Just smile and nod...smile and nod

Parents Forum
441

<p>Dad: So what are you doing in school, again?
Me: Television production
Dad: Oh. You know there are a lot of jobs in the medical field. A lot of jobs.</p>

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<p>^Wow, that one seriously made me laugh! Somehow that more bizarre than anything else
</p>

<p>This thread reminds me of something I used to do before deciding on CMU when people asked me about colleges - I applied ED to Swarthmore, though it didn’t work out, but I would do this to people sometimes, just to be annoying:</p>

<p>Person: So where are you applying?
Me: Oh, I applied ED to Swarthmore.
Person: Oh okay, where is Swarthmore?
Me: Oh, it’s in Swarthmore. </p>

<p>^Would work well for Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, and a number of other schools! Only if you’re in that kind of mood, though :wink: Most of the time I just explained where a school actually was, if it had the same name as its town.</p>

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<p>I live in New England, and I chose Carleton over places like Georgetown, UChicago, Northwestern, CMU, WUSTL, which get a lot more recognition/respect around here.</p>

<p>I’ve been having this exact conversation a lot lately:
Person: So where are you going to school next year?
Me: Carleton College.
Person: [blank stare]
Me: It’s in Minnesota.
Person: [hiding pity, assuming I didn’t get into a “good” school] 
It’s really cold in Minnesota.</p>

<p>Or, also good, the similar blank stares when I say I want to major in linguistics. (The alternative is the typical “How many languages do you speak?”)</p>

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<p>I will be heading to Ithaca College in the fall for Television-Radio. Ithaca has one of the best communications schools in the country, the oldest college TV station, and the best college radio station in the country.</p>

<p>Person: Where are you going?
Me: Ithaca College in NY.
Person: That’s in NYC right?
Me: No it’s in Ithaca.
Person: It is really cold there you know that right?
Me: Yes I checked the weather before applying. </p>

<p>Person: You’re heading to Ithaca right? It’s far away?
Me: 6 hours. Enough to drive in one day.
Person: Why didn’t you want to go the Mount/local college?
Me: No one really offered the degree and it’s specilization. </p>

<p>Person: So you want to be a broadcaster?
Me: No, I would’ve majored in Journalism then
</p>

445

<p>I’m going to The University of Chicago, and whenever I tell anyone, they say, “Oh, isn’t that a public school? Good for you!”
No
just a slight difference :p</p>

446

<p>Well, no one has said anything near as bizarre, upsetting and divisive as dear old mom when she found out that S chose his awesome LAC in Florida over Davis after she lobbied so hard for Davis that she promised him an all expenses paid trip to Italy, his favorite country, if only he would attend UCD.</p>

<p>Me: “Mom, he WANTS to go to (LAC). He’s so excited about it. Please try to accept and respect his choice.”</p>

<p>Mom: “I didn’t want to tell you this but I feel I must. You’re sending him off to perdition.” Really mom? Perdition? Wow.</p>

<p>Comments from others mostly revolve around my son having chosen a school so far from home. The inference of me as Mommy Dearest is obvious. Aargh
!!</p>

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<p>Perdition? Is that one of the colleges that change lives?</p>

448

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My in-laws misspelled my daughters name for 8 years, and we live in the same town. Why is it you expect everyone to remember where your kid is going to school, again?</p>

449

<p>my brother always brags about me
rather annoying
what do i do, since denying some things he says would be lying
</p>

450

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<p>That one’s easy. “Well we think so, but we’re a little biased.” :)</p>

451

<p>

My son asks so many questions in class that some of the teachers make extra preparations so they are ready for him. Fortunately, he is charming, so they all love him for at least paying attention. In no way is he stupid.</p>

452

<p>Today
</p>

<p>Nurse - “So what are your plans for next year?”
Me - “I’m going to Pomona College in California.”
Nurse - “Oh
 well
 that’ll be a big move!”</p>

453

<p>I went to Reed in the 1970’s. Then, as now, it had the reputation of being very loose and unstructured both academically and socially. Their t-shirt says it all. [Commie</a> T Gray 90%cotton/10%poly Blue To Purple Ink | Reed College Bookstore](<a href=“COMMIE T GRAY 90%COTTON/10%POLY BLUE TO PURPLE INK | Reed College Bookstore”>COMMIE T GRAY 90%COTTON/10%POLY BLUE TO PURPLE INK | Reed College Bookstore)</p>

454

<p>This is what I got last year from my parents friends. </p>

<p>Parent’s Friends - “Where are you going to school?”
Me - “Emory”
Parent’s Friends- “Couldn’t get into an ivy league school?” </p>

<p>^^^^ Yes, I get it, I am an ivy league reject</p>

<p>OR</p>

<p>Parent’s Friends- “Where are you going to school?”
Me-“Emory”
Parent’s Friends- “Embry-Riddle?”</p>

<p>^^^ No, one is an aeronautical school, the other is a research university</p>

455

<p>A typical conversation with relatives, friends and teachers. Note: I’m from China, and I want to study humanities.</p>

<p>-So where’re you going?
-Um
 (reluctant) Columbia

-Wow that’s great! So you’ll be close to Wall Street!
-No, it’s actually quite far

-(didn’t listen) It has such good biz school!
-Yes, I know
 but I don’t wanna do business, I want to

-(interrupting) And a top law school!
-Yes, I know, but

-It’s a smart investment your parents are making! In 3 years you’ll earn the money back, and in 10 years

-(sighs) I don’t know
</p>

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<p>AspiringInSalem: The Reed shirt is hilarious and what really made me wanna apply in the first place.</p>

457

<p>I’m from NJ and it goes:
“It’s in Pennsylvania, right? So you’re staying close to home for college.”
“Not really. Pittsburgh is a 5 hour’s drive from here.”
“Why are you going so far?”</p>

<p>People in NJ always seem to underestimate the size of Pennsylvania as a state (New York seems to get this too, somehow many people act like NYC is the whole state).</p>

<p>Also, for some reason Johns Hopkins has universal recognition here. 12 year old kids say it in the same breath as Harvard, and people are still shocked I turned down Hopkins. “Isn’t it #1 for pre-med?”</p>

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<p>Well, I grew up southwest of Chicagoland and my family and friends pronounce it with a short i. Drives us nuts when anyone says ell-i-nois.</p>

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<p>Come now, robinsue, although I grew up in the northern suburbs, I have since lived in almost every pocket of this state, including the far southern areas. The people who mispronounce the state’s name misprounce a whole lot of other words, too. I think we’re talking about the folks who drive up north to fly out of “O’Hara.” This state’s been in the union a long time, and if you go back to the earliest recordings we have, you will hear statesmen, average citizens, and broadcasters from the southern-most corners of Illinois pronouncing its name correctly.</p>

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<p>This was my brother at the end of 2008 after he got early admissions to Yale. For us it’s different because we’re international. We have graduation in December. this was from a party

Friend1: So are you staying up North (island) for uni?
Brother: Nah, I’m doing (half) a gap year and going to Cambodia until August.
Friend1: Oh yeah you’re looking at going to America right?
Friend2: That’s cool.
Friend1: Do you know where you’re headed to?
Brother: Probably Yale.
Friend2: What?
Brother: (speaks up) I got accepted to Yale University.
Friend2: Err
 awesome.
Friend1: Ohmygod, congrats! Just like Blair in Gossip Girl.
Brother: Gossip Girl? I guess. (remembers me talking about the books)
Friend1: (turns to F2) You don’t have a clue do you?
Friend2: I do, Yale as in
 the school next to Harvard right?</p>

<p>But worse a friend got into UPenn and that’s even less known here.
Friend: (Facebook status) UPenn early decision acceptance yay!
AnotherPerson: What’s UPenn?
PennFriend(from America) ^ haha
Friend: University of Pennsylvania (:
AP: Oh where is it?
Friend: Pennsylvania, USA
AP: I knew that LOL
Friend: Of course (;
AP: Wait did you mean Pennsylvania State?
Friend: No I meant what I said above
AP: My bad sorry I’ll miss you when/if you leave btw ):
Friend: Ditto ):
PF: Hey congrats can’t wait till autumn
Friend: Cheers</p>