Is this going to be a general smile and nod thread or one specifically related to colleges( which is how it seemed to have started out)? Just curious.
1 Like
oops - guess i should have started at the top of the thread to understand the topic 
The previous Smile and Nod thread evolved into being about everything.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/t/just-smile-and-nod-smile-and-nod/
Oh, when it comes to children, I learned to keep my head down and make no eye contact. Once my kids were 2, 2, 4, 7 and 9, the 3 youngest were the same height, the 2 oldest were the same height, all blondes (not the norm here), for years they looked like twins and triplets. The stares and questions!
Once had an older gentleman who I periodically had polite interactions with at the gym take note of the sweatshirt I was wearing that had my kids college emblazoned on it.
He came up and asked if I had a kid there and I said yes.
He responded back “in my day the only people that went there were either LGBQ (he used a different term) or communists”.
I looked him in the eye and said my kid is both and after a long silent pause walked away. While not the truth regarding my kid, I figured he should be forced to feel awkward and perhaps consider his words more thoughtfully going forward.
26 Likes
I just skimmed that long thread that closed in 2021 and it seemed college focused as well.
1 Like
This thread seems to have things other than college focused things. But after all…this is a “college” website…so maybe the first thing people think of.
I like threads that meander 
8 Likes
I like people who use the word meander but I digress😀
6 Likes
. . . smile and nod
1 Like
Imagine learning English as a second language, and encountering “meander” for the first time.
Probably I would feel led to pronounce it with two syllables: MEAN-der.
3 Likes
I had a parent told me once that a certain NC public college was not being considered because his kid would get the “wrong” kind of education there.
Brother’s neighbors would not let any of their kids apply (in state) to Michigan for fear the U would undo a lifetime of upbringing.
1 Like
They can get instate tuition at the University of Michigan (IMO the country’s best public university) and they can’t even apply? 
2 Likes
. . . smile and nod . . .
5 Likes
There was a Jeopardy category this week, “Words that should rhyme but don’t”!
2 Likes
D is a graduate of the University of Rochester. I wish I had a dollar for every time I replied to someone “No, that is not a SUNY school”. Another private school that sounds like a public.
Or people replying “Oh, so she goes to RIT.” Again, no. Bigger school, yes, but not the same.
2 Likes
All the damn time.
The smile and nod skill is particularly needed if you are, let’s say, an admissions professional with 24 years of experience and all kinds of leadership roles where you teach continuing ed to other counselors. You have to watch extended family members who tell you all about their nutty plans to drive over a cliff and then at the holidays you hear that the kid crashed and burned…
It’s not my kid and it’s not my business unless they make it my business. They know I’m here and they know what I do. They didn’t ask my opinion because they didn’t want to hear what I had to say. I have to respect that (at least if I want to avoid a family war).
4 Likes
DH had a ‘smile and nod’ college moment the other day at work. Coworker said her DH is taking their DD (senior in HS) on a trip to CA to go on some college tours. Specifically looking at UC San Diego & Santa Clara University (they’re AZ residents). Their family is assuming that they’ll get a bunch of financial aid from UC San Diego & Santa Clara. The DD is really interested in Santa Clara Univ because her boyfriend is going to play football for Stanford.
…so she wants to go to SCU so she’ll be closer to the boyfriend. 
DH didn’t say much other than, “that’s cool. Hope they have a great trip!” 
3 Likes