<p>I sent this link off to my son, who is in grad school, this morning because, at this point, he can't wear any Harvard gear whatsoever without getting a speech about it.</p>
<p>Not</a> easy for Harvard grads to say they went there - The Boston Globe</p>
<p>^ first world problems right here</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Weez to dumb</p>
<p>More like Harvard problems. Back at home I tell people “Columbia” and they think I’m talking about the gamecocks lol Maybe in the north it’ll change a bit</p>
<p>Yeah, not really a new problem. A friend of mine swears he overheard the following conversation between two young men on the Metro in DC:</p>
<p>Man #1: So…where did you go to college?
Man #2: Uh…Boston.
Man #1: Oh, really? Which House?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, my friend may value telling a good story above telling an accurate story.</p>
<p>Over the years, I have come to realize that you can practice saying “Harvard” exactly the way you’d say “Ohio State,” but you can’t do a darn thing to make people *hear *“Harvard” the way they’d hear “Ohio State.”</p>
<p>^Hahaha, if that story’s true, that’s great.</p>
<p>If that’s the biggest problem a Harvard grad has, they have it pretty good. Not that I don’t myself lie and say Boston College for a similar very good school in the same city or just pretend I’m my best friend majoring in psychology at her school very far from Massachusetts, rather than have the o.o reaction that sometimes happens if I say “Harvard,” but really, it is okay. (To people I won’t see again, like the nice but nosy woman sitting next to me on the train or whatever.) I would much rather have that be our biggest post-grad problem than, say, high unemployment.</p>
<p>I never understood why Harvard students were reluctant to mention where they matriculated. I suppose it probably sounds sort of weird saying it during one’s freshman year, due to the novelty of it all.</p>
<p>If someone asks you where you go/went to school, respond with the truth. If the other person has a certain “reaction” towards your school (positive or negative), it’s his/her problem…not yours.</p>
<p>Dropping the “H bomb” shouldn’t be a conversation-ender; it should be a conversation-starter. There are so many different directions to take the conversation from that point. Talk about your field of concentration, what you like/don’t like about the school, or what you intend to do after graduation. Ask about where the other person went to school. Compare notes on your college/life experiences. I’ve had lots of great conversations with (and learned a great deal from) chatty strangers in all sorts of situations.</p>
<p>BTW, I am the OP, and I was kidding when I said that Harvard grads have got it bad. Sometimes sarcasm gets lost in cyberspace.</p>
<p>I got your sarcasm, EnoughAlready.</p>
<p>I also understand that, for various reasons, Harvard students lie to others about where they go to school. Seems sort of silly, if you ask me. I’ll take honesty over false modesty every time…but that’s just me, I suppose.</p>
<p>"Over the years, I have come to realize that you can practice saying “Harvard” exactly the way you’d say “Ohio State,” but you can’t do a darn thing to make people hear “Harvard” the way they’d hear “Ohio State.” "</p>
<p>Yup.</p>
<p>“If the other person has a certain “reaction” towards your school (positive or negative), it’s his/her problem…not yours.”</p>
<p>It’s no fun making other people uncomfortable, even if it is their problem. Plus, the resulting awkwardness can affect my interaction with third parties. In both social and business settings, it’s just easier if you can avoid hitting people’s sore spots.</p>
<p>Agreed, though, total first world problem. It’s a small price to pay.</p>
<p>I’ve encountered this many times and find it quite condescending. It gives the impression that I am not expected to be mentally / psychologically capable of handing the information.</p>
<p>I’m nothing but pleased and impressed to learn that someone I meet went to a great school. Just come out and tell me; my most likely response is “Cool!”</p>
<p>When I was in college I was open and said “I go to Yale.” More frequently than I would have thought possible the statement was met with “You must be really smart.” I discovered that the best response was “Yes, I’m a genius.” </p>
<p>If they laughed recognizing that their comment was off-putting and I was being sarcastic then everything was ok and we moved on. If they didn’t recognize the sarcasm then I figured that they weren’t worth it anyway and I moved on.</p>
<p>For better or worse the H-bomb, the Y-bomb or the P-bomb is real (of course my S when we was in Britain discovered that none of these are nearly as powerful than saying that you are or were an Etonian–that is a conversation stopper and people will–no exaggeration–hate or suck up merely because of that fact. His headmaster told the graduating (leaving to be precise) class that regardless what they will do with the rest of their lives when they die the first line in their obituaries will refer to the fact that they went to Eton and so they should just come to terms with that. ) </p>
<p>Harvardians need to take the same advice. Say “I go/went to Harvard” and if the other person doesn’t like it-- that is their problem–not yours.</p>
<p>Seriously. I’m going to just start telling people I went to Hogwarts. I’m sure that beats Eton or HPY any day :D</p>
<p>Etonians have every right to be proud. They come from the land that produces all of those hand-crank emergency radios.</p>
<p>If someone asked me where I went to school and said “Boston,” and they asked me “where in Boston?” and I said “Cambridge” or something, that makes me three times the jackass than I would ever be for just having said “Harvard” in the first place.</p>
<p>I do now simply say “Harvard” when I’m asked.</p>
<p>But I still brace myself for the type of response I often get: “Oh, Hahvahd! Well, I suppose I’d better mind my manners,” or “I suppose I’d better watch what I say, or you’ll think I’m stupid. Because, you know, I only went to [name of nearby public university].”</p>
<p>Yes. Right. Exactly. Because all of us who went to Harvard are just like Thurston Howell III, except way more pedantic.</p>
<p>“Seriously. I’m going to just start telling people I went to Hogwarts. I’m sure that beats Eton or HPY any day.”</p>
<p>I have had a really rough day at work, and reading this made me laugh out loud, so I thank you! </p>
<p>My son told me about the H-bomb when he was a freshman, but since we only live about 3 miles from campus (no, he’s neither a legacy nor a faculty brat), Harvard really wasn’t such a big deal to us. You get used to the schools that are around the corner; he’d been wearing a Harvard soccer shirt ever since he went to soccer camp at Harvard when he was about 11 years old. It wasn’t until he went out of state for grad school that he got odd comments from people and stopped wearing t-shirts or sweatshirts. When you are in grad school, you don’t have time to do laundry, so this is a real hindrance! If people ask him where he went to school, he just tells them.</p>
<p>Ha! Glad I brightened your day! Rowling jokingly mentioned during her speech in 2008 that commencement amongst all the crimson flags and robes was like ‘being at the largest Gryffindor reunion in the world’ or something along those lines. So we should all gladly claim honorary alum status. </p>
<p>As for Harvard shirts, your son should try to get hold of some house shirts/sweaters! That way you can still show some school pride without the awkwardness of the Harvard name/logo.</p>
<p>Wow, if someone told me she went to Harvard, I would say, “That’s great! What’s it like?” I don’t get the jealousy thing, I guess.</p>
<p>Well, more than 5 percent of Harvard grads said they wouldn’t go there again if they had a choice. Not sure what I think about that.</p>
<p>Here’s the source. Really interesting: [Harvard</a> Crimson: Senior Survey 2012](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/5/22/senior-survey-commencement-naveen/]Harvard”>Harvard Seniors Headed to Workforce Holds Steady | News | The Harvard Crimson)</p>