Mapping the College Culture Gap

Matthew Stevenson:

Although the television series "Mad Men" has yet to take up the subject of college applications, I could well imagine an episode in which ad man Don Draper spends his day consuming vast quantities of Scotch and cigarettes, only to come home and have his wife say (while ignoring the lipstick on his collar): "I spoke to Millie today, and she had some good things to say about Williams."

When Britain still had an Empire, what mattered most was to get your daughters married and your sons into a good regiment. In Homeland America, all that matters to middle-class and affluent parents is getting their children into the best colleges that money can buy or that the Standardized Aptitude Test will allow.

Friends of mine who have college-bound children talk only about test schedules, AP credits, summer programs for gifted children, sports highlight reels, and the easiest routes to Duke or Pomona.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at March 16, 2012 2:40 AM
Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas