<p>If you had to compile a list of schools that throughout the united states would instantly be recognizable by any joe shmo, what would that list be. By instant recognition I mean no confusement with other schools.</p>
<p>This should be interesting! This is simply out of curiosity by the way seeing as I saw the "Sewanee thread" and the "Smile and nod thread"</p>
<p>Many will get recognition simply because of sports. Most state flagships will be known, as well as most Ivies. I’ll bet you get a lot of east coast mentions no one in the Midwest will have heard of. And schools such as Duke will be heard of, but not likely rated as highly as other schools by those in the Midwest- we know of its basketball team. </p>
<p>Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Michigan
Notre Dame
Duke
North Carolina
Kentucky
Stanford
MIT
USC
UCLA
Ohio State
Florida
Miami
Alabama
Texas</p>
<p>how about NYU and Berkley </p>
<p>Depends on the coast.
Id heard of Cal, but not NYU.
I agree that sports teams add to name recognition.</p>
<p>Well, Penn State is instantly recognizable, but people still confuse UPenn with it all the time. :)</p>
<p>I would say most people have heard of the sports powerhouses or Cinderella teams from the immediate previous season. Add to that Harvard, Yale, Stanford MIT. I think Much2Learn pretty much nails it, except I’m really not sure about Princeton. It’s very well known on the coasts but <em>instantly</em> recognizable elsewhere? </p>
<p>Throughout the entire country, recognizable by every Joe Schmo? </p>
<p>Harvard</p>
<p>You are kidding yourself about universal name recognition with any other school. </p>
<p>UM…don’t say USC in South Carolina. They will not think of The school in California:)</p>
<p>Notre Dame. </p>
<p>For Joe Schmoes from coast to coast, Large sports schools and a few top academic schools. Forget LACs. That’s pretty much it.</p>
<p>Grab some random 15 year old kids and then some random folks at Walmart and ask them to give you all of the names of the schools they know. You’ll get a whole different list than if you ask someone in academia or who have dealt with colleges. I can tell you from the many, many, many young people who have been living and running through my house hold that the names that come immediately to mind from my crew are the ones with sports teams and if it’s football season, those teams come right to mind, if it’s the finals in basketball, those do. Yeah, my son knew about Syracuse for years. Never mind Dartmouth, Brown, UPenn, Cornell, even Yale. But their memories tend to be rather short. On a longer term basis, they can come up with the names of our local schools where they’ve taken some courses, played some games, gone by, had direct contact with as venues. So yes, my kids would say Purchase, Manhattanville, Iona, Fordham, with some thought Columbia, Manhattan College. Harvard would make the list. Where their siblings and where DH and I went make the list since we visit them. </p>
<p>I asked one kid last year, very bright young man who has Columbia and MIT on his list right now as his top schools about school, as his brother had just been accepted to NYU. He couldn’t even come up with NYU as a name as they always referred to that school as Stern. He knew Cornell because his father works at that hospital, and he knows where his parents went to college, though not sure about the med school. And he had gone on college visits with his brother I guess that cell phone social media, game function were burning up on those trips because he had zero memory about the schools. </p>
<p>Some folks around here don’t even know what a SUNY or CUNY are, and that NYU is a private school, not the state flagship. The state of NY should just buy NYU so that the misconception is righted,as I think I’ve heard this about a hundred times, and am ashamed to say that some years ago, I thought the same. I had no idea how the NY state system works and few NYers do either. </p>
<p>So those schools that have great sports teams, believe me, they earn their keep with the name recognition they garner. Yes, my son is more interested in some schools as possibilities than other because of name familiarity with sports teams, and my college kid absolutely loves the fact that his school has national sports teams and he gets to go to those home games at very little cost, and perk he makes sure he gets each and every year… My son who went to a LAC loved their main sport for which they are D1 and he played a sport which mitigated the fact that their basketball and football teams were small time. So it can make a difference among boys, and these males have become a scarcer commodity among schools that do not have a sports presence. </p>
<p>@SlackermomMD “not really sure about Princeton.”</p>
<p>You are probably right that Princeton may be an overreach. Or if they had heard of it, they could not tell you what city it is in. haha.</p>
<p>Just asked the Fed Ex guy who came to the door to name some colleges. He couldn’t come with any at first. Then a few local schools, some I doubt anyone not in the area would even know, then UConn and Harvard. He also knew the local community college but got the name not exactly right… Then he came up with Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State and some other big sports schools and some Catholic schools in the area. He could not give me the name of any of the 4 year SUNYs, and was confused when I asked which SUNY or CUNY he lived near. He knows there is some school near him, but doesn’t know the name of it exactly. Come to think of it, he may live in Connecticut, because he came up with Hartford as another college name. </p>
<p>If ever there is a “Joe Shmo”, he is one for sure. Very stereo typical Joe Shmo.</p>
<p>Sports fans could name probably at least 25 schools. Not mentioned yet in this thread would be powerhouses like Wisconsin, Florida State, Miami (FL), Oklahoma, LSU, Iowa, Auburn, Michigan State, Washington, and Clemson.</p>
<p>Internationally, the Ivies and top state research flagships are the most recognizable.</p>
<p>cptofthehouse…I love your field test there with your Joe Shmo guy!</p>
<p>Even most Floridians mix up Florida with Florida State.</p>
<p>^ That’s a little different test than the one the OP asked: “would instantly be recognizable”. It’s always easier to recognize something than come up with the list from scratch.</p>
<p>University of <insert state="" here=""></insert></p>
<p>As far as I know, every state has one. </p>
<p>Schools on the list:
Harvard
Big Sports Schools</p>
<hr>
<p>Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Michigan
Notre Dame
Duke
North Carolina
Kentucky
Stanford
MIT
USC
UCLA
Ohio State
Florida
Miami
Alabama
Texas</p>