<p>Like your daughter, I know many of the people quoted and referenced in the article, and I also know other people who were interviewed for this article whose interviews were not used. I know more people interviewed than referenced, which leads me to think that Perlstein was choosing his examples and his targets very carefully. And I quite resent his highlighting one girl as an Organization Kid whose opinions and experiences “don’t count.”</p>
<p>I think Perlstein is saying something valuable, though he sort of digs his own grave into it. He laments that colleges are a business and no longer a four-year suspension of reality. I can’t tell you how many times people ask me what I’m going to “do” with my major. The answer is: nothing. I’m doing my major to do my major, because I like what I’m studying and I want to learn. That I can afford to spend these four years creating opportunities fitted to my interests is another issue.</p>
<p>To make another limited observation: it seems to me that business schools have become all the rage. Many of my relatives went to Penn in the 60s and 70s, and one of the things they all remember about the school was how “dumb” Wharton kids were in comparison to the rest of the school. Now, of course, Wharton leads the school. Why all this interest in studying business?</p>