Woe are those born in meritocratic times

The way entities like the NYT and NY Magazine tell it, the college admissions frenzy, as experienced in certain pockets of Manhattan and Brooklyn, is a devastating, heart-wrenching affair. People love reading about the preppy NYC kids--and their overly-involved parents--going through the college process either because a) they identify, or b) it's fun to watch the pampered, finally, suffer.

Now Kramer vs. Kramer author Avery Corman has written a new novel, "set against the backdrop of the admissions craze, as success-driven parents push their children to compete for places in the best colleges. For divorced parents and their children, the admissions process can be particularly fraught. Mr. Corman called it madness, and said it was 'altering the way young people lead their lives.' He added, 'We're stealing their childhood.'"

Yes, things certainly were better when, by virtue of your birth, you knew whether you'd be going to Yale, City College, or the local factory. Remember back when kids could be kids, when kids didn't have to go to Verizon Suburban High School, only to get rejected from Harvard--along with many obviously qualified and well-rounded graduates of Dalton and Horace Mann--in favor of a math genius from Middle America who wasn't even on any sports teams.