There’s a post on Penn State’s main Instagram post yesterday about this! Makes me think someone on their team read this post. And UPenn’s comment is pretty spot on …. We Are!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is spot on. It's so strange how people think this is braggy when it's literally the opposite. We just don't want yet another awkward conversation.

Signed,

someone who went to college "in Connecticut."

I react differently. WT F , why not say Yale or Harvard? Do you feel so superior as to show how humble you are? You have a predicament but you should know who you are taking to when you say or not say these things.

The odd assumption you're making about Yale and Harvard grads (that we feel superior) just illustrates the point we have made. People have had really odd reactions when I have said I have gone to Yale, and this has made me AND the other people listening really uncomfortable. So I have deferred answering the question to avoid that.

And no, this is not a universal reaction by all. But based on the fact that this triggers you so much, I would not expect you to be in the camp that can handle it.

Who over the age of 30 is asking anyone where they went to college? I have absolutely no idea where the vast of people I've met went to school. And I couldn't image asking some 45 year old where they went to college. The question doesn't come up in adult life outside of hiring, and even then undergrad is a very minor point in someone's professional history.

+1 I know I see it on a resume when we hire somebody but it's really not something we focus on and I forget it pretty quickly. I only know the colleges for a couple people in my department because they came up in conversation when talking about our kids' applying to colleges. Same with my friends, who I mostly met in my early 30s. Didn't know where anyone went to school (including the Ivy grads) until we starting talking about colleges when our kids got to HS. It just isn't, or shouldn't be, important after your early 20s. It's at best an interesting trivia point (caveat that I know there are professional circles that are super prestige focused and those people care, but I - and most of the people I know - aren't in those circles so it's irrelevant).

And, on the original topic, Penn grads should be happy some people confuse them with Penn State. Penn State has a rabidly loyal and huge alumni base. So you may benefit from that along with the Penn alumni.