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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Got a good laugh out of this one.

[Anonymous]

For neighbors, I know the ones who went to schools with some great sports team (esp football) as they often hang a flag out front on game day - esp auburn and Michigan folks in my neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Close friends and colleagues - Yes. It just comes up in conversation - like - oh I hate cold winters because I had enough of that in college. Oh - where did you go to school. Cornell. Ah. That explains it. Or I learned to ski/surf/climb in college. Oh - where did you go to school? Random acquaintances and colleagues - no because I don't talk to them long enough to get into these types of conversations. Friends I met in college? Yes (joke). During March Madness - absolutely - because the loyalty runs deep for college basketball fans.

[Anonymous]

Omg, I actually know where an acquaintance’s husband went to HS because she’s talked about it so much (competitive boarding school). Why is that something I ever needed to know?

I find those from the NE to be particularly focused on schooling.

[Anonymous]

I do know. They went to a variety of schools, all over the country and abroad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No

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

Hah, yeah. My parents went to Michigan, as did most of my aunts and uncles (to be fair my granddad was a professor there). They fly flags on game days and my uncle has a projector so they all hang out and watch the game in his yard (they do live in Ann Arbor so it's not THAT weird).

When Northwestern beat Michigan I swear my mom was genuinely mad. In her defense I did poke her a bit.

[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?

Everybody knowing where you went to college isn't the point. It's the education you get that gets you where you are; and many people obsessed with where their kids go to college believe the more prestigious college will get them into more prestigious positions, enabling them to be more successful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. It’s really unfortunate that people judge people by their school, but they do. There is an unwritten assumption that smart AND ambitious people find their way to the top.

If you are smart, but not ambitious, then you probably ended up at a lower-ranked college, got some merit, work a federal government job, and drive a Honda. If you’re ambitious, but not super smart, you probably ended up at a no-name school, but started a business or became a salesperson, and drive a Tahoe. But, if you’re smart AND ambitious, you probably went to a top-30 school, became a top professional in your field, and drive a Mercedes/BMW. Totally stereotypical, but it has some truth to it.

Ah, the Elon Musk argument. The only tech geniuses that are ALSO ambitious are foreigners needing a visa to come work in the US!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. It’s really unfortunate that people judge people by their school, but they do. There is an unwritten assumption that smart AND ambitious people find their way to the top.

If you are smart, but not ambitious, then you probably ended up at a lower-ranked college, got some merit, work a federal government job, and drive a Honda. If you’re ambitious, but not super smart, you probably ended up at a no-name school, but started a business or became a salesperson, and drive a Tahoe. But, if you’re smart AND ambitious, you probably went to a top-30 school, became a top professional in your field, and drive a Mercedes/BMW. Totally stereotypical, but it has some truth to it.

Huh never thought about it in those terms but the adults I know whom I would describe as the smart and ambitious are indeed top professionals in their field, and 8/10 of them attended one or both undergraduate and MD/JD/MBa at elites, or the one who graduated BS and started a company with elite school buddies that made has profited millions.

The ambitious but just not smart neighbor has also made a ton: salesman who graduated from Hampden sydney in the 80s…

Dcum parents seem to want the smart and ambitious setting for their larlos so that must be why they obsess so much over elites

[Anonymous]

I was thinking about this thread today as I sat through multiple zoom meetings. I work for a "brand name" organization with a lot of smart people. Of all the people in all these meetings, executives down to junior analysts, some I work with very closely and some only occasionally, the only ones whose college I know is a close colleague on my team and my direct report. If it's an important part of your identity past your 20s, I would wonder what you have been doing with your life.

FWIW I went to a CA public U that was very regional in the 90s but is now much better known and much more selective.

[Anonymous]

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I know where my extended family (cousins and aunts) went to college because we have talked about many things during my lifetime and it came up in some family story or when I was looking at college myself.

Yes, most co-workers. When I was in consulting, everyone saw everyone's brief bio a lot (on the website and copy-pasting for proposals), which included where people went to college.

Now I that I'm not in consulting I know for about half of my co-workers because it came up in conversation organically at some point and/or they are outspoken about following their college football or basketball team.

Many of my friends are former co-workers so, for most of them I know where they went to college based on knowing from working together. For friends I didn't work with, I don't usually know what college they went to.

[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?

Friends: some but not all.

Extended family: cousins, yes, not out further than that

co workers: mostly yes, because I work in a client-driven field where everyone's degrees are listed on the website

neighbors: nope

others: nope

[Anonymous]

The ones who went to Notre Dame, yes, it’s on their cars.

[Anonymous]

I know for some people, but we have known our friends for a LONG time.

The wealthiest person in our friend circle went to a regional state university.