The Amazing Adventures Of Supergrad

"Most recently," she says, "I was monitoring elections in Kenya."

"I am partial," says another, "to West Africa."

The Gardens for Health women listen to their peers, impressed and exhausted. They were up half the night honing their PowerPoint. Before that, they were taken to a Manhattan restaurant, where they sat at tables with JPMorgan employees. The employees explained the difference between bankers and traders, what the work hours are and how you get up at 5 a.m. but can sometimes get home for dinner. They talked about how you compete for vacation slots.

The idea of competing with co-workers did not surprise the women, who have been competing all of their lives. Morell and Clippinger both competed for admission to private schools, then vied for spots at Ivy League institutions in an era when acceptance rates are extraordinarily low.

But that doesn't mean it gets easier. Morell slips her feet nervously in and out of her pumps, as one contestant after another talks about things like "a 10-year plan for the village, which is included in your packet in Appendix D," and responds to questions with, "It's not that hard -- it's pretty much taking a voltage meter and . . ."

There are some hopeful signs for the Gardens of Health women. During a break, one of the judges compliments them not only on their presentation, but on their résumés. "Nice GPAs!" he says.

AND THEY DO HAVE IMPRESSIVE GPAS, but is this generation of graduates really more qualified for entry-level management jobs than, say, World War II veterans who went to college on the GI Bill and who entered the workforce seasoned and serious? Are they more qualified than people I knew growing up who worked construction in the summers? My husband spent summers stacking bricks and grinding rust off of iron girders, the kind of manual labor you don't see much on résumés nowadays. Each fall, he returned to campus deeply grateful for his education.

Isn't there virtue in scooping ice cream or even, for a time, drifting? Isn't there value in being uncoached and forced to find your own way forward? Did that make boomers more resourceful, more creative, more independent? More able to recover from failure and go it alone when necessary?

"That's the biggest dilemma," says Tattanelli, who hears employers debate this question all the time. Most aren't particularly nostalgic for the qualities of the baby boomers. They say this generation of graduates is, in fact, better prepared than their parents or grandparents were, and that's especially true of the most ambitious students emerging from selective colleges and big public universities. Their team skills are sharper. Their knowledge of the world is more sophisticated. They are better able to adapt to new technology. A typical Good Venture résumé shows literacy in "Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, FrontPage, SPSS Statistical Analysis software."

"They are an extremely capable generation," says Merrill Lynch's Tom Wilson. Seniors today come to interviews having read the company's Web site, knowing something about the industry, and often with real experience. The most accomplished also come expecting work-life balance and philanthropic involvement, so the companies strive to offer it. Merrill Lynch stresses on recruiting brochures that it fosters diversity, helps those in need and invests in a greener future. The company also claims that it encourages its employees to have lives beyond their jobs.

"When I came into the business, that would have been unheard of to be on the back of your recruiting brochure," Wilson says. "Today, that is a very important part of how we compete for those candidates."

"No question, it's a different caliber of person," agrees Marianne Myles, former director of the State Department's office of recruiting, examination and employment. "They're better prepared and hit the ground running."