MN-dad. I agree to some extent of what you speak. I do still believe that long term goals are practical. They may not be as long out as they once could be, but they are still there. There are some they may want to be a professional student. I've met some of these. They are 30+ years old and have been in school their entire life. But most people don't go to school because it's what they've dreamed of doing since they were a kid. Most people realize that they go to school, so doors can be opened up to them. Doors that can lead to their goals. Short term or long term, they are goals.
My point is, just because a particular school may be somewhat prestigious, such as one of the academies, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, etc. don't make going there your goal. It is simply a tool. A means of opening up doors and opportunities. It isn't the only means of opening doors to your goals. But one thing is for sure, don't make attending the academy or any school, your goal.
For most people in the world, we all have very similar long range goals. Live a long, happy, healthy, prosperous life. A life where you can provide your children, if they are part of the plan, to have as good or better opportunities than you had. A life where you are successful at whatever you do, and you're happy doing it. Where you feel that your life matters and makes a difference in the lives of those around you.
The problem is, when you make the tools, steps, doors, etc. that you are using, AS your goals, then you lose sight of what's truly important to you and your real long rang goals. Especially if you don't achieve one of these insignificant goals. I.e. If you don't get accepted to the academy or Harvard, or reach one of these doors that you've set up as a goal, people will tend to get discouraged and rethink what their goals really are. The academy is a great example. If your goal is to be a commissioned officer in the military, and you don't get accepted, you can still reach your goal. There are other doors. If you make attending the academy a goal, and you don't achieve it, then what do you have left?
Again, some may say that these are semantics. That you can have more than one goal. That you can have being a commissioned office and going to the academy both as goals. Yes you can. You can say it's semantics. But the truth is, goals are not designed to be finite. You don't reach a goal, and then die. Goals were meant to be reached and built upon to help you find self fulfillment. If people want to call their path and the tools they use to reach their goals, also goals, e.g. Short term goals, then fine. Call it that if you like. At least realize then that these goals don't have the significance or importance that your long range goals have.
I've seen too many people put too much emphasis on these paths as goals, and when they don't reach them, they try and rethink their whole life. I've seen too many Princeton and Harvard type grads who believed so much in attending that school was a goal, and that everything else on life was going to fall right into place. I've seen them graduate and not get the job or opportunities they thought they would have. Not because of the economy. Because they didn't realize that Princeton and Harvard are just tools, and they didn't keep their eye on the real goals and use the other tools needed to open the doors needed to reach the real goals.