Grate Expectations

I am dating a guy in his early 20s who is very nice, very fun, very cute -- and very much in the habit of mentioning that he went to Harvard. He finds a way to weave it into all sorts of conversations it really has no place in.

--Not Impressed

He probably mentions Harvard a lot because it seems more tasteful than the alternative -- having his diploma laminated and wearing it around his neck. Guys in their early 20s have it rough. Just as girls their age are coming into their prime hotitude, the guys are entering a work environment where they are the gum on the pavement that the 30-year-old successful guy runs over in his Mercedes. If your guy is feeling this way, it may explain why no subject is too far-flung or random to connect to a reminder of where he went to school. ("Pass the milk? I sometimes passed the milk at Harvard.") Ask whether you can give him your opinion about something you've noticed. Assuming he says yes, say something like, "I have no doubt you're going places, but you seem to mention Harvard a lot. This might make you sound like you need to ride on the name, which you clearly don't." If he's got more than school smarts, he'll recognize that it says something about him that he went to Harvard, but not when he advertises it so often that it starts to sound like the DeVry of the Ivy League.