<p>Then that’s their problem.</p>
<p>this is so ridiculous. get over yourselves. doesn’t this mindless discussion just prove the point - Harvard kids not only talk incessantly about where they go, they also love to talk about talking about where they go. Ego trippinnn’</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It is their problem, but life is easier when you get along with people.</p>
<p>Exactly merkalicious! Thats what I was trying to say. pmvd you say “learning from experience,” I know from experience that being dishonest to others usually backfires. And yes, purposely saying “I go to Boston” because you don’t want someone to know you go to “Harvard” is very arrogant. </p>
<p>Anyway, go ahead and continue this mindless argument, if you don’t have better things to do. Otherwise just CHILL OUT (really). And don’t forget to have some school spirit.</p>
<p>rb3, congrats on your decision to attend H. If I may: I don’t personally condone anyone outright lying to someone. When I tell people that “I went to school out East”, I’m not doing so to be arrogant (and I suspect the others who have chimed in on this thread are likewise so inclined – I dunno for sure however). Like I said, I work in a non-profit environment where it’s definitely college-optional. If someone asked me, I’d surely tell them that I went to Y. But I certainly don’t flaunt it. Many of the people around me are happy to just have a warm meal.</p>
<p>But, like Northstarmom (a harvard alumna) get me around our local H-Y football game gatherings of our local alumni clubs and I’m as vocal about Y as anyone.</p>
<p>There are certainly people who flaunt it with less than honorable motives (the “arrogant” ones that some on this thread have put forth). Most alums of the so-called “prestigious” colleges that I know are quite demure about their achievements and give back in full knowledge of the good fortune that they’ve been bestowed. Best of luck to you in Cambridge this fall. I hope the Elis can beat you in football this year. You’ve really had our number the last few years.</p>
<p>I won’t tell people where i’m going either, because i’m not defined by the school i go to, whichever that is. And sometimes adding the H word to the conversation just makes it a lot more excruciating. Some people expect H students to spew out intelligent and profound stuff, and i’m just not that kid. Others jump at the chance to ask about my applying experience, and i’m honestly really tired of talking to absolutely clueless juniors who are only interested in my SAT scores, GPAs and whether i have any mythical tips to give them (i don’t). Most scrutinize me even more than they would have, just because there’s this “H students are perfect geniuses” myth and i won’t live up to the hype.</p>
<p>I will tell them if i’m asked point blank “which college is it?” because i dont like to lie, or if they’re my friends from whom i have nothing to hide, or to whom i actually enjoy sharing my applying experience.</p>
<p>I think it all comes down to personal preference. If you don’t like to brag, you will find a way. If you’re sociable, you’ll find a way not to let the H-word and all of its implications (there are, don’t even try to deny it) get in the way of your socializing. If you do like to brag, even if you try to appear humble by using the “Boston school” schtick, your arrogance will still shine through. There’s no fixed formula, and asking for it is pointless.</p>
<p>can we just ignore this iamsure guy. every once in a while, someone comes up and goes like “admissions decisons are unfair” or harvard is biased to rich kids or whatever ********. and every keeps responding to it, like its a serious argument. people who are geniunely applying to harvard and people who have been accepted reply because they feel like they are upholding their status. its not worth it. just ignore those ■■■■■■■■ posts and it will die out.</p>
<p>I used to think about doing that. But then I thought about a conversation like:</p>
<p>Person: What school do you go to?
Harvard student: Oh, a school in Boston.
Person: What school?
Harvard student: Harvard…</p>
<p>…obviously that sounds more pretentious than just saying Harvard in the first place.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Dwight, how about this exchange?</p>
<p>Person: What school do you go to?
Harvard student: wellesley
Person: oh great</p>
<p>"“Person: What school do you go to?
Harvard student: Oh, a school in Boston.
Person: What school?
Harvard student: Harvard…”</p>
<p>Except that this is the way that conversation often goes:</p>
<p>""Person: What school do you go to?
Harvard student: Oh, a school in Boston. Boston is such a great city. There’s so much to do and so many college students around. Have you ever been there?
Person: “Yes, I loved the …”</p>
<p>Pmvd, how about this exchange?</p>
<p>Person: What school do you go to?
Harvard student: wellesley
Person: oh great. So does my daughter / so do I. Which dorm do you stay at / courses are you taking this year / bla bla bla?</p>
<p>Congratulations, you are now a stamped Harvard lier or you look confused, to say the least. Definitely less awkward than telling out straight where you study.</p>
<p>One of my classmates in law school told the following story about hanging out at a bar popular with Catholic high school jocks in the small industrial city we both came from during our first year Thanksgiving break:</p>
<p>She found herself being checked out by a really nice-looking guy, which she didn’t mind at all, and started a conversation with him. Before he got a chance to ask much about her, she established that he was in college, and asked him where. Notre Dame, he said. She was 100% certain that he was lying, because she knew everyone at Notre Dame from our city. He was still cute, though, so she strung out the conversation by asking him progressively more specific questions about dorms, classes, people he knew, etc., before finally telling him that SHE had just graduated from Notre Dame (this was back when ND was not really co-ed, and the handful of women enrolled there were all engineers, so it probably would not have occurred to the guy that she could possibly have gone there), and she knew darn well that he wasn’t a student there. But, he was obviously smart, and smooth, and not a half-bad liar, so what was his story? His story: He was the starting quarterback on that year’s Ivy championship team (Yale), and all-Ivy himself. He was also a molecular biology major who was applying to med school. But, at that time, in that bar, in that city, he had a much easier time hooking up with girls as a regular-Joe Notre Dame student than as the Yale #1 QB.</p>
<p>how’d she find out?</p>
<p>From Uncyclopedia:</p>
<p>It is a well documented fact that Harvard graduates enjoy talking about Harvard. They like talking about it a lot (and we mean a lot). Typically, this is in the form of Harvard “promotion.” Moreover, they will find clever ways to work Harvard into ordinary conversations. It is not uncommon for the following conversations to be overheard anywhere in the country:</p>
<p>“Looks like a cold spell is coming through.”</p>
<p>“Sure enough, reminds me of some cold days. Cold, cold days. Cold days spent at Harvard. Cambridge sure gets cold. I told you I graduated from Harvard, no?”</p>
<p>“We are so much better than Cornell.” “'Ello, 'ello, whass all this? 'Tis a talking rat*<strong><em>, it is! - Cornellian” “Because look at our endowment. That little state school over in Ithica was a pity case to get into the Ivy League. They are not even private - look at their *</em></strong>ty little ag school. It’s a joke that its considered an Ivy when they have such a low average HHI. Cornellians are all of the Harvard Rejects. Did I mention I went to Harvard?” </p>
<p>“Sir, would you like paper or plastic?”</p>
<p>“Hmmm…that’s a tough one, I do have milk, and the condensation on the outside of the container might eat through the paper, but on the other hand, plastic is not bio-degradable…quite a conundrum here.”</p>
<p>“Sir, we have a long line, please choose paper or plastic.”</p>
<p>“Decisions, decisions…brings me back to another time, back at Harvard, when I had to make decisions. Yes, you heard me right, Harvard class of '65, the “grand old class” they called us. I was in the finals club, and there it stood before me, bouillabaisse or no bouillabaisse…perhaps the greatest challenge I had faced up to that point…”</p>
<p>“Mr.Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsy-roll pop?”</p>
<p>“Many factors can influence the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsy-roll pop. For a Harvard graduate, such as myself, it would only require one lick. It would take much more for you because the pH in your saliva just isn’t as good as ours.”</p>
<p>“Motherf**ker, you swiped my car…I’m going to waste your punk-ass!”</p>
<p>“Swiped indeed…reminds me of the time when I and my fellow Lowell house pranksters swiped the bust of Cornelius Vanderwall from the provosts office at Harvard. We had quite a chuckle that day…Ahh, its so good interacting with ‘salt-of-the-earth’ folk like yourself…I so rarely do it…shall we talk more over a snifter?”</p>
<p>“Thank you for coming to our wedding. It means so much for us to have people who are so important to us joining us on our special day. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family…people like you, who are able to share in our joy today.”</p>
<p>“I went to Harvard.”</p>
<p>lol, I liked the last one.</p>
<p>Haha that was set up perfectly for the last one. </p>
<p>I’m going to Penn so I have no problem.</p>
<p>1: So where are you going to college?
2: Penn
1: Which campus?
2: The one in philly
1: Oh cool I’m going X</p>
<p>Although, there’s always those kids who say Wharton instead of Penn. </p>
<p>H-Bomb does ruin a conversation though, even if there’s nothing wrong with being proud of your college.</p>
<p>I don’t think that I really have a problem with people concelaing where they go to school, including Harvard, Yale, etc. I mean some people don’t like to share personal info. and if you can dodge questions with the “a school in Boston” approach, more power to you. </p>
<p>There are the grads who love talking about Harvard, reclusive ones, and the liars but it’s just their way of living, so deal with it. The H-bomb will without question ruin conversations and cause a weird social feeling because the other person either feels intimidated or expects you to come up with the cure to cancer, if you catch my drift (obviously there are exceptions). I don’t even like telling people where I am even thinking of applying to college unless I fully trust that person and am comfortable around them for it deadens the conversation/makes me the focus of it; I really don’t like that to happen when I’m talking to others (no matter how straightforward and down-to-earth I say it).</p>
<p>I really am not pretentious, but some people just don’t understand that you like a school such as Harvard for more than the name (as in you enjoy Cambridge/NE, the academics are superb, life-long contacts, and wonderful people to meet). Well, that’s my two-cents worth; sorry for the long post! ;)</p>
<p>Whenever people ask me, I just say a school in Princeton. They might catch on though.</p>
<p>Yeah. You go to Westminster Choir College.</p>
<p>I can recall long ago when I got into Yale, and told people in my town in southern Virginia that I was going there, quite a few of them replied, “What, couldn’t you get into U.Va.?”</p>
<p>I think this situation is probably most acute for Harvard students, because the idea that Harvard people are snooty is such a cliche. (I recall how Thurston Howell III would always react to a savage tribesman by saying, “Must be a Yale man.”)</p>