<p>I know this question sounds SO superficial and obnoxious but is it a common misconception that if you say you got into Penn people confuse it with Penn State? One is obviously more prestigious and selective than the other...</p>
<p>Please don't shoot me for my ivy league hubris!</p>
<p>The people that confuse the two don’t matter. It’s also not a super common misconception anyway; people tend to exaggerate it.</p>
<p>Most people in the US can’t tell you who is the sitting Vice President. That, the fact that many people confuse Penn with Penn state plus a dollar will get you a sausage biscuit at McDonalds in the morning.</p>
<p>Big whoop</p>
<p>Vienrose, I hear you and yes, people do confuse the two. I actually heard someone talking about a friend of my daughter’s. She stated that the friend went to Penn State. I knew that the girl went to UPenn (since I was so proud of her because not only was she was quite smart, she was also a wonderful singer/actress), so I was so excited for people to see that performers can also be extremely intelligent. </p>
<p>It wasn’t even my own daughter, but I felt the need to defend her educational “honor”. Hahahahaha</p>
<p>[University</a> of Pennsylvania - WikiCU, the Columbia University wiki encyclopedia](<a href=“http://www.wikicu.com/Penn]University”>University of Pennsylvania - WikiCU, the Columbia University wiki encyclopedia)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>^ Takes one to know one:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Columbia</a> University - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University]Columbia”>Columbia University - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>And talk about a Tory stronghold–how about a school called “King’s College”? :p</p>
<p>They are nice to themselves.</p>
<p>[Category:Ivy</a> League - WikiCU, the Columbia University wiki encyclopedia](<a href=“http://www.wikicu.com/Category:Ivy_League]Category:Ivy”>Category:Ivy League - WikiCU, the Columbia University wiki encyclopedia)</p>
<p>It does get confused even in Pennsylvania. I realize that its common for simple reasons. 1. The names are very close to the same. 2. Most people don’t live in communities where Ivy League grads and students live and work making the odds most likely someone is referring to Penn State 3. People judge you by your appearance - they may assume you are referring to Penn State based in assumptions of your race, clothing, job, income, what they think of your intelligence, etc and vice versa. People can assume you are referring to UPenn if you are wearing a nice suit, work on Wall Street and drive a Mercedes.</p>
<p>And none of it really matters. Being under or over estimated can be used to your advantage and you can always correct the record if you feel any disadvantage directed at you. They are both great schools but for different reasons.</p>
<p>I live in Pennsylvania. It definitely gets confused, but I do not think it is that big of a deal.</p>
<p>We used to have t-shirts that said “Not Penn State” and a fake Latin motto that was something like “Notus Pennsylvaniansis Status.” Yes, it gets confused. My dad once wrote out a tuition check to Penn State before I corrected him. Who cares–people who know about this stuff know which school is which.</p>
<p>Honestly I have a ton of friends who live in PA and I spend a bunch of time there and I have never heard the to confused. All my friends who go to penn call it penn and my friends who go to penn state all call it penn state.</p>
<p>They still have “Not Penn State” shirts. My dad liked to tell the joke where the punchline was “Not Penn State, State Pen” (as in penitentiary). He regaled me and my brother with it way too much.</p>
<p>I did an alumni interview a few weeks back, and I told them “University of Pennsylvania” and they told the applicant “the interviewer from Penn State is here”. Neither of us said anything, but I did make a point to identify myself clearly once we started the interview.</p>
<p>We also have people coming up to the table at college fairs saying “oh, I have friends who went there, and I am applying to Abington” and I debate how to tell them “we don’t have any satellite campuses” as a clue or just point them to the Penn State table.</p>