Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD attends Loyola Marymount in LA. People get all the Loyolas mixed up even though they are not affiliated. It doesn’t bother us. We just explain.

So funny becuase I know a parent who’s kid is going to Loyola in LA and she was REAL QUICK to school me that their kid was not going to the MD one. They all are very different!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:It's refreshing to me in Michigan how completely unimpressed people here are with my Georgetown degree (as much as the topic ever comes up). I've mentioned it several times here on DCUM. I'm the 03/12/2025 13:00 "LOL Georgetown" poster:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/120/1262471.page#29649794

My sister went to (then) Seton Hill College (now Seton Hill University), which of course is not Seton Hall University (named for same Seton though).

The only people who are impressed by Georgetown degree are from Georgetown

In the 80s Georgetown was a basketball power and the coach insisted on DEI before it was a thing so there were players who had no business being at Georgetown academically. As positive as basketball was for the school in some way, there were some who saw these players as the face of the University and assumed it was not a good academic schools.

I don't think you know what DEI is. Admitting a stellar black basketball player is not DEI.

Yeah, admitting a mediocre student because they’re black is DEI, admitting a stellar basketball player who is barely literate is just D1 sports. Someone affiliated with UNC tested the football and basketball players in the 90s and found that many were reading at a 4th grade level. All while getting decent grades mind you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's refreshing to me in Michigan how completely unimpressed people here are with my Georgetown degree (as much as the topic ever comes up). I've mentioned it several times here on DCUM. I'm the 03/12/2025 13:00 "LOL Georgetown" poster:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/120/1262471.page#29649794

My sister went to (then) Seton Hill College (now Seton Hill University), which of course is not Seton Hall University (named for same Seton though).

The only people who are impressed by Georgetown degree are from Georgetown

In the 80s Georgetown was a basketball power and the coach insisted on DEI before it was a thing so there were players who had no business being at Georgetown academically. As positive as basketball was for the school in some way, there were some who saw these players as the face of the University and assumed it was not a good academic schools.

I don't think you know what DEI is. Admitting a stellar black basketball player is not DEI.

Yeah, admitting a mediocre student because they’re black is DEI, admitting a stellar basketball player who is barely literate is just D1 sports. Someone affiliated with UNC tested the football and basketball players in the 90s and found that many were reading at a 4th grade level. All while getting decent grades mind you.

And yet they all contributed more to the school and enhanced the school’s reputation than you ever could, despite the numerous gold stars you received in kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD attends Loyola Marymount in LA. People get all the Loyolas mixed up even though they are not affiliated. It doesn’t bother us. We just explain.

So funny becuase I know a parent who’s kid is going to Loyola in LA and she was REAL QUICK to school me that their kid was not going to the MD one. They all are very different!

I know a kid who thought they were applying to one Loyola, actually was applying to a different one, fell in love with it and goes there now!

[Anonymous]

I know someone who went to Samford in Alabama and had to constantly explain that they weren't mispronouncing Stanford.

[Anonymous]

This is less embarrassing than the many Americans who cannot distinguish between Sweden and Switzerland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Your kid isn't very resilient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's refreshing to me in Michigan how completely unimpressed people here are with my Georgetown degree (as much as the topic ever comes up). I've mentioned it several times here on DCUM. I'm the 03/12/2025 13:00 "LOL Georgetown" poster:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/120/1262471.page#29649794

My sister went to (then) Seton Hill College (now Seton Hill University), which of course is not Seton Hall University (named for same Seton though).

The only people who are impressed by Georgetown degree are from Georgetown

In the 80s Georgetown was a basketball power and the coach insisted on DEI before it was a thing so there were players who had no business being at Georgetown academically. As positive as basketball was for the school in some way, there were some who saw these players as the face of the University and assumed it was not a good academic schools.

I don't think you know what DEI is. Admitting a stellar black basketball player is not DEI.

Yeah, admitting a mediocre student because they’re black is DEI, admitting a stellar basketball player who is barely literate is just D1 sports. Someone affiliated with UNC tested the football and basketball players in the 90s and found that many were reading at a 4th grade level. All while getting decent grades mind you.

And yet they all contributed more to the school and enhanced the school’s reputation than you ever could, despite the numerous gold stars you received in kindergarten.

Meanwhile, down the dirt road to Durham, the athletes (football, basketball, etc) were not even in classes with the general student population, they were in athlete only classes staffed by members of the athletic department.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On this board, people confuse University of Washington (Seattle) and Washington University (St. Louis) all the time. People confuse names, doesn't mean much.

Our DCs will know what school they are going to!

Don’t forget Washington & Lee, Washington & Jefferson, and Washington College. There are probably more.

Most people simply have no need to know. No need to get hurt feelings over it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's refreshing to me in Michigan how completely unimpressed people here are with my Georgetown degree (as much as the topic ever comes up). I've mentioned it several times here on DCUM. I'm the 03/12/2025 13:00 "LOL Georgetown" poster:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/120/1262471.page#29649794

My sister went to (then) Seton Hill College (now Seton Hill University), which of course is not Seton Hall University (named for same Seton though).

The only people who are impressed by Georgetown degree are from Georgetown

In the 80s Georgetown was a basketball power and the coach insisted on DEI before it was a thing so there were players who had no business being at Georgetown academically. As positive as basketball was for the school in some way, there were some who saw these players as the face of the University and assumed it was not a good academic schools.

I don't think you know what DEI is. Admitting a stellar black basketball player is not DEI.

Yeah, admitting a mediocre student because they’re black is DEI, admitting a stellar basketball player who is barely literate is just D1 sports. Someone affiliated with UNC tested the football and basketball players in the 90s and found that many were reading at a 4th grade level. All while getting decent grades mind you.

And yet they all contributed more to the school and enhanced the school’s reputation than you ever could, despite the numerous gold stars you received in kindergarten.

Meanwhile, down the dirt road to Durham, the athletes (football, basketball, etc) were not even in classes with the general student population, they were in athlete only classes staffed by members of the athletic department.

Where did you get this information from? Yes, Duke has PE classes. But you can't take more than a few of them. And they have regular students (I took some of them). I know several former Duke basketball and football players who are now doctors - how do you square that?

The joke that was "UNC academics" is well documented. Don't try to deny it. It was a huge shame on the whole university.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/8280794/julius-peppers-confirms-transcript-posted-north-carolina-tar-heels-site

UNC has such an inferiority complex. So sad. Lots of great kids there doing great things. But there are too many people there who are living in fantasy land and spoiling it for the rest of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:For most kids whether you go to Penn or UPenn, the outcome is about the same

You wish that were true but it's not.

Unfortunately it really is, if you control for inputs (ie, compare two kids with the same test scores, high school GPA, family income and education) and look at modal outcomes rather than outliers.

This is not true for many career tracks. If you want to go into quant, consulting at MBB, or IB you have an open road from Penn versus an obstacle course from Penn state to enter the field.

+1,000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I get that for some people, differences between colleges is not relevant to their daily existence. But if you are in a white collar job working with people who went to some of these schools, you should have a cursory knowledge of some of this.

Also, it is surprising that some people posting here don't know some of the basic differences because by opting into posting here, they are showing that they care about this topic. Though if they are using this as a way to educate themselves, credit to them for trying - you have to start somewhere.

Why?

It is basic cultural literacy. One does not need to know the intricate details of these schools that so many people go into on DCUM. But having a basic knowledge of what they are, where they are, a general pecking order (again, not to the extreme that people go to here, just that Harvard>Fairleigh Dickinson). It's like if you went to a business meal and someone didn't know basic rules of etiquette. Not the real nuanced rules, but basic things like "don't eat spaghetti with your fingers" or "put your napkin on your lap." If your colleague says they are taking their kid to visit Duke, you don't necessarily need to know it is in Durham, but you should at least know it is a pretty good school in NC.

I'm sure I will take a lot of heat for this. But this is really table stakes. And I provided plenty of qualifiers to make clear that my bar is not that high.

Meh. Knowing that Harvard and Yale are Ivy League schools is basic cultural literacy. The rest is niche.

I wonder if the PP has the self awareness to realize that there are likely numerous topics that other people view as "basic cultural literacy" but that PP doesn't know and would find pointless to invest energy in learning.

Some people would be surprised a person didn't know the Eagles are am NFC team, and the Steelers are an AFC team, and what that means.

Some people assume everyone knows who the Pixies are.

Some people think it's weird to grow up in the US and have never been to Texas.

And I'm just posting stuff I'm familiar with because of course I am. Someone else might come up with a list of stuff I have no idea about. We all have some myopia.

PP here. That is what I was saying ….

[Anonymous]

I told a friend from the Midwest that my son was accepted to West Point. She asked if it was a good school. I explained the military academies to her. She had never heard of any of them 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.

Dickinson, Davidson and Denison, screw me up all of the time.

Same with Bates and Bucknell for some reason.

[Anonymous]

People think William and Mary is either Mary Washington, or even Mary Baldwin.