<p>I live right outside of Philly (like less than 20 minutes from Penn), and even people here sometimes confuse the two. I'm not going to either, but I have heard that mistake made...</p>
<p>I just bought the "Not Penn State" shirt today...:)</p>
<p>Just a twist. When my son reports that he goes to Penn State, many people will say, "yeah, I know some folks from Penn" or " a Penn Professor spoke at a conference last week" or "yeah, Penn is a good school...is it dangerous in the city though?"
My s just points out that it's Penn State not Penn (he'll say - " Penn is ya know the Ivy?"). He didn't apply BTW...too close to our home for his comfort level.<br>
BTW, my son is in the honors college at PSU -Schreyer- pretty hard to get into - getting to be almost Ivy level difficulty. But we don't mention that - we all just say Penn State. He's quite proud of his school. It's really a pretty good school guys (granted not a fancy Ivy like yours)... and yeah...MUCH better football team even though they haven't really shined lately. You might be able to beat them in basketball though...</p>
<p>^most of us get mad about the "not penn state" issue not b/c we don't think psu is a good school, it's just that it's not our school. imagine how psu students would feel if everyone confused their school with ohio state or something (hypothetically speaking of course.) i actually spent a summer at psu and loved it but the confusion is a bit annoying. they should rename it to nittany university or something just b/c we're so much older and to avoid confusion haha. and yes good football team ours sucks.</p>
<p>..but not as hard as princeton's team</p>
<p>toneranger, the people in this thread have been very respectful when talking about Penn State and distinguishing between the two. I read this thread and I know what they're talking about. I hear people make the mistake of confusing the two all the time. UPenn is a great school and they want people to know where they go, just like everyone else. It would get really old if people got us mistaken with some other PA school. Also, they could definitely beat us in basketball.</p>
<p>jec - hey I agree, I just wanted ot point out that the mix up can go the other way too - and for my son and myself - it creates some confusion as how to handle it (let it go, mention that it's not the Ivy, talk about the football team).
Perhaps it doesn't happen as much , but I can't see buying a "We're not Penn" tshirt. To me, the "We're not Penn State" t-shirt is kind of funny..and certainly attempts to bring home that it's the Ivy were talking about here. I might be annoyed too...especially if I'm paying full tuition and was hoping to get bragging rights for attending an Ivy. Personally, I think penn should have been called "Ben Franklin University".
Those Wharton kids have it figured out though...everybody seems to be able lock in on that name.</p>
<p>^im surprised to know some people confuse it the other way around. literally every single person i know thinks im going to psu and i dont bother correcting them anymore. but like i said, the "not penn state" tshirt is just about no one knowing that they're two different schools (at least for me anyways). I agree that UPenn is not the best name for an ivy and is more reasonable for a state school, but seeing as penn was there longggggg before psu, i dont see why we're the ones that should be changing the name :)</p>
<p>Cornell is inifintely greater than Penn...just so you know. So your friend is actually really smart...Haha, j/k. I feel yah man, with these things you just need to be like, yo, the people who matter know what my school is, and voila you're set. I love Penn its a great school (University of Pennsylvania) ;).</p>
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Personally, I think penn should have been called "Ben Franklin University".
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<p>Franklin University has a nice ring to it... sort of. Or Ben Franklin University, like George Washington Univ. or George Mason. Then it might have to leave the Ivy League and join the Patriot League. :)</p>
<p>Regardless of who was there first, I think UPenn should consider changing its name. It's too good a school to have to be distracted by this silly issue.</p>
<p>I forgot the date, but a long time ago (19th-20th century) the Daily Pennsylvanian actually published a prank story saying that Penn had changed its name to the Benjamin Franklin University. The Trustees of the university completely bought the story and were outraged that they were kept in the dark about the name change. I believe this anecdote was in "Building America's first university : an historical and architectural guide to the University of Pennsylvania" by George E. Thomas.</p>
<p>I, personally, would have no objection to being called the Benjamin Franklin University. It carries more weight/history than simply the University of Pennsylvania, which is all to often confused with Penn State. Princeton used to be named the College of New Jersey. Ever since, it has reached ultimate name recognition.</p>
<p>I've noticed that this whole Penn is not Penn State thing does seem to be a bit of a chip on the shoulder for Penn folks. </p>
<p>I've occasionally seen it happen the other way (someone confusing Penn State for Penn) but the Penn State person usually just says something like "No, that's the school in Philadelphia." But when it happens with Penn being confused for Penn State the Penn folks do seem to get quite annoyed (as if the t-shirts didn't give that away ;-) ). Similarly I know a lot of people never connect Wharton with Penn... thinking that it's a totally separate thing. </p>
<p>It goes without saying that Penn's a fantastic school, but I think it also goes without saying that Penn State is the better known of the two schools and hence the confusion.</p>
<p>i just tell people i go to the university of phoenix</p>
<p>or itt tech</p>
<p>or devry</p>
<p>i just got into Penn, and this has been annoying me all week when i tell people about my acceptances. </p>
<p>i can say Penn, UPenn, whatever, it doesn’t matter. people either say something in response about football, “nice engineering school,” or don’t mention it but from their reaction obviously don’t know the difference. </p>
<p>i’ve been known as one of the better students in my school, so when i tell people they’ll say something like “Oh, that’s a pretty good school… but I was expecting something like Princeton, Yale, Columbia, haha.” and if i correct them and say “no, i mean University of Pennsylvania, the Ivy League school” i’ll look like a pompous tool. ■■■.</p>
<p>i think the name makes it sound like a state school. all the other Ivies have “fancy private school” names that are easy to distinguish. “Franklin University” sounds nice…</p>
<p>Then according to you, I’m a pompous tool. Thanks!</p>
<p>no no, it’s no insult to you or anything lol. i just feel like people think i’m trying to brag or something when i say it. </p>
<p>some people get that “well, excuuuuse me” attitude when you try to correct them.</p>
<p>Yes I know the feeling. I was just joking.</p>
<p>But the people you go to school with or friends should know where you are going.</p>
<p>i am Indian and i got into Wharton…that first impression that i got after telling people out here in India was that they’ve heard a lot about the Ivies, not much about UPenn but an awful lot about Wharton as the best damn business school in the world…so it makes it much easier for me to say that i got into Wharton specifically.lol…i am waiting to see u all this fall. yay, class of 2013.!!</p>
<p>Ben Franklin University will begin to look like Franklin Olin University pretty fast.</p>
<p>I totally agree about changing the name of Penn, but Franklin University might not be a good name…(FU?) lol. It would give Princeton a whole load of opportunities to insult us during the games!</p>