"I went to school in Boston"

[ladyfoxfyre]

Seriously, how long is this guy going to be around? It feels like forever already.

[living_in_hell]

Originally Posted by ladyfoxfyre

Seriously, how long is this guy going to be around? It feels like forever already.

Which guy?

[ladyfoxfyre]

Exactly.

[living_in_hell]

Originally Posted by ladyfoxfyre

Exactly.

Ohhh! Me?

[Nocturne]

Originally Posted by A Monkey With a Gun

And no, I didn't go to either institution. My two: War Eagle. Go Mariners.

Oh no! This means we have to be sworn enemies, and I enjoy your posts. I'll just pretend this didn't happen until the Iron Bowl.

[FairyChatMom]

Just to toss my two bits in - I got an Aero Engineer degree from Purdue. In certain circumstances, I'm hesitant to mention either because, at least according to my husband, it's intimidating. So in certain crowds, especially in social situations, I dance around it if I can. It's easier now - I can just say "I retired after 37 years with the gummint."

On the other hand, when I'm with a jerk who feels the need to wave his credentials, I can do the same if he pisses me off enough. It doesn't happen often, because like it says under my name, I'm nice, dammit!



I don't recall who asked upthread and I'm too lazy to look, but for most of the last 25 years of my career, I worked in offices where all n00bs were asked where they went to school. Granted, it was about which college football team do you root for but it was always asked during introductions. At those times, I hated to mention Purdue - I didn't follow the teams when I was a student and I most certainly haven't followed them since 1979. Sheesh.

[Labrador Deceiver]

Originally Posted by A Monkey With a Gun

Wrong. cite. UNC is 2nd nationally and Harvard 13th.

It does, of course, matter how you measure it. That's why I said "arguably".

That isn't the ranking used most often to determine such things, but I gotta give you credit tor backing up your claim with something.

[olivesmarch4th]

Originally Posted by andygirl

A lot of people who went to Ivy League schools will do that, not just Harvard. It can grind conversation to a halt, and there's a lot of often incorrect cultural assumptions that are associated with going to an Ivy.

This. I went to Penn for my Masters, and I'm more worried about the connotation that I'm rich and spoiled than the idea that I think I'm so smart. I have a very different background than most people would assume. But I still generally just say it. Eventually if the person gets to know me they can decide for themselves whether I'm an elitist.

For the record, I'm way more enthusiastic and proud about going to University of Michigan than I am about Penn. And I'll talk about U of M ad nauseum. I can't even believe how great my experience there was.

[PlainJain]

Originally Posted by living_in_hell

I really don't care what anyone thinks about the schools I attended or didn't attend.

Oh, really? Then why are you being so coy about where you went? Spit it out already.

[FairyChatMom]

Just remembered - I had a coworker eons ago who had a perfectly legitimate engineering degree from West Virginia Tech, but he was embarrassed by it. He used to wear his dad's University of Florida school ring. I thought that spoke volumes...

[timid1]

Bravo livin_in_hell.
"Boston" humor is both hard to take and hard to get.
But some of us get such kick out of it.
Oh well.

[Martini Enfield]

Originally Posted by don't ask

The funny things is, being Aussie and unfamiliar with the phrase, on seeing the thread title I thought it meant exactly the opposite. Until I moused-over I assumed it was used by someone who went to a Boston school other than Harvard to assume some of its cachet.

That was the second thing I thought. The first thing was "Didn't lots of people? It's a large city with a couple of million inhabitants. They and their kids have to go to school somewhere." Then I realised the OP was using "School" in its extended American sense, which includes university.

[twickster]

This time I'm speaking as a moderator: living_in_hell, personal insults are out of line in this forum, and being a jerk is out of line anywhere at the SDMB.

Dial it way back.

twickster, BA, MPhil, PhD, MPSIMS moderator

Originally Posted by living_in_hell

you spelled passive aggressive wrong

Originally Posted by living_in_hell

Wrong--my aggression is all out there you snooty mcsnootpants. Talking manners and etiquette and social skills is one thing---walking it is another. Where do you live anyway, that makes you so Masstastic? Newton? Lincoln? Revere? Roxbury?

Silly girl, old money doesn't scold others for bashing boasting...old money knows better than to do it in the first place. Methinks that maybe tis you who has the inferiority complex. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go do something that makes me better than you. And don't be snide, because I am entitled to be pretentious. N O K D

Originally Posted by living_in_hell

off topic/ Hey Diana: I just saw your picture. Are those your real teeth? If so, they are lovely. Really. Clearly you are not a coffee drinker. /off topic

[Ichbin Dubist]

I went to school in New Jersey. Hell was my safety.

[pseudotriton ruber ruber]

I went to an Ivy School. I went to grad school in Boston. I got an MA at the university with perhaps the most prestigious medical school in the country. You'll have to torture me to get more specific details than that.

[MsWhatsit]

I went to Northwestern and I often find myself just saying "I went to school in Chicago," not because I necessarily think that Northwestern is so intimidating or whatever, but just because it feels kind of weird and name-droppy. Usually my point isn't to talk about my specific school, but to talk about some aspect of living in Chicago, or college life in general. I don't want to have a big discussion about Northwestern's academics or football team (ha) or whatever.

And yes, I know that Northwestern is actually located in Evanston.

[Jackknifed Juggernaut]

Originally Posted by MsWhatsit

....And yes, I know that Northwestern is actually located in Evanston.

Similar to Harvard and MIT, which are located in Cambridge. But saying "I went to college in Cambridge, MA" probable reveals too much.

[sachertorte]

Originally Posted by olivesmarch4th

This. I went to Penn for my Masters, and I'm more worried about the connotation that I'm rich and spoiled than the idea that I think I'm so smart. I have a very different background than most people would assume. But I still generally just say it. Eventually if the person gets to know me they can decide for themselves whether I'm an elitist.

For the record, I'm way more enthusiastic and proud about going to University of Michigan than I am about Penn. And I'll talk about U of M ad nauseum. I can't even believe how great my experience there was.

Move to the West Coast. They all* think you went to Penn State.

*obviously not all.

[D18]

The one that gets me is people who say "I went to school in Ithaca". I've learned not to say "Cornell?" because it always leads to embarrassment for a variety of reasons - whether they actually went to Cornell or Ithaca College.

Only took me four decades to learn that if someone is answering evasively, they don't want to go into the details.

[Boyo Jim]

Originally Posted by twickster

Good point.

[mod]twickster, you know better than to call another poster a twat in an MPSIMS thread -- and, yes, saying that he or she is "coming across as a twat" amounts to saying he or she is a twat. Don't do this again.

No warning issued.[/mod]

Shouldn't another moderator warn (or admonish, I don't want to be too judgmental) you over this blatant conflict of interest? Or -- perhaps you can issue that admonishment as well.

[Boyo Jim]

I didn't live in Boston or go to Harvard, but I'm starting to think I should say I did, just so I can make somebody's day by telling them.

I even know a Harvard joke!

Harvard freshman: "Can you tell me where the library's at?"
Harvard Professor: "Young man, this is Harvard. We don't end our sentences in prepositions."
Harvard Freshman: "Sorry. Can you tell me where the library's at, asshole?"

[tdn]

Originally Posted by A Monkey With a Gun

living_in_hell, you're hijacking. Stop.

On the contrary, his posts are directly relevant to this thread. I now have a deep understanding why Harvard grads wouldn't reveal their school.

And I say this as someone who went to school in Boston.

[tdn]

Originally Posted by Boyo Jim

I even know a Harvard joke!

Q. How many Harvard girls does it take to change a lightbulb?

A. That's Radcliffe, that's women, and that's NOT FUNNY.

[Brynda]

Originally Posted by Boyo Jim

Shouldn't another moderator warn (or admonish, I don't want to be too judgmental) you over this blatant conflict of interest? Or -- perhaps you can issue that admonishment as well.

Seriously?

[tdn]

Originally Posted by Brynda

Seriously?

Probably not.

[living_in_hell]

Originally Posted by twickster

This time I'm speaking as a moderator: living_in_hell, personal insults are out of line in this forum, and being a jerk is out of line anywhere at the SDMB.

Dial it way back.

twickster, BA, MPhil, PhD, MPSIMS moderator

Okey dokey.

What's a MPhil?

I liked her teeth!

*Not Kidding, and now that I know I can't be simultaneously evasive AND annoying, I'm not tempted.

[Voyager]

Originally Posted by Jackknifed Juggernaut

Similar to Harvard and MIT, which are located in Cambridge. But saying "I went to college in Cambridge, MA" probable reveals too much.

If Harvard grads say they went to school in Cambridge, people would assume they went to the good school in our fair city, and they would be ashamed.

[Anamorphic]

I went to school in Boston. And, yes, actually in Boston; in the Back Bay. Definitely not Harvard, though.

[Jackknifed Juggernaut]

Originally Posted by Anamorphic

I went to school in Boston. And, yes, actually in Boston; in the Back Bay. Definitely not Harvard, though.

Yeah, you're pretty much forced to tell people the name of the relatively crappy school you attended. People will assume that you went to Harvard or MIT if you simply said that you went to school in Boston.

[andygirl]

Originally Posted by Little Nemo

How do Princeton grads do it? Saying "I went to school in Princeton" kind of takes the guesswork out of it. Do they use "I went to school in New Jersey" as their code phrase?

You're misremembering, I went to Dartmouth. I generally say that I went to college in New Hampshire.

I work in a nursing home, and one of the questions that I have to ask people when I am assessing their cognition is what their highest level of education was. Obviously older generations had much less access to education, particularly women. So I do get asked if and where I went to college all of the time in response to that question, and yes, part of the reason that I don't specifically say is because of how badly it derails what I'm trying to do at that particular moment.

[psychobunny]

I actually went to med school in Boston, but I just use the name or people will assume it's Harvard and I'm not that smart. We had our own code, though. There are three med schools in Boston. You either went to the med school, the other med school or another med school.

In any case it's better than my undergraduate college which nobody has ever heard of despite being more than 200 years old, and ranking first in US News among liberal arts colleges and first in Forbes among all undergraduate schools.

[DianaG]

So did you go to The Other or Another?

[Anamorphic]

Originally Posted by Jackknifed Juggernaut

Yeah, you're pretty much forced to tell people the name of the relatively crappy school you attended. People will assume that you went to Harvard or MIT if you simply said that you went to school in Boston.

Ha, exactly! Of course, when I tell them where I DID go, they've generally never heard of it. To which I reply, "But The Fonz went there too!".

[DianaG]

Hey, my sister goes to that relatively crappy school!

[Boyo Jim]

If you're asked what school you went to, and you say, "I went to school in Boston", that suggests to me that you went to some school for the... um... mentally challenged, as you apparently can't understand the meaning of such a simple question.

[Boyo Jim]

Originally Posted by psychobunny

I actually went to med school in Boston, but I just use the name or people will assume it's Harvard and I'm not that smart. We had our own code, though. There are three med schools in Boston. You either went to the med school, the other med school or another med school.

In any case it's better than my undergraduate college which nobody has ever heard of despite being more than 200 years old, and ranking first in US News among liberal arts colleges and first in Forbes among all undergraduate schools.

Oberlin? Grinnell? Yellow Springs?

[Anamorphic]

Originally Posted by DianaG

Hey, my sister goes to that relatively crappy school!

My relatively crappy school? Nice! She goes there now? I hope she likes it. I went there <mumble gurble mumble> years ago.

[MeanOldLady]

Originally Posted by D18

Only took me four decades to learn that if someone is answering evasively, they don't want to go into the details.

Heh, indeed.

So yeah, people generally do have a big reaction when you say you went to a big name school, sometimes bad but usually good. My ex went to Harvard and used the "in Boston" line, and I regularly tell people something like I "went to school in the Bay Area" (Stanford). This actually has worked pretty well since moving to Chicago, since pretty much everyone here went to the same four or five Midwestern schools. They're usually asking because they want to find out which one, and if you brush it off with "Oh, I went to school back in California" they generally lose interest.

Generally. Just last night, for example, a perfectly fine conversation got derailed when this guy at the bar wouldn't let my evasive answer go. After relenting with a concrete response, he grilled me about my school for something like ten minutes. Could anything be less interesting? Nobody does this to people who went to Cal State Fullerton. (Do they?)

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by andygirl

You're misremembering, I went to Dartmouth. I generally say that I went to college in New Hampshire.

No, I remembered that (although I have in fact met other dopers who went to Princeton). I wasn't referring to you specifically just making a general observation.

[psychobunny]

Originally Posted by DianaG

So did you go to The Other or Another?

I went to the other med school.

As far as undergraduate I went to Williams (which of course nobody mentions because nobody has ever heard of it). I got an excellent education, though.

[kiz]

What's the big deal?

"I went to Harvard." OK, so you went to Harvard, or MIT or BU or BC or...take your pick. We've got lots of 'em.

It's no big deal to anyone who grew up or lives in the Boston area. Trust me on that. We'll probably look at you and yawn.

I can understand people from other areas playing around with this phrase, though.

[MsWhatsit]

I wish I lived in Boston so that I could be cool too.

[Telemark]

Originally Posted by andygirl

You're misremembering, I went to Dartmouth. I generally say that I went to college in New Hampshire.

Me too. And me too.

If you're not interested in having a particular conversation about colleges it's a nice shorthand way to avoid the subject. Some people have a chip on their shoulder about colleges and if you don't know them well enough to know if they are one of those it's easier to avoid the subject.

IMO, it has little to do with the alumni, it has all to do with the person you are talking to.

[olivesmarch4th]

Originally Posted by sachertorte

Move to the West Coast. They all* think you went to Penn State.

*obviously not all.

Oh, I know. Half the people in the Midwest have never heard of it. I hadn't ever heard of it until I applied. No one in my family had heard of it. My mother in law urged me to go to Columbia because ''it's an Ivy League School." My Dad was dissapointed because he'd been looking forward to Penn State football games. In short, nobody that really mattered to me cared that I went to Penn.

I hear Penn State is a great school, though. We had a lot of Penn State grads in my Masters program, and they seemed really enthusiastic. So I guess there are worse schools to be confused for.

[olivesmarch4th]

And another thing. Obviously people all over the country know Princeton or Yale when they hear it, but it wasn't until I came out to the East Coast that I realized how many awesome schools there are here. Everybody knows somebody who went to some prestigious university. I've sort of begun to think of Ivies as just part of a long list of great places to be educated.

[DianaG]

Originally Posted by kiz

What's the big deal?

"I went to Harvard." OK, so you went to Harvard, or MIT or BU or BC or...take your pick. We've got lots of 'em.

It's no big deal to anyone who grew up or lives in the Boston area. Trust me on that. We'll probably look at you and yawn.

I can understand people from other areas playing around with this phrase, though.

Yeah... I don't think that anyone, when talking to people from or in Boston says "I went to school in Boston." It's pretty much an elsewhere phenomenon.

[living_in_hell]

Originally Posted by kiz

What's the big deal?

"I went to Harvard." OK, so you went to Harvard, or MIT or BU or BC or...take your pick. We've got lots of 'em.

It's no big deal to anyone who grew up or lives in the Boston area. Trust me on that. We'll probably look at you and yawn.

I can understand people from other areas playing around with this phrase, though.

This. Thank you for articulating what I could not.

[elmwood]

Originally Posted by D18

The one that gets me is people who say "I went to school in Ithaca". I've learned not to say "Cornell?" because it always leads to embarrassment for a variety of reasons - whether they actually went to Cornell or Ithaca College.

In Ithaca itself:

"I work at/teach at Cornell." = "I work at/teach at Cornell."
"I work at/teach at a college in town." = "I work at/teach at Ithaca College."

I don't dare tell anyone here I graduated from one of the "Big 4" SUNY university centers, lest they think I'm "special."

[Hippy Hollow]

Color me confused. For those of you who went to Penn, Stanford, Harvard, etc... why did you go there? Didn't you exert considerable effort to be admitted, enroll, and graduate? I went to one of the "worst" high schools in my state - it's been closed by the state education agency. I'm very proud of having attended that school, and being an alum of that school. I went to Harvard as well. I'm very proud of that, too. (I mean, it was grad school, so I bitch about it a lot - and it's got a lot of problems, but I had terrific training there, met some of my best friends in the world there, and otherwise learned a lot there.)

If someone wants to act a fool about any school I went to, well, that's on them. I'm not going through life catering to others' insecurities and jealousy, I guess. I did my degrees ethically and with considerable effort, and I certainly didn't end up there by accident. If I had, or felt I hadn't worked hard there, maybe I would be cagey about it... but that's not my experience.

Saying "I went to school in [insert geographical area here]" (unless you went to a small school not well known outside of that particular community) when you know damn well what the school is strikes me as "preemptively arrogant," because it's a little presumptive to assume that someone is going to be impressed with your school. I did have a professor who said to me, "Nobody is agnostic about Harvard." I suppose he's right, but my general response to people saying, "Wow, you went to Harvard?" is "Yeah, it was a good time, and a good school, but after the first semester anywhere, it's just school." I mean, I didn't walk around slack-jawed during midterms. It was school, just like middle school, high school, and UT-Austin.

I've visited enough colleges to know that pretty much every place is special in some way. I was recently at the University of British Columbia, and thought it was a lovely place, with an interesting lore and history. I suspect most folks outside of British Columbia don't know that, but UBC grads are justifiably proud of their school, as are most grads of other schools.

I have probably had 5% of the people I've encountered have a "bad reaction" to Harvard. Seriously, that's less than I've had as a UT grad. "Y'all suck," "Horns down," etc. And I'm just as proud being a UT grad as a Harvard grad. Let's face it, during bowl season or March Madness, there's not really much to be excited about Crimson-wise (except this year, when Harvard made the tournament)!

[Kolga]

I went to Harvard, and depending on the conversation, I'll either say "Harvard" or "in Boston." It depends on how much of a raft of annoying passive-aggressive little digs I think I'll have to put up with from the person asking. I usually am pretty good at determining what kind of reaction I'll get based on the context of the conversation and the person involved.