Editorial: being happy about your college is not "bragging"

<p>I wore a Yale T-shirt when my brother went there and no one seemed to care. It would seem if you went to a school where this became a big issue, they might just be jealous because they figured your dad was a locksmith and got such cool free shirts from his suppliers! ;)</p>

<p>I can't recall ever wearing a shirt from a school I went to, at least not until my DD got a freebie from WUSTL that was too big for her and it just happened to be one of my previous schools. I never festooned by vehicle back windows or bumpers with stickers either, even when my kids were in high-school. My kids would have disowned me if I'd slapped on those ubiquitous "My child is an honor-roll student at...." stickers.</p>

<p>
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why is it bragging if it's a prestigious school, but all other schools are perfectly legit?

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</p>

<p>Simply because the perception is that those other people don't have very much to brag about, so it's not a double standard. People may brag about driving a Porsche, but they don't brag about driving a Ford. To do the former is immodest, to do the latter is absurd.</p>

<p>Getting into a selective college is a big accomplishment for anyone. Granted, less so for a member of an influential privileged class family. However, it is NOT luck. Nobody, not even the epitome of an aristocrat, can gain admittance to a top college without putting in a lot of hard work. And if one manages to gain admittance to such a school then they DESERVE to wear the shirt. Bragging about anything is very unbecoming, yet I don't see how a Harvard shirt identifies someone as a braggart. Someone who is accepted to Harvard (just using Harvard as an example here) has a) worked hard, b) accomplished something that 91% of Harvard's applicants do not, and c) is probably pretty happy about doing so. </p>

<p>And what if one does not want to attend Brown because it is elite, but because they genuinely like Brown. What if one is not in fact a product of the aristocracy, but a laborious member of the middle class, or even a citizen of an impoverished country? Will these people so be labeled as braggarts? Accomplishments are often misconstrued as being superlative. I doubt anyone here would accuse a laborious kid from a lower-class family wearing an NYU shirt of bragging about his acceptance there--an accomplishment just as commendable, requiring the same amount of hard work, as a middle-class or upper-class kid gaining acceptance to Harvard.</p>

<p>And why are modesty and humbleness necessary just for academics/colleges? Why not ban parents' luxury cars and McMansions too? They might offend apartment-dwellers! Should kids born with stunning physical beauty wear bags on their heads? Certainly they reap untold social advantages and are not accused of lack of humbleness. How about the jock in his/her letter jacket--immodest? Not in our materialistic, sports crazy society. Perhaps because brains are genetic gifts and hard work is not glamourous, those in possession of both are banished to quiet humbleness, so as not to offend the mediocre, lazy, or unlucky student.</p>

<p>I dont like the idea of t shirt week for the exact reasons mentioned above but
wearing a t shirt when you get accepted the college of your choice is really fine. people have a right to be proud of their sucess regardless of the name of the instutition. Bragging or acting smug is unacceptable behavior but so is being a poor sport</p>

<p>I don't see anything wrong with wearing your t-shirt. though i can understand the jealousy of other students. I mean, jealousy is a natural human feeling, so if you wear your college t-shirt, then it's probably bound to stir up some tension somewhere. </p>

<p>I totally support your right to wear whatever shirt you want. You should be proud that you worked your butt off for four years. But wearing your college shirt will naturally result in different responses from the people who see it. If my shirt offended anyone, I wouldn't wear it just to play it safe because you might have no idea how someone may react and what trouble it may cause. But it's your choice and your values. What's more important, the people around you (friends?) or your pride in the school you're going to attend? It's all up to you. I don't mean to sound as if I'm saying that you value your college more than your friends, but if the shirt causes a problem for you and stirs any negative feelings, just don't wear it. I think it's better to be happy with your fellow peers for the rest of senior year than to argue or provoke others, but that's just me. Just try to enjoy senior year and make the most of it. And congratulations on getting into your top choice! It's always nice to hear that someone's dream really did come true!! WOOHOO! Good luck!</p>

<p>citygirlsmom you said
" And if you are geting hotile looks because of wearing your Yale shirt, it is HOW you are wearing it, not just that you are wearing it" this might be true some of the time but I cant help think that there are people who are jealous and/or bad sports too. dont alway put blame on a kid who is proud and happy of his huge acomplishments.</p>

<p>Listen, there's nothing wrong with you wearing your t-shirt but you should be careful of other people's feelings and their perceptions of you. This is especially true if you are perceived to be a braggart by your peers.</p>

<p>For example, lets say 5 kids from your school applied to harvard and you were the only one to get in. Coming in the next day with a huge Harvard shirt on would probably **** the other kids off. It's a constant reminder to them of their failures. You should at least wait a little bit for tensions to cool or be discrete about your clothing.</p>

<p>lol plus you have a right to brag, they are just jealous</p>

<p>We have the "right" to live peaceful, secure, and dignified lives,
we don't have the "right" to brag >_></p>

<p>Consider the hurt feelings of other people who:
a) are anxiously awaiting college acceptances, tearing their hair out
b) have been rejected by their dream schools, under the impression that their hopes and aspirations have been snuffed</p>

<p>You can be proud of your personal accomplishments,
but be a considerate human being.</p>

<p>Be proud of your accomplishment! It is an honor to be accepted into a prestigious university. I really don't see a problem with wearing a your college's sweatshirt as long as your not rubbing it in other's faces or acting as if you are better than they are.</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure no one has read the entire thread (I don't blame you, it's 5 pages long!), but NO ONE else from my school even applied, and most kids find out about college soon after applying at my school (a lot of rolling admissions colleges with high acceptance rates). So it's NOT a matter of me getting in and them getting rejected. It's a lot more disturbing than that, because a negative reaction might even be justified in that case.</p>

<p>I see the reason for wearing my college shirt a little differently from how many posters seem to expect. At my HS, the only kid to go to a very selective college in decades was a recruited athlete. Many kids (including top students) think these colleges are not for "people like them" (i.e. they don't think they have a chance). I felt the same way last year, until I looked into the admissions statistics and did some research. I want to send the message that: a.) this school isn't just for athletes b.) these schools are accessable for people from our humble high school, and c.) these schools aren't just for rich people. I want to show that it's possible to be really excited about a college, and that it's possible for top students no matter where they come from. I'm trying to organize efforts to educate students at my HS about the admissions process so that they will be empowered to apply outside of the normal set of schools, and so they can find a fit.</p>

<p>No, I don't need a shirt to prove my self-worth. Whoever said that made me chuckle, though. I love my future school, and I know that others love their future schools, too. THAT's why I applied... name brands are only fit for expensive clothing and appliances, anyway.</p>

<p>I have to say... At first I was excited about getting into my #1 choice. When my letter came, my aunt came into school with a balloon attached to the acceptance letter. I told her that there was NO WAY I was walking around school with the balloon for the rest of the day, but that I'd carry the acceptance letter around. I became kind of bitter that inside I just wanted to jump for joy and tell everyone about my acceptance, but I had 2 things stopping me. 1. I didn't want to sound pompus. 2. Some people know that my school is really good, others just ignore it based on its principle. In any case, acceptance to this school did merit recognition in my opinion, but I really was never anxious to express it to my peers. It was in the paper that I got accepted to this school since a congressman must approve acceptances to these schools, so I almost could not avoid other people knowing about it. It wasn't until honors night at my school that people knew that I had gotten into schools that are perhaps deemed better than mine (although I'll fight them until the end otherwise). Moral of the story, be happy, but be humble. When people find out for themselves where you got accepted, they'll respect you more than if you just go around telling everyone.</p>

<p>My son and his girlfriend were shopping when they got a text from a friend letting them know he'd been accepted to an Ivy. On a rack right in front of where they were standing there were hoodies from that school. My son thought it was fate, and immediately bought it for his friend and gave it to him the next day at school. </p>

<p>I'm not sure what kind of reaction this boy got when he wore it, but if there had been any kind of negativity my son would have told me. Despite the fact that my son didn't have the stats to apply to an Ivy, he didn't think there was any thing wrong with his friend wearing the shirt to let everyone know he'd been accepted.</p>

<p>Haha, I read the whole thread. It's what I do instead of doing work.</p>

<p>Anywho, you're right bmwdan- you wearing your shirt would cause good feelings too... giving people hope. So many people think they don't have a chance when they really do. More people should try for the prestigious schools.</p>

<p>Wearing a shirt isn't the same thing as bragging to every person in town. If people have a negative reaction based on a SHIRT, they're seriously strange.</p>

<p>Really, it's personally fine to be happy to get in somewhere. People SHOULD be happy and if everyone does their application process the right way, they'll be happy at where they're going too, no matter what school you attend.</p>

<p>as far as the topic goes, some people DO wear the merchandise blatantly to BRAG; others just wear it for the sake of representing their school. although both reasons may be intertwined, you get my point. the only way you can know for sure is if you know the person. otherwise, it's just pointless to assume. sometimes you can tell, though.</p>

<p>Be proud - you should be, i hope i am in 4 years...</p>

<p>for interesting information what school did you get accepted too?</p>

<p>I really don't have a problem with it. Actually towards the end of the year, in May-June, there's a college shirt/sweatshirt day. I normally don't have a problem with people wearing college gear, even prestigious ones, but it does bother me when people rub it in my face, literally, that they're going there. It's like, you got in. Okay. What do you WANT me to say?</p>

<p>I applied RD so it's not like I can show off my college stuff yet. I've been wearing one college's sweatshirt because it's so warm but I have no plans on going there. lol. Just don't be pompous about it and nobody should have a problem. Though, it can get awkward if someone didn't get in into said college...</p>

<p>"Highly regarded school" is subjective, dependent on what part of the country you're from, what your own college exposure has been, and what your high school is like, to name just a few variables. The only info that's important is what the OP has already supplied, which is how he and his peers view the school in question.</p>

<p>IMO, supplying the name of the specific school only risks adding an unnecessary dimension of competition to this thread.</p>

<p>Thanks, brillar. That has a lot of truth.</p>