattan has a high school graduation rate of 90% and above, whereas Forsyth has a rate of 60% of lower. Forsyth has less development, less progressive policies, more crime, and other negative attributes, whereas Manhattan has prosperious economic opportunity, clear societal progression, and less crime. Much of this can be attributed to the disparity between educational levels between the two - one group having many more citizens with baseline understanding of key subjects. With this mind, it is critical to have all students take the same courses, at least up until a certain point, so everyone has same baseline understanding of key subjects and are informed citizens.

Secondly, there are many students who change their major several times during their college experience. This is because students are not always sure about their field of choice, or realize that the field they were interested in no longer suits them. If students were to begin tailoring their academia before entering college, and then decide down the line that they want to change again, then they would have to go all the way back to the basics and start over completely. The difference with changing your major when you're college is that you already have a basic, foundational understanding of all subjects, so the switch is less severe and has less of a learning curve. However, making a switch when that foundation is not there, simply because a student tailored their curriculum too early on in the education process, does not set up any students for success. Additionally, how would students know what they truly want to do with their lives until they've tried out various subjects? Tailoring curriculum before college runs the risk of not giving students the breadth they need to make informed, life long decisions.

There are some on the opposing side of this argument that may believe that if a student already knows what they want to do with their life, then not changing their curriculum sooner is a waste of their time. However, these individuals fail to recognize that, by having students take a standard curriculum, students are able to round out their general knowledge base with various skills, which is useful across all areas of life and certainly not a waste of time. Additionally, students have their entire time in college to explore their specific field of interest, and in advance of college, students can explore their interest outside of the classroom through personal research, internships, and other.

Ultimately, a nation should require all of its students to study the same curriculum until they enter college. Without this, society would not have informed citizens, and students will be required to start over from the basics should they decide to switch majors or paths down the line in. While the opposing side may believe that it is a waste of time to not study on a specific topic of interest sooner, ultimately it is more damaging to realize that that field of interest is not meant for you and having to start all the way over.