I went to Williams. My husband went to Univ of Alabama.

When I mention my college I get two responses "oh wow, that's a great school" or "?? never heard of that"

My husband only gets the response "Roll Tide".

Any small school will be unknown to many.

This is one reason my DD didn't choose Colgate or Colby.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outside of academia and those of us who have actively researched small schools, very few of us know the strong liberal arts colleges from other regions. I run into people all the time who have never heard of the schools my family attended (Denison/Kenyon) and I thought University of Richmond was a commuter school when I moved to Virginia!

The average American knows colleges in his/her region and through sports. Very few can tell you the locations of Grinnell, Harvey Mudd, Pomona, Carleton, Davidson, Haverford, Middlebury, etc. It’s not a litmus test for wealth or education—it’s a lack of exposure.

Wrong. This cohort of schools is very well known, and has been very well known, to highly educated, "highbrow" circles for a long, long time. Of course academics know about them, but also attorneys, physicians, bankers, and the well-heeled professional classes.

DP. There are so many people amongst these three groups that have never heard of these schools. I’m not sure why this is a surprise to people.

There is a high likelihood that a person who isn’t from the northeast and whose kid hasn’t considered LACs in the northeast (i.e., most people) has not heard of these schools. Even amongst well-heeled professional classes.

I grew up in NC and barely had heard of Notre Dame (which is where I ended up going).

My husband went to a 1200 student body no-name regional liberal arts college in the boonies of MO. I guarantee no one has heard of that.

I went to Cornell in the 1990's and multiple people had never heard of it and asked me if it was a "good school". Many of these people were my HS classmates, most of whom were not college-bound or at least not going to college immediately after high school. And I lived in New England, not in the South or Midwest or anything. But honestly, why would they be expected to know any colleges beyond some that were located nearby and probably some that were on TV all the time because of football or basketball? Fast forward 30 years and a friend's DD now attends Carleton (they are from the Northeast) and she also deals with the "never heard of it" crowd.

Congrats on your DD getting into a great school. She will have a wonderful experience.

The egos here…. The rest of the world does not care about your DD’s college. Believe it or not, LACs are not taught after by everyone. Most kids want a real college experience and don’t even look into them.

Anonymous wrote:Outside of academia and those of us who have actively researched small schools, very few of us know the strong liberal arts colleges from other regions. I run into people all the time who have never heard of the schools my family attended (Denison/Kenyon) and I thought University of Richmond was a commuter school when I moved to Virginia!

The average American knows colleges in his/her region and through sports. Very few can tell you the locations of Grinnell, Harvey Mudd, Pomona, Carleton, Davidson, Haverford, Middlebury, etc. It’s not a litmus test for wealth or education—it’s a lack of exposure.

Wrong. This cohort of schools is very well known, and has been very well known, to highly educated, "highbrow" circles for a long, long time. Of course academics know about them, but also attorneys, physicians, bankers, and the well-heeled professional classes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Name thr college or this is meaningless.

I’m trying to stay anonymous. It’s one of Colby, Bates, Bowdoin.

People who haven't heard of those schools are...how do I say this without sounding snobby?...not very in the know when it comes to which colleges are good. I would explain to DD that it's a very good school but it's better to be modest about it because a lot of people come from backgrounds where they cannot afford to go to those schools so it's not on their radar screen.

This. I thought it was going to be an actual no-name school. Tell her to just ignore and feel internally smug that she is better than them.

Anonymous wrote:DD will be heading to a LAC in the northeast this fall. We are from the south, so none of our acquaintances have heard of it. This does not bother me, but DD has been a little down over it. What can I say to cheer her up?

She doesn’t care about prestige, but I think she’s just tired of having to justify her choice to everyone.

How did she find the school? Had she ever heard of it before she researched for whatever she was looking for in a college?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Name thr college or this is meaningless.

I’m trying to stay anonymous. It’s one of Colby, Bates, Bowdoin.

Well, that's ridiculous then. They are the ones with the problem. Say the name and smile. They say, "Oh, I've never heard of it." You say, "Well, now you have." You can add, "Bless your heart!" if you want.

Or "Yes, it's very exclusive; I'm not surprised you haven't heard of it."

Reminder (from the bullying threads) that witty retorts are not about the remarks themselves, put the self-confidence and charm to deliver them with grace and poise.

Anonymous wrote:DD will be heading to a LAC in the northeast this fall. We are from the south, so none of our acquaintances have heard of it. This does not bother me, but DD has been a little down over it. What can I say to cheer her up?

She doesn’t care about prestige, but I think she’s just tired of having to justify her choice to everyone.

What did she write in her "Why Bates?" essay? That's how she should respond to questions and doubts.

Anonymous wrote:DD will be heading to a LAC in the northeast this fall. We are from the south, so none of our acquaintances have heard of it. This does not bother me, but DD has been a little down over it. What can I say to cheer her up?

She doesn’t care about prestige, but I think she’s just tired of having to justify her choice to everyone.

She's going _,away_ to college so she's never going to see those equates again.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The higher the SES, the more likely a person will know of these schools. It's not just about whether a person grew up with money, it's about whether a person was exposed to elite educational circles. Frankly, I would not care about the people who have never heard of these NESCAC schools - they are not going to be the ones who will be influencing her future.

This is only true if she never leaves academia.

Wrong.

Tell her she will soon be entering a world where everyone knows her school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The higher the SES, the more likely a person will know of these schools. It's not just about whether a person grew up with money, it's about whether a person was exposed to elite educational circles. Frankly, I would not care about the people who have never heard of these NESCAC schools - they are not going to be the ones who will be influencing her future.

This is only true if she never leaves academia.

BS my husband’s family is generational massive wealth from Florida.

Everyone goes to UF or you don’t get your trust if you are a male.

Well that was till Destantis but I digress my MiL is highly educated she wouldn’t know most of those schools . She’s a Harvard graduate. Her family is from Boston. She also came from generational wealth.

Old money does not equate to NESCAC schools . New money sure old establishment wealth no.

This is stupid…of course your MIL has heard of NESCAC schools considering many have been around since the 18th century.

I guess since Harvard is the oldest college in the US, then all other schools are filled with “new money”.

Bowdoin was founded in 1794 and my assumption is that many graduates back in the 1800s stayed in New England and a bunch became rich (or probably came from rich families to start).