Stupidest reason child won't look at a college

Parents Forum
1721

The school is named after the town. The town (in Mass, NY and possibly others) is named for the British hater of Native Americans.

They did drop - and replace, very intentionally with much discussion, voting, etc - the Jeffs mascot.

I have not heard locals refer to the college or the town or the U with a "“H”.

1722

I’d pay extra for that.

1723

My kid took Amherst off the list because all anyone wanted to talk about was how to pronounce Amherst.

1724

My kid won’t apply to Vanderbilt because they “aren’t nice to their trees”! As we toured the campus he kept seeing trees with posters and flyers stapled to them, and felt that was very disrespectful and hypocritical given that they tour themselves as a natural arboretum. There were other reasons (the class he sat in on was completely underwhelming and none of the kids looked happy–just stressed out) but the tree thing was what tipped him over the edge

1725

The trees there aren’t very nice to the people on campus either, @Colorado19and22

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/crime/2015/12/21/large-tree-falls-vanderbilt-campus-injuring-least-10-people/77713064/

1726

Rensselaer - Pronounced “REN-sa leer”, but I can understand the confusion.

I had a old friend who attended and I had been call the school “Ress-en-lau-were” all these years. My DS attends now so I’ve got the spelling and pronunciation down pat. Plus I love the Harry Potter-looking quad dorms. Beautiful campus.

1727

No matter which way it’s pronounced, it would still be a bastardization of the Dutch; Kiliaen van Rensselaer would most likely have pronounced his name as REN-suh-lahr.

1728

@GnocchiB. Well–that explains the human-tree animosity! :relaxed:.

1729

“in my day…” we just called Rensselaer RPI. Much easier to pronounce and spell!

1730

@citymama9 Mystery solved!! In Japan, Worcestershire sauce is called Wooster sauce. I guess first trader must have been from MA!!

1731

I’m from MA. It’s not Wooster like booster. It’s closer to a u sound. Wusster. Or the u in butcher.

1732

How to pronounce Worcester-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czw5sP2E7s8

1733

MODERATOR’S NOTE - OK, please move on from discussions of pronunciations.

1734

Well, I don’t know if this is a stupid reason, but mine took a school off her list because it’s “the place where fun goes to die”.
That’s okay, because she probably wouldn’t have gotten in anyway. :smiley:

1735

^^ it’s off our list for the same reason!

1736

… That’s not a stupid reason either!

My D applied to Rutgers but didn’t want to attend because they kept sending her glossy brochures with sporting events on the cover and she doesn’t like sports. I wasn’t sure if that was a stupid reason or not.

1737

Yes, everyone does wear North Face in Seattle. Umbrellas are for wimps ?!

1738

I was at a CU football game, sitting about half way up the stands. My brother said “This is like a North Face commercial” as every single person sitting in front of us had a North Face jacket on (with the logo on the back shoulder).

1739

Reasons mine wouldn’t look at certain schools:

  1. “They have crappy sports and no school spirit. I want stuff to do and stuff to get excited about when I’m not studying”
  2. “Not going anywhere where they are gushing over Quidditch”
  3. "That name is all wrong - University of Mary Washington? Hello? It should be Mary Washington University. You don’t have a Univerity of a person. The only exception is the College of William and Mary because its so old (but “it’s boring and nerdy, low energy, and they talked too much about Quidditch!”)
  4. “Those whale, crab, sailboat pants and shorts have got to go”
1740

My D only wants to go to the kind of school where they would gush about Quidditch!