WASP pre-dates The Preppy Handbook

Anonymous wrote:While I’m sympathetic to OP’s concern that our yearning for linguistic shortcuts has inadvertently left her school out of a reference to highly selective LACs, I’m disappointed that her real motivation seems to be the inclusion of her school. Instead of being enlightened, OP turns out to be a snob begging for a ticket to the WASP party. Is that the typical Bowdoin product?

I (OP) have already stated I am just bemused by the whole concept of ‘WASP’ rather than “begging for a ticket” to anything.

Maybe the facetiousness of my earlier comment about “our failing” wasn’t obvious (this was my only comment btw, in case you are misattributing someone else’s words to me) but no, I am not actually upset that we are excluded from this special club haha

I have worked on the east coast in a snobby industry for over a decade since I graduated, and my school is recognized plenty enough to satisfy me!

Anonymous wrote:People put WAY too much trust in rankings. There is no way that a magazine can accurately qualitatively differentiate among the top 10 liberal arts colleges. There are too many relevant variables to measure, & then they have to match up with each individual students’ needs & preferences. So even if they did measure all those variables accurately, the best school for a certain student might be the #8 school on the list. So don’t lose any sleep over not making into WASP. It’s all a load of Carlton, Reed, Amherst, Pomona.

Well done.

Anonymous wrote:I am late 50s and I've been hearing the term "WASP" since it was leveled at me in middle school.

I do not think that word means what you think it does.

(In context.)

People put WAY too much trust in rankings. There is no way that a magazine can accurately qualitatively differentiate among the top 10 liberal arts colleges. There are too many relevant variables to measure, & then they have to match up with each individual students’ needs & preferences. So even if they did measure all those variables accurately, the best school for a certain student might be the #8 school on the list. So don’t lose any sleep over not making into WASP. It’s all a load of Carlton, Reed, Amherst, Pomona.

Anonymous wrote:Pronounced “waspy”:
WASP-B
WASP-B
WASP-B
Everybody now!

No

B-WASP

Pronounced “waspy”:
WASP-B
WASP-B
WASP-B
Everybody now!

Curious - I could only Google Custom Search to 2005 here: https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/t/top-universities-vs-wasp/94774

Search for anything earlier than 2004 - nothing. Only 2005 and greater. It's not a DCUM thing.

I know a few people my (old) age who attended Williams, Carleton, and a few others, and I'm aware that these are now very selective schools. I have only heard the acronym in this forum. But then, I don't have any particular interest in LACs, nor are they popular with most families I know (not in the DMV).

I think it came about because Willams, Amherst, and Wesleyan are the official "little Ivies" but Wesleyan is not even close to #3. Swat is most consistently #3 so Willams, Amherst and Swat is the top grouping. I have no idea how Pomona was added but it does have a great reputation.

How about PAWS-B?

Anonymous wrote:I have only heard that acronym used here, and only recently. I have a senior at S, who has told me it's not a "thing," so perhaps a DCUM parent coined it.

Agree. I hav followed a lot of college admissions sites for several years as my kids have been in the process and have only heard that acronym here.

While I’m sympathetic to OP’s concern that our yearning for linguistic shortcuts has inadvertently left her school out of a reference to highly selective LACs, I’m disappointed that her real motivation seems to be the inclusion of her school. Instead of being enlightened, OP turns out to be a snob begging for a ticket to the WASP party. Is that the typical Bowdoin product?

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand what any of you are talking about.

Be thankful for that this holiday season.

I don’t understand what any of you are talking about.