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But I think most of the general populace has never seen a copy of the US News Top 25, or even have a vague idea of colleges and reputation outside of their geographic area, except for Harvard, Princeton, Yale.
Even a lot of people who went to college themselves have no idea. I worked with a guy who went to Binghamton (pretty decent school) and he had no idea of college rankings and reputations. He just picked a NY state school out of a hat and decided to apply.
That's pretty shocking that a whole congregation didn't know MIT though.
IKR! He said most of the people in his old neighborhood never went to college in the first place, so in that light it makes sense. Still, a few had heard of MIT but didn't think it was at all competitive with Harvard. He said mostly people just felt disappointed that he didn't get into one of "the best" schools and had to "settle" for going to what they thought was a glorified trade school focused on technology. Even the ones who had a vague concept it was a good school didn't think it was THAT good of a school. LMAO.
The only reason he even knew MIT was because he had won an academic scholarship to a local fancy private K-12 school. That's how he got labeled "the smart one" in the first place.
So once during my travels in academia I met a kid who had gone to MIT for undergrad. He told me all his life he was considered the smart kid in his neighborhood, and everyone expected big things from him. When he got into MIT, his pastor announced all the college destinations from the pulplit and said he was headed to the "Massachusetts Institute of Technology". After church one of the elders came up to him and said in a sorrowful tone "What happened? I thought you were smart! I prayed on it that you'd go to Harvard". He assured her it was a good school and he got a blank look. he said "It's usually called MIT, maybe you know it by that name?". Still a blank look. She thought it was like ITT Tech or something. LOL. Turns out that nearly no one at his church or in his neighborhood knew what MIT was. Whenever he tried to say it was a good school they would just assume he was trying to save face, and would offer him some encouraging words. The whole 4 years he went no one was impressed. He said if nothing else, it kept him from getting too full of himself. LMAO!
LOL... I've had similar responses when asked about my college background. I received a Masters from IIT which was, luckily, largely paid for by a former employer. When I tell people I went to Illinois Institute of Technology, which IMO has a decent STEM/engineering program (though it's no MIT), I often receive the response "Oh, I've heard of ITT Tech..." LOL.... To which I'll sometimes respond "I went to IIT not ITT" or I'll often just let it go as I'm at the point in my life where I could care less about impressing people with my degree.
In fact, I often prefer when people underestimate me (and they often do) or when you get to see peoples' true colors when they judge you by how "prestigious" your degree, car, house, career is.... I also purposely live in a small house and drive an older car. My favorite people are those who forget to ask about degrees, career, home location, etc. as they care about getting to know the real person and not about your list of "prestigious" accomplishments. I can't stand when someone who barely acknowledges you finds out you have some "prestigious" connections (e.g. education, career, etc.) and starts befriending you on LinkedIn, FB, as if you are the best of friends. I also dislike when people ask "And what do you do?" I always dismiss or underplay this. Can't stand superficial people....
To which I'll sometimes respond "I went to IIT not ITT" or I'll often just let it go as I'm at the point in my life where I could care less about impressing people with my degree.
I've got a coworker who went to IIT. Different IIT: The Indian Institutes of Technology. Very prestigious... in India. A bit less well-known in the US.
Of course, just because a school is prestigious doesn't mean a particular program within that school has a good reputation. A degree in Medicine from MIT or in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins isn't going to open many doors.
I've got a coworker who went to IIT. Different IIT: The Indian Institutes of Technology. Very prestigious... in India. A bit less well-known in the US.
Of course, just because a school is prestigious doesn't mean a particular program within that school has a good reputation. A degree in Medicine from MIT or in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins isn't going to open many doors.
So how did you come to this conclusion? Do you know anything about these programs or just guessing?
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