<p>I went to a prestigious college for 2 years and finished the remaining 2 years at a less prestigious college due to financial reasons. I guess I feel that I ought to just say where I finished, but I also feel robbed of an achievement. I don’t want to come across as pretentious either…but I want to give myself some credit for the first school? </p>
<p>Any and all advice appreciated.</p>
<p>You can list both colleges, on your resume:</p>
<p>XYZ University 2009-2011
ABC University BA 2013.</p>
<p>What about in general conversation?</p>
<p>Use your common sense. If asked directly, you can say you got your BA from ABC,after two years at XY. i wouldn’t make it too much of a big deal, because that would make someone wonder why it is such a big deal for you. Most people are not going to care much about these things, to be honest.</p>
<p>Can you give an example?
Are you ashamed of the school you graduated from?
It is quite an accomplishment to have a college degree. Only about 1/4 of people do.
If your friends are snobs, dump them.</p>
<p>…for close friends you can say I went to blah blah for two years and transferred to blah, blah. If they are going to be close friends then when it comes up in conversation you can explain that you transferred for financial reasons and not that you didn’t like or were struggling at the first college. But really you can just say the college you graduated from in casual conversation. On your resume you can list both schools with the accurate years. The reality is you are wanting to illuminate something that might be easier just not to get into or start people thinking about in my opinion. Honestly it’s more important that you graduated than where you got into right out of high school. So many people don’t finish their degree.</p>
<p>“I have a __ in _____ from __<strong><em>.”
vs.
“I went to </em></strong> and then _____ where I got a __ in _____.”</p>
<p>What you say depends on what you want people to know about you and what you think people want to know about you.</p>
<p>If you want people to know that you went to a prestigious school before going to another school so they know you have prestige, that’s shamefully pathetic.</p>
<p>If you want people to know what school you know other people through, or where you did a significant part of your studies because you think that school does something unique in its teaching/research within an important area of study to you, that could be a relevant part of the story of your life.</p>
<p>There is the expression “thou protestths too much” or something like that. It’s not a relevant thing and sometimes it’s just as well to leave the first school off, as there are many, many students who leave that first school because they failed out, got thrown out or couldn’t hack it. And that’s where the mind could wander with that info. And unless asked, getting into an explanation about your situation could be TMI.</p>
<p>“shamefully pathetic” really? It’s more wanting credit for something that was taken from me out of my control. </p>
<p>Labels do exist in society, like it or not. I’m just trying to set myself up in the best way.</p>
<p>Yeah, it might make more sense to leave it at the final school when I’m talking about it. It wasn’t that I got thrown out; I think money is a very understandable reason, and I wouldn’t even give a reason unless asked - that being said their mind could wander to something bad…</p>
<p>I just feel like I was going to get credit for something, and then robbed, like I said before.</p>
<p>Well, in a sense, you were. You went to years to a school you like and could not afford to finish there, so got your degree at a school you like less. Happens all of the time.</p>
<p>Every-time someone asks, say I went to X University at first and then transferred to Y. That way you will be giving yourself some deserved credit and you won’t be giving incorrect info. </p>
<p>What are those colleges and why did you transfer ? You make it seems like the first college you went to is one of the elite colleges and the second university is a tier 3 college where people with 2.0 GPA and 1400 SAT go.</p>
<p>
Alright, prove me wrong. You say you deserve credit? Credit yourself for one thing you actually did at that school other than just enrolling at it. Give one reason you want people to know where you spent your first two years of higher education other than the name of the school.</p>
<p>It’s not a rhetorical question; I bet there’s a good answer to it. That’s just the way you should think about your life when deciding what you want people to know about you.</p>
<p>Yeah, you’re right. I think I’m gonna leave it on my resume but in casual conversation there’s no need to say anything other than the school I finished at.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if someone went to Deep Springs College for any number of years, I’d love to know that just because I think their way of life is so interesting and I’d have many questions for an alumnus just out of curiosity.</p>
<p>And that’s based on what I know about the nature of the college, rather than the level of respect the general public grants it.</p>
<p>“I spent my first two years at Harvard, then for financial reasons transferred to Podunk U, where I got my degree.”</p>
<p>Hmm, my plan is to leave it on the resume as of now. My degree granting school was not a podunk u, but some explanation would have to be offered, yes.</p>