<p>I gave up with Caltech, being from the SE. When HS principal presented him with an award end of junior year, and announced he was leaving for this college, she questioned why he was going to a state school. I’ve yet to tell more than a few people where he is going to grad school, tho that school has a recognizable name.</p>
<p>Being from the NE myself, and having worked at 2 outstanding places (a girls school being one of them), I have become the free local adviser. I read CC to learn about the many colleges throughout the USA.</p>
<p>Most people don’t know very much about many colleges out of their area, probably the best thing to do is just nod and say “that’s great, hope they have a great 4 years”.
I’ve mentioned College of the Holy Cross and had one person say, “Is that a religious/seminary type school?”
One mother said she heard my daughters got into UPenn, her son was at one of the satellites" (most of thought it was Penn State, I didn’t say anything)
When I mentioned my daughter was applying to 2 women’s colleges, one gentleman visibly recoiled and asked me why…I said because they are very good institutions where she would get a wonderful education, why not? (he didn’t reply, just looked down and mumbled something)
When one women heard my daughter was going to attend Yale, she felt the need to give me her (highly exagerated) bad views of the safety of New Haven, why would she want to live there, etc. I had to remind her she lived in the area most of her life, spent a lot of time at Yale and is well aware of the area…she just replied, "well my son would never be happy there, which I replied, “It’s good he isn’t then” and changed the subject. </p>
<p>Sometimes people can be funny, especially if they are just unaware, but sometimes they are hurtful, I just shut them out and change the subject, just like I did when I was pregnant, no need to encourage the ones that are rude.</p>
<p>GAMom: Same reaction about my son going to Amherst!! OR the reaction was “UMass, why not just go to UGA?” What I always wanted to say was “You idiot, he was accepted into UGA Honors without having to do anything except send in his scores and is a candidate for the Foundation Fellow. Get a life!!”. What I did was smile and nod.</p>
<p>I am surprised by how many people think William & Mary is in Maryland, it isn’t an ignorant comment it just surprises me. I am also surprised at how many people spew negative remarks about schools based on out dated information or based on somebody that goes to that school that is an “idiot”, a “snob” or just “plain awful”. I heard that when my son applied to Vanderbilt. It was interesting when he was choosing between there and W&M. People really feel free to give you their two cents. </p>
<p>My other favorite was a Dad I know who didn’t want his daughter applying to schools with 2 names. He was only interested in Duke, Columbia, Northwestern, etc…PS she’s going to Wake Forest, he only refers to it as Wake!</p>
<p>^ Reminds me of a conversation my friend’s dad told us when he was applying to colleges. He got into Harvard and Boston College, as did several of his friends, but since he couldn’t afford Harvard, he decided on BC. When he and his best friend were talking to a teacher at their school, the teacher just fawned all over my friend’s dad because the teacher was in love with BC. When the teacher finally asked the dad’s friend where he was going, he replied “Harvard.” The teacher responded “Oh, is that a two or a four year school?”</p>
<p>Thinking about the flip side of this coin, if a parent seems proud to say that their older child goes to what may be considered a better known, and/or higher caliber/“prestige” school, like say, for instance, Stanford, but seems reticent or perhaps embarassed to say that their younger child will be attending what they may consider in their mind (but not to most others) a lesser known or “lesser prestige” school like, say, U of Chicago, we should just smile and nod…</p>
<p>My D at Wellesley said that if someone asks “isn’t Wellesley a university for lesbians” they correct them and say “No, we only have undergraduates, so we’re a COLLEGE for lesbians.”</p>
<p>The best story I have of this type comes not from me, but from a fellow prospie I met on a college visit.</p>
<p>Her: “Oh, yeah, I’m looking at Chicago…”
Them: “Have you considered Miami?”</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>I actually don’t mind questions about the weather–I seem to be the only one in this thread who doesn’t. Comments about the weather or Chicago-the-city do tend to make me suspect you’ve never heard of the school, though. I’ve also gotten “oh. Why would you want to go to school in Chicago?” once or twice. The person in question sounded quite baffled.</p>
<p>I note that when a kid says Duke is his first choice, no one asks him, “oh. Why would you want to go to school in Durham?” Ah, regionalism.</p>
<p>My oldest attended Reed- while most people either said " wow, she must be really brilliant or " that was where * I wanted* to go to college but my grandparents/parents wouldn’t let me".</p>
<p>However, I did have one co-worker who said it was " Ok if your daughter wants to limit herself by attending a small regional school- including eyeroll " ( this was from someone whose kid was attending Pacific Lutheran University):)</p>
<p>Times changed however & by the time younger daughter decided on Western Wa University, most people said " that’s a great school".</p>
<p>About the Roving Bands of Jewish Lesbians at Bryn Mawr…maybe I could have D join that group. I mean these girls are bound to have brothers, right? ;)</p>
<p>D was accepted to UMich and gave it serious consideration. People could not understand why she would want to go there over JMU, a college in our backyard. I went to Grinnell (some years ago, I think it is better known now) and I was constantly explaining to people that no, it wasn’t in NY. </p>
<p>Regionalism plays a huge part in people’s responses!</p>
<p>Around here, it seems if you aren’t going to THE Ohio State or the local university apparently something is wrong with you…if I hear one more THE OSU I will barf!</p>
<p>S is going to a small liberal arts school (small means 2500 not 500!). Amazing how many people cannot understand why bigger isn’t better.</p>
<p>I think S is going to start pulling out a map to show where he is going cause beyond the big schools, people seem clueless.</p>
<p>As irritating as it may become, your kids do need to come up with a good answer of where the school is and why they went there. Someday they are going to be in a job interview and the prospective boss is going to ask the same (dumb) questions as your friends have, and an eye roll and a sigh will obviously not be the correct response.</p>