Providence College, which some call Providence University----GO PU!!
My sister attended Stanford University. My cousins, all from the New York area, thought it was in Stamford, CT.
Penn. no I don’t mean penn state. Yes they are different schools
I automatically add Miami of Ohio knowing people always assume it’s the school in Florida.
@partyof5 I would bet you still get some confused looks back. Lol.
Like you went to multiple schools then. The u and Ohio state. Or I have no idea what school that is but I’ll say great anyway. Lol.
Do you all think it’s just polite to say, “Oh, yeah” when someone mentions a school you’re not familiar with? Or should you ask??
When that happens I usually go with a noncommittal answer and google it later. Happened recently with shipsburg state.
“Do you all think it’s just polite to say, “Oh, yeah” when someone mentions a school you’re not familiar with? Or should you ask??”
If someone mentions they’re going/have gone to a college I’m familiar with I reply with “That’s wonderful! I’m so happy for you. Tell me what you’re most excited about doing [or if they’ve graduated - what you enjoyed most] at _________?”
I’m not lying - I am happy they are going somewhere they obviously think is right for them. And the open ended question usually gives them a chance to tell me why _______ is so awesome.
“I go to West Virginia Wesleyan University. “
I bet that can even mess up a cc mod!
I ask, unless the college was just mentioned in passing and discussing it would derail the conversation. Why not? Sometimes you learn interesting things.
I went to grad school at the University of Missouri in Columbia. If I have reason to believe a person would be familiar with it, I use the nickname Mizzou. That usually elicits a nod and smile response.
For people outside of the area, or not college sports fans, I will say the full name. Many times this causes the follow up question - “Was it fun to go to school in New York City?”
It’s a point of pride for me if someone says, “Oh, a tiny college back home,” and I say, “Try me.”
I’m dismayed if I haven’t heard of the college, at least enough to know what state it’s in.
I was excited to find another CMU alum at work once. Let’s just say it took a while before we figured out one of us was from Carnegie Mellon University and the other went to Central Michigan University. Neither one of us knew the other CMU even existed!
@hanna. But you are a Harvard grad and college expert. Try my brother. He’s no dummy and a college grad himself. But I swear he would think the college of Wooster was in Worcester. :-c
I went to a high school reunion some years back in Los Angeles and sat next to a woman I hadn’t seen in 20+ years. As we shared details, she asked where my college D attended. I said “Penn” and she got very quiet. She then looked up and said, “What made you decide to let your D go across the country to attend the #1 party school in the country?” I can’t speak to where PENN STATE falls on that ranking but had to diplomatically explain the difference between the two schools.
I ask. I’m not shy and I’ve found pretty much everyone is happy to talk about their (or their kids’) college. I enjoy learning about various schools too. I suppose that’s why I’m still on here even though my youngest just graduated from college and why I’m seriously considering volunteering with college counseling at school.
She’s right. Penn State is the #1 party school in the country. As someone who lives fairly close to Penn State and Penn, it really irks me when locals refer to Penn State as Penn. I guess they aren’t football fans.
@privatebanker Your brother must be in Massachusetts if he knows the two are pronounced the same!
Which reminds me of one of my first trips to Massachusetts - traveling by bus – I was told to get off at Cumberland Farms and kept looking for a farm…
I tend to say, “That’s great! What led you to [name of school]?” Most people are excited to talk about what’s great about their choice, and it’s a question that applies as well to Stanford as Southeast Mississippi Technical College. I find I learn a lot about kids this way. Sometimes what at first glance seems to be a disappointing result is actually the happy result of careful decision making, as the school has specialized programs in the area the kid wants to pursue.
I have heard a story about a girl who excitedly bragged that she had been admitted to Wesleyan University (in CT) before realizing the acceptance had come from Wesleyan College, a women’s college in Georgia. Apparently she was not the first to make that mistake.
In the 80’s I did a gap year as a PG at an American school abroad. The school’s college counselor told my friend she couldn’t have been accepted to Williams College, the school to which she had already submitted her deposit, because the school was all men. This was roughly 10 years after Willams went coed. 8-|
With regards to Penn St vs U Penn… I live and work (in a high school) in PA and I still have to ask kids which they mean when they tell me they are going to Penn (or applied there, etc). Way too many students use Penn interchangeably. Some of those who are football fans don’t realize there’s another school going by Penn. For many in the area, Penn St is #1 in all aspects of a college, beating all rivals in sports and academics.