pigs_at_sea

Is there an MIT bomb? Harvard has the H-bomb, Yale the Y-bomb etc....

molliebatmit

Well, one doesn't usually go around blasting that one goes to MIT, for sure.

I usually said I went to school in Boston, and left it at that unless pressed further.

LauraN

Am I really dense? I have no idea what you're talking about. =/

gonzaemi

Urban Dictionary: h-bomb

kryptonsa36

The Y-bomb doesn't even exist, let alone the M-bomb...

LauraN

...why is that deserving of its own phrase?

Some people will react strongly if they find out you go/went to Harvard. Some people will react strongly if they find out you go/went to MIT. That much should be obvious. I don't think there's an accepted phrase for this occurrence, if that's what you're asking...

pigs_at_sea

so it's not awkward telling people that you go to MIT?

collegealum314

What about the LauraN-bomb? What's that like?

pigs_at_sea

are you mocking me??

ThisSideUp

People tend to have a different impression of people who go to MIT than to Harvard (people tend to have more negative stereotypes of students at Harvard than of students at MIT). Saying you went to MIT makes everyone think you are smart, but it doesn't socially intimidate people.

So, I would say there isn't really a need for an M-bomb, because saying you went to MIT doesn't have the same effect as saying you went to Harvard.

This is from my personal experience, so feel free to disagree.

la montagne

I've found, at least among the people here who I like, that dropping the "M-bomb" (a term I've never heard used) is often avoided. We don't like to brag; MIT has sucked all of the remaining ego out of us. =P

I'm with Mollie; I tend to just say "I go to school in Boston" unless I'm asked more specifically.

LauraN

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. =)

differential

"M-Bomb." lol!

Remember, if you ever do try to drop the "M-Bomb" in a group of even remotely technical people, you had better be able to justify just *why* MIT is considered such a good place. This is probably a good time to ask yourself how much you know about the institute's history and the people who built it up. I'm not talking about undergrad hacking or dorm culture. And don't say something stupid like "Computers!" or "Math!" You should be able to give specific examples of what important scientific and engineering developments were done at MIT.

Otherwise you'll come out looking like a total idiot, and people will reassure themselves of the usually true notion that MIT is not all it's hyped up to be.

adamonkey2

it doesn't even make sense to have an M-bomb. what element is that?

kemcab

Oh, that's terrible.