<p>“Ah, and where is Pittsburgh?”, which definitely concerns me - are we really that California-centric? -"</p>
<p>We have a Pittsburg , an Albany, AND a Richmond, right here in N. California!</p>
<p><a href=“Google Maps”>Google Maps;
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<p>MOWC - a friend of ours is a Penn alumni and his son is finishing up his sophomore year there. Given how the culture is in our area such that half the parents wouldn’t even know the difference, I always make a point of asking very loudly “how is Michael enjoying Penn? how are those Nittany Lions?” when I encounter them at a school function. Hee hee.</p>
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<p>D is considering Mt Holyoke and that is what my FIL said – “it’s Catholic”! Argh! And FIL / MIL used to live in Springfield, MA!</p>
<p>St Mary’s of MD gets a Catholic rep too. Washington College that we are considering is even more removed from people’s awarenesses. A lot of folks here know Wash U in ST Louis. In fact, that is a popular school on the college list here, far more common than any in the state of Washington. But Washington College in Md is a teeny school, truly in the middle of nowhere on the east coast. Supposed to be the first Washington. Pittsburghers ask “You mean Washington and Jeffereson?”, Southerners ask, “You mean Washington and Lee?”. And most people here think Washington U in SL.</p>
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If Whitman were located in New England, people would be clawing to get into it. I think it’s one of the better kept “secrets” in the undergrad college world. Along with Grinnell, Macalester, and Reed. And Furman! You forgot about Furman!</p>
<p>TheDad - I agree. People are painfully short-sighted about colleges outside of New England…especially the people IN New England! There’s a general assumption, at least where I’m from, that if you don’t go to a school in New England, your school isn’t as good. I know a kid who got a pretty hefty merit scholarship to Claremont McKenna, #11 LAC in the nation, and people just assume “he settled for it because he didn’t get into Penn.”</p>
<p>I like it here, but sometimes people are so elitist that it’s comforting to know that I’ll be in a whole new part of the country in a few short months…</p>
<p>A family friend chose Carleton last year and we were very excited for her. In reality we were clueless so as soon as my husband and I got home we quickly went on line to find out where and what Carleton was!</p>
<p>She loves it by the way!</p>
<p>In regard to the lesbian bryn mawr comment…not that I’ve met most Bryn Mawr students, but I live in the area and I’m pretty sure that that stereotype is well founded…</p>
<p>Ignorant prat: “You’re going to Smith? Wow, I didn’t realize you were a lesbian!”
Me: “Wow, I didn’t realize that was a prerequisite! Guess I’ll have to transfer, then.”</p>
<p>@ muskrat – I’m pretty sure it isn’t, although all colleges have their share of GLBT students, the women’s colleges maybe a bit more accepting.</p>
<p>In point of fact, all the women’s colleges are included under this umbrella.</p>
<p>Concerned Parent: “Where has XXX decided to go to school?”
Me: “Duke”
Concerned Parent: “Where’s that?”
Me: “North Carolina.”
Concerned Parent: “OMG! Isn’t out of state tuition almost $20,000??”
Me: “Yeah, something like that.”</p>
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<p>Gee, not quite sure how to answer this online anymore than I know how to answer it IRL.</p>
<p>QM: that poster is 16 yrs old…thought you’d want to know…</p>
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<p>smile and nod…smile and nod ;)</p>
<p>Some of these responses are funny. But really, why do you expect that the average person would be knowledgeable about any colleges? Most people have not been involved in the college search, like so many of us here have been for the past few years. Most would never know which liberal arts colleges are considered top tier. And the whole anti-state school snobbery? Doesn’t exist in California–sure, many of our Cal States are considered average at best, but the UC system is where most are headed. Our tip- top students all apply to UCLA, Berkeley, and a few others. Private LAC’s? Just the Clairemont Colleges, maybe. Stanford, of course is well-known. I know there’s a big east coast bias on this board, but I still don’t see why anyone would be surprised when someone asks where is Carnegie-Mellon, or Vanderbuilt, or Carleton, or Bard, or … Probably the average person only knows the whereabouts of schools with important football teams–and that’s it. I hope you’re not actually laughing at these people, or thinking they’re stupid. Until I started looking at CC, I had NEVER heard of most of these schools that many of you think are well-known (and no, I’ve never followed football). </p>
<p>And, the comments about WHY would someone want to go to Texas (or Tennessee, or Minnesota, or Georgia, or Wyoming, or wherever? Not surprising at all. Most people realize how different various parts of our country are. Someone living in, say, Washington state might be very curious as to why someone would choose Texas, or New York, or Illinois, etc. Mostly it’s just interest, don’t you think? </p>
<p>I’m surprised no one’s mentioned the whole Iowa/Ohio/Idaho mix up. No one could figure out where I lived during the 2 years I spent in Iowa…</p>
<p>@sopranomom – that’s just sad. Even sadder when I recall that one night in Paris my waiter recited every single state capital.</p>
<p>I vote for first prize to go to the comment made by someone to QM’s family.</p>
<p>I vote this comment to boiledegg’s family as the 2nd prize winner:</p>
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<p>Here is a general one that was addressed to me:</p>
<p>relative: So where is your son applying to college?
Me: Just some small liberal arts schools.
relative: A liberal arts degree is a waste of time and money. You cannot get a job with a degree in liberal arts.
Me: LAC is one type of college he is considering, but it won’t be his major. There are many majors offered at LACs. I go on to offer some examples.
relative: Again, repeats that a degree in liberal arts is not good. This cycle of conversation has been repeated at least 5 times over the last six months.</p>
<p>Sopranomom–I don’t think people expect others to have heard of every college in the country. But there are polite ways to inquire–“Gee, that sounds exciting–tell me about your school!” vs. the ubiquitous tendency to either make poor guesses, or actually ignorant assumptions (it’s a lesbian school, it’s a drinking school, it’s a skiers school, etc.)</p>
<p>Tact and good manners will go far, even (and especially when), we don’t know about something.</p>
<p>I start with the assumption that no one has heard of S2’s college choice (University of Redlands) and just say “he’ll be going to Redlands in Southern CA”. Most people assume it’s somewhere in Northern CA in the redwoods. I’d never heard of it myself before we started looking for D3 schools in his sport, so I cut people a fair amount of slack.</p>
<p>S1’s college, Cal Poly, is known far and wide within CA and most often the person asking has had a friend/spouse/sibling/child who attended. It’s completely unknown outside of CA in my experience.</p>
<p>For both sons I stress how good a fit their respective schools are/will be. Maybe my friends are more circumspect, but I’ve experienced nothing but positive reactions.</p>
<p>The joke at Grinnell when I went there in the Dark Ages was that the invariable conversation was:</p>
<p>student: “I go to Grinnell”
questioner: “oh! Cornell! In New York, right? How great!”
student: “no, GRINnell, it’s in Iowa”
questioner: --blank look –</p>
<p>S goes to Williams, certainly a presence on CC but totally obscure in real life. We bite our tongues not to say “the #1 liberal arts college in the US.” Why? First of all, sounds snooty and lame. Second we hate USNWR and its rankings. We just smile, bite hard and say, a college in the Berkshires at the corner of the state where VT, NY, and MA meet. Usually people haven’t visualized that such a spot exists and we’re no longer talking about the school but about geography.</p>
<p>It’s good for our souls. He didn’t go there for bragging rights but because it’s a remarkable good fit for him. And there are no bragging rights! Just as well, I say.</p>