“Wow! You go to Cornell? Jeez, you must be so smart.” Um, okay how do I respond to that? I have a few options...
1. “Yeah, you’re right thanks!” – Nope, I sound like a conceited jerk.
2. “No, it’s really not that big of a deal.” - Wow, sound more pretentious, I dare you.
3. *Laughs, ignores comment and changes the subject* - That’s cool. Just ignore what they say.
The fact of the matter is there is no right way to answer this question. It’s an awkward backhanded compliment, and no matter how you answer it you’re most likely going to sound as if--you feel--you’re superior to everyone. Newsflash: even if you don’t think you are, you are acting like that in some way shape or form.
I know, I know – people who don’t go to an Ivy just don’t understand. It’s hard to explain why the Ivies are different; they just are. Yeah, and so is every other university who has tried to differentiate themselves from the rest – it’s called marketing. All of this being said this is not meant to say nobody is conscious of keeping the superiority complex on the DL. It’s more that no matter how hard we try, there’s always at least a little part of us that falls back on this superiority. Sometimes that doesn’t mean we have to say anything out loud, but it can be the first thing that pops into our mind. I’ve done it too. W
hen I first told my friends I was transferring, some of them didn’t understand what made Cornell so special that I would want to transfer. Now, I never said it out loud, but my first thoughts would be a better network, better and more challenging academics, and better everything because we’re an Ivy and we’re the best (aka the typical things I thought of when I thought of an Ivy League Institution). Granted I never said these out loud, because that would just be outwardly pompous, but the fact that I even thought it at all (yes, even if it’s just for a split second) is the issue here.
It is important to note that yes, the Ivies are excellent institutions, but think about it: how many schools do we refer to as unofficial Ivies? In case you don’t know, they’re referred to as Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Duke and the Little Ivies. While the Ivy League used to distinguish the elite universities of the country from the rest, there are now a lot of elite universities outside of the league we’ve started to informally count as part of our fold.
Don’t get me wrong, I am honored to attend such a prestigious university, and just because there are other good universities does not mean that Cornell or the other Ivies are any less prestigious than they always were. But as more and more schools are considered to be of equal status academically as the eight Ivy League institutions we know and love, what makes them truly special enough to merit this inherent complex of superiority?
