This is stupid…of course your MIL has heard of NESCAC schools considering many have been around since the 18th century. I guess since Harvard is the oldest college in the US, then all other schools are filled with “new money”. Bowdoin was founded in 1794 and my assumption is that many graduates back in the 1800s stayed in New England and a bunch became rich (or probably came from rich families to start). |
Tell her she will soon be entering a world where everyone knows her school. |
Wrong. |
She's going _,away_ to college so she's never going to see those equates again. |
What did she write in her "Why Bates?" essay? That's how she should respond to questions and doubts. |
Reminder (from the bullying threads) that witty retorts are not about the remarks themselves, put the self-confidence and charm to deliver them with grace and poise. |
How did she find the school? Had she ever heard of it before she researched for whatever she was looking for in a college? |
This. I thought it was going to be an actual no-name school. Tell her to just ignore and feel internally smug that she is better than them. |
Wrong. This cohort of schools is very well known, and has been very well known, to highly educated, "highbrow" circles for a long, long time. Of course academics know about them, but also attorneys, physicians, bankers, and the well-heeled professional classes. |
The egos here…. The rest of the world does not care about your DD’s college. Believe it or not, LACs are not taught after by everyone. Most kids want a real college experience and don’t even look into them. |
I went to Cornell in the 1990's and multiple people had never heard of it and asked me if it was a "good school". Many of these people were my HS classmates, most of whom were not college-bound or at least not going to college immediately after high school. And I lived in New England, not in the South or Midwest or anything. But honestly, why would they be expected to know any colleges beyond some that were located nearby and probably some that were on TV all the time because of football or basketball? Fast forward 30 years and a friend's DD now attends Carleton (they are from the Northeast) and she also deals with the "never heard of it" crowd.
Congrats on your DD getting into a great school. She will have a wonderful experience. |
I grew up in NC and barely had heard of Notre Dame (which is where I ended up going).
My husband went to a 1200 student body no-name regional liberal arts college in the boonies of MO. I guarantee no one has heard of that. |
DP. There are so many people amongst these three groups that have never heard of these schools. I’m not sure why this is a surprise to people. There is a high likelihood that a person who isn’t from the northeast and whose kid hasn’t considered LACs in the northeast (i.e., most people) has not heard of these schools. Even amongst well-heeled professional classes. |
This is one reason my DD didn't choose Colgate or Colby. |
I went to Williams. My husband went to Univ of Alabama.
When I mention my college I get two responses "oh wow, that's a great school" or "?? never heard of that" My husband only gets the response "Roll Tide". Any small school will be unknown to many. |