Calling Alums of Non-Prestigious Colleges

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you need new "friends."

+1

[Anonymous]

I work in a place where most of the employees are HYP and I've gotten this kind of snub lots of times. I find it absolutely infuriating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in a place where most of the employees are HYP and I've gotten this kind of snub lots of times. I find it absolutely infuriating.

Why do they snub you when you're clearly in the same workplace as they are? They aren't earning more than you!

[Anonymous]

These are the reactions I have gotten from horrible people in my family and some of my friends:

"Why did you go to Boston College? Everyone knows the only two REAL schools in Boston are Harvard and MIT." (Meanwhile I'm thinking, "First of all, D.I.C.K. Second of all, they're in Cambridge, S.T.U.P.I.D. D.I.C.K.")

- "Boston College? So you didn't get into Georgetown?" SNIGGER ELITIST JESUIT JOKE SNIGGER.

- "Oh."

- "Too bad you didn't get into Harvard."

- [Silent blank face, change subject.]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These are the reactions I have gotten from horrible people in my family and some of my friends:

"Why did you go to Boston College? Everyone knows the only two REAL schools in Boston are Harvard and MIT." (Meanwhile I'm thinking, "First of all, D.I.C.K. Second of all, they're in Cambridge, S.T.U.P.I.D. D.I.C.K.")

- "Boston College? So you didn't get into Georgetown?" SNIGGER ELITIST JESUIT JOKE SNIGGER.

- "Oh."

- "Too bad you didn't get into Harvard."

- [Silent blank face, change subject.]

This is odd. BC is generally considered pretty "up there" on the prestige scale, at least as far as I know.

And your friends and family members sound horrible PP. Ignore them!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:By which I mean a school that isn't in the top 20 or so universities. For those of us who went to no-name schools and then made successes of ourselves, how have you navigated the world and the surprise/scorn people show when you reveal your alma mater? For me it was worse because I went to a competitive private high school and came from a family where ALL of my cousins went to Ivies or top publics like Michigan-Ann Arbor and UVA. I went to Indiana University, a school nobody outside Indiana knows about or cares about.

I've done well professionally (in my early thirties, married a DH from a similarly-ranked state school) but while people always recognize that I am smart, there is always a comment along the lines of, "You were wasted on that school/you must've been among the smartest kids there/oh, there are successful people from your school?" And sometimes there is downright nastiness. One of my best friends went to Georgetown Law, and when I moved to DC to work (this was a few years ago), she would say things like, "You must find the rent shocking here after your little Midwestern town" (my family is from an affluent New York town originally), and then boast about how the law firm she was going to only hired from the top schools in the country, and so on.

For a long time I have tried to fit in with these people, but I'm getting to the point where I am just very fed up. I'm tired of having to prove that I'm smart after someone in my social circle asks where I went to school, or having relatively make snide comments about my success "despite" coming from a school in flyover country. You would think people would stop caring about your alma mater once you reach middle age, but take it from me that this is not true. I am starting to think I will just have to drop some of my high school friends, since their snobbery has gotten worse with time.

I hope this is satire. I went a MAC school. Get a fucking grip.

[Anonymous]

Op, your inferiority complex is a DC disease. Did you go to ncs sidwell etc?

I went to a top fifteen SLAC and it still bothers me sometimes. Which is absurd. I still feel bad about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:By which I mean a school that isn't in the top 20 or so universities. For those of us who went to no-name schools and then made successes of ourselves, how have you navigated the world and the surprise/scorn people show when you reveal your alma mater? For me it was worse because I went to a competitive private high school and came from a family where ALL of my cousins went to Ivies or top publics like Michigan-Ann Arbor and UVA. I went to Indiana University, a school nobody outside Indiana knows about or cares about.

I've done well professionally (in my early thirties, married a DH from a similarly-ranked state school) but while people always recognize that I am smart, there is always a comment along the lines of, "You were wasted on that school/you must've been among the smartest kids there/oh, there are successful people from your school?" And sometimes there is downright nastiness. One of my best friends went to Georgetown Law, and when I moved to DC to work (this was a few years ago), she would say things like, "You must find the rent shocking here after your little Midwestern town" (my family is from an affluent New York town originally), and then boast about how the law firm she was going to only hired from the top schools in the country, and so on.

For a long time I have tried to fit in with these people, but I'm getting to the point where I am just very fed up. I'm tired of having to prove that I'm smart after someone in my social circle asks where I went to school, or having relatively make snide comments about my success "despite" coming from a school in flyover country. You would think people would stop caring about your alma mater once you reach middle age, but take it from me that this is not true. I am starting to think I will just have to drop some of my high school friends, since their snobbery has gotten worse with time.

How old are you?

[Anonymous]

It might not be well known everywhere but IU is a solid school with a good rep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, your inferiority complex is a DC disease. Did you go to ncs sidwell etc?

I went to a top fifteen SLAC and it still bothers me sometimes. Which is absurd. I still feel bad about it.

I went to one of the following high schools (trying to preserve anonymity): Phillips Exeter/Deerfield/Hotchkiss/Andover/St. Paul's.

I have caught a lot of crap for being a mediocre student and going to IU. I had a good time at IU. I loved IU. Until I moved back to Snob Land and was reminded of how much I have failed combated to my friends and family. DC is worse that the northeast that way, sometimes.

[Anonymous]

This must be a troll. This is too stupid to be a real post. BTW I am a multimillionaire who retired under 40 and went to a state land grant university. If you are good at what you do, no one cares where you went to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This must be a troll. This is too stupid to be a real post. BTW I am a multimillionaire who retired under 40 and went to a state land grant university. If you are good at what you do, no one cares where you went to school.

What did you do that you were able to retire before your 60s?

[Anonymous]

For some folks, getting into a top school was the best thing that ever happened to them in life. Too bad that happened when they were 18 and now that thay are 35 that's still what they talk about. I went to an Ivy and while I do find the brand has helped me professionally - I.e. folks assume I am smart, it has opened up some doors, etc, everyone in the real world knows degrees only take you so far and is not a guarantee of professional or personal success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This must be a troll. This is too stupid to be a real post. BTW I am a multimillionaire who retired under 40 and went to a state land grant university. If you are good at what you do, no one cares where you went to school.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know, I am starting to realize I need to cut these friends loose, that is partly why I made this thread.

But it's difficult because I've known them since high school, I feel like I have invested so much of my life with them. And I feel like I will be "missing out" on something if I fade them out of my life.

On the other hand I keep thinking, "Fuck it, if you can't accept me as I am and treat me as an equal and with respect, then I don't want to spend anymore time in your company."

You're not getting it. Your friends are jealous of you in one way or another. They are purposely putting you down when you say things like this. People generally don't care where someone went to school. But since you're a threat to them they will put it out there. If you went to community college they would never utter a peep. Why? Because that would just be mean. But since you're successful and went to a normal college, you're free game.