Do you know where your friends, extended family, coworkers, neighbors, others, went to college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friends, mostly yes, with exception of some people we met through our kids where it's never come up. But a lot of my friends are from grad school or post-grad years where it would come up often, plus you just learn it over the years based on meeting people through them ("this is my roommate from Michigan") or finding out what college football team they root for, or seeing them in a college tee at the gym.

Neighbors no idea unless we are also friends.

Colleagues sometimes but as I get older less and less. By 40 no one cares where anyone went to school at all.

I'm 50+ and I always want to know where people went to school. Says a lot about them.

What does it say? Can you give some examples? What if someone went to Case Western and what if someone went to JMU?

You're not going to want to hear it, but high correlation between stature of college/university and quality of written materials and analytical skills.

[Anonymous]

I made a lot of friends through my son but didn't necessarily know where everyone had gone to school. Then, when our kids were applying to college, it became a topic of conversation. I found this super interesting and learned a lot about schools all over.

[Anonymous]

Family/extended family of course yes, it would be weird not to.

Friends, I would say yes, as well. Meaning, if we are close enough for me to think of the person
as a friend, it is highly likely that I know where the person went to college. It comes up in a variety of ways when you get to know someone.

Co-workers, yes 100%. Though, to be fair, I am in academia so probably everyone is interested in this part of one's background.

Neighbors... I just did a count in my head and I know just about every other house on my street. Why? Well, one is a huge Notre Dame fan. Another is an alum from the college my son attends. Another went to college in my hometown and, I guess because we were discussing colleges, she much have told me about her husband's. And so on.

Parents of my kids' sports teammates? Rarely, if your kid was on my kid's travel soccer team for four years and you have become a friend, then yes, I probably know. But random friendly rec team parents, no.

In sum, yes, I generally do know where people went to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friends, mostly yes, with exception of some people we met through our kids where it's never come up. But a lot of my friends are from grad school or post-grad years where it would come up often, plus you just learn it over the years based on meeting people through them ("this is my roommate from Michigan") or finding out what college football team they root for, or seeing them in a college tee at the gym.

Neighbors no idea unless we are also friends.

Colleagues sometimes but as I get older less and less. By 40 no one cares where anyone went to school at all.

I'm 50+ and I always want to know where people went to school. Says a lot about them.

What does it say? Can you give some examples? What if someone went to Case Western and what if someone went to JMU?

JMU: From Va and just missed the u.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friends, mostly yes, with exception of some people we met through our kids where it's never come up. But a lot of my friends are from grad school or post-grad years where it would come up often, plus you just learn it over the years based on meeting people through them ("this is my roommate from Michigan") or finding out what college football team they root for, or seeing them in a college tee at the gym.

Neighbors no idea unless we are also friends.

Colleagues sometimes but as I get older less and less. By 40 no one cares where anyone went to school at all.

I'm 50+ and I always want to know where people went to school. Says a lot about them.

What does it say? Can you give some examples? What if someone went to Case Western and what if someone went to JMU?

JMU: From Va and just missed the u.

Just missed the what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No

Lemme guess, no University of Michigan grads in your life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friends, mostly yes, with exception of some people we met through our kids where it's never come up. But a lot of my friends are from grad school or post-grad years where it would come up often, plus you just learn it over the years based on meeting people through them ("this is my roommate from Michigan") or finding out what college football team they root for, or seeing them in a college tee at the gym.

Neighbors no idea unless we are also friends.

Colleagues sometimes but as I get older less and less. By 40 no one cares where anyone went to school at all.

I'm 50+ and I always want to know where people went to school. Says a lot about them.

What does it say? Can you give some examples? What if someone went to Case Western and what if someone went to JMU?

You're not going to want to hear it, but high correlation between stature of college/university and quality of written materials and analytical skills.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friends, mostly yes, with exception of some people we met through our kids where it's never come up. But a lot of my friends are from grad school or post-grad years where it would come up often, plus you just learn it over the years based on meeting people through them ("this is my roommate from Michigan") or finding out what college football team they root for, or seeing them in a college tee at the gym.

Neighbors no idea unless we are also friends.

Colleagues sometimes but as I get older less and less. By 40 no one cares where anyone went to school at all.

I'm 50+ and I always want to know where people went to school. Says a lot about them.

What does it say? Can you give some examples? What if someone went to Case Western and what if someone went to JMU?

You're not going to want to hear it, but high correlation between stature of college/university and quality of written materials and analytical skills.

+100

[phone]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, because it’s all the same handful of schools- HPYS, Columbia, and Williams grads make up most of the people I interact with in a week. Next door neighbors went to W&L and Duke.

Friday nights must be a riot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, because it’s all the same handful of schools- HPYS, Columbia, and Williams grads make up most of the people I interact with in a week. Next door neighbors went to W&L and Duke.

That’s surprising. I went to an ivy and more than half my work colleagues went to T25s, half of those T10, but friends and neighbors are predominantly VT JMU w&l(live in VA).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like there are many who think college is something that will follow you around forever and also many who think it's something no one will ever know. Do you know where your friends, extended family, coworkers, neighbors, others, went to college?

Oh, jeez - in the DC area? every single one of them. There are people we know who cannot socialize without mentioning their (undergrad) institution at least once - 30 years later.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I do for all of those groups.

[Anonymous]

Yes. But in my area, metro NYC, everyone is obsessed with colleges and universities.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely I know this about friends, coworkers and neighbors. Everyone’s degrees are listed on our intranet at work.

[Anonymous]

I really don't care any more. I work in a well compensated corporate consulting gig and it seems like most people went to flagship state universities with a smattering of private colleges. As a double Ivy alum I'm in the minority. My boss went to one of those "Southwestern Eastern Midwestern State" universities.

If you live in a world where everyone went to an Ivy or T25, you are living and working in a niche bubble. I also think elite colleges have changed dramatically in the last 20 years so I don't view graduates from them in the same way I'd view a 1975 Princeton grad or 1995 Yale grad.