That’s ridiculous. There are more than 20 colleges in the greater Boston area. If someone told me their kid was going to college in Boston, I’d ask which college.
If you really want an issue with where you went to school, be a Michigan alum and live in Ohio.
A possible negative aura is that if the Harvard alum does not display evidence of being an academic superstar, someone may assume that the Harvard alum was an ALDC admit or some such.
No. I would not
I can see why you’d think the opposite is true. But the name brand Harvard to take on a mythical aura doesn’t require any knowledge of Harvard. Quite the opposite. More you know of Harvard the less it becomes anything special enough to take on a wing of imagination on its own. Harvard students do not feel anything special while they’re on campus. It’s only when they leave the campus – and further away from the campus – they’re seen as other than who they really are.
Speaking of “further you move away from Harvard and Cambridge,” even the villagers in rural parts of Asia have heard of the name brand and their reactions are always accompanied by awe. Some entrepreneurial minded Harvard grads make handsome living setting up Ivy League admissions consulting shops in, for instance, Gangnam district of Seoul, South Korea. With rich clients and always in demand, these grads make a good living off Harvard’s mythical aura. The mythical aura glows more the less the common folks know.
I have to say, that on CC I never see the type of cheerleading posts from Harvard families that I see for other schools. Perhaps it’s because no one needs convincing that H is a great place to get educated. But I do sometimes find it tiresome or eye rolling when posters try to assert that their school is just a hair away from Harvard’s caliber.
“Harvard students do not feel anything special while they’re on campus. It’s only when they leave the campus – and further away from the campus – they’re seen as other than who they really are”
Not so sure about this. The H kid in my original post said that she is not doing a study abroad saying something about Harvard being a special place with lots of opportunities that she wants to take full advantage of. I have not heard this line of thought at other elite campuses.
For example, you do hear of Duke kids tending to study abroad in the fall so they don’t miss the basketball season in spring or Tulane study abroad in fall so not to miss Mardi Gras but they still study abroad for one semester.
Very interesting…
I felt the same way when my son was accepted into Princeton. which was a last minute addition to the common app with little to no hope of getting in. Though I told my son not to let anyone steal his joy it was difficult. When you tell certain people that is where he was going you were boasting or think your kid is better than their kid or they start justifying why their kid picked the college that they were attending. In my son’s school I was Co-president of the PTO. My co-president actually stopped speaking to me because her daughter applied and was denied and was so distraught that she couldn’t go to school the next day. My son also had some of the same reactions with his so called friends. He even heard a so called good friend say “how did he get in and I didn’t”. I found myself tip toeing around mentioning the actually college as well. Perhaps I should have not cared but it became quite uncomfortable.
You are referring to an extremely small segment of the population — the exception, not than the rule. For example, I don’t doubt you can find someone in rural Wyoming who is really in to Harvard and thinks their alumni have a “mythical aura”, but that’s not the typical Wyoming resident. The far more typical Wyoming resident is not particularly concerned about Harvard or Harvard alumni… or at least that was my impression while taking classes at U Wyoming.
There is a higher concentration of those rare exceptions that are especially concerned about Harvard and/or Harvard alumni in certain segments of the population For example, CC forums or other forums that emphasize admission to highly selective colleges have an extremely high concentration for obvious reasons, and they also have a high concentration of people who know or are connected to Harvard alumni. I’m sure some CC forum posters have similar beliefs to your comments, which relates to why many CC forum posters apply to Harvard. However, members of other forums are generally far less concerned about Harvard or Harvard alumni, particularly forums where few apply or attended Harvard or similar. That has my experience on other forums in which I post where discussions about colleges have occurred.
There is also a higher concentration in certain sections of the country than others. I’d expect the concentration of persons obsessed with Harvard loosely follows the concentration of students applying to Harvard since persons who think especially highly of Harvard or Harvard alumni are more likely to apply. Using specific numbers from the lawsuit sample period, the areas of the country with the largest portion of students applying to Harvard were as follows. Applications are especially concentrated among persons in Massachusetts who are near Harvard, and the application rate decreases as you get further from Harvard. As you get further away from college, fewer people appear to be especially concerned about the college.
Massachusetts: Average of ~5 kids apply per HS
Other Northeast: Average of 1-2 kids apply per HS
Not in Northeast Average of 0-1 kid applies per HS
I’ve gotten a few connections from the Harvard name. One job in Germany for sure. (Though using a calligraphy pen for my cover letter also played a role - seriously!) But it really is a drag when every time you mention where you went to college you get the, “Oh you must be so smart!” There is no good answer to that. “Why yes I am!” The false modesty of, “I only test well.” Or “It was easier back then.” It gets old fast. So I never mention it if I can help it.
@socaldad2002 – my D loved Wesleyan so much she didn’t want to miss a semester there. She did a shorter summer abroad program instead. So no, I don’t think anecdotal examples can really tell us that H students are less likely to go abroad (I’d be surprised if that were true, though I don’t have the data.)
My immediate family has two Harvard grads. This really never happens.
When people ask, which is rarely, the simply say Harvard.
The reaction is that’s great, can you please pass the bread. It’s really not anything.
It helps on a resume and among your colleagues to give you a bit more gravitas.
The outside world, not including a soirée in the Hamptons maybe. Probably not even then.
Ok, just anecdotally most of the kids we talk with want to study abroad of they can afford it, just hadn’t heard this H kid’s reasoning before and since these parents would not be thrilled having their D out if the country, might have played into the reasoning.
Nevertheless, I’m sure H students appreciate the “specialness” of their college, how could they not as it’ arguably the most recognized and elite college in the world.
After I started this thread I remembered one of my professors in college was from “Hahvud” (think Boston accent) and he sure let us know about it. I don’t remember any of the colleges attended by my other college professors, maybe because they didn’t tell us in class!
I for one find this question and the discussion highly amusing.
My grandfather, father, and daughter went. It’s called the “H bomb” for a reason. Mention it and the conversation changes, usually not for the better.
As a Yale parent, this same discussion happens often on that page. It’s a balance between being proud and worrying that others think you’re bragging. But I wouldn’t say “feel sorry for”. It’s more of a frustration because other parents can be more openly proud in a way. My son is now at Harvard for grad school but by now we are used to it. If someone asks what he’s doing I say he’s in grad school. If they ask where I say Harvard. Not a bad problem to have.
I do think it depends on the circumstances. My sister went to Harvard and still feels uncomfortable revealing it in certain circles. She is a URM and actually had people tell her it was probably because they were trying to diversity. No acknowledgement of the fact she graduated first in her class, with a host of leadership titles in and out of school, and outstanding internships and awards. I went to UPenn and have had some of the same reactions.
A Latinx student from D20 and S23’s high school was accepted to Harvard last year. I can’t tell you how many parents dismissed the accomplishment as not meaning much because he had a hook. Few people were impressed, and instead they seemed bitter. It was clear they felt the need to justify why their own kids didn’t make it in to any ivy. They complained to me without seeing the obvious irony.
The correct answer is “Thank you. I received a great education and loved my time there.” (although I’d be thinking “Why yes, I’m really smart”)
I have a friend who went to Yale. We bet on how long it would take him to mention Yale without saying “I went to Yale” to a new employee or someone doing business with our office. He rarely said it directly, but would drop references to The Game, ‘when I lived in New Haven…’, left his alum magazines on his office table (we didn’t have people sitting around our offices waiting for us). I loved this guy, but midwesterners just aren’t that impressed with prestige schools just because of the name - we want to see a little backup. Another guy in the office had gone to MIT and then to Harvard Law. He NEVER mentioned it. Midwestern roots.
Imagine if all of the ALDC* students and alumni had to wear labels indicating that they were hooked for admission to Harvard (or whatever other highly selective school that has similar hook preferences).
- recruited **A**thlete, **L**egacy, **D**ean's interest list, **C**hild of faculty/staff
I don’t really get the question but in Chicago, no one cares. Whether you went to UChicago, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Michigan. Etc the response is usually “Nice”. “How was your experience”. Or the ever important response… “Cool” ?.