yekke2: Try reading Torah Umadda by R’ Norman Lamm. He goes through different approaches, including the Rambam and R’ Hirsch, showing why ALL knowledge really helps with understanding the Torah (and therefore isn’t really secular).
Many posters here have commented on MO and tznius. Do MO and chareidim have the same levels? No. However, to say MO does it wrong is incorrect. Chareidim take on many extra chumros when it comes to tznius. This isn’t halachah, it’s chumrah. Most MO don’t take on most of those chumros. Does that mean it violates halachah? Absolutely not! Now, are there those who don’t keep even the basic halachic standards? Yes, of course there are. Just as there are chareidim who also don’t keep them. There are also chareidim who violate biblical prohibitions on other things, as well as MO who violate the same things. Nobody is perfect, and every group has its black sheep. That doesn’t mean the underlying ideology is wrong.
richashu, as was asked before, I wonder how many from your class came from frum homes, or if your statistics are true at all. I’ve never seen anything like what you talk about, from any MO school. The only similar case I know of is my wife’s high school class – and that was a Beis Yaakov! Out of 20 girls, 13 of them went off the derech. One of the 13 became a baal teshuva afterward.
You think MO people don’t learn much? Come to my shul. We have 3 daf yomi shiurim every day, which are all well attended. The earliest one begins at 5:30 am. There are shiurim and/or chaburos given nightly. Many men learn b’chavrusah with kollel members every night. On Shabbos, many people (myself included) forgo a Shabbos afternoon nap to attend multiple shiurim. Try walking into the RIETS Beis Medrash any given night. See if MO people aren’t learning.