If that's what you got from your time at a university, then good for you.
> I don't think it's common, and I still don't think you got it from being
> explicitly taught it. Perhaps you worked it out for yourself.
It probably matters that I did one of those design your own major/have lots of fun studying/never get a real job things (in Folklore and Mythology, if anyone's curious), so I held more responsibility for figuring out my educational path than, say, a departmental committee.
> What I've found is that the best "students" can/will do well anywhere, and
> *despite* their education, not *because* of it.
>
I completely agree (although I use the word "education" a little differently). It kind of goes back to what Wojtek said about status schools being good for their credentials, rather than the educations they offer. In my limited experience, I have encountered no college or university so mediocre that a determined student cannot get a fantastic education from it, and none so outstanding that a determined ignoramus cannot use it to squander his time.
-- "Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen lytlað."