<p>College recognition tends to be regional. If you go to the midwest and say "I'm going to USC!" and ur talking about the SC in CA, ppl there will think your talking about Southern Carolina. Wherever you guys end up going, people in that state/location will know where you are going and many of you then will feel the appreciation you want from people who reside there. I live in CA. Only schools most parents know are UCLA, Berkeley, UCI, and the top schools/Ivy league. When I say im going to U of Michigan, they either dont know what it is or don't realize its a school just as good as UCLA and Berkeley. </p>
<p>But personally I dont really mind. I dont really care if they are really impressed or dont know what the hell U of M is. In the end, there is no real reason to expect people to know where I'm going and for them to congratulate me and give me an ego boost. I know where I'm going and I konw the school im goign too is good for ME, and could care less what the ranking is and how other people perceive it.</p>
<p>Well in fairness to the guy, I don't know if he said it directly like that. I was just quoting from memory, not entirely accurate word for word. But the tone of what he said was essentially how I portrayed it (at least in my opinion). In any case, I appreciate your support for me.</p>
<p>It does bother me because it feels like I have worked so hard to get into my top LAC and no one can even appreciate it with me. Especially people who are going to jc's and state schools that dont understand why im spending 45k when I could get the "same edu" somewhere cheaper. people actually thought it was an art school when I told them "LIBERAL arts" but whatever, when you do get to your chosen LAC everyone there will be able to appreciate the accomplishment of getting in.
...oh and bringing it up anywhere in ur schools given city doesnt hurt either...most people that live there will understand how great your respective college is.</p>
<p>It can be annoying sometimes, but I know that where it matters, people are familiar.
Plus, it always makes me like a person better when they do know and respect my school, it is an interesting way to gauge people.
Not that I'm saying I base my decisions on what colleges people have heard of, just it's often surprising who has/hasn't heard of top LACs.</p>
<p>I graduated from Middlebury, went on to grad school at a big PAC 12 University and an Ivy. When I was at a local college studying for the Bar exam a student asked me what I was doing there because I always seemed to be there. When I explained I was studying for the Bar she asked, “you have to take an exam to be a bartender?”</p>
<p>These are the people I think of when someone hasn’t heard of Middlebury. Also, there were plenty of people at the Ivy who had either applied to Middlebury and been rejected or applied and been accepted and now wished they’d chosen Middlebury.</p>
<p>One thing that’s worth keeping in mind is that a majority of the people one will deal with in life had a bad experience in school at some point in their lives. The people at CC generally love school and they celebrate excellence in schooling. But let’s say you live in California and you decide to go to the East Coast for college. It doesn’t matter where you go, already this will be seen as freakish and alienating behavior by most Californians. Again, since they hate school, they will not have heard of the LAC you’re attending, so they’ll imagine it as an elitist and/or quixotic quest for self-actualization at a fancy summer camp with bad weather. Many years from now, you might recognize an element of truth to this point of view, but for the moment, imagine yourself on the actual campus, inside the bubble, forgetting about the outside world. Derive as much energy from the experience as you can but don’t project it too loudly. Use the energy to accomplish something so great that no one will even need to ask what college you attended. “Wow, she cured cancer despite attending Middlebury!”</p>
<p>Why this OLD thread was brought up I’m not sure but…in the case of Amherst, practically nobody at my D’s high school had heard of it, I think two teachers had but not even her guidance counselor. My daughter would also say it was a small college in MA, and I can’t tell you how many times people would ask if she didn’t get into UGA? It’s a regional thing.</p>