You can’t run interference for other peoples rank ignorance. You owe it to your parents to tell them that they are entitled to hold their limited and parochial attitudes, but when they are voiced in public it not only hurts others’ feelings, but it makes them look stupid, as well, and that embarrasses you because you love them.
Lots of good advice, but notice that there is an underlying thread: this is you, separating in an adult way from your parents. College is the first really really big choice that you have made for yourself. You are happy in your choice, and want your parents to agree with you.
So here is where maturity is good and bad. The bad is that you have to accept that -at the moment- they are second guessing your choice. And that they are going to look to your sister to give them the parenting prize of bragging rights. The good is that you are happy with your choice, which puts you in a great position to say (the next time they say something about your choice that is hurtful)- in a perfectly nice way- something to the effect of ‘I am very happy with my choice; you accepted my choice at the time; I find these comments hurtful and I would appreciate it if you would not continue saying negative / hurtful things about my choice’. And then drop the subject. And though they won’t see it right away, you will be showing them the adult that you are becoming- which the more important thing for them to be proud of.
My advice is to tell your parents at every opportunity how great your school is, how perfect a fit it is for you, how happy you are, etc. Especially do this when they say anything negative about it. That might be a little more positive way of approaching the issue.
Update: I called my parents last night and told them about my feelings. They hadn’t realized that they had sounded that way and apologized to me. I doubt this changed the underlying attitude immediately, but I told them how happy I am. They admitted to me that it’s difficult to change an attitude that they’ve held since childhood, but since I’ve been attending this school they have reconsidered a bit. Although they might not completely change their minds (yet), I definitely feel like they will stop making these comments in front of me.
Though they did point out that I was being a little overly sensitive about the fact that they were discouraging my sister from going to my school, because she does indeed have different interests. Point taken.
So, although this problem isn’t quite solved yet, I’ve definitely made some progress! Thanks everyone for giving me the courage to speak up to them!
And good job to you, 10ptstoravenclaw, for stepping up in a mature and reasonable way. There are a lot of steps on the way to moving your relationship with your parents from child -> adult to adult child -> adult, and that was a good one 
You’re very eloquent in describing the situation for a freshman! I predict much success.
I am glad that you chose the school with the best fit for yourself.
I hope your sister will also be able to choose her school based on what she is looking for.
And I hope your parents will come around and refrain from making any more negative comments.
Hello 10ptstoravenclaw: I just want to add another perspective to this discussion. Since I don’t know your parents, I don’t know how they operate, this might not apply, but it could be worth thinking about.
When I was a young adult, my husband and I decided to buy our first home. We asked my mother for advice, because she had experience buying homes, and we didn’t. We made an offer on a house for $92,500 (this is in the early 90’s in Seattle). I told my mom about that. Despite the fact that she did not know our salaries, or what our financial situation was at all, she told me we couldn’t afford that house and that she looked on the map, and it was in a bad area. We were outbid by someone else and didn’t get the house. So a week or so later we found another house we loved. This house was more money, and we offered $104,500 on that house. I told my mom about it, and she said we could afford a better house!! So we can’t afford $92,500, but we can afford more than $104,500?? Also she looked on the map, and it was in a bad area. How she could know good or bad areas in a neighborhood she’d never visited did not make sense either.
My mom is a very rational, reasonable and logical person. She is often complimented for having those traits. But she was so afraid I would make a mistake that her reasoning abilities she normally would apply to a situation disappeared. I realized she had been acting this way all along, and it was time for me to change the way I approached decision making.
I love my mom, but if I ask her advice on some things, I don’t get good advice. Since that time, I just inform her of decisions we or I make after the fact. It is much easier on her too, because then she doesn’t have time to worry.
In your case, since you are still in school, you aren’t totally independent. But if you are able to look at your parents a little differently it might help you. I think it is great that you talked to them, and the fact that they apologized shows that they are willing to be wrong and makes changes. It also shows that they love you, and I’ll bet they are proud of you. They may not be entirely motivated by bragging rights and rankings and status, but on the opportunities they think certain schools offer. And you have the chance to prove that thinking wrong.
I wanted to tell you this, because now you are in charge of planning your future. While you may want your parents approval, you have to know that while they may want the best for you, they don’t always know what the best for you is. You will no doubt make decisions in your life they can’t or won’t understand. Hopefully, you’ll remember this time, and since you will have already been able to have adult discussions with them, you can do it again when you pick a mate, buy a house, choose between job offers, and raise a child.
Good luck to you!!
I had the opposite problem. Dad wondered why they should pay for Harvard when community college was free in CA. And, after all, he and my mom had put themselves through college by going to night school PT and they were both smart, well-educated, always-employed people. All true, BTW. Luckily, Mom thought otherwise.
Fast forward to Xmas of my sophomore year. Dad and I were having a conversation about something unrelated and, prompted by something I said, he stopped, looked at me, and said “Wow, you really are getting a much better education than I had!” And that was that.
Happened again when I had a baby and my approach to child-rearing seemed way too labor-intensive and way too permissive to him. Took about four years that time, but he turned to me one day and said “I thought you were crazy, and I certainly wouldn’t have done what you did, but I can’t argue with the results!”
Moral of the story (I think): If your relationship with your parents is basically good (and it sounds like it is) and they are thoughtful observant people, they’ll come around. Or, as Ruby suggests, you’ll learn that you should follow your own instincts on some issues because they have blindspots. My guess is it’s some of each in most happy families.
But you just made a big step in the right direction by raising the issue with them and it sounds like it was a really productive discussion. Kudos to you all on that account.