<p>This is less related to UChicago and more related to general frustration with the public’s ignorance of very fine colleges…</p>
<p>…I hate explaining, a million times over, that the University of Pennsylvania is not a public university. My sister goes there, and every time people ask where she attends college, their reaction is something along the lines of “Wasn’t she valedictorian? I thought she was really smart.” I honestly don’t even bother to clarify anymore.</p>
<p>Also, about elite LACS…there was a Williams representative at my school two years ago, and literally six people (school of 3500 students) appeared at the informational session. Besides me, none of them even knew what a liberal arts college was. 
I was actually embarrassed on my school’s behalf and wanted to apologize to the representative. (And maybe that’s offensive, but I’m being honest.)</p>
<p>So OP, don’t worry - you are not alone. In fact, I recently met a woman who did not know what Yale was; evidently, she thought of Duke, Harvard, and Vanderbilt as the country’s absolute best colleges.</p>