<p>mathmom - I will never, ever, ever be able to accept how close Pittsburgh is to Ohio! I definitely think of Pennsylvania as “east coast,” but Pittsburgh really is verging on Midwest! </p>
<p>I have had a few people say “Oh, so you’re going to the Midwest…” and every time I want to say, “No, what are you talking about?! I’m going to the east coast!” Then I realize they might have a point…;)</p>
<p>Buffalo is way over there too. NY and PA are big states that do bridge the gap between east coast and midwest, and for NY, NE.</p>
<p>DS goes to a school in MA that is 10 minutes from NY border and 10 minutes from VT border. And the money was left for the school with the proviso that the town never end up on NY (in 1770.)</p>
<p>People’s tactless responses after learning where your DS / DD is going to school just confirms my long standing opinion that the gene pool just keeps getting shallower!</p>
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<p>BLD, my DD (now a freshman) thinks she wants to go to a big, exciting place. So far, we have seen UNC and Penn State (touring for DS), both of which she really likes. Is it worth seeing OS as well? Did your son see Penn State? What did he find appealing about OS?</p>
<p>My jr daughter is looking at schools and one of her favs is UVA. We quite frequently hear, “why would you go there when you can go to UF”. Shakin’ my head…</p>
<p>My S1 will be attending a small LAC in Wisconsin. We get a lot of cheese comments and my favorite one from my MIL is “I suppose he will be eating a lot of cheese and you know that can be difficult on his digestive system”</p>
<p>Both my kids (Chicago and Tufts) have heard the “Don’t you know how COLD it gets there?!”</p>
<p>Yes, actually. Millions of people do manage to survive the winters, though.</p>
<p>My S is attending a university 50 miles from our home and my husband’s relatives don’t understand why we can’t just “save all that money” and let him commute from home. Yeah, right … let him burn up two hours a day on the road, tiring him out and costing as much, in the long run, as living on campus will. None of them went to college and have no concept of the college experience. They think it’s just like high school with slightly harder classes, so arguing that living away from home and being exposed to new experiences is as much a part of one’s college education as English 101 would just get me dumb looks …</p>
<p>My MIL was upset S didn’t coose BC or Villanova because they are Catholic. She worries about his soul! She even bought him some books to answer any questions he might have since his “heathen” parents quit going to church! We just smile and say W&M is the best fit for him. I don’t think she is going to get over the BC thing anytime soon though!</p>
<p>I think grandparents are entitled to ask weird questions or have strange ideas. I reserve my right to do so when it’s my turn.</p>
<p>I know I’d be all over the weather thing if someone I knew was going to Minnesota. Totally projecting, though, because I find the cold unbearable.</p>
<p>zm, it’s already in the 90s here. Ds says regularly, “I can’t wait to get up north!”</p>
<p>I hate to admit it but I have been guilty of improper comments. Not on purpose, of course, but when asked (back in December) where my daughter was applying to college I ran down the list and ended with the one state school she applied to (a very good school by the way). I then stated that this was her “OMG-I’m-not-going-to-get-in-anywhere-panic-school”. Another woman I was with turned to me and said, “That’s my son’s first choice.” Open mouth, insert foot! She was just smiling and nodding…smiling and nodding… 
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<p>On the other hand, I have recieved other types of comments from a very good friend of mine who would only allow her daughter to apply to a state school because of the cost. During the entire college process from the very beginning she told me I was crazy to pay private college costs. We have never had a college-related conversation where she does not imply I’m stupid for allowing my daughter to attend a private college. So now we don’t really talk about it much. My turn to smile and nod…</p>
<p>Oh, I love this thread!</p>
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<p>I agree. Three of the four didn’t go to college and one didn’t finish HS. My inlaws told us about the two colleges to which my niece applied and was admitted and I couldn’t believe that she chose the one she did over Northwestern. It seems, however, that the Northwestern to which the grandparents were referring was Northwestern College, a small religious LAC in Iowa. They didn’t know that there was another Northwestern (even though they’re from the Chicago suburbs.)</p>
<p>intouch, I admit I did something similar, referring to a school as ds’s safety, but the friend’s dd didn’t get in there. Ouch! In my defense, it came down to this safety and the school he ultimately chose so I certainly didn’t mean safety in a derogatory manner, but she didn’t know that, I’m sure. Because I’m not easily offended I think others are like me; I need to learn to keep my trap shut.</p>
<p>Same territory as QM: when D announced she was going to Smith, parents I barely knew from her high school would sidle up to me, look around furtively, and say, “Aren’t there a lot of lesbians there?” Variations on this happened enough that I considered printing up cards to hand out that said:</p>
<ol>
<li> We know.</li>
<li> She’s not. (But what difference if she were?)</li>
<li> It’s not a problem.</li>
<li> She’s going.</li>
</ol>
<p>1st place vote: Queen’sMom Bryn Mawr the lesbian school
2nd place vote: lololu Tulane the party school
(lololu: S went to Tulane, had the same “profile”. Got the same question of concern, and YES, he gave the same answer!. That one brought back old times. Thanks for that 
)</p>
<p>Do these people think there are bands of lesbians traveling in packs around the women’s college campuses attempting to convert other girls?</p>
<p>Just a note on the whole Northeastern/Northwestern thing - it always confuses me and I live near Boston. Now that we are doing the college thing I can remember (usually) which is which. And then there is the whole Boston University/Boston College thing as well. Very different schools, but if you aren’t looking at either, easy to be confused. </p>
<p>I think it’s best to just keep things at the level of being able to celebrate ‘happy choices’, whatever they are.</p>
<p>We got a lot of questions about Joe Paterno and the football team when WildChild chose Penn. He immediately ordered the “Not Penn State” t-shirt. When we moved to Tennessee people couldn’t understand why, if he wanted a good football school, he didn’t just go to UT (and they didn’t mean Texas).</p>
<p>When S was applying to school, we also had to be careful about how we classified the schools he was applying to as clearly his safety school (UC San Diego) would have been nirvana for other students.</p>
<p>Northwestern University was so named because it was created to serve students coming from the states in the Northwest Territories. Here’s another interesting fact. Were you all aware that at one time, there was a discussion to merge Northwestern and the U of Chicago? If it had taken place, U of Chicago would have been the campus for most graduate programs, while Northwestern would have had undergrad, with its law and med schools in Chicago as it is today. IIRC, it was the trustees for Northwestern who nixed the deal.</p>
<p>To add to the confusion about Northwestern U not being in the Pacific Northwest … the school colors of NU and (royal) purple and white. The school colors of the University of Washington-Seatlle are purple and gold.</p>