<p>cross: I don’t mean to be obnoxious, but I can’t help but notice the weak sentence structure and usage of your posts. But then, I am an English professor. LOL. Bear in mind, this is the parents’ board. BTW: Congratulations on your post. I looked at the DePauw website, and it does look like a wonderful school.</p>
<p>yeah i am very excited about depauw. ha, i know, but after a long week of school and track i dont really care how my sentence structure is in a CC post</p>
<p>We have several young friends who are recent, happy graduates of DePauw! Congratulations.</p>
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I’m not at either end, but there are a full slate of options because there are a full slate of people with different needs, abilities, disabilities, aspirations, and backgrounds. cross has a great academic achievement and is proud to get into a “great” school. Setting aside this particular classmate and her life plan, other people who are “not that smart” or who come from more challenging backgrounds may be proud just to make it into St Christian Lac the Not Great.</p>
<p>ok but im just being honest, and the situation was relevant to other people saying how people sometimes dont think about it and make an insulting comment about a school. ha, i would like to point out that to an extent you also did the same thing you said i was doing by insulting my school by saying “great”.</p>
<p>Do cut people a little bit of slack for misunderstanding or mishearing. Unless a person enunciates their words very clearly, “DePauw” really does sound a lot like “DePaul.” I have had people think I said “Bard” when telling them my d. was at “Barnard” – I simply repeated and clarified. </p>
<p>I think that geographic location also plays a part. I can understand why, in the SF Bay Area, people would automatically associate “Berklee” (School of Music) with “Berkeley” (UC Campus). There are so many colleges in the US called “Columbia” that I’ve often made the mistake of assuming the wrong one - there is no polite way to ask the proud Ivy matriculant exactly which “Columbia” they were referring to… but it could be very embarrassing to kids headed off to any of the other Columbias to have someone assume they had been admitted to the Ivy… and then have to back off and explain, "no, I mean I will be going to [Community</a> College](<a href=“http://www.columbia.yosemite.edu/]Community”>http://www.columbia.yosemite.edu/). </p>
<p>Perhaps those making the inquiries can protect themselves by asking, “so where will you be heading?” if the answer to the “plans” question is an unspecified “college” – and students who want to leave no doubt may help avoid misunderstandings by mentioning the location first – “Oh, I’ll be going to Indiana and attending DePauw”. A student with strong social graces might anticipate the next question, and offer up an interesting tidbit or information about why they chose their school or something about their planned major or activities. That way, the recipient of the news is also given a potential conversation starter. Offering something positive will also help negate an assumption that the student is at their safety and couldn’t get in elsewhere.</p>
<p>CaliforniaDancer, I am from Pittsburgh, and would venture to say that most of us identify more closely with the Midwest than the east coast. solid work ethic, down to earth, etc. We are the eastern edge of the midwest. Its a great place to be. CMU is a great school,and you will enjoy Pittsburgh, I promise.</p>
<p>^I definitely got the feeling that it was more Midwestern when I visited, and I’ve definitely heard Pittsburgh is a nice place to be for college. In any case, it will definitely be a change from SF!</p>
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<p>I recall being in high school a million years ago and telling people I liked DePauw and might apply. I had to say, “DePauw, with a ‘w.’” while simultaneously using my hand like a puppet (paw). People would reply “Oohhhh…DePauw” and motion their paw the same way.</p>
<p>DougBetsy: Cute image.</p>
<p>DD and BFF went to Barnard and Bard respectively. No one could tell them apart before they went, and certainly no one got it straight after they did. Now they’ve graduated and folks in our small town still get it confused. We think it’s really funny.</p>
<p>DD might have gone to Bard had she not been accepted to Barnard and this might have continued far into the future, which all would have met with good humor.</p>
<p>The funny thing is one girl is Jewish and the other Lebanese. We have had many ecumenical discussions, and for a time each wanted to be fluent in Hebrew and Arabic until each girl discovered languages were not their strength.</p>
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How is that insulting? Great is an abstraction, but for individual students, a particular school may not be great for them. Is DePauw a great school for someone who wants to major in engineering? Is it great for someone from Florida who really wants to be close to home? Is it great for the student who craves the excitement of going to school in a really big city? All of those examples may be just as academically accomplished as you are and choose to go elsewhere, even to their local community colleges. Should they be any less proud than you are?</p>
<p>I would confuse Depauw and Depaul, I’m sure. For those who live in area where a lot of kids go to one of those schools, if you are going to the other, you will be correcting folks a lot, I’m sure, or doing alot of smiling and nodding.</p>
<p>^^^They are such different schools.</p>
<p>Here’s one that made my daughter nod and smile for all the right reasons. An adult friend of the family asked her (a rising senior) which colleges she is looking at. My daughter told her the list of 5 she’s planning to apply to, and this woman oh-so-graciously said, "Well I’ve heard of most of those schools and for you to be considering them, they must be excellent. I know you will thrive wherever you decide to go because that’s the kind of person you are.</p>
<p>The look on my daughter’s face as she thanked the woman was sheer bliss.
That’s going to be my new approach: not a critique of the school, but rather an affirmation of the student going there. A nice twist on this topic.</p>
<p>The title of the thread caught my eye. Great read and thanks for sharing.</p>
<p>Cheers</p>
<p>"and this woman oh-so-graciously said, “Well I’ve heard of most of those schools and for you to be considering them, they must be excellent. I know you will thrive wherever you decide to go because that’s the kind of person you are.”</p>
<p>Don’t you wish you always had these types of responses ready to go in all situations…I so envy people who always have a positive thing to say about every situation!</p>
<p>well I have my new response: Smile and nod, and recite the gracious comment made to songbird.</p>
<p>
The problem is exacerbated by regional variances in enunication, e.g., where the former is pronounced “Middlebury.”</p>
<p>Ha ha! The Dad, I don’t know how many will understand that, but that was good! Really good.</p>
<p>I love hearing about what the kids are doing after hs graduation…and instead of asking which college etc…
I ask about what are they planning to do after graduation
–many will work part time and maybe go to a community college…it depends on what kind of home and hs situation they have come from,…and what kind of future they see for themselves.</p>
<p>For example
One young lady thinks she wants to be a teacher…
so I shared with her about how she can become a substitute teacher with a hs diploma AND go to school at the local community college to begin some of the coursework–to get a better idea of what thats like…
All of her experience is with babysitting and kids at camp…</p>
<p>No one had suggested she substitute teach instead of working at a local smoothie shop</p>
<p>I have found that asking about their plans after hs grad opened the door more…</p>