<p>Yesterday, they recognized kids at our church who are graduating from high school. One of them is going to a college I’ve never heard of. I went up to him and said, “Tell me about X University.” And he told me. Then I told him it sounded great.</p>
<p>“I find myself secretly a little irritated by the opposite reaction,“Wow that’s a really good school!”, accompanied by a slight look of surprise.”</p>
<p>That’s understandable, but take it as a compliment to your child’s humility and good manners. Apparently Junior hasn’t been bragging about every A he ever got – and that’s very much to your/his credit.</p>
<p>I went to Washington & Lee, and others always assumed it was in the northwest (UW) or DC (GW). With so many schools with “Washington” in the name, people always were confused. How many schools with Washington in the name can you list, w/o googling? I’ve got:</p>
<p>W&L
UW
GW
UWSTL
Washington State
Mary Washington
Washington & Jefferson</p>
<p>@vistajay, my daughter is a junior at W&L, but a friend repeatedly asks how she’s doing at “William & Lee”. </p>
<p>@yaupon, forgot about William & Mary! Not a “Washington” but you are right it is always confused with W&L. Hope your daughter loves it there!</p>
<p>@vistajay - Washington College, Chestertown, MD</p>
<p>Western Washington? </p>
<p>Had to explain one time to a questioner that my W&L t-shirt was NOT from the high school in metro Washington DC.</p>
<p>Recent conversation with an acquaintance:
her: as soon as she sees me: So where’s your D going to college?
me: Smith.
her: Never heard of it. My D is going to the University of Alabama.
me: Oh, I’ve heard great things about UA!
her: Oh yeah [several paragraphs about UA sports, Roll Tide, and how her D can’t wait to rush; humblebrags at length about how her D got into UA despite lackluster grades; never asks me a single question about my D/why she chose Smith/what Smith is/anything else.]</p>
<p>Meanwhile, my MIL and many of D’s teachers have never heard of Smith, either. We live in the NE, so this is slightly odd to me. Most of the people we know who HAVE heard of Smith immediately inform us that “There are a lot of lesbians there.” LOL, you don’t say!</p>
<p>Sigh. (I don’t care if people haven’t heard of my kid’s college. I do care when people don’t have basic manners.)</p>
<p>LOL @sugarski That IS strange they’ve not heard of Smith. DS1 is at Hampshire - another of the consortium schools along with Smith and is <em>always</em> having to explain “No, I’m not at University of New Hampshire”. </p>
<p>Agree - manners are a lovely thing!</p>
<p>@BTMell 
The fabulous D of my very close friend is heading to Hampshire this fall!</p>
<p>@sugarski - wonderful! DS1 has really loved Hampshire and the consortium which he’s taken great advantage of. He’s entering his senior year - hard to believe.</p>
<p>I agree with all the posters who say not to take it personally when someone has not heard of your child’s college or university. In my day, I have had a few of those conversations. Here is one from my first semester teaching at the University of Wisconsin.</p>
<p>student; Where did you get your Ph.D.
coase: Princeton.
student: Where’s that?
coase: In New Jersey.
student: You got your Ph.D. there and you got a job here? Wow.</p>
<p>When D2 was in high school, she had the following conversation at practice one day.</p>
<p>teammate: Where is your sister going to college?<br>
D2: Brown.<br>
teammate: Isn’t that for black people? </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Right after D1 decided to attend Brown, a colleague told me that his former classmate did not enjoy his time teaching there. What is most bizarre about choosing to share this nugget is that the former classsmate was by then in prison for killing his wife. (He was the notorious Penn professor. No doubt Brown was happy that he did not enjoy teaching there.) </p>
<p>We just heard this from S’s clueless girlfriend when D told her where she plans to apply ED (an excellent school with a fairly generic-sounding “University of [medium-sized rust-belt city]” name). “I’ve never heard of it. Make sure other colleges will accept their credits when you decide to transfer out. That can be a problem with some of these city colleges.” </p>
<p>One does not talk about best colleges in the SOUTH without the following list:
Duke
Washington & lee
Vanderbilt
Davidson
Rice
UVA
C of W &M
Emory
Centre
Berea
Sewanee
Spelman
Wake Forest
Richmond
UNC Chapel hill
Georgia Tec
Tulane
UT Austin
Worford
Trinity
Etc…Etc…and the list goes on…
You get the idea.
Sewanee is a very respectable liberal arts College. If they have not heard of it, they should have done their homework first.</p>
<p>@Momzie ;off-course the Marines. He is going in as an enlisted soldier, less pay and more work. Some choose to join after college these days through OCS…I remember my conversation with several enlisted soldiers - and they always chime in that, they would not have chosen a different route. So there must be some GREAT experiences in that process.</p>
<p>S just graduated from a college very few people have heard of, Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA; he had a wonderful experience and got an excellent education. I’ve spent 4 years getting blank stares, mostly people have been polite, but there’s often sort of an embarrassed silence and it feels like they’re keeping themselves from patting my arm and saying, “well dear, at least he got into a college”. I’ve developed a quick little spiel about it being a great LAC in a very charming town in the PNW. There was once a poster on CC who thought Walla Walla sounded like a joke and she wouldn’t dream of sending her D to such a place. Occasionally, I’ll meet someone who actually knows Whitman and the response is always, “that’s a terrific school”, I’ve found myself hugging them. </p>
<p>There are many colleges that are hidden gems in this country, most are small LACs and unknown to the general public. They turn out to be great options for students who are looking for a smaller, more intimate college experience, but don’t want to sacrifice academic excellence. However, I do recommend developing a quick little introductory sentence or two about the school to stave off the awkward silences.</p>
<p>Bopambo, clearly that cc poster never read Carl Sandburg as a youngster, if she had never heard of Walla Walla. I guess she doesn’t like sweet onions, either.</p>
<p>I know Whitman!</p>
<p>LakeWashington and TempeMom, yay! Hugs to you both.</p>