<p>This discussion has reminded me of what happened to me in the aftermath of 9/11. I was taken to task by an acquaintance because I had not purchased an American flag for my car. I realized then that I was one of the very few people driving around town without the flag. My failure to do so was neither politically motivated nor indicative of how deeply I felt about the tragedy. It is just the way I am and probably the reason I have never had a single bumper sticker in a car. I have always figured that no one really cares how I feel or how proud I am of my children, and since there’s no need to remind myself of what I already know, why bother. Maybe whether to bumper sticker or not has more to do with ones personality than any real desire to impress.</p>
<p>
kat~</p>
<p><em>lolololololol</em> My dad was the same way…G-d forbid anyone knew how he (or WE) thought on an issue!! As you can see, I have been quite the rebel, though I must admit, I had NOTHING on my car 'til about 1.5 years ago…old habits are hard to break, I guess! </p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>
But as you suggested earlier that sort of merchandise is only bought by tourists who don’t have any real connection with the University. Yulsie’s solution is much more appropriate to the circumstances.</p>
<p>Hey, proud flamingo pink and black wearer here. ;)</p>
<p>(Is it the University of Reading with chartreuse, puce, maroon, and gold stripes?)</p>
<p>The point being that having a University of Oxford window decal would be the equivalent of a decal that said “Ivy League”.</p>
<p>Whoo, we struck a nerve with this one!</p>
<p>We do have bumper stickers. I only have one, because I don’t like bumper stickers. I have a car tag for the kids’ high school in the front, and I may lose the small discreet “D” because I got rear-ended last night, and I think they will have to replace the bumper. :(.</p>
<p>My husband loves bumper stickers - if we had an RV, he’d be one of those people with a sticker from all 50 states (how do they get those RVs to Hawaii???). He has more than one of DD’s college, but it is hard to recognize in the midst of Italy, Germany, “Support our Troops”, etc, so is it boasting if you can’t really pick it out of the clutter??
DD got that gene, too. Since she left for school, I have been driving her car occasionally, and I had to ask about one sticker for some rock group she likes - can’t promote any obscene musical groups in the doctor’s lot. She has the country code sticker for Lichtenstein - now you don’t see that one every day!</p>
<p>My dad has his alma mater on his car, my brother has his on his car, and if I had a car, I would put one on mine too. We all have the sweatshirts, t-shirts, hats, Christmas ornaments, etc.</p>
<p>So, to summarize:</p>
<p>Some people like window decals and bumper stickers and some don’t. Those of us who do have stickers aren’t trying to put anyone else down, we’re just having fun. If you don’t like someone’s stickers, just ignore them!</p>
<p>Many interesting takes here. </p>
<p>I do think some are making assumptions with regard to motivation with college decals. Parent2009, I can appreciate your comment that you live in a status conscious area and so you perceive the college decals as “bragging” type statements. But I do not live in that kind of area and in fact, do not see it this way at all. For my kids, it was part of the decision to attend at the Open House for admitted students and just wanting to own something with the college name on it. It is more like school spirit and fun kind of reason. I think it is kinda fun to observe other cars and see where kids are going. I get excited if I see my alma mater on some car when we are on the highway. The way you implied that the reasons are egotistical, I don’t agree, from my own end. If my kids went to Community College of Vermont, I still would be into putting their decal on my car window. It is more about “belonging” to some school and spirit for that school. I don’t see it as bragging. We don’t have Honor Student bumper stickers (our school doesn’t do that) and that is a little different in that is kinda a pride type thing. I’m not knocking those, by the way, just seeing a slight difference from that and just the name of a school one is associated with. </p>
<p>The comments about not wearing school logo apparel and likening it to advertising such as apparel with designer names, I also don’t agree with. My daughters have a tee shirt and sweatshirt for their colleges. Again, I don’t think it is an advertisement or designer type thing (neither of my kids are into clothing with store names or designer names on them at all). But for instance, one of my kids is on sports teams at her college. I notice that after the event, they may put on their logo jacket, sweatshirt or sweatpants, in the spirit of identifying with their school amongst kids attending from other schools. </p>
<p>To the person who commented about Harvard…I have had the same feelings. I went to Harvard for graduate school (there I said it!) but for a very long time, I often never admitted it openly. It is a weird thing when you say “Harvard” to people. Sometimes it is just easier to not say it. As I have gotten older, I am more able to admit it in certain circumstances. Still, I’m conscious that others all of a sudden may view me differently which is weird but they do. I noticed when my daughter even did a summer architecture program at Harvard Graduate School of Design this past summer (which is not even like getting INTO Harvard itself), when people asked where she spent her summer, I noticed she would say “an architecture program in Boston” and I have never heard her say “at Harvard”. I can just tell she doesn’t want to say the name because she is conscious of “reverse elitism or egotism” from what you are implying…she doesn’t want to admit it so people can just think of her as who she is, not where she attends. I felt the same at her age. Even still, she does have a Brown decal on her car but I think it is more of a school spirit thing as she just loves being there. We went to all these college visits and she’d never buy one logo thing at any of them, and when we went back to three Open Houses for admitted students to help her decide where to go, I knew she had made up her mind when at the end of Brown’s open house events when we met back up to leave, she said, “I’m going here” and I offered if she wanted to make a quick run on the bookstore and when she said, “yes”, I knew the deal was sealed. As far as prestige, she got into another Ivy and it did not make her final “cut” of where to go back and do a second visit in April to decide where to attend and in fact, she put Tufts and Smith before that Ivy, because prestige was NOT her driving motivation. The school had to fit. So, you can’t make assumptions about each person’s motivation with these things but I realize you are speaking from personal experiences and you mentioned living where people compare a lot about status and for some, that may be their motivation. But it is not for everyone.</p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>At our local high school, students often wear t-shirts or sweatshirts from the state universities or from elite schools. But, seniors who are admitted, especially if admitted early, to good schools stop wearing them, because they don’t want to rub it in.</p>
<p>One child, wearing a top 5 t-shirt, was told he shouldn’t. Why, he says, everyone else does? Answer: Yes, but you might actually get in.</p>
<p>An attempt at summarization:</p>
<p>Stickers are OK if they are for local colleges or for moderately interesting out-of-state colleges if your neighbors are not rednecks, as long as the college isn’t really good, because that would be bragging.</p>
<p>I don’t agree with the sentiment, but I get a chuckle out of the bumper sticker: “My dog is smarter than your honor student.”</p>
<p>It’s gotten old, but I’ve always liked that one too, particularly in its first incarnation: “My Border Collie is smarter than your Honor Student.” Because it was, simply, true. :)</p>
<p>It is also OK for mothers to wear college t-shirts, but not fathers. I wore son’s t-shirt in the gym and got the ‘LOOK’. I asked my wife to wear it and she didn’t feel that she got the ‘LOOK’. Based on this experiment we have instructed S never to wear his school’s T-shirt when he travels home.</p>
<p>Stickers are OK if they are for local colleges or for moderately interesting out-of-state colleges if your neighbors are not rednecks, as long as the college isn’t really good, because that would be bragging.</p>
<p>I was wondering what part of Oregon you are from- D is at Reed and while I have a cling on my car, nobody has really heard of it in our Seattle neighborhood, unless they think it is either a commie school that is connected with John Reed in some way, or it is a school for rich ne’er do-wells ( hippies)</p>
<p>We think the same think about Evergreen State College- students across the country actually seem consider it in a higher light than Washington residents.
My impression with Portlanders, was that they had the some opinion of Reed as our neighbors do.</p>
<p>As far as I know, people in Portland think Reed is a great school. It is, if course, actually “a commie school that is connected with John Reed in some way, or it is a school for rich ne’er do-wells ( hippies)” . (Just kidding, partly).</p>
<p>I also have my employer’s sticker on my car for me. Everytime I see it I think to myself: “G–that’s cool. They hired me. I can’t believe it.”</p>
<p>I have had a decal and magnets from my husband’s and my alma mater (same schools) for years. My kids HATED it. Now that my oldest D is attending the same school - which she swore she would never do - her car is similarly decorated. SHE did the decorating 
I smile every time I see it.</p>
<p>CIA, perhaps?</p>
<p>Right now we have the kids’ school sticker name on the back, and the seal of my alma mater on the side window.</p>
<p>“We find the practice, quite frankly, to be nauseating, and so do our kids.”</p>
<p>Wow.</p>
<p>Why should anyone care? I work for Johns Hopkins and have a T-shirt from there; we’ll be working at the University of Puget Sound this summer so we’ll probably buy one there, too. My husband went to LeMoyne, so when we drive by there, he’ll probably get one there. It’s fun. Who cares? </p>
<p>We have Tulane decals on ALL of our cars and a pewter plate on the front of the RV that will soon be our only home. If we could find one, we’d replace the decal on the back of the RV with a big one that says “TULANE LIVES!” because THAT’S the reason we have all of them. There’s also a little Cornell decal in one corner of the back window of the car we’ll soon sell to show our gratitude to that school for taking our son in last fall.</p>
<p>Why condescend to anyone for using these things or not using them? Someone’s taking him or herself way too seriously.</p>