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Originally Posted by ThisSideUp Saying you went to MIT makes everyone think you are smart, but it doesn't socially intimidate people.
...This is from my personal experience, so feel free to disagree. |
I'm really glad you included that last sentence. =D
I nearly *always* avoid mentioning MIT. Like Mollie and montagne, I usually say "in Boston," and have gone to some interesting lengths to avoid revealing the truth (making sure I'm not wearing articles of clothing with the MIT logo, switching to scribbling my email address on a different piece of scrap paper because the first one I picked was the back of something MIT-related...)
Once, I started to wonder if I was being a little paranoid. So one day I decided to try the honest approach. I was in a bar and this guy came up to me and struck up a conversation out of nowhere. I'm honestly not sure exactly what his ultimate intentions were, but I'm a pretty friendly/outgoing person, so I started chatting with him. Our conversation was literally 30 seconds old when he asked me where I went to school. And for once, I just said, "MIT."
He immediately became visibly uncomfortable, looked at the floor, and WALKED AWAY without saying another word to me.
I'm not saying everyone will be so socially incompetent, but hand to God, that story is 100% true.
I quickly went back to the "oh, a school in Boston" method of deflection. =)