@palm715 Unfortunately, you are not alone. We have received many similar comments.
When DD1 began her college search. “Are you sure she wants to go to college?”
When we told the family she decided to attend the University of Pennsylvania. “Are you sure she is ready for a four year school?”, “Why not go to Community College? That would be easier, and less expensive.” I just smile and nod. They would not say any of it, if she were a boy. They are all well intended, and don’t even realize they are doing it.
DS goes to Swat and hardly anyone in AZ has ever heard of it. Almost uniformly people ask if it’s expensive to which I have to reply that they give great financial aid. DS is very happy there and it’s a great fit but I think when people were sharing where they were going to college last spring and summer he would have liked some recognition that he’d gotten into a great school (he did from teachers and DH and my academic friends, but not much from his friends). We have relatives in the Swat area and, while they are much more in tune with Swat’s reputation, it seems that most people don’t distinguish it from the billions of other colleges in the area. AOK, he’s getting a great education!
@PhxRising, DS went to another college. But after a couple of years in his college, he still wonders what life he would have if he attended Swat at that time. (He got into several LACs including Swat.)
When DS was asked where he went to for his college, he occasionally answered “Morse College.” It is a relatively safe bet that the person who asks this question does not know where the college is, especially when the person does not know much about higher education and colleges.
I’ve heard many students reply with “New Haven” for Yale but never “Boston” or “Cambridge” for Harvard. Maybe New Haven conveys “Yale” but keeps people from commenting further whereas “Boston” or "Cambridge"doesn’t do the same thing about Harvard.
When my called up Cal Poly Pamona after his partial gap year and asked how hard it would be to get in, the person on the phone said “did you graduate high school in the state of California and did you take the SAT?” My dad replied “yes.” The person replied “then you’ll get in.”
He had applied to Harvey Mudd, but didn’t get in. He has the dubious honor of being a cousin of the first woman admitted there - and the first woman to flunk out.
“It’s cold there.” My daughter, from the South, has heard that so many times when she tells people she attends the U of Minnesota. It’s like a miracle every time she meets someone who says something different, like “Oh, my parents when there,” or anything else. No one in the South even seems to know that the university is located in Twin Cities, and they picture her in the middle of a cold, snowy wasteland. (In fact, it only snowed once the entire fall semester, disappointing DD who loves snow.)
When people say “It’s cold there” to me, I just tell them about the Gopher Way (the series of tunnels and skywalks all over campus and the cities), and they seem amazed.
Actually, @HarvestMoon1 I live in Massachusetts and it wasn’t until my kids neared college age and I started to look at rankings that I discovered that Notre Dame was a very selective school and not just a football powerhouse. And I bet that’s true of most of the people I know around here. Lots of great universities and colleges with very little name recondition- maybe because we have so many around here that people attend. Many of my friends and neighbors in a relatively affluent town - parents of college age kids- have never heard of, or barely know- Tulane, case western reserve, any of the UCs other than UCLA and Berkeley- or at least have no idea they are prestigious. Bet not one out of twenty have heard of scripps or Claremont McKenna etc. but almost everyone here knows that Middlebury, Tufts and Northeaster are great schools and hard to get into. Yes, except for a handful of schools in the country, it’s mostly regional…
Boston has many many colleges and universities so saying you go to school in Boston really isn’t enough info, but I have heard many people over the years say they attend school in Cambridge, referring to Harvard. As far as I know there are only two schools in Cambridge- Harvard and MIT so either way they are attending one of the top universities in the world…
So, a UC other than UCLA and Berkeley is still prestigious? I love to hear that because I (not my kid) was graduated from one of the UCs but not the top two, in the Dark Age. (albeit just the graduate school though.) My kid applied to neither any UC nor S when he applied to college. He did apply to one of Claremont colleges. (We did not live in California at that time.)
Agree that in Wisconsin, staying in state, preferably at Madison, is the norm. Going to Minnesota for the reciprocity and city life is also ok. As one of those who left for college, I always just say I went to school “out east”, or sometimes “in Connecticut”.
My S1 graduated from Marshall University in West Virginia. Lots of head-shaking over why he chose it over WVU, but he just wasn’t interested. I tell people he wanted to learn how to do something besides get drunk and burn couches.
@lostaccount You are correct. It took me three years to convince my father that UNC-CH is an elite school before my D went there. He finally understands.
Living in Virginia. I often get questioned why my kids didn’t stay in-state. The answer is simple-- the VA schools didn’t meet their needs and with merit aid their LACs are comparable in price.