Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 16:27     Subject: Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

Anonymous wrote:people who need to know, know. who cares if others do not


The people who don’t know aren’t necessarily idiots. They often simply don’t spend a lot of time focused on such things. Hard to believe, but some people just don’t care about studying colleges. I remember talking to a heart surgeon who had gone to U of Chicago & Northwestern medical school. I mentioned Carnegie Mellon & he had never heard of it. That didn’t mean he was an idiot.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 16:15     Subject: Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

Anonymous wrote:I know people in PA who think the University of Georgia is private because there’s also Georgia State (public)- because of the UPenn/Penn State thing.

When I was younger, it was the opposite for me. I was from Colorado and both Colorado State University and University of Colorado are public. So I assumed anything with “university of state name” and “state name state university” were public.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 16:14     Subject: Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

DH doesn’t know the difference or at least didn’t until we explained it. He went to college and is a successful professional. He went to our state flagship without even considering another school. I think he offends people sometimes when they drop a school name and expect him to fawn. For example, he didn’t know that Brown and Dartmouth are Ivies. He had no idea Stanford was such a tough admit. He has no awareness of the reputations for schools like Vanderbilt, Rice, etc that are popular places to apply from our HS. Personally, I find it odd that he has so little awareness but it’s not something I thought about until recently. But ask him about the big d1 sports programs and he can tell you everything.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:52     Subject: Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

I went to school at Notre Dame (the one in South Bend, IN) and some people around here used to assume I meant the College of Notre Dame in Baltimore.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:46     Subject: Re:Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

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).
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:27     Subject: Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

Some Penn students are smarter than UPenn students. Such is life!
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:19     Subject: Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

Anonymous wrote:I went to Penn State. Summer prior to attending, I worked at a retail job where a coworker (an older lady), argued with me for the entire summer over Penn and Penn State being the same place. This was back before the internet (1987, the summer after Penn State won the National Championship) and there was no changing her mind.
That’s amazing. Talk about gaslighting!
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:05     Subject: Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Under 40% of Americans have a 4 year college degree. The education level in this country is an embarrassment.
Yes. Lots of uneducated people out there. They are ignorant of more than colleges.


Yes, let’s deport all of them!
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:04     Subject: Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

I know people in PA who think the University of Georgia is private because there’s also Georgia State (public)- because of the UPenn/Penn State thing.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:04     Subject: Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

You mean they aren’t the same thing?
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:01     Subject: Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

I went to Penn State. Summer prior to attending, I worked at a retail job where a coworker (an older lady), argued with me for the entire summer over Penn and Penn State being the same place. This was back before the internet (1987, the summer after Penn State won the National Championship) and there was no changing her mind.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 15:00     Subject: Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.


How is not knowing the difference between Dickinson and fairly Dickinson “uneducated”? Get out if your bubble.


DP. I went to UVA and I just had to look up Fairley [sic] Dickinson because I’ve never heard of it. Oh, and it’s Fairleigh.
That’s the joke: Dickinson is really Dickinson, Fairleigh Dickinson is not (“fairly”). People where is your sense of humor?


Haha? But that PP still spelled it wrong.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 14:59     Subject: Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

Anonymous wrote:Under 40% of Americans have a 4 year college degree. The education level in this country is an embarrassment.
Yes. Lots of uneducated people out there. They are ignorant of more than colleges.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 14:58     Subject: Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

Anonymous wrote:The difference between Penn and Harvard is that at Harvard everyone says they go to school “in Boston” because they want you to believe they’re humble, whereas at Penn, people are crass enough to allow themselves to be seen to care about being mixed up with Penn State.


lol no! We say school “in Boston” because people act weird if we mention Harvard. Like the nail salons suddenly charge extra, parents with kids in school start getting obnoxious with their questions about how to get in, parents with older kids who did not get into Harvard get insecure and start bragging about their kids,….IYKYK it’s a PITA.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2026 14:57     Subject: Not knowing the difference between UPenn and Penn State

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.


How is not knowing the difference between Dickinson and fairly Dickinson “uneducated”? Get out if your bubble.


DP. I went to UVA and I just had to look up Fairley [sic] Dickinson because I’ve never heard of it. Oh, and it’s Fairleigh.
That’s the joke: Dickinson is really Dickinson, Fairleigh Dickinson is not (“fairly”). People where is your sense of humor?