# Does Alma Mater Namedropping Impress You? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 3, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alma-mater-namedropping-impress-you/620802 "2012-05-03T23:04:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![living\_in\_hell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@living\_in\_hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/living_in_hell)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alma-mater-namedropping-impress-you/620802/41 "2012-05-04T06:42:52Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > living-Doth protest too much. You’re right. You’re right. And as I said previously, I am sorry if I hurt your feelings/ego as well. I hope you succeed and earn your diploma and buy a fancy frame and hang it up proudly and be everything you want to be in this world. Be confident and show it off, loud and proud–you go, girl! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alma-mater-namedropping-impress-you/620802/42 "2012-05-04T07:26:43Z")
> [@living\_in\_hell](#): > > There are absolutely elitist secondary schools–one year at many of them costs more than 4 years at college. And they can have just as competitive an admissions process. Unfortunately, school is not always about “intelligence, ambition, and drive,” as people often have “resources” which include legacy. I agree with most everything else you wrote here, as well as what was written in another thread by someone who obtained both a masters and a doctorate from Harvard. It’s a shame that people should feel inferior when discussing their school. But then again, evTwhatever thinks I have some inferiority complex. :rolleyes: Yeah, I know there are some uber-fancy private boarding schools, like the one George W. Bush went to (Andover?). I can barely name any of them, though, and outside certain circles I bet 95% of Americans couldn’t either. They just don’t figure that big on the national consciousness. As for fancy colleges, sure, some students are undeserving legacies, and some are just dummies who squeaked through one way or another. But that’s by and large the exception, and in general it’s fair to say that if you graduate from Stanford or Harvard or UVA or U Chicago or any of those places, you’re probably smarter than the average bear. This is certainly not to say that anyone who _doesn’t_ go to a fancy school (or any school at all) isn’t smart. This is also not self-serving: my alma mater is considered pretty good, but has zero name recognition. ---
**Author:** ![living\_in\_hell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@living\_in\_hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/living_in_hell)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alma-mater-namedropping-impress-you/620802/43 "2012-05-04T07:47:15Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > Yeah, I know there are some uber-fancy private boarding schools, like the one George W. Bush went to (Andover?). I can barely name any of them, though, and outside certain circles I bet 95% of Americans couldn’t either. They just don’t figure that big on the national consciousness. > > As for fancy colleges, sure, some students are undeserving legacies, and some are just dummies who squeaked through one way or another. But that’s by and large the exception, and in general it’s fair to say that if you graduate from Stanford or Harvard or UVA or U Chicago or any of those places, you’re probably smarter than the average bear. > > This is certainly not to say that anyone who _doesn’t_ go to a fancy school (or any school at all) isn’t smart. This is also not self-serving: my alma mater is considered pretty good, but has zero name recognition. Actually both of the Bush men went to Phillps Academy, Andover (there’s also a Phillps Academy in Exeter, NH which is rumored to be of Catcher in the Rye…) And yes, there is probably a small percentage of those who are legacies at elite institutions, though I do believe it’s quite common at larger universities as well (fraternities are known for this, no?). I think that there are so many factors to consider. What if you get wicked SAD–your choices then become limited to Stanford? What if you have phenomenal recognition so you do well on the SATs but really have nothing to offer beyond grades–does this make them impressive because they get into an Ivy? Smart is often relative, and some of the smartest people I know never attended any college. I could keep discussing this but I don’t feel like hearing that I am jealous or threatened or insecure. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alma-mater-namedropping-impress-you/620802/44 "2012-05-04T10:38:24Z")
Well, to be fair just grades and SATs don’t get you into Ivies. You also have to gun those extracurriculars like a mofo, at the very least. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alma-mater-namedropping-impress-you/620802/45 "2012-05-04T11:22:17Z")
Just some anecdata, my former husband went to a Catholic all-boys high school, and lots of guys who went there seem completely proud of it. They continue to define themselves as “X-men” and were eager to see their sons attend. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alma-mater-namedropping-impress-you/620802/46 "2012-05-04T11:33:00Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > At age 18, you just haven’t had enough time to do stuff independently in your life, so all undergrad can do is measure if you got good grades in high school, which is really just a small thing in a small part of your life. Some of us didn’t go right from high school to college - some of us worked a while to figure out what we wanted to be when we grew up. I was 22 when I started working on my degree. My husband was 29 when he went to college under a program for disabled veterans. So sometimes there is a little more to your undergrad degree than what clubs you belonged to in high school. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alma-mater-namedropping-impress-you/620802/47 "2012-05-04T12:24:49Z")
> [@living\_in\_hell](#): > > I really thought that after senior year in high school, no one cared. Does this impact your view of someone? What context would you even ask? Do you present this yourself, in a conversation–as in, where YOU went to school? Why or why not? If someone is 25 or under and name-drops their college yes, it might impress me because getting into MIT or Harvard generally is a positive statement. If they’re 40 and name-dropping their school I go WTF? The last noteworthy thing you did was getting accepted to a college? Wow, I’m not impressed. Tell me what you did with that education, if anything. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alma-mater-namedropping-impress-you/620802/48 "2012-05-04T12:42:19Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Just some anecdata, my former husband went to a Catholic all-boys high school, and lots of guys who went there seem completely proud of it. They continue to define themselves as “X-men” and were eager to see their sons attend. My brothers and I all went to an all boys Catholic high school as well. School pride is pretty high - higher I think than if I went to a public school. But I’m 500 miles away now, and I have little interest. I’ll see where the football team is ranked each fall, and try to catch them on cable if they make the state championship - but I haven’t gone to a single reunion (I graduated in '94). My oldest brother still lives in the area, and has definitely raised his boys to want to go there. There’s another new Catholic high school (with girls!) that is right down the road from them though - I don’t think there’d be any hard feelings if they chose to go there. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alma-mater-namedropping-impress-you/620802/49 "2012-05-04T14:11:44Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Just some anecdata, my former husband went to a Catholic all-boys high school, and lots of guys who went there seem completely proud of it. They continue to define themselves as “X-men” and were eager to see their sons attend. You were married to an X-Man, I bet you have some stories. Were the movies true to life? Is Professor X really as nice as he seems? About alma mater dropping, I reas a funny tweet that asked how does a vegan who went to Harvard and doesn’t own a TV decide what to tell people first? I once went to a conference and during a Q and A session this middle aged lady introduced her question by announcing that she had attended Stanford. It was very funny. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alma-mater-namedropping-impress-you/620802/50 "2012-05-04T14:15:42Z")
Quite the opposite. In my area there’s certain state university that seems to be adept at creating graduates that think their computer science program is the best in the country (it’s not) and the graduates actually have the gall to be snobby about it. A self-delusional fraternity. You are automatically dirt in my eyes if you brag about this school’s CS program. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alma-mater-namedropping-impress-you/620802/51 "2012-05-04T14:16:25Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > After age 20, nobody shivs a git about ANYTHING high school. Unless you are my ex-wife. She is pushing 45 and still talks about high school as if she is on spring break. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alma-mater-namedropping-impress-you/620802/52 "2012-05-04T14:40:27Z")
> [@FuriousGeorge](#): > > Unless you are my ex-wife. She is pushing 45 and still talks about high school as if she is on spring break. Does she listen to Springsteens _Glory Days_ a lot? ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alma-mater-namedropping-impress-you/620802/53 "2012-05-04T14:43:23Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Does she listen to Springsteens _Glory Days_ a lot? Heh. Madonna… lots and lots and lots of Madonna ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alma-mater-namedropping-impress-you/620802/54 "2012-05-04T15:02:50Z")
Whoo-hoo!Wisconsin represent! There. Impressed? Anyone? Anyone? \ I thought not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alma-mater-namedropping-impress-you/620802.md?page=2)