Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

[Anonymous]

My child’s first choice school is Penn. I had mentioned that it would be a reach for him and that usually 1 kid gets in from our school. At some point, I realized that they thought I was referring to Penn State. When I mentioned UPenn was an Ivy League school, they seemed confused. These are Americans. Do people really not know the difference????

[Anonymous]

My sister went to UChicago for undergrad. I went there for grad school.

We still have relatives think it was the University of Illinois — Chicago. These are all people who went to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child’s first choice school is Penn. I had mentioned that it would be a reach for him and that usually 1 kid gets in from our school. At some point, I realized that they thought I was referring to Penn State. When I mentioned UPenn was an Ivy League school, they seemed confused. These are Americans. Do people really not know the difference????

Who are you having this conversation with?

My kid would be so horrified if I talked about his personal business this way.

[Anonymous]

My parents are like this. They are from New England and they cannot keep Penn, Penn State, and even Pitt straight.

I wouldn’t worry about it. Most people in the know will know Penn is different from Penn State.

And there’s nothing wrong with any of those 3 schools.

[Anonymous]

It doesn’t matter.

[Anonymous]

People get Georgetown, George Washington, and George Mason confused. People get Penn state and Penn wrong. People get Dickinson and Fairley Dickinson wrong. People are largely uneducated.

[Anonymous]

people who need to know, know. who cares if others do not

[Anonymous]

Apparently.

[Anonymous]

The general public doesn't know much, but the people that matter do. I would find it annoying, but I know it's not a real problem.

[Anonymous]

A sign that the obsessions with prestige is a narrow community.

[Anonymous]

People also confuse Smith liberal arts college with Smith business school at UMD.

[Anonymous]

What about people that don’t know what Barnard is or that it is an Ivy League school and part of Columbia? This is a weird one too. Almost like a litmus test for your education level.

[Anonymous]

So many ignorant people.

Unfortunately, their ignorance isn’t always as benign as confusing colleges.

[Anonymous]

Do they have a child applying to college soon? Where did they go to college? Where did they grow up? Where did you grow up? What is their socioeconomic background, and what is yours?

I think it is myopic of you to assume that other people would prioritize knowledge like this when it might not be relevant to their lives at all. For most people, the difference between Penn and Penn State likely has no bearing on their lives at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People get Georgetown, George Washington, and George Mason confused. People get Penn state and Penn wrong. People get Dickinson and Fairley Dickinson wrong. People are largely uneducated.

Being confused is not uneducated. Some are not as obsessed with all the colleges as the DCUM crowd. If you’re not from a particular area it’s easy to confuse names.