At which university did Salinger write The Young Folks in Whit Burnett's class?

J. D. Salinger wrote “The Young Folks” in Whit Burnett's class at Columbia University.

Salinger attended a short-story writing course taught by Burnett at Columbia in New York. The class became a significant part of his early development as a writer, and “The Young Folks” emerged from that period. Burnett later published the story in Story magazine, helping launch Salinger's professional career.

“The Young Folks” was written in 1939 and appeared in the March/April 1940 issue of Story. It depicts the strained emptiness of conversation at a New York cocktail party, an early example of Salinger's interest in young people, social performance, and emotional disconnection.

This Columbia connection is sometimes confused with Salinger's other educational experiences. He attended New York University and Ursinus College without completing a degree, and he also studied at other institutions. The specific class connected to “The Young Folks,” however, was Burnett's writing course at Columbia.