<p>Harald and Kumarr go to Princeton to get weed. Surely that makes it better known than Yale. :D</p>
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<p>Actually, what is very strange is that I haven’t brought up UNC-Wilmington at all in the UK. Being from North Carolina, I would expect that some British people might know something about UNC or Duke, and many do. However, the one school that British people would particularly ask me about, when we were not even discussing universities, was UNC-Wilmington. The third or fourth time someone would volunteer/ask “I have a friend who studied at UNC-Wilmington” or “Do you live close to UNC-Wilmington?” I started wondering what the connection was.</p>
<p>I asked a friend of mine who immigrated to North America from the Phillipines via Singapore - they’d heard of Harvard (and not Yale or Princeton) and funny, Cambridge but not Oxford. (yes I know I expanded this from Joe Shmoe but I couldn’t help myself!!!)</p>
<p>@sweetbeet “Don’t feel bad… I suffered from the same misconception, and actually ended up going to MSU partly because of it! (Go, Spartans!) I was from another state (MD), and I applied to MSU thinking I was applying to UM, then went to visit and take a scholarship test, realized the difference, but fell in love with the campus and didn’t apply anywhere else. Didn’t hurt that we’d driven through Ann Arbor and not been impressed, but one stroll along the banks of the Red Cedar River and I knew where I was going for the next 4 years. Still, if I’d realized that there was a difference between MSU and UM, I doubt I would have applied or visited “moo U”.”</p>
<p>I grew up in Michigan and this is the funniest thing I have read on cc since the kid who was freaking out after submitting a Yale application that listed one of his talents as Farting.</p>
<p>Thanks for making my day.</p>
<p>Harvard
Yale
Notre Dame
USC
Michigan
Ohio State
Penn State
Alabama
UCLA
Texas
Florida</p>
<p>Everyone knows Harvard, because well it’s Harvard. Yale’s up there because of the rivalry. Notre Dame and USC are the only other privates on that list because of their storied athletic success. I thought about putting Stanford up there, but they’ve only recently been good. The rest are state universities that I think everyone across the country has heard of, but obviously there’s a bit of a regional flavor with those.</p>
<p>“I grew up in Michigan and this is the funniest thing I have read on cc since the kid who was freaking out after submitting a Yale application that listed one of his talents as Farting.”</p>
<p>How did that happen??</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/470497-clam-fart-oh-my-god-what-did-i-do.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/470497-clam-fart-oh-my-god-what-did-i-do.html</a>
An oldie but a goodie.</p>
<p>Not a whole lot of difference anymore much2Lean. I come from a Michigan family, but i discovered when we visited both with #3 that MSU is much closer to the Michigan I remember than the Michigan of today and it’s not a bad thing. The funniest thing is there are lots of Chinese kids driving very nice cars on the MSU campus and my H and I noticed that and remarked about it and this year a story about that (Chinese students at MSU buying really, really nice cars) was in the online Michigan newspapers. </p>
<p>I guess only people my age remember Wossamotta U. </p>
<p>In the south among the lay population, my perception is
Harvard, Yale (known as elitist schmucks)
Stanford (I’m guessing more for sports, less for academics)
Duke, Vandy (good academics, nice sports)
Big Football State Schools: Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, FSU, all the major SEC and ACC teams </p>
<p>Very few people know the other Ivies, UChicago, (surprisingly) MIT. A noticeable amount know Princeton but it’s not a huge number. </p>
<p>Julliard</p>
<p>As iconic as Harvard</p>
<p>Interesting that the only liberal arts colleges mentioned here are a woman’s college–Smith, African American colleges–Moorehouse, and a military academy–West Point. </p>
<p>Seems that some of these niche (fair word?) colleges are better known, more instantly recognizable than any of the the top ranked lacs?</p>
<p>I mean who has heard of Williams? I once mentioned to someone my wife went there, and the reply was, that’s in Rhode Island? Roger Williams. And also you get William and Mary. </p>
<p>I think you could make up another list–instantly recognizable for people hiring for top jobs, and adcoms for top professional and graduate schools. That would be a different list. </p>
<p>Hey, there’s always Pottawhattamie College, made famous by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.</p>
<p>Pottawatomie.
(Actually a place name/tribe from the plains, not the southwest, as shown in the movie.)</p>
<p>My fave is Whatsamatta U. Was it Groucho?</p>
<p><a href=“Rocky & Bullwinkle - Moosylvania, Wossamotta U & More - YouTube”>Rocky & Bullwinkle - Moosylvania, Wossamotta U & More - YouTube;
<p>Whatsamatta U was from Rocky and Bullwinkle. Can we post you-tube links? You can buy the sweatshirts online now, so you don’t have to make a campus visit.</p>
<p>But how many people outside of Michigan can name the TOWN where MSU is located? </p>
<p>I graduated from OU…and that is what it is called. And NO it’s not in Oklahoma! In Ohio, we call OSU, Ohio State. Ohio University is OU.</p>
<p>People in California and students at UCB call the school Cal…but the rest of the world calls it Berkeley. </p>
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<p>This reminds me of a somewhat funny story.
Years ago, the senior parter of the VC firm who funded our startup came to give us a pep talk. He was relating a story about some business in East Lansing, MI. Then he asked those present (probably around 150 people if I remember correctly) what is in East Lansing. A few people ventured guesses about auto firms such as GM, Ford. Finally, I shouted from the back of the room “the Spartans!”. He smiled and nodded and explained that it was Michigan State University. (then, I did not know that the mascot of the local university is also Spartans)</p>
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I grew up in East Lansing and it was a real town-gown kind of place in my day. Our high school mascot was the Trojans. Many of our parents were affiliated with MSU, including both of mine. We were very adamant about distinguishing ourselves from Lansing, kind of snobby about it I guess. The town was dry until 1968 so was ringed with bars. Even the University Club was built outside town limits so it could serve alcohol.</p>
<p>I went to Michigan along with 25 high school classmates; 75 went to Michigan State. We sent one student each to most of the Ivies. I think about 98% of our school went to college. In those days I was only familiar with those schools, the rest of the Big 10, and the Pac 8 because we played them in the Rose Bowl.</p>
<p>Harvard and Notre Dame probably. Most know Yale, but it’s probably not universal.</p>
<p>As someone already said, state universities are recognizable, but it’s hard to distinguish that from recognizing the state name.</p>